Easter 3
Jn
10:11-16
4/15/18
To be sure, I love our dogs. They
are a great blessing in the life of our family.
Luther, our golden retriever, is probably not the smartest dog you will
encounter. But he’s a really good
looking animal who wants to be with his people and has a great disposition.
Noel is technically Abigail’s dog.
She’s a little white maltippo. Now there
is no way that I ever planned on having a small dog. I didn’t want one. However, when Abigail was six years old and
wanted a dog like that for Christmas, there was of course no way that dad was
going to refuse his only little girl. And Noel has been a surprise because she
has been a joy. She is a smart dog with
so much personality, and she is the most affectionate creature you are going to
meet. Both dogs are heroes in my book
for the way they were Amy’s constant companions when she was at home recovering
from brain surgery.
However, as much as I love those
dogs and enjoy them, there is no way
that I am going to sacrifice my life for them. It’s not happening. I would certainly do everything I could to
save them, but if it in any way involved risk to my own life that would be it.
The reason is very simple. I am a human being and they are dogs. I was created in God’s image and they were
not. I was created to have dominion over them, not to give my life for them.
And then beyond that I have vocations in which I am needed by people I love such as husband, father and pastor. So if push
comes to shove and it becomes a matter of risking my life to save them, they
are out of luck.
There may be a few exceptions, but I
think most people would say the same thing.
And if we aren’t willing to give up our life to save a dear family pet,
we certainly would not do so in order to save a group of sheep. We would not give our life to save a resource
that is there only to produce wool, milk, meat and hides.
And yet … the Lord Jesus says in our
Gospel lesson today:
“I
am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” I would argue that this makes no sense. What makes sense is what Jesus goes on to
say: “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.” Now sure, if I own the sheep
– if they are my investment – I am going to do everything I can to save
them. But I am not going to give me life
for them.
Our Lord says something remarkable
today; something striking; something that is frankly, shocking. And it’s shocking because it is a metaphor
about what he has done for you and for me.
Jesus says that he lays down his life for the sheep. Jesus laid down his life on the cross for
you. Unlike the hired hand, he cared so
much about you that he gave his life to save you.
In the metaphor, Jesus describes
himself as the shepherd and us as the sheep.
The metaphor shocks because it makes no sense – people don’t give their
lives to save animals. They certainly
didn’t do it in the first century world to save sheep.
Yet while the shepherd and sheep
metaphor is shocking, the reality it describes is even more shocking – even
more amazing. After all, we are talking
about the holy Son of God. We are
talking about the Word – the second person of the Trinity; the One who is God
and created the world. This is the One who became flesh in order to give
himself into death for you. This would
not be like you giving your life to save your family pet. It would be you giving your life to save a
bacteria.
Not only are you insignificant
compared to the Creator of the cosmos – you are a sinner. You are most certainly not holy. Instead, your life
is characterized by greed and coveting; by hatred and angry words; by jealousy
and lust. Even when you know that you shouldn’t be this way, it still keeps
bubbling up and taking over.
And yet … because you are this way God sent his Son into the flesh. God’s intent and purpose was to save you. Jesus laid down his life to rescue you. It makes no sense. And that’s why it is Gospel. It is grace – completely unmerited;
completely undeserved; completely off the wall, but in a way that means nothing
but blessings for you.
In our text, Jesus says that he is
the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. Of course, if that were it, the whole thing
would be rather futile. The shepherd
would be dead. And what about the next
time a wolf came around?
But in the
verses 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. This charge I have received
from my Father.” During this season of
Easter we celebrate and give thanks for the fact that on the third day, Jesus
took up his life again. He defeated
death in order to give us life.
The
Shepherd who lay down his life for the sheep – for us – is not gone. Instead, he is alive and he continues to care
for us. At the beginning of this
discussion Jesus said, “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
called you by name. He did it in your
baptism. In the first centuries of the
Church, baptism was described as a seal.
It was thought of as the mark of ownership that had been placed upon a
Christian. You belong to Christ. He laid
down his life for you, and then he took it up again. He claimed you as his own by dying for you
and rising from the dead.
And now he
continues to speak to you. You hear his
voice as he leads you toward the Last Day and resurrection of the dead. You hear his voice through the inspired
Scriptures. His Spirit borne words draw
you to follow him.
They do so
as long as you listen to his voice. Our
Lord goes on to say, “A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from
him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” The voices of many strangers fill our world
today. There are voices that say only
you can decide what is true for you. There
are voices that say you are free to use your sexuality in whatever way you
want. There are voices that say you can
only be happy with more of this and a better that.
These are
voices from which we must flee. These are not voices that want what is best for
us. Instead these voices are really only
one voice. They are the voice of the devil.
It is his voice that speaks through all that would separate us from
Christ. He is a murderer and the father
of lies. He wants to steal, and kill and
destroy.
However the
voice of Jesus the Good Shepherd is the complete opposite. Jesus said, “I came that they may have life
and have it abundantly.” Jesus gives
life now. At the end of this chapter our
Lord says, “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.” This is the confidence that
you have as baptized child of God.
Jesus gives eternal life to those who follow him. As the risen Lord he promises that those who
hear his voice and follow him will never perish. No one will snatch them out of his hand.
The self
giving love of Jesus moved him to lay down his life for us the sheep. But this saving action is not limited to a
small group. It wasn’t even limited to
God’s Old Testament people. Instead,
Jesus says at the end of our text, “And I have other sheep that are not of this
fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will
be one flock, one shepherd.”
You are the
other sheep, that were “not of this fold”! You were not part of God’s people because you
did not descend from Abraham. You were
not part of the people of Israel. And
yet Jesus spoke to you. You heard his
voice. He called you by name. And now
you are part of the one flock that has one Shepherd.
There are
still others who are not part of this fold.
Jesus died for them too and rose from the dead. They need to hear his
voice. And the remarkable thing is that
now you become the means by which Jesus’ voice is heard. Jesus speaks through
you.
But for him
to speak, you must speak. The Collect for last Sunday echoed the Gospel lesson
in which Thomas confessed that Jesus is Lord and God. It said, “Almighty God, grant that we who
have celebrated the Lord’s resurrection may by Your grace confess in our life
and conversation that Jesus is Lord and God.”
Your life
bears witness to Jesus. At the Last
Supper 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.” The
life that shares Jesus’ love with others is the voice of Jesus that calls them
to join his flock.
And in our
conversations we seek to share with others about who Jesus is and what he has
done for us. He is God in the flesh who
died and rose again to give us life. He
is the incarnate Lord who was willing to be nailed to a cross and rise on the
third day with scars that demonstrate his sacrifice and victory. He is the Good
Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep, and takes it up again.
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