First Lesson: Acts 4: 5-12 Responsive Reading: Psalm 23 Second Lesson: 1 John 3: 16-24 Gospel Lesson: John 10: 11-18 Grace and Peace from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
Let me begin with a story. My Mom is not a big woman, standing around 5’0 tall and weighing less than 100 lbs. My mom’s closest companion in life was her cairn terrier Winston picture Toto from the Wizard of Oz. When my mom would read Winston would lie on the floor nearby. When my mom would cook Winston would be standing by the stove. When my mom would be sleeping Winston would be in the area and quick to try to bark up a storm and even the slightest sound which could indicate a potential intruder. Winston wasn’t always the best behaved dog, until he was about ten years whenever my parents left the house, Winston would proceed to knock over everything in sight in fits of hysteria. Winston loved more than anything else sprawling garbage across the dining room floor. Despite Winston’s bad behavior my mom’s relationship with him never wavered. One day, my mom took Winston for a walk. They come across a coyote. My mom sees the coyote as potentially eying Winston as nothing more than a delicious morsel, so what Mom does is grab Winston no different than the Shepherd would hold a Sheep and hightail it from the area as fast as she could. My Mom was going to see to it that nothing happened which could destroy Winston while he remained in her care. Mom’s goal was not to confront the Coyote; her goal was ultimately to protect her canine companion above all else, even if it meant for harm to come her way. We can probably identify with my mom. We have our loved ones whether human or canine that we know of the need to defend regardless of circumstance. David Grossman grew up in Cheyenne, Wyoming[1]. After high school, he enlists in the Army. He graduates from Ranger school. Works his way up the ranks to infantry platoon leader and eventually company commander out of Fort Ord, California. Grossman then transitions careers within the service by becoming a military psychologist at West Point. Grossman has since made his preeminent life work studying the psychology of killing how people in either military service or the police can push themselves to use force against others at any given moment[2]. Grossman wrote a book in titled On Combat in 2004 that summarized the wisdom of an old veteran that he encountered[3]: “There are three kinds of people in the world (wolves, sheep, and sheep dogs). The quote immediately became quite popular in a post 9-11 world, a world where violence seems pervasive. Grossman’s quote makes sense when we are seemingly surrounded by wolves whether internationally in the form of Al-Queda/ISIS, domestically in the form of gangsters and thugs, and locally in the form of abusers[4]. We need sheep dogs in the world to protect us from all those who would seek to do the innocent sheep harm. Life calls out for a continual confrontation with the wolves seemingly surrounding us. Let me tell you today about someone who understands that there are constantly wolves roaming the world looking to get us. Jesus addresses the problem of the wolf within our Gospel lesson for Today[5]. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The wolf comes…and snatches [the sheep] and scatters them. I am the good shepherd… And I lay down my life for the sheep. Life seemingly tells us every day of the need for sheep dogs to protect the sheep against wolves. The scriptures say something different. The scriptures speak of a need for a shepherd to protect the sheep. The shepherd though doesn’t bring salvation for meeting aggression with aggression; the shepherd rather speaks of bringing salvation by laying down his own life. Jesus says to us on this day: “I am the good shepherd.” We hear these words, and we might picture the Sunday School painting of Jesus holding onto a lamb no differently than he would hold on to a child, no different than my mom would hold her little cairn terrier Winston. You picture this image Jesus seems like the last type of person, we’d want to protect us from all the wolves in the world around us seeking to do us harm[6]. This image of what the good shepherd does is deceiving. Our shepherd grabs the lamb because he is so concerned with the wolves that attack us. Only the wolves the shepherd worries about aren’t what we imagine to be the insurmountable forces of this world, the wolves the good shepherd worries about are those of Sin, Death, and the Devil. The need to confront these forces once and for all is why our good shepherd is so willing to display the ultimate act of courage in losing his own life upon the cross for our sake. What makes the good shepherd different?? The American cowboy has long been considered a hero of the West[7]. Men like Roy Rogers are considered the epitome of American masculinity decades after his death. Picture the cowboy; you’ve got the boots, the hat, the leather-face from being out in the sun all day[8]. There seems to be nothing stronger than the man who can control thousands of cattle across thousands of miles. The cowboy is known for being honest to the fault and not afraid to defend his cattle against oncoming attackers. The shepherd is similar in many ways to the cowboy, they both live under the stars among the animals in their care, they are always on duty, and they both know where to find pasture[9]. Here’s the difference. It has to do with the ultimate goal of the cowboy and the shepherd. The cowboy is supposed to lead the cow to slaughter. The cowboy sees the cattle as nothing more than merely another number, another head in the crowd. So the cowboy drives the cattle, it wrestles, brands, herds, and ropes. The cowboy will whoop and holler at the cows. The work of a cowboy is to ultimately drive its herd to the very places it doesn’t want to go[10]. What makes a shepherd different from a cowboy? Shepherds have a much more personalized relationship with their sheep. Sheep are valued for their wool. Shepherds will even caress their sheep out of the belief that it will produce better wool. Shepherds will call out sheep by their very name. The Shepherd seeks to lead and guide their sheep into the greenest of pastures where they long to go, even when they seemingly don’t know any better[11]. How does shepherding exactly work? D.L. Moody gives the following example[12]. In the Scottish Highlands, sheep will wander off from the herd; they will get into all sorts of trouble, they will get stuck in places they can’t easily get out. Occasionally, the sheep will see very sweet looking grass which caused them to jump down onto mountain ledges from which they cannot get back up. Here’s the interesting thing the shepherds will not automatically rescue the sheep as soon as they get stuck. They will wait until the sheep eat all the grass, and began to grow faint. So the shepherds wait until the shepherds are on the brink of death to rescue the sheep because otherwise, the sheep would get so excited they’d be likely to run off the edge of the cliff[13]. It is the same way with the good shepherd and us, only when we give up on trying to save ourselves does salvation come down from Heaven. What Jesus is saying to us in our lesson for Today is this. He is the way to salvation because there cannot be any other way. He knows our name, he knows our sins, he knows our imperfections, yet he remains our shepherd. There are no wolves out there that will truly scare a good shepherd away. Earlier this morning, I began by telling you about Lt. Colonel David Grossman. The man is known as the lead sheep dog, the expert in human killing. Grossman recognized a couple of downsides to his being seen as a sheep dog rather than a shepherd. The first one is that sheepdogs can scare sheep because they look so much like wolves[14]. Grossman is terrified by the effects that video-game violence has had on the culture, almost desensitizing youth to the true nature of violence[15]. When we seek to impose our own righteous judgment upon the world the line between who are sheepdogs and wolves can blur fast. Here’s the difference between a sheep dog and a shepherd. A sheep knows that no matter what a shepherd will never harm the lowliest of lambs. I have tremendous respect and gratefulness to those who put their lives on the line whether in the police force or armed services seeking to protect us. Yet no forces no matter how good they appear will ever be able to replicate the true saving work of the good shepherd for those that the world has broken in all sorts of ways. Let me close with a Max Lucado story[16]. The year was 1945. A deaf and blind teenager is found wandering the streets of Jacksonville, Illinois. Since the boy was unable to speak, he ends up being placed in an institution. They decide the boy had become blind as a result of his diabetes. He becomes the 24th unidentified man in the state’s mental health system. Twenty-four people with no identity, or no family with which to cling. John Doe #24 would spend nearly the next fifty years of his life within the institution with nowhere to go. He died at the age of 64. A woman conducting a service asks if anyone had anything to sat about John Doe #24, the room remained silent[17]. The thing was there was an identity that belonged to John Doe #24. Once upon a time, he had a mother, and a father, there were memories of a life before he was found wandering the street[18]. What this story reminds us of is the contrast between this world and the world that is to come. John Doe #24 had a shepherd who knew his name, who called out his name and went to the Cross for John Doe’s sake. What the shepherd promises to John Doe is that he will remain in his care until they reach the land of many mansions. John Doe never was outside the unfailing love of his good shepherd. What our lesson assures us Today is the same is true for us. It doesn’t matter how far we wander off any path; it doesn’t mean how imposing the grave may look, our good shepherd will even dare go to the Cross to care for his sheep. Amen [1] Eells, Josh. “Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, the ‘Killologist’ Training America’s Cops.” Men’s Journal. Web. Apr.17.2018. [2] Eells, Josh. “Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, the ‘Killologist’ Training America’s Cops.” [3] Cummings, Micheal and Eric Cummings. “The Surprising History of American Sniper’s’Wolves, Sheep, and Sheepdogs.’ Speech.” Slate. 21.Jan.2015. Web. Apr.17.2018. [4] Cummings, Micheal and Eric Cummings. “The Surprising History of American Sniper’s’Wolves, Sheep, and Sheepdogs.’ Speech.” [5] John 10:11-18. [6] Mockingbird. “Hopelessly Devoted: John Chapter Ten Verses Eleven Through Eighteen.” Mockingbird Ministries. 18.May.2015. Web. Apr.17.2018. The following is taken from a 2015 sermon given by Right Reverend Jeff W.Fisher, Bishop of Suffragan of Texas at Trinity Episcopal Church in Woodlands, Texas titled “Not Your Grandma’s Good Shepherd.” [7] Lucado, Max. “Of Cowboys and Shepherds: The God Who Knows Your Name.” Preach It Teach It. Web. Apr.17.2018. [8] Lucado, Max. “Of Cowboys and Shepherds: The God Who Knows Your Name.” [9] Lucado, Max. “Of Cowboys and Shepherds: The God Who Knows Your Name.” [10] Lucado, Max. “Of Cowboys and Shepherds: The God Who Knows Your Name.” [11] Lucado, Max. “Of Cowboys and Shepherds: The God Who Knows Your Name.” [12] “Sheep”. Sermon Illustrations. Web. Apr.17.2018 taken from Moody's Anecdotes, pp. 70-71 [13] Sheep”. Sermon Illustrations. [14] Eells, Josh. “Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, the ‘Killologist’ Training America’s Cops.” [15] Eells, Josh. “Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, the ‘Killologist’ Training America’s Cops.” [16] Lucado, Max. “Of Cowboys and Shepherds: The God Who Knows Your Name.” [17] Lucado, Max. “Of Cowboys and Shepherds: The God Who Knows Your Name.” [18] Lucado, Max. “Of Cowboys and Shepherds: The God Who Knows Your Name.” Comments are closed.
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