iShepherd
John 10:14- 18, 25-30
2- Jesus is not just the good
Shepherd, he is THE SHEPHERD.
Jesus is not a hired shepherd.
One of the signs of a genuine shepherd is that he “lays down his life
for the sheep.” (11)
Our title is iShepherd. In the Armenian sermon, I was wondering if the
language of lamb, sheep, and shepherd is applicable to us.
Technology is moving on
even in the area of shepherding. Let
me tell you about a technology used in
“We can keep tabs on a single
sheep from the time it is a little lamb to the time that it becomes lamb chops,”
says Bill Murray, spokesperson for the Australian Sheep Industry. “However, the
main advantage is in sheep handling, because the transponders allow the sheep
to make their own decisions, without being hassled by people or dogs.” 1
OK, I can understand that
sheep can be monitored by a computer. Now we have a new kind of sheep, the ones
who can make choices. We have democratic sheep; you know they are going
to even vote one day! Where is the world heading to?
God is not monitoring us with
computers. There are no GPS transponders on our ears. God is the genuine shepherd.
He loves to be in contact with us. He wants to be close to us. Actually, He
became one of us, emptied Himself into our human flesh. He even laid his
life for the sheep.
“The hired hand is not the
shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the
sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man
runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.” (12-13) This is not a picture of Jesus. On the contrary, Jesus is
not only the good shepherd, he is also the gate. What a wonderful
picture. I want to draw it for you. The warmer days of months of the year when
the flock is gone too far from the farm, the shepherd will gather the sheep
every evening in a safe corner and will sleep as a gate in front of the sheep.
This means security, protection. Jesus brings protection to our lives.
God offers protection from the harm that is coming from the outside. He is the real SHEPHERD who sleeps in front of me as a
gate. He becomes the gate.
On the other hand, Jesus is
interested in our inner protection and healing. We see that three times
in this short passage Jesus says, “I lay my life for the sheep” (Verses
11, 15). And in 17-18 he says, “The reason my Father loves me is that I lay
down my life—only to take it up again. 18No one takes it from
me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and
authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
Jesus is not just the good
shepherd, and the protector from outside harms; he is a
also a shepherd who is the “Lamb of God,” the protector from the inside. Yes, the Lamb of God who was slaughtered for our
sins. Sins, which damage us from the inside. Jesus
is not just a moral teacher. He gave us life, a new life. He is the Lamb of God
who brought us salvation.
3- We are his sheep.
In the Armenian sermon, I
mentioned that there was a man who gave up coming to church when he saw how
dumb sheep were. He did not want to be identified with a sheep.
Well, if we study human
nature, we soon find out how complex beings we are. Although in many
ways we are more intelligent than the animal world, yet, we do have
strange behavior in our daily life. In one word, we do crazy and stupid
things.
No wonder we are called
sheep.
We all follow some kind of
leader or thought, or religion, or philosophy. Jesus described us as sheep. We
need a leader. There are some who hear the voice of the shepherd and follow
him. “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (27).
Here is a category of sheep that are ready to hear the voice of the shepherd
and are ready to obey his leadership.
Unfortunately, there are
those who refuse to believe and have a relationship with the shepherd. “But
you do not believe because you are not my sheep.” (26) This indicates that
we are not automatically in the pasture of God. Not everyone is a sheep of THE
SHEPHERD. The sheep hear the voice of the shepherd, and can recognize and can
follow.
As I mentioned above the real
shepherd will provide protection forever. “My sheep listen to my
voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and
they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand”(27-28).
I believe God protects us. I
believe Jesus is our shepherd and protector. We have many verses of the Bible
where God is our refuge, shield and protector. However, our shepherd’s
protection is more than earthly and physical protection. Sheep may lose their lives. Security on this earth is very fragile. Sheep may
lose their lives because of their faith. The shepherd will give his
sheep eternal life, and they will never perish.
This last week I was very
disturbed by reading about three individuals who were killed in
Why did God allow Hrant Dink’s death? I don’t know.
Why all this suffering of
innocent people? I don’t know.
One thing I know that
persecution of Christians will not stop, it will increase. One thing I know
although we pass from the valley of the shadow of death, I know that our
SHEPHERD will not live us alone.
In the email that I received
concerning these martyrs, the sender was asking us not to pray only for safety
and protection, but more for perseverance.
During the funeral, the wife
of the German missionary said, “Lord, forgive them, they don’t what are they
doing.”
In the movie “The End of the Spear”,
we see five missionaries who went to Amazon jungles to spread the Good News. They
were killed by the natives. Their wives continued the mission.
Last year a gunman opened
fire on Amish children. The parents of these children asked the wife of the
killer to join them in the funeral to mourn together.
When you read these stories,
you can see how the sheep are hearing
the voice of the shepherd. These
examples are good examples to tell us how the sheep are living within wolves. Nothing can stop us from being in the pasture of
our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul says it best,
“Who shall separate
us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine
or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written:
"For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be
slaughtered." 37No, in all these things we are more than
conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that
neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither the
present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth,
nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of
God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans (8:35-40)
4. One
can ask, why bother with all these persecution? Why one has to go to
Jesus said to his disciples,
“I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also.
They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one
shepherd.” (16)
There are lost sheep all over
the world. Go and spread the Good News.
In Acts 1:8 are the final
words of the SHEPHERD: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes
on you; and you will be my witnesses in
Let us summarize. What can we
do as CACC?
1. Learn to listen to the
voice of the shepherd. There are too many false “shepherds”. Learn the voice of
the real shepherd by tuning to God through the Bible. This means you need to be
involved in a small group of a Bible study which will guide you.
2. Discipline your life
according the teachings that you learn. Let Jesus transform your knowledge to
life.
3. Give time to prayer and
meditation.
4. Be an active person in the
church. Stop being a spectator, get involves and make a difference in your life
and in others.
5. Do not give up being a
supportive to the mission of the church. This can mean inner mission, or
outside mission.
The LORD is MY and YOUR SHEPHERD.
1 – homiletics
online “tracing the sheep”