Do you all know much about Emperor Penguins? I was not very familiar with these birds until a few years ago when the documentary, March of the Penguins, came out. And as I watched this documentary, I learned many intriguing facts about this largest of the penguin family. For one thing, Emperors are monogamous; a relatively unique feature in the world of animals, they have one mate for life. Perhaps even more interesting than that, though, is the fact that it is the male Emperors who care for the egg until it hatches. That's right, every year, when mating season is over, the female Emperors take off for the ocean; all of them together in one huge flock traveling hundreds of miles so that they can fish and get plenty to eat to sustain them and their new chick for a year. Meanwhile, back at their home, the male penguins are caring for the eggs. Each male tucks his egg between his feet to keep it from breaking and to keep it warm in the cold, harsh, winter winds. But here's the thing that is perhaps most interesting. When all those females return from the ocean, hundreds, perhaps even thousands of them, how do you think they find their mate in the equally large crowd of males? It's not that they can just walk up to the doorstep of their nest and step inside. No, there are no nests. The Emperor penguins always find their mate and their children, by the sound of their call, their voice. It seems impossible for a flock of thousands of penguins to sort themselves out by the sounds of their voices, but they do it. In our view, it's nothing short of a miracle!
I suppose such a feat shouldn't surprise us too much. Perhaps all human voices sound alike to birds, just as bird calls (especially within a single species) all sound the same to humans. Yet, we humans do have some selective hearing; a father or mother will recognize their child's voice in a crowded room and vice versa. But those of us who don't have much to do with the bird and animal kingdoms on a daily basis are often startled at just how much animals can distinguish between different people as well as between others members of their own species. To this day, in the Middle East, a shepherd will go into a crowded sheepfold and call out his own sheep one by one, naming them. They will recognize his voice and come to him.
An Anglican priest toured the Holy Land many years ago. One day on his travels, he saw several different groups of sheep converging together on a watering hole. As he watched the meeting, he thought to himself, "Now, there will be trouble. They'll all get mixed up. The shepherds won't like this." But the sheep continued to come together, until they formed one big flock of sheep. They all looked alike -- a big mass of white wool. "What will they do now?" the priest thought. "How will the shepherds ever separate them out?" The priest was intrigued enough to stay for a while. And when the sheep had finished drinking, he was amazed at what he saw. Each shepherd gave out a cry. Each let go his unique call, and almost by magic, the sheep divided back into their original herds.
Do you begin to see why Jesus might have spent so much time talking about sheep and their shepherds? In the passage this morning, Jesus is trying to answer an earlier question from the Pharisees that basically boiled down to, "Who is this guy? Is he a prophet or not? Is he the "Son of Man" whom God will set as judge over the world?" And Jesus has an answer for them, an answer that comes in the form of the parable we heard in John just a few moments ago. 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. In fact, the ideal king is pictured as a shepherd! “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”
So Jesus uses this image to describe himself in response to the Pharisees' question. And just a little later in the Gospel of John, Jesus refers to himself as the "Good Shepherd." In fact, we see this throughout the New Testament. 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.”
It's no wonder that sheep will run from a strange voice. The shepherd does spend most hours of most days in the company of his sheep. He knows their individual personalities, their markings, their likes and dislikes. He takes care of them and makes sure they are safe and have what they need. And what's more, those sheep know their shepherd. They know his voice. Someone else can jump the fence into the sheepfold and those sheep won't go near him, even if he calls the right names. Those sheep are listening for the one voice that matters, they listen only for the voice they trust. When the sheep hear that voice, no sheepdog is necessary to keep them in order. The shepherd doesn't even need to walk behind the sheep, driving them on. Instead, he will walk ahead, calling them, and they will follow him. Jesus says to us, "I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and my sheep know me."
Do you know that voice? Our lives are full of noise. There are car horns and sirens, radios, TVs, concerts, speakers. We turn on the TV, get the dishwasher going, and then raise our voices in an effort to be heard to one another. School teachers have developed elaborate systems to let their students know when they are getting too loud and need to quiet down. And think about what all that noise means, think about how distracting it is. Just when we've settled down and gotten in a rhythm of working, the phone rings. It's maddening, isn't it? It's frustrating and stressful. All the noise we are constantly bombarded with is so distracting and draining. The funny thing is, it's not just the noise, is it? We struggle everyday in different ways, it's like constant chaos. But in the midst of all the cacophony of our lives, there is a Shepherd calling us by name, calling us to a life not of stress and frustration, but to a life of abundance!
Do we know the voice of our Shepherd? Do we know the voice of God and how to distinguish between God's voice and the voice of the enemy? So many of us humans are, indeed, like sheep without a shepherd. We hear the ad on TV and we rush out to buy "the next great thing." We follow after one voice or another. 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. We can listen to every voice, every sound, every word that runs through our lives, but if we do, it's like following blind guides and false prophets. We will end up in the ditch, or standing at the edge of a cliff, alone, broken, and hurt.
This really is a matter of life and death! Sheep have a tendency to wander. They get preoccupied in their grazing and they forget to notice what is happening around them. Often they will wander far from the flock without ever noticing it. Thus, they can get into trouble quite easily. They have to have someone to watch them closely. They can't protect themselves, and there are plenty of predators out there just waiting for their chance at a good meal. That is why it is so important that sheep know the voice of their shepherd. And the same is true for us is well.
We can easily get distracted. We stay out late on Saturday night and sleep right through worship on Sunday morning. Or perhaps we decide we are going to spend our extra money on a new toy, only to discover that after the purchase, there is nothing left to give to the church. We follow the voice that says we need to be cool, or rich, or successful, only to find that it leaves us lonely and empty in the end. That is why it is of greatest importance that we come to know the voice of Jesus. For Jesus is the gate for his sheep, "whoever enters through [Jesus] will be saved." Jesus laid down his life so that we can hear his voice and then enter into his fold, his abundant life.
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, the chaos and cacophony, which we all face. And he alone knows how to shepherd 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.
