Easter 3
Jn
10:11-16
4/30/17
“I don’t know man, I just work
here.” These words are a nightmare for
any manager, supervisor or business owner.
As soon as a business owner needs to hire other people to help do the
work of the business, a risk arises. The
business owner is committed to making his business successful. The owner knows
that the customer’s experience in dealing with the business is a key factor in
determining whether they will use the business again. And so, the owner does everything possible to
treat customers well and keep them happy.
Yet when you hire people to do the work,
it’s not their business. They don’t have
their hopes and dreams tied up in it.
For them, it may be just a job.
If they feel that it is “just a job,” it’s quite likely that this will
show through in the way they do their job and treat customers. We’ve all dealt with employees who clearly
did not want to be there and obviously had no real interest in being helpful. It does not make you want to come back
again.
The problem of having workers who
are there only to punch the time clock is nothing new. Jesus talks about this in our Gospel lesson
for today. He describes himself as the
Good Shepherd and contrasts his behavior with that of the hired hand. The hired
hand is only there to work and make money.
The sheep aren’t his. He has no
investment in them. And so if a dangerous animal like a wolf shows up, the
hired hand has no interest in taking any kind of risk to protect them. Instead, he takes off and flees, leaving the
helpless sheep to be devoured and scattered by the wolf.
Today, Jesus Christ tells us that
this is not how he does things. The
hired hand doesn’t care about the sheep.
They mean nothing to him. By
contrast, Jesus says in our text, “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.”
Our Lord
says that he knows his sheep and that his sheep know him. Jesus began this discussion by saying about a
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. A stranger they will not follow,
but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."
Our Lord is
the Good Shepherd who knows his sheep and calls them by name. That’s what he did in Holy Baptism. He called you by name as through the pastor
in his Office of the Holy Ministry he spoke your name and baptized you in the
name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit.
You
continue to hear his voice through God’s Word.
In the inspired Scriptures Jesus the Good Shepherd speaks to us. He speaks so that we may hear his voice and
follow him. Jesus says that the sheep don’t
listen to the voice of a stranger. Instead when they hear a stranger, they
flee.
So how is
it with you? Whose voice are you
listening to day in and day out? Is today
the only day you listen to Jesus’ voice?
I hope not. Because the stranger
is speaking to you every single day. Every day you are immersed by his
voice. The shows you watch, the music
you listen to, the internet content you look at – he is speaking through it
every day. His voice says that there is
no truth; there is no error. His voice
says that your decisions need to be determined by what makes you happy. Choose the way that is best for you. Don’t be bound by the so called “will of
God” preserved in some ancient book or by promises and commitments you have
made to others … say, at a wedding. You
need to look out for you. It’s a
persuasive pitch, because it directs me toward the person I am most into – me.
However,
Jesus’ voice is different. Jesus directs
you to himself because he has put you
first. Our Lord says in the Gospel
lesson, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the
sheep.” Now Jesus is different than the
stranger. The stranger is going to tell you what you want to hear. He is going to tell you that you come first
because everything is great. Jesus says
that he is the shepherd and you are the
sheep. It’s not a flattering
metaphor. Sheep are dumb. Sheep are
stupid. Sheep are helpless. That’s you when it comes to living in ways that are
true to the Creator and his ordering of the world. You are spiritually too
dumb; too stupid; too helpless.
And that’s
why it is astounding that Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” The hired hand would say you are not worth
it. And he’s right. But Jesus’ love for you defies all logic. He loves the unlovable. And his love makes you into something that you are not.
His love is
one of sacrifice for you. He laid down
his life on the cross. He offered
himself in your place. It was what
Martin Luther called the “great exchange.”
He received your sin, guilt and judgment. You receive his innocence, righteousness, and
justification.
And then
beyond that, because of him you receive life. Immediately after our text Jesus
goes on to say, “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.”
During this
season of Easter we rejoice that Jesus has risen from the dead! He has defeated death. And we will share in
this victory. As Jesus said, “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone
who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will
raise him up on the last day.”
Jesus the
Good Shepherd has laid down his life for you the sheep, and then taken it up
again. He has given you forgiveness and
life. Already now you have eternal life.
And you will share in the resurrection life of your Lord on the Last Day.
The Good
Shepherd has done this for you. But
because he has, it can no longer be only about you. During Holy Week we heard about how Jesus
washed the disciples’ feet during the Last Supper. When he had finished he said, “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.”
Jesus has
sacrificed himself; he has served you, so that now you can serve others. This
is what his Spirit leads you to do. It is the Spirit who caused you to be born
again when Jesus called you by name in Holy Baptism. The Spirit has given you
new life and leads to live this life. Christ’s Spirit leads, but you must also follow
the Spirit’s leading. That’s why Jesus said: “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.”
Loving
service for one another is now to define our lives. Jesus’ great act of loving service – the
astounding willingness of the Good Shepherd to give his life on behalf of the
sheep – is the ongoing source for this.
That is why we need to continue to listen to Jesus’ voice. This is why we need to listen to Jesus loving
voice in his Means of Grace. In Holy
Absolution Jesus speaks forgiveness to us, so that we then can speak
forgiveness to one another. In his
Sacrament Jesus gives us his true body and blood given and shed for us to
strengthen us in faith.
When we are
receiving these gifts, we are receiving Jesus’ forgiveness and love. And it is this that makes it possible for us
to forgive and love others. This is what makes it possible to forgive our
husband or wife, or brother or sister when they have said or done something
hurtful. It is this that makes it possible to forgive and stop sin in its
tracks, instead of angrily responding in ways that cause sin to reverberate back
and forth between us in with ever greater intensity – with ever greater damage.
To respond in
kind; to seek payback is not the way of those for whom Jesus Christ has died
and risen from the dead. It is not the
way of those who know the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for the
sheep. And so led by the Spirit we now
seek to serve; we now seek to forgive.
When we fail, we return to the Means of Grace. When we succeed, we return to the Means of
Grace. Our whole life is one of
listening to the Good Shepherd’s voice – of receiving his gifts by which he
forgives sins and strengthens faith.
Jesus says
in our text today, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his
life for the sheep.” Our Lord laid down
his life on the cross for us. But he then also took it up again on the third
day. Because of this we have forgiveness
and peace. Because of this we forgive and serve others.
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