A sermon based upon John 10:22-30
In the name of Jesus; amen.
In the name of Jesus; amen.
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
The Lord is my shepherd; it’s a strange notion for a modern day people. Shepherds aren’t real prevalent here in CT and in the 2 ½ years that I’ve lived here I have yet to see any sheep.
In college, my senior year, I had friends whose dorm room was in a house half way between the freshmen dorm and the fraternity houses on campus. Their room had a deck and so during the first few weeks of classes we would sit out on the balcony and watch as the freshmen, who weren’t supposed to be going to frat parties yet, march in herds down the path that would lead to them to the kegs of beer that waited for them. As they passed we would bah at them.
They were sheep without a shepherd going toward a drunken doom.
The Lord is my shepherd. There are still shepherds today; after all there are still sheep. But to say that the Lord is my shepherd seems an odd thing when you live in a city or a small town where there are no such things; where it isn’t common place.
Shepherds weren’t thought very highly of in Jesus’ day. They were dirty, menial workers. They weren’t highly educated, if they were educated at all… and yet Jesus chooses this image to describe himself.
It might have reminded the people of King David. He started as a lowly shepherd boy who slew a giant with a small stone and a slingshot, but most would have thought of dirty workers who spent their time out in the fields tending animals.
The Lord is my shepherd. The people gathered around him wanted to know who Jesus thought he was. Our translation has them asking “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” But the actual Greek is more like, “How long will you take away our life?” Or perhaps more accurately, “How long are you going to keep annoying us? Just say it, will you?”
Jesus’ reaction is to talk about his sheep, those who hear his voice and who follow him. Jesus did not need to come out and say that he was the Messiah, his teachings and actions had already said plainly who he was.
The Lord is my shepherd. Sheep and their shepherds have a unique relationship. I read a story once about a man who had gone to the Holy Land to meet and work with actual shepherds. He studied how they cared for the sheep, learned the words they used to call them, watched how they interacted with the sheep. Then he asked if he could try and the shepherd said go ahead. So the man called the sheep and they wouldn’t come. He tried over and over again, but he couldn’t get the sheep to listen to him. Finally he asked the shepherd what he was doing wrong and the shepherd told him. The sheep know my voice; they will only answer my voice.
When we proclaim the words of the 23rd Psalm we are claiming a similar relationship. If Jesus is our shepherd then we hear his voice and follow him. If Jesus is our shepherd then Jesus knows us, he can pick us out of the fold, call us by name and we will answer.
I joked about the freshmen at college. We really did bah at them because it seemed clear that without a shepherd guarding their every move they made their way straight into the den of wolves along fraternity row. But the fact of the matter is that even when we stray from our shepherd Jesus still knows us and calls out to us until we hear him again.
This is the promise of this gospel story. The Father has given us to Jesus the Shepherd and this is more important to Jesus than all else. It is so important that we are given eternal life so that Jesus can be our shepherd for all time.
Jesus is our shepherd in our times of want, when our souls are depleted, when death casts its shadow over us, and when we are surrounded by our enemies.
We are Jesus’ sheep and Jesus is our shepherd. This isn’t a casual relationship. Jesus knows us and in knowing us Jesus cares for us and protects us so that no one or thing can snatch us away from him.
The Lord is my shepherd is an assurance of being gathered and fed, protected and loved no matter what. Not even death can claim us because the shepherd places us in the hands of the Father.
In light of the events 2 weeks ago, I should mention other college students; students who with their teachers seemed snatched away by another angry college student. Jesus called to them too and led them through the valley of the shadow of death into the safety of God’s fields of life. They were not snatched away from the shepherd.
The Lord is our shepherd, who loves us, and shelters us from all evil. His voice calls to us. He knows each one of us. Listen for his voice and follow. Amen.
In the name of Jesus; amen.
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
The Lord is my shepherd; it’s a strange notion for a modern day people. Shepherds aren’t real prevalent here in CT and in the 2 ½ years that I’ve lived here I have yet to see any sheep.
In college, my senior year, I had friends whose dorm room was in a house half way between the freshmen dorm and the fraternity houses on campus. Their room had a deck and so during the first few weeks of classes we would sit out on the balcony and watch as the freshmen, who weren’t supposed to be going to frat parties yet, march in herds down the path that would lead to them to the kegs of beer that waited for them. As they passed we would bah at them.
They were sheep without a shepherd going toward a drunken doom.
The Lord is my shepherd. There are still shepherds today; after all there are still sheep. But to say that the Lord is my shepherd seems an odd thing when you live in a city or a small town where there are no such things; where it isn’t common place.
Shepherds weren’t thought very highly of in Jesus’ day. They were dirty, menial workers. They weren’t highly educated, if they were educated at all… and yet Jesus chooses this image to describe himself.
It might have reminded the people of King David. He started as a lowly shepherd boy who slew a giant with a small stone and a slingshot, but most would have thought of dirty workers who spent their time out in the fields tending animals.
The Lord is my shepherd. The people gathered around him wanted to know who Jesus thought he was. Our translation has them asking “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” But the actual Greek is more like, “How long will you take away our life?” Or perhaps more accurately, “How long are you going to keep annoying us? Just say it, will you?”
Jesus’ reaction is to talk about his sheep, those who hear his voice and who follow him. Jesus did not need to come out and say that he was the Messiah, his teachings and actions had already said plainly who he was.
The Lord is my shepherd. Sheep and their shepherds have a unique relationship. I read a story once about a man who had gone to the Holy Land to meet and work with actual shepherds. He studied how they cared for the sheep, learned the words they used to call them, watched how they interacted with the sheep. Then he asked if he could try and the shepherd said go ahead. So the man called the sheep and they wouldn’t come. He tried over and over again, but he couldn’t get the sheep to listen to him. Finally he asked the shepherd what he was doing wrong and the shepherd told him. The sheep know my voice; they will only answer my voice.
When we proclaim the words of the 23rd Psalm we are claiming a similar relationship. If Jesus is our shepherd then we hear his voice and follow him. If Jesus is our shepherd then Jesus knows us, he can pick us out of the fold, call us by name and we will answer.
I joked about the freshmen at college. We really did bah at them because it seemed clear that without a shepherd guarding their every move they made their way straight into the den of wolves along fraternity row. But the fact of the matter is that even when we stray from our shepherd Jesus still knows us and calls out to us until we hear him again.
This is the promise of this gospel story. The Father has given us to Jesus the Shepherd and this is more important to Jesus than all else. It is so important that we are given eternal life so that Jesus can be our shepherd for all time.
Jesus is our shepherd in our times of want, when our souls are depleted, when death casts its shadow over us, and when we are surrounded by our enemies.
We are Jesus’ sheep and Jesus is our shepherd. This isn’t a casual relationship. Jesus knows us and in knowing us Jesus cares for us and protects us so that no one or thing can snatch us away from him.
The Lord is my shepherd is an assurance of being gathered and fed, protected and loved no matter what. Not even death can claim us because the shepherd places us in the hands of the Father.
In light of the events 2 weeks ago, I should mention other college students; students who with their teachers seemed snatched away by another angry college student. Jesus called to them too and led them through the valley of the shadow of death into the safety of God’s fields of life. They were not snatched away from the shepherd.
The Lord is our shepherd, who loves us, and shelters us from all evil. His voice calls to us. He knows each one of us. Listen for his voice and follow. Amen.
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