Receive Your Compassionate Shepherd’s Care

“The LORD is my shepherd.” “I am the Good Shepherd.” “I am Jesus’ little lamb, Ever glad at heart I am.” Generations of believers have loved those kinds of descriptions of God’s love for them and of their relationship to God through faith in Jesus. Shepherd and sheep. Sheep and shepherd. Through hymns like the three we have already sung in our service this morning, and through favorite Bible passages like Psalm 23, Christians have returned again and again to the thought of how Jesus is their compassionate shepherd, and they are his dearly loved sheep and lambs.

In no way doubting or challenging the truth that Jesus is the Good Shepherd what would you say to someone who asked you, “Well, how exactly does Jesus serve as your Good Shepherd? Explain to me what that looks like in your day-to-day life.” Of course we could point to Jesus’ attributes. The Bible tells us he is omnipotent—that is almighty. There are many Scripture passages where Christ is revealed as omnipresent—that is present everywhere. We know Jesus is omniscient—that means he knows all things. And finally, our Savior has been given all authority in heaven and on earth by God the Father. He rules all things in heaven and on earth for our eternal good. Those would all be great points to make. And our Good Shepherd has demonstrated his great love for us by living and dying in our place!

But still, someone might ask, “Okay, I understand what you are saying. But, how exactly does Jesus provide compassionate care for you?” Let’s think about how we might answer that question. First, we might point out how Jesus speaks to our hearts through his Word. As he said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” His promises give us hope, courage, and strength. He also comes to us in a personal way in the Lord’s Supper to strengthen us with his own body and blood, assuring us of the forgiveness of our sins. We also know from the Bible that our Good Shepherd has thousands and thousands of angels that he sends to protect his sheep and lambs. And last, but not least, as we have heard in all three of our Bible readings for this Sunday, our Shepherd sends people as spiritual shepherds into our lives.

Under the theme “Meaningful Ministry” we are focusing on very specific ways that Jesus provides compassionate care through others. During our sermon together let’s focus more closely on how Jesus does this and what he wants to accomplish among us. May the Holy Spirit work in us a deeper understanding of how our Good Shepherd provides compassionate care for us. We are going to direct our attention to our Second Reading from Hebrews 13. The message that I want you to take with you in your head and in your heart today is this:

“RECEIVE YOUR COMPASSIONATE SHEPHERD’S CARE”

I. Through the shepherds he sends to you

II. For the life of service he calls you to

Perhaps you recall that the Hebrews were Jews who had become followers of Christ. Reading this letter, we get a feeling for what they were going through as sheep of the Good Shepherd. It seems that these former Jews were under pressure to give up their newfound faith in Jesus as the Messiah. Now why would they even think about rejecting Jesus as the Christ? First of all, because of their belief that Jesus was the Promised Savior they would have been disowned by their fellow Jews. This might be similar to the way some groups “shun” those who were once members but have left the group. In addition to that rough reality, they were also suffering and being persecuted for being Christians at the hands of the Romans.

To encourage the Hebrews to remain faithful to Jesus the author of this letter made several strong points. He used the facts about Jesus and the Old Testament prophecies to prove once again that Jesus was the Promised Savior. He had given his life as the ransom price to set them free from their sins. And in spite of what they were experiencing he was living and reigning as the Lord of heaven and earth. To prevent these “Hebrews” from throwing away their confidence, the Holy Spirit directed them to cling to the promises God had made and to wait patiently for God to fulfill his promises. Then in the closing chapters of this Letter to the Hebrews the author gave his readers some final encouragement to remain faithful to Jesus.

I.

One key, closing thought that the author wanted the Hebrews to have in mind was that Jesus would care for them through flesh and blood shepherds. They would be spiritual leaders who brought God’s Word into their lives. We would call them “pastors” I suppose. “7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Although Jesus had ascended into heaven and was ruling all things for the good of his church, he would use human messengers to speak and model his Word for his followers.