This sermon explores the concept of God as our protector who meets us in our current state, leads us on a journey of transformation and healing, and never shames us, contrasting this with the shaming behavior of the Pharisees.
Hello Church! I want to ask you a question today. Have you ever had an earworm? I’m willing to bet almost all of us have had an earworm at one time or another, and most likely many of us get multiple earworms every year. I know I do!
Do you know what an earworm is? If you ever get an earworm, the good news is you don’t need an anti-fungal cream or oral medication for treatment. You can just play a new song.
Earworm is the official term for that catchy tune or song that gets stuck in your head and plays over and over again, and can be really difficult to get rid of. You’ve had that experience, right? That’s called an earworm! Don’t you hate it when that happens?
The reason I bring this up is because sometimes we get a thought about God stuck in our head that plays over and over again which can be really difficult to get rid of. God is angry. God is disappointed. God is punishing me. Sometimes the things we think about God are untrue or only half-true. We need to unlearn half-truths about God and replace those with full-truths that are consistent with the teachings, life, and ministry of Jesus Christ.
In other words, sometimes we need to play a new song in our head when it comes to relating to the God that Jesus Christ came and revealed to us. Jesus didn’t come to change God’s mind about us. Jesus came to change our minds about God. He came to bring a new song (a new earworm!) so to speak.
Today we’re going to look at some things Jesus taught about himself that were in direct contrast to the religious leaders of his day. The Pharisees played one song in people’s heads — a song of shame and alienation. Jesus brought a new song, one of love and restoration. When Jesus teaches us something about himself, he is automatically teaching us something about God. And this is GOOD NEWS.
Jesus didn’t come to change God’s mind about us. Jesus came to change our minds about God.
We’re going to read John 10:1-10 in a second, but before we do I want to give some background. Jesus is talking with the Pharisees in this passage. And it’s important to note, this passage is directly tied to the story in chapter 9 where Jesus heals the man blind from birth. This passage in John 10 is a continuation of that story.
What happened in the previous chapter? Jesus heals the blind man out of pure love and goodness. This is what restorative love looks like. The man didn’t ask to be healed, but Jesus healed him because Jesus shows us that God’s core nature is self-giving love.
The Pharisees — the religious leaders in Jesus’ day— were angry that Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath. They were also angry that more and more people were starting to follow Jesus. They were convinced that both the blind man and Jesus himself were sinners.
The Pharisees took the man, now healed of blindness, interrogated him, and threw him out of the synagogue for not rejecting Jesus. They also threatened to throw out his parents. The Pharisees had no hesitation to alienate people who didn’t measure up to their standards. The story ends with Jesus telling the Pharisees that they are the blind ones! They are spiritually blind because of the way they treat people and exercise power and control over them.
Then, Jesus continued addressing them.
Jesus uses a lot of imagery here: sheep, gates, shepherds, thieves and robbers. He is both the shepherd (10:2) and the gate (10:9). Jesus is contrasting himself with the Pharisees who just threw a tantrum because a blind man was healed on the Sabbath. The Pharisees are the “thieves and robbers” who care nothing about the sheep. They care about themselves instead of the people they are meant to guide and care for. They were bullies!
How do we keep out thieves and robbers? How do we do this in our own homes? We have doors and windows and we lock them ... View this full sermon with PRO Premium
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