Reflections on""the Good Shepherd" John 10:1-18; Luke 15: 1-10

I had fun with this sermon.  Interestingly, one of the resources I consulted for the sermon began by noting that ministers have preached about sheep and shepherds so often that they have trouble finding new material.  as I reflected on my preaching patterns, I don't think I've preached on sheep and shepherds much, except for mentioning the shepherd image when reading Psalm 23 at funerals.  In fact, the last time I can remember preaching the John text was when I served a church in KY, which was over 15 years ago.  Maybe I've been missing a good opportunity, or that might be why I enjoyed the last two sermons so much.

I am fascinated the Jesus himself seems to scrambling a bit for images in the John passage.  he starts out by giving the image of himself as the gate, which apparently the listeners did not quite get. then he shifts to the good shepherd image.  Jeremias' comment about shepherds being in ill repute at the time Jesus is telling this story really adds to the meaning of the comparison.

During the Time with Young Disciples, I had the kids crawl around and try to be cute little lambs.  Then, I had them bleat rudely as adult sheep do (I'm not sure they're trying to be rude, but it certainly is not cute!).  That helped set the stage for the sermon.  

one area I left out due to already having enough material is the celebration aspect.  The shepherd celebrates when he returns with the lost sheep; the woman celebrates when she finds her coin (admittedly, I probably did not need to read this far in the Luke text); bot of which connect with the parable of the prodigal son that follows the story of the lost coin.  In the sermon when I speak of the outrageous grace of God, the idea of celebrating the return of one lost sheep would fit into that thought.

one of the members of the church shared with me their sheep story.  They bought a lamb for their kids to have on the farm (they didn't work it) and the lamb got diarrhea and was a pain to take care of in other ways.  They had a pond with an island on it, so they put the lam on the island with all it needed to survive.  Shortly thereafter, the father hears loud bleating coming from outside.  he rushes out to discover the lamb is about to drown as it tries to swim to the "mainland."  the father has to rush to get out his boat and go save the lamb. So much for cute little lamb for the kids!  I imagine the good shepherd would go to that much trouble and more to save us.

“The Good Shepherd”  November 23, 2014; FPC, Troy, John 10: 1-18; Luke 15: 

Today is Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of the liturgical calendar when we think about who Christ just before we go back to the beginning and start over with Advent, and begin looking forward to the coming of Christ.

Today we have the image of the good shepherd.

Move 1: But before getting to the shepherd, let's think for a minute about sheep.

            a. I don't know much about sheep (except for the time I was a sheep in a play and crawled around the stage in white long johns with cotton sewed on them), but here's what I've read about them from other people.

1.    Baby sheep, that is lambs are pretty cute.  Lambs bleat a gentle "bahhh" and are nice and cuddly. But they grow into adult sheep that have a disturbing, somewhat distressing bleat.

                        2.  .Sheep are filthy animals, generally covered in mud and their own waste. Their wool can tangle around all sorts of nastiness and hold onto it until the shepherd shows up to get it clean. It's a good thing that Woolite works on wool whether it's in a sweater or still on the sheep. The best shepherds use it before shearing.

3.    Sheep like to follow.  They will follow the sheep in front of them, even if it leads to their demise.  The old adage, “if the person next to you jumped off a cliff, would you?” would be answered with a “yes” by sheep.

4.    As one modern day shepherd puts it:  "Sheep are just born looking for a way to die." He can recall countless stories that involve sheep putting themselves in unnecessary peril, much of which could usually be avoided by doing something simple like turning around.  http://www.patheos.com/Progressive-Christian/Dirty-Sheep-Mike-Baughman-05-06-2014.html#ixzz3Jpo3kj1h

                        5.  Sheep hang out in groups.  It protects them from predators, but also gives them a group mentality.  If a sheep ends up off by itself, it can become highly agitated.
http://www.sheep101.info/flocking.html

6.    Sheep do know the voice of the shepherd, but will only sometimes follow him or her. They follow other sheep far better than they follow a shepherd. Sometimes, however, sheep will follow a stranger—especially sheep who do not yet know the shepherd well. It takes time for a shepherd to know sheep well enough to tell them apart. Sheep apparently see us the same way.
Read more: http://www.patheos.com/Progressive-Christian/Dirty-Sheep-Mike-Baughman-05-06-2014.html#ixzz3Jpo3kj1h

7.    In summary – sheep are cute as babies, but grow up into adults who deal with messy details in life.  They have a tendency to listen to others and follow, regardless of the consequences.  They listen for the right voice to guide them, but sometimes follow the wrong voice.

            b.  It occurs to me that the image of Jesus as the good shepherd fits well because we fit the image of the sheep so well.

1.    We need a shepherd to guide us.

2.    we need to follow the good shepherd.

Move 2:  Maybe it's about the gate

            a. In the Gospel of John before getting to the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, Jesus calls himself the gate.

                        1. remember that sheep have poor depth-perception and have a hard time distinguishing a partially open gate along a fence line.

2.    If they can find the gate, the gate opens and welcomes them to pasture land or the safety of the pen.

b.  Jesus is the gate.

1.  That image, of course, has a salvation theme that is found throughout the gospel of John.

2. to move to that place beyond our earthly existence means going through Christ.

3. but it also have daily implications – who you want to be, where you want to go, passes by and through Christ.

4. you cannot become that new creation God has in mind for you unless you connect with Christ.

Jesus is the gate.

Move 3:  Sheep, gate, but also the good shepherd

            a.  By 1^st Century times, shepherds were not really considered good guys.

1.    Shepherds have a bad reputation for being shiftless, thieving, trespassing people for hire.

2.    Rabbis listed shepherds as one of the despised jobs, right up there with gamblers, sailors, and tax collectors. The New Interpreter's Bible: Luke and John, Volume IX, 296 quoting Joachim Jeremias, Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus

3.    In a way, the Pharisees listening must have been thinking, “you've got to be kidding.  A shepherd?”

                                               

4.    Or, “you got that right.  You're nothing but one of those low-life shepherds.”

            b. But there stands Jesus redefining what they think they know.

1.    they think they know shepherds are not a good image to link oneself to, but Jesus says otherwise.

2.    They think they know that if you have 99 of the 100 sheep safe and sound, you write off the 1 that is lost.

3.    When Jesus asks, “who among you. would not go after the one lost sheep?” the answer is “none of them.”

4.    In fairness, if we are asked that question, our answer is “none of us.” 

5.    We all know that a 99% success rate is good enough.    Forget the lost one.

6.    The Pharisees think they know that they are part of the 99.  They are the worthy ones. Maybe they are.

                                                7. Likewise, most of us would be considered part of the 99, right?  We're here.  We're serving God.

c.    But what they do not yet understand is that even as God loves the 99,  God also loves the 1.

1.    the choice is not God loves the 99 or God loves the 1.

2.    god loves all 100.

3.    The Good shepherd comes to save all 100.

4.    The Pharisees are seeing, we are seeing the generous, ridiculous, over the top grace of God.

5.    the Good shepherd will even lay down his life for the one lost sheep.

Conclusion:  Perhaps you've heard the story about the president of a big company who runs into a computer glitch. 

He calls down head computer person, but she has left for the day.  The president calls her cell number, but she does not answer. 

So he calls her home phone number.  The phone is answered and a young child's voice whispers, "Hello?"

"Is your Mom home?"

 "Yes", whispered the small voice.

 "May I talk with her?"  "No."

 Wanting to talk with an adult, the boss asked, "Is your
 Father there?"

 "Yes", came the answer.

 "May I talk with him?" Again the small voice whispered,  "no".

“Why are you whispering? Where are you?”

“In the closet”

"Is there any one there besides you?"

 "Yes" whispered the child, "A policeman".

 Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee's home, the boss asked, "May I speak with the policeman"?

 "No, he's busy", whispered the child.

 "Busy doing what?, asked the boss.

 "Talking to Daddy and Mommy and the Fireman", came the
 whispered answer.

 Growing concerned and even worried as he heard what
 sounded like a helicopter through the ear piece on the
 phone the boss asked, "What is that noise?"

 "A hello-copper", answered the whispering voice. "What
 is going on there?", asked the boss, now alarmed. In
 an awed whispering voice the child answered, "The search
 team just landed the hello-copper"

 Alarmed,concerned and more than just a little frustrated
 the boss asked, "Why are they there"?

 Still whispering, the young voice replied along with a muffled giggle:

 "They're looking for me"

Whether you are hiding, or have lost your way, or are following the wrong voice, or have a big mess in your life – regardless, the Good shepherd is coming for you.  Amen.