Easter 3
Jn
10:11-16
4/19/15
This past December we had to put
Baylor, our fourteen year old black lab, to sleep. Anyone who has to do this with a pet, and
especially a dog, will understand how difficult it was to do. Dogs are called “man’s best friend” for a
reason. People develop profound
emotional connections with these animals and it is certainly not too strong to
use the word “love.”
The loss of Baylor did not leave the
Surburg house without a dog. We still
had Abigail’s little white poodle mix named Noel. What Noel lacks in size, she more than makes
up in sheer desire to be around people and show them affection. I never thought I would like a small dog, but
Noel has proved me wrong.
There was talk about getting another
large dog. A black lab had been my
choice. Amy’s family always had golden
retrievers, and so that is what she wanted the next one to be. But Amy and I were agreed that it would
definitely be awhile before we got another dog. The kids didn’t want to wait,
but Amy and I had decided that we would be a one dog house for now.
And then in March something
changed. The urge to get a golden
retriever puppy suddenly arose within my wife.
And once the kids got wind of this it was a full court press on poor old
dad. The lone voice of restraint, it
soon dawned on me that resistance was futile. And so I folded like a house of
cards. I think the first time a puppy
was mentioned was on a Wednesday. By
Saturday afternoon we had a golden retriever puppy.
Our puppy, named Luther, is now
three months old. He is the cutest thing
you will see and it is a joy to pet him – he is so soft. He’s all puppy right now, but already has
displayed a disposition that is very endearing.
He is certainly loved by the Surburg house, a feeling that I am quite
sure will only deepen in the years to come.
However, with all of that said,
there is no way that I would give my life in order to save the dog. I wouldn’t do anything that risked my life in
order to save him. I say that because I
have a wife and children who need me.
And at an even more basic level, I say that because I am a human being
created in God’s image and Luther is a dog.
I would give up my life for my wife or children in a heartbeat, but I’m
not going to risk doing this for the dog.
In the Gospel lesson for today,
Jesus Christ expresses a very different attitude. Jesus calls himself the “good shepherd” when
he says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the
sheep.” The text doesn’t just say that
Jesus is the shepherd who is willing to risk his life to save the sheep. It says that he is the good shepherd who lays
down his life for the sheep.
Underlying this statement is the profound
connection that exists between Jesus and the sheep – between Jesus and
you. Our Lord contrasts the actions of
the good shepherd with those of the hired hand.
He says, “He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own
the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf
snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares
nothing for the sheep.”
Jesus says that he, the good
shepherd, gives up his life for the sheep because the sheep belong to him. He says, “I am the good shepherd. I know my
own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and
I lay down my life for the sheep.” Jesus
knows his own, and his own also know him.
In fact just before our text he said about the shepherd, “The sheep hear
his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has
brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for
they know his voice.” Jesus says that he
calls each sheep by name, and that because they know his voice – because they
know him and trust him – the sheep follow him.
This caring relationship is the reason that the good shepherd is willing
to lay down his life for the sheep.
Now you have heard this text many
times. The metaphor of the good shepherd
is a very well known and comfortable one.
After all, Good Shepherd is the name of this congregation. However, when I stop and think about what
Jesus is really saying I have to ask the question: “Are we talking about the
good shepherd or the stupid shepherd?”
You see, shepherds didn’t sacrifice
their lives for sheep in the ancient world. Certainly, the animals were valued
as an economic asset that was important for supporting life. But sheep can’t do you any good if you are
dead. A shepherd might do his very best
is save the sheep in the face of wild animal, but when push came to shove he is
going to sacrifice the sheep rather than risk getting killed. I don’t find this hard to understand. I am not going to sacrifice my life to save
Luther, a beloved creature in our house.
The shepherd certainly wasn’t going to sacrifice his life to save a
sheep – one really dumb animal in the midst of a flock of dumb animals.
Yet this is where the metaphor of
the good shepherd conveys an amazing truth.
The fact of the matter is that you aren’t worth the trouble – you are
not worth the sacrifice of Jesus’ life.
You are just one dumb animal in the midst of a flock of dumb
animals. Time after time you make dumb
choices. You know that when you are
frustrated you are likely to say things you will regret. And yet when you find yourself in that
situation, you choose to speak anyway … and guess what happens? You know that there are situations that place
great temptation before you … and guess where you keep putting yourselves? You know that the Means of Grace are the
instrument God uses to sustain you in the faith … and guess what you often
choose to put in second place during the week or on Sunday morning?
You are not worthy of sacrifice. In
fact if we are just talking about behavior and how you relate to your master,
the family dog probably has a better claim to it. And yet … God values and loves you in a way
that overcomes this. You see, God made
you in his image. And in spite of your
sin and all of the ways you mess up he has never ceased to love you.
In fact when you were unlovable
because of sin the Father sent the Son into the world as he was conceived by
the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.
The Son loved the Father – and you – so much that he willingly humbled
himself in a way of service. He came as
the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He came as the Good Shepherd who lays down
his life for the sheep.
But as we are celebrating during
Easter, he didn’t just come to lay down his life in a sacrifice for you. Death
alone was never the plan. Instead Jesus
says a little later in this chapter, “For this reason the Father loves me,
because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from
me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I
have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my
Father.”
Jesus did this for you. He gave his life for you on the cross, and
then on the third day he rose from the dead.
He called you by name when you were baptized – when you came to share in
this saving action and were born again of water and the Spirit. He called you by name and now you continue to
hear his voice. You hear it in the Holy
Scriptures. You hear it in the word of
Holy Absolution. You hear it in the word
that he speaks over bread and wine at the Sacrament of the Altar.
And because this is true, you have
comfort. You have the certainty of
eternal life with the Lord. Jesus says
in this chapter, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch
them out of my hand.”
Jesus loved you by laying down his
life for you on the cross. Because his
Spirit has called you to faith in his death and resurrection, Jesus promises
that nothing can snatch you out of his hand.
But the sacrificial death of Jesus and the work of the Spirit within us
does more than just make you feel good about where things are going.
John’s Gospel tells us that at the
Last Supper Jesus did something unexpected – he washed his disciples’ feet. It
was the job a slave would do – and yet there was Jesus on his knees with water and
a towel. When he was done he said to
them: “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord,
and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed
your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an
example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.”
You have been saved so that you can
serve. Jesus stated it very simply, “A
new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved
you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you
are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” This love is not a warm
fuzzy feeling any more than Jesus’ death on the cross was a warm fuzzy
experience. Instead the Lord’s love for
us was one of service, and so we are called to serve others because of
Jesus. John put it this way in his first
epistle: “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought
to lay down our lives for the brothers.”
And so John goes on to say, “Little
children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”
We can do this because we are the
sheep of the Good Shepherd. We belong to
him. We know his voice. We follow him,
and no one can snatch us out of his hand.
He gives us eternal life – eternal life that is already ours now, and
which will also involve a share in his resurrection when he returns in glory on
the Last Day. And so we live each and every day secure in these words of our
Lord: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the
sheep.”
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