Easter 4 A
A Test of Authenticity
John 10:1-10
04/21/02
You wouldn’t think it would be all that difficult. Loading a computer program onto your computer these days is usually as simple as placing the CD in the computer and following the simple instructions on the screen. But this is not always the case, especially when you’re reloading programs that were originally on your computer when you first purchased it.
You see, not too long ago, I had a virus that required me to wipe out everything that I had on my system and start from scratch. It would be time consuming, but easy enough. And it was easy until I actually got started. No sooner had I popped that first CD into the computer it asked me for a number from a certificate of authenticity.
You see, it wasn’t enough for the makers of Microsoft, that I had the program CD. I had to have the original packaging so as to guarantee that I wasn’t using some pirated copy of their program. I needed the numbers on a green and white piece of paper like the ones on this box or the program wouldn’t even begin to load.
Sometimes it’s important to have the real thing. We can put up with generic medications. We can tolerate no-name steaks and Hy-Vee pop, outlet stores and other alternatives. But when we’re sick, we won’t want to settle for the guy who plays a doctor on TV. When we’re in a serious legal matter we won’t just want to just talk to (your local lawyer’s name) next door neighbor. And when it comes to matters of eternity, getting right with our God, knowing the way of salvation; we’ll want to know the real thing too. We’ll want to know a real shepherd who will lead us in the way of life.
Jesus wants us to know as well. That’s what he was up to in our text. To catch up with the context of Jesus’ statements we go back several weeks. It was in the heart of Lent that we heard how Jesus and his disciples had met up with a man who was born blind. The disciples had asked Jesus why the man had suffered this affliction. “Was it because he sinned or his parents?” Jesus had said, “Neither. This has happened that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” Then after speaking with the man and wiping a bit of mud in his eyes, Jesus told the man to go to the pool of Siloam and wash. There his eyes were opened. He could see. But as we know, that was hardly the end of the story. When the man’s friends saw he had been healed and how, they took him to their religious leaders where the incident was investigated. And in the end, because of his testimony concerning Jesus, the man who had formerly been blind was thrown out of the synagogue. He was cut off from the worshipping community.
That’s the background of our lesson today. Following the man’s removal, Jesus sought him out and found him. He confirmed the man’s faith in him. He spoke of the spiritual blindness of the Pharisees and others who rejected him. And in front of his disciples, this man and some Pharisees and other Jews who were following him Jesus now shares this illustrative lesson about His kingdom; about would be shepherds, true shepherds and His sheep.
No doubt, as the Pharisees first listened to Jesus’ words they found a lot they could agree with. They were familiar with this shepherding language as it had been used in the OT to speak of the religious leadership of God’s people. And this is what they thought of themselves – overseers of the flock of Israel. Yet as Jesus was about to enlighten them, they were really anything but shepherds in what they did.
Jesus had offered life with Father through repentance and faith. If one could not trust in themselves to please God (and who truthfully could?), he or she could trust Jesus who did please the Father in every way. Despairing of their lack of any personal righteousness, Jesus offered a righteousness by faith in Him and His redeeming work that was to come on the cross and his resurrection on Easter morn. The sinner, the outcast, Jew and Gentile, slave and free; all were graciously called and invited to approach the Father through a personal relationship of faith and hope in Him who carefully met their heartfelt needs, tenderly mended their wounded souls and sacrificially gave his all to make them His.
In contrast to that the Pharisees had devised their own plan. The way to the Father was by strict adherence to His commands. If one could act in true duty, one could grow closer to God. And as the leaders the Pharisees saw themselves as interpreters and judges who were to legislate a stringent set of guidelines controlling every aspect of daily life. The trouble, of course, came in the fulfilling of all those expectations. As Jesus pointed out, they spent far more time upholding the expectations and rules of men than of God. And even when they did adhere to letter of God’s will, they missed its spirit. God loves a cheerful giver, but they led people to give of themselves out of obligation and out of fear.
You can see that in how they handled the man who had been born blind and his family. If you remember, his family was so afraid of possibly being “expelled” by the religious leaders and thus made “outcasts”, alienated from God by the declaration of their religious leaders, that they wouldn’t even offer an explanation for what had happened to their son. “He’s of age,” they said. “Let him answer for himself.” And of course we know how they treated him.
Jesus throws the light of God’s truth on all of this. He does so for the Pharisees, these would-be shepherds to let them know they’ve gone astray. Isn’t the Father concerned about the outcast, the one who’s gone astray? You’ve bloodied the sheep, God’s people, and refused to heal. Your way leaves no hope for the one who’s erred. And who hasn’t. You’ve led people to trust in their own imperfect lives to approach the Father. You’ve led them to a vacant lot with no pasture. You’re been playing the role of a thief or a robber.
He says this for the Pharisees, but he says it for the people too. Not everyone who presents himself as a shepherd of the sheep is a true shepherd. You can’t trust every would-be spiritual leader. There aren’t 100 ways to get to heaven with numerous relevant truths to embrace. There’s but one door through which the Father expects His shepherds to approach His sheep, and but one door by which He calls His sheep to look for true shepherds. And that door is Christ. True shepherds of God’s people are summoned to service by Christ and His Spirit and they call God’s people through Christ and the voice of His Spirit filled word.
Nothing could be more pertinent to our religious climate today. We need to be reminded as pastors and people about what being a true servant of God is all about. There are all kinds of talk today about what it takes to be a successful church in the 21st Century. Not a week goes by that I don’t receive some offer in the mail suggesting that this program or that can spark a revival, start our membership on fire for the Spirit or improve the financial stewardship of the congregation. The airwaves are alive too with all kinds of suggestions from preachers and evangelists alike that you can draw near to God with a check made out to the right institution or by following a prescribed 10 step course to spiritual renewal or seven fold principles to happiness and success. We’re being told that the key to church is the right kind of music, a prescribed method of worship. But the truth of the matter is what really counts is Jesus. Where Jesus is used as the door we find His church, and the church’s true shepherds.
I’ll be honest with you. It’s hard, but this pastor/shepherd tries not to get too worked up with numbers and statistics and the latest trends nor is it in the preservation of age old traditions, because in the end they don’t matter. May it be said of me and of you that we did all we could to look to Jesus and lead others to heaven through him; because a true member of God’s fold doesn’t need to be shamed into the pew on Sunday morning. He just comes. And a true lamb of God doesn’t need to be coerced into offering his time or pulling out his checkbook or wallet. He or she just does it and they give generously to the one who has given His all for them. A lamb of the heavenly Father might not like but can still appreciate music or worship, not on the basis of style or beat, but by its witness to God’s love in Christ; an attitude that can embrace Handel’s Messiah, Swen and Dean and contemporary Christian Rock Bands like POD all in the same breath. A member of God’s household knows his or her need. They know they can’t please God by their own lives. They know they’re a sinner in need of a savior.
You know who you are. You know if you’ve been listening to the shepherd’s voice or not. You know if you’re one of his sheep and you just act accordingly, because it’s who you are. And conversely, my friends, you also know if you are not.
True shepherds and sheep of God look to Jesus, who is God’s given gate; and with good reason. He’s not just the gate. He’s also THE Shepherd, the quintessential, the ultimate one.
We fail. If eternity we’re dependant upon us and the quality of our undershepherding, God help us. But where we fail, he didn’t. That’s why we look for true life in Christ alone and return as his undershepherds to call others through His Word alone. He’s the “Good” Shepherd. We look and we point others to Him because there we find pasture, the food we need for life. We find His word of comfort in the midst of grief. We find His Word of encouragement in the midst of trial. We find His “living” presence in the midst of troubles, a presence promised and assured in the truth that he is not dead, but alive, victorious over death by his resurrection on Easter morn. We find the strength of His Spirit who uplifts and keeps us in the one true faith. We find the protection of His loving Father who enfolds us in the sheep pen of his loving arms, working good even in the midst of that which looks bad, even that which is bad. We have the confidence of knowing that he knows each of us by name, having had our sinful nature drowned and having been called to new life by His blood bought grace in the waters of baptism. We have the relief of hearing too, of his gracious search for those who have yet to hear. “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen and I must bring them also;” and all because he never gave up on us, but instead gave up his own life for us to make us His.
Before we close today I want to share with you a story I read this past week. It’s the story of a young man who left his little village in Native Scotland to become a world-famous Shakespearean actor. At the pinnacle of his fame, he returned to his home to visit family and friends. For the obscure community, it was an exciting and proud time. A party was thrown for the entire village. And after eating, partying and reminiscing for a while someone suggested that a contest be held. Their notable actor and the elderly local pastor would engage in a contest. Each was to quote a portion from one of Shakespeare’s plays. The pastor, with some embarrassment, confessed that he had not committed any of Shakespeare’s writings to memory. But someone remembered that long years before their returned favorite son had memorized the twenty-third Psalm in Sunday school.
And so it was agreed that they both quote this familiar biblical text. The pastor went first; slowly and tenderly he quoted the Psalm. Now it was the actor’s turn. He began, “The Lord is my shepherd. ..” and with great expression and perfect gestures, with masterful inflection and flawless diction, he quoted the entire Psalm. When he finished there was a moment of awkward silence. What eloquence. Everyone knew who the winner was. The contest was embarrassingly one-sided.
Then something interesting happened. Once again the actor stepped to the microphone and spoke. With genuine humility, he commenced with this announcement: “Ladies and gentlemen, I know the Psalm—the pastor knows the Shepherd.”
My hope, my prayer is that the same can be said of us; that we, as his sheep, value the truth of His Word; that we recognize it when we hear it; that we trustingly follow where it leads and that we return to the sheepfold as undershepherds by the same gate so that others might now hear Him too and believe.
