With The Good Shepherd You Are Kept Safe
The thief was in the sheep pen again this week, wasn’t he? The thief stole our security with the violence and death that comes with terrorism. Israel continues to be plagued with suicide bombers and our country remains on alert against terrorist attacks. The FBI has issued an alert because there is the possibility that terrorist’s may use suicide bombers here in the United States. At one time we believed that our country was safe from attacks, but sine 9/11, this is not true anymore and the same question is on everyone’s minds: Will we ever be safe again? Our Word of God for today contains the answer. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, is the answer. He says to us today, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.”
Open the Bible to St. John’s Gospel, the 10th chapter on page __________, you’ll notice that the New International Version for verse 9 has a footnote on the word “saved.” It could also be translated “be kept safe.” That’s why I’ve chosen as our theme today: With the Good Shepherd You Are Kept Safe. Our world today seems to be a dangerous place. But Jesus wants to assure us that if we follow him, follow our Good Shepherd, we are kept safe.
Since you have the Bible open to John’s Gospel, go back to chapter 9. In order for us to appreciate the text that we have before us it is necessary to see the larger context in which these words are found. John chapter 9 is where Jesus heals the man who had been born blind. When some of this man’s neighbors saw that he had been healed, they felt compelled to bring the man to the Pharisees—some of the most respected religious leaders at that time. As you scan through verses 13 to 34 you see how these religious leaders investigated this miracle. the Pharisees did not hear what they wanted to hear and they “threw him out” or excommunicated him from the synagogue.
When Jesus heard that this man had been treated so shamefully by the religious leaders He went and found this man for a very specific reason. Jesus had already given this man the gift of physical sight. Now Jesus gives him something far more precious and far more necessary—the gift of spiritual sight, the ability to see Jesus as his only Savior from sin! Some of the Pharisees who were present at that time objected to the fact that Jesus called them spiritually blind guides. That objection by the Pharisees is what led Jesus to speak these words of our text.
The Pharisees as I mentioned earlier were the religious leaders of the people. Theirs was the responsibility of being a shepherd to God’s people; keeping the people spiritually safe. But the truth of the matter is that they had become spiritual terrorists, spiritual thieves and robbers who were leading the people astray with their teachings of works righteousness. They were teaching the people to rely on their own abilities to earn God’s favor. They were teaching the people that because they were Abraham’s children they had a right to be in heaven. The Pharisees were not being reliable shepherds and they were helping the people commit spiritual suicide.
Sheep need a reliable shepherd if they are to be kept safe. They are such defenseless creatures. If they don’t have someone to defend them, they are the most defenseless of God’s creatures. Without the shepherd the sheep wander off and become lost. They cannot even find food that is as close as thirty feet away. They become easy prey to predators like wolves and lions with no one to protect them and keep them safe.
Just like sheep, sometimes we also wander away from the Good Shepherd and become lost. When this happens we too become easy prey for the predators of our souls. God tells us, “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
It is so easy to fall into sin when we wander away from Jesus. Like the Pharisees we become overconfident, trusting in our own merits to earn God’s favor. We can even start to think that just because we are members of a church we are entitled to eternal life in heaven. But this type of thinking is as I mentioned before is spiritual suicide. Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep.” There is only one way to get into heaven, to get into God’s sheep pen and that is through faith in the one and only Son of God. Jesus tells us, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
I’m told that sheep do not rely on the sense of sight very much. They rely more on their sense of hearing. Their shepherd’s voice is very important to them. Their shepherd’s voice is comforting and encouraging to them. But when they hear a stranger’s voice, they are very skittish, very mistrustful. So they learn to rely on and put their confidence in their shepherd. They know the shepherd’s voice, and they will only follow that voice. Jesus says, “[The shepherd] leads them out. When he has brought out all his own [sheep], he goes ahead of them, and 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.”
Why is it that so many today seem more comfortable with the stranger’s voice? Even in the Shepherd’s flock, why are so many following the stranger’s voice rather than the Shepherd’s voice? I suppose it depends on whose voice we listen to the most. That determines whose voice we develop the most confidence in. Do you listen to the Shepherd’s voice more? Or do you spend more time listening to the stranger’s voice? Parents, do you let your children listen to the Shepherd’s voice more than to the stranger’s voice? Sheep can’t get to know the Shepherd’s voice overnight. They need to spend days–many days–in the fields with him before they’re going to have confidence in him.
This means that in order to be able to recognize the shepherd’s voice we need to listen to him on a daily basis. The Shepherd’s voice is his Word so we need to read his word each and every day in personal Bible study. We need to hear the Shepherd’s voice in daily home devotions. We need to hear the Shepherd’s voice and study his word with regular church attendance. Wherever the Shepherd’s Word is read or heard, there his voice is speaking to his sheep; calling out to his sheep to bring them back when they wander off, comforting the sheep with the message of forgiveness when they have fallen into sin. And let’s be honest, we daily fall into sin and daily we need to hear the Shepherd’s voice because with the God Shepherd we are kept safe from the thieves and robbers of our souls and we are kept safe for eternal life in heaven.
Last year in my 5th and 6th grade catechism class I taught a young man who raised Jacob’s Sheep. Each of the sheep were named so that even when they were outside in the pasture, you could call each one by name. If you are unfamiliar with sheep, you may think that they all look alike. But if you’ve worked with them for a while, you begin to recognize their various markings, the different shaped spots that they have on certain parts of their body and the different shape their horns have. And if you’ve been with them a very long time, you begin to recognize and know their personalities, how certain ones are more skittish, how others are more confident and predictable and gentle. You know how you have to treat each one differently according to their needs.
That’s how Jesus knows his sheep, his people. Jesus says that, “He calls his own sheep by name.” He has a very personal relationship with them. He has a personal interest in them. Jesus tells us that we belong to him. He has redeemed us with his very own blood. Blood that he poured out on the cross. Jesus knew how badly we were held in the clutches of Satan. And he gave up his life for us and by doing so he kept us safe for eternal life in heaven. That is why he came into this world. Jesus came so “that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Jesus came to bring life. That is foremost in our minds during this Easter season. Jesus rose from the dead and gave us eternal life. We, his sheep, see life as a joyful thing. It’s something that we revel in. We concentrate on the positive things about being alive, on the blessings that God gives us in life. And we recognize that this joyful life is only a foretaste of the much richer, more abundant life that we will enjoy in heaven. “I have come,” the Shepherd says, “that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
My dear friends; if you are listening to any voice other than the Good Shepherd’s voice that voice will only lead to stealing and killing and destroying. Listen to the Good Shepherd’s voice. Listen to it every day. Parents, let your children hear the Good Shepherd’s voice every day. The only way they can hear it is through the Word. Let them hear the Word. Read it to them. Remind them of it often. Let them hear it from reliable teachers of the Word. Because when they listen to it, they will have life and they will have it to the full. It will not protect them from every physical danger that is in this world. But it will protect them from every spiritual danger. Even though Satan can harm the body, he can not harm the soul that is in the arms of the Good Shepherd.
It’s a dangerous world that we live in. Go to the only place that is safe: the sheep pen of the Good Shepherd. Listen to his voice. Follow him where he is leading. He will keep you safe. With Jesus you are safe. Amen.
