John 10:1-10
“Life and Death”
By: Ken Sauer, Pastor of East Ridge United Methodist Church, Chattanooga, TN eastridgeumc.org
Raise your hand if you are a fan of American Idol.
It’s a popular show.
When it first came out 10 years ago, I used to watch it fairly regularly.
Now, I barely know what is going on.
It’s kind of like football or the NBA.
If you have a team that you have watched all season, a horse in the race…
…so to speak…
…it is pretty fun to watch as the season progresses.
If you haven’t been watching it, you don’t tend to have a whole lot of interest.
At least that tends to be how it works with me.
Anyhow, a big factor in the success of the show is the chemistry between the “celebrity judges.”
When the show began they had Paula Abdul, Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell.
Paula played the “good cop” role.
Simon was the “bad cop.”
And Randy was somewhere in-between.
Now, one of the judges is the infamous rock musician Steven Tyler of Aerosmith.
And he has just recently released an autobiography of his life.
Aerosmith is a hard rock band which was formed in the early 1970’s and has been going strong to this day.
They have sold over 100 million albums, and have fans all over the world.
And Steven Tyler is kind of the “star” or the “front-man of the group.”
And the life of a rock star, what with the girls, the drugs, the parties, the fame, and the fortune is a promise of full life, full to overflowing.
But, as one reads the autobiography of a rock star, one quickly notes that all which glitters is not gold.
In his book, Tyler repeatedly talks about his hardcore drug addictions which tore his band mates and his life apart.
He recounts all kinds of relationship problems that have caused him much pain through the years.
And at one point in the book he writes simply, “It’s lonely to be me.”
Of course, you don’t have to be a rock star to be “lonely,” “unsatisfied,” “unfulfilled” and a bit “dead” inside.
Anyone who has lived a life chasing after materialism and fame has more than likely discovered just how unsatisfying this kind of life is.
And yet, this is the lie that the world tries to sell…
…and sadly, business is good!!!
People are buying.
“Just try this and you will be happy.”
“Come this way, and you will find what you need.”
In our Gospel Lesson for this morning Jesus tells us “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that [you] may have life, and have it to the full.”
Many thieves tell lies, and deceive the sheep.
They steal from them…
…steal their peace, their relationship with their Creator, their precious time and leave them for dead!
On the contrary, Jesus’ call to you and to me and the rest of the world is to listen for His voice, and to find in Him and Him alone the life which is overflowing life indeed!!!
Now our passage for this morning is a parable.
We are not literally sheep, and Jesus is certainly not a literal gate!
What Jesus is doing here is speaking to the people in terms they can understand in order to convey to them the great truths of life.
The relationship between sheep and the shepherd is intense.
In Jesus’ day, no flock ever grazed without the shepherd.
He was never off duty.
Sounds a bit like Jesus, does it not?
The shepherd would guard the sheep against wild animals, especially against wolves, and yes, there were always thieves and robbers ready to steal the sheep!
In the Old Testament, God is often pictured as the Shepherd, and the people as God’s flock.
“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”
In the New Testament Jesus is the Good Shepherd.
Jesus is the Shepherd Who gives His life to seek and save the straying sheep.
In Matthew and Mark, we are told that Jesus has compassion on people because they are “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
In Luke, the disciples are Jesus’ “little flock.”
In 1 Peter we are told that Jesus is the Shepherd of human souls and in Hebrews we again read that Jesus is the Great Shepherd of the sheep.
And here in John, Jesus says, “his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.”
I have read that, even to this day, the sheep in Palestine often have individual names that the shepherd calls them by.
Usually the names are descriptive, like “Brown-leg”, “Black-ear,” and so forth.
It is also true that the sheep know the shepherd’s voice and will never come to a stranger.
As a matter of fact, if a stranger calls them they will stop short, lift up their heads in alarm, and if the calling is repeated, they turn and flee.
That’s the imagery Jesus is using here in John Chapter 10.
Do we know the voice of God, and how to distinguish between God’s voice and the voice of the enemy?
Remember, all that glitters is not gold!
So many of us humans are, indeed, like sheep without a shepherd.
We go from one thing to the next seeking happiness, seeking love.
But we find ourselves unsatisfied, so we wander and become even more lost than before.
If we follow blind guides and false prophets, we will end up in the ditch, broken, hurt, and bleeding at best!
It truly is…life and death!!!
I have been told that sheep are prone to wander.
They tend to get preoccupied, and forget what they are supposed to be doing.
Thus they can get into trouble pretty easily and pretty quick.
They need someone to watch them closely.
They can’t protect themselves, and they have lots of predators that are out to just gobble them up!
Therefore it is so important, of utmost importance, that people come to know the voice of Jesus.
For Jesus is the “gate for the sheep…whoever enters through [Jesus] will be saved.”
Jesus has laid down His life so that we can enter into His fold; the Kingdom of God—which is also the Church here on this earth.
Of course, it’s not the stone and brick, it’s the people of God—the flock.
It’s sad, how often we take the Church for granted.
It’s a grave danger when we wander away from our fellow sheep…
…when we stop attending worship on a regular basis…
…when we decide that there are more important things to do rather than come to Bible study, Sunday school, and all the other various ways in which we interact, and fellowship under the auspices of the Good Shepherd Who so loves us that He shed His blood on a Cross in order that we be together under His care.
Take a look in your United Methodist Hymnals, if you would, on page 400.
The hymn is “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.”
It was written by a man named Robert Robinson shortly after he converted to Methodism at the age of 22.
Let’s read the words together.
“Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God; he to rescue me from danger, interposed his precious blood.
O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love; here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.”
Robert knew himself pretty well.
How many of us are “prone to wander”?
It seems that wandering away from the fold of God, and thus losing the joy of his salvation was one of Mr. Robinson’s greatest fears.
One day while riding on a stagecoach, a lady sitting next to Robinson was humming a hymn.
It was “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.”
This lady asked Robinson if he was familiar with the hymn she was humming.
He responded, “Madam, I am the poor unhappy man who wrote that hymn many years ago, and I would give a thousand worlds, if I had them, to enjoy the feelings I had then.”
Apparently, Robinson wandered and wandered…
…he left the God he loved.
Jesus says, “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”
There is a way that seems right to human beings, but it is true foolishness.
We need the Shepherd, we must follow Jesus if we are going to be happy and fruitful in this life.
We must learn to distinguish between the voices of the strangers and enemies that entice only to kill and maim and destroy…
…and the voice of the One Who loves us, died for us and has come so that we can live full, happy, joy-filled, peace-filled, productive, adventurous, exciting lives.
Let us not “fling our lives away” by following after the voices of the false prophets who promise happiness through material gain, narcissism, whatever…
Christ has come to rescue us from danger by shedding His precious blood.
And He understands the temptations and snares which we all face.
And He alone knows how to lead us in a way that we will not be injured by them.
Jesus alone can lead us beside the still waters.
Jesus alone can restore our souls.
Let us always listen to His voice.
For it is, indeed, a matter of life and death.
Amen.
