The Voice of the Shepherd

Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. (John 10:25-28, ESV)

Transcript

Some of you are married, some for a long time. It’ll be our twenty-fifth anniversary this summer, and we’ll be celebrating it by spending time visiting and travelling and resting after decades of ministry and over a decade as missionaries. Still, I’m not always the most attentive husband. Deb turned to me yesterday and said, "Have you listened to a single word I've been saying?" And I thought to myself, what a weird way to start a conversation.

That’s a joke, of course. But Jesus’s words to us from Solomon’s colonnade are not. “I told you, and you do not believe, and you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep.” This is a much more farm-oriented way of saying what Paul said in Romans chapter ten:

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” (Romans 10:14, ESV)

If you look to Jesus for your help and comfort and salvation and guidance, it’s because you believe. And if you believe in him, it’s because you’ve heard his voice. And if you’ve heard his voice, it’s because someone proclaimed it to you. There is no calling together of the sheep without the clear voice of the Shepherd ringing out. And what is that voice? What does Jesus say?

Even though today’s reading is from the Gospel of John, this is the year we hear mostly from the Gospel of Luke. And what does Luke record of Jesus’ voice? What have we heard so far?

In Epiphany, Jesus quotes the words he spoke through the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18–19, ESV). What do you think about that? Does that interest you? 

At the end of Epiphany, Jesus announced who is blessed and who is not: “Blessed are you who are poor… Blessed are you who are hungry now… Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh… But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.  Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.” (Luke 6:20–26, ESV). Thumbs up? Or thumbs down? Agree or disagree? Are you with Jesus or think he’s crazy?

Jesus said he was like a mother hen, longing to gather her chicks under her wings; like a gardener, throwing manure around our trees to see if we would bear fruit; like a father, trying to reconcile his lost boys to each other and to him. What do you think? Is that the kind of God you want to worship and serve? Do you believe this God worships and serves you through the cross of Jesus?

I remember taking a group to Joel Osteen’s “Lakewood Church” in Houston. There were thousands at that service. We heard about God, about praising the Lord, about being good neighbours. Then at the end, after an hour and a half of bands and singing and preaching, Joel invited us to “be saved” and to “give our heart to Jesus.” Deb leaned over to me and said, “Who is this Jesus, and why would I need to give him my heart?” 

The point is that we forget the simplicity of what Jesus said: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28, ESV). Jesus does NOT say, “Tell people to believe in me, explain the mechanics of theology and salvation, and then the people will have their eternal salvation card in their pocket for a rainy day.” Jesus says “share my words” – and his sheep will hear them and follow. He will lead them to clear waters (font) and green pastures (altar). He will restore their souls unto eternal life in his Word.

I had an interesting encounter with a barber in Ottawa a few weeks ago. I found out he was a former Roman Catholic who now attended a New Apostolic Church. He asked me, as a pastor, why I thought so many people were turned off from the church and abandoning Christianity. I told him the answer seemed obvious: the bleating of the sheep had become louder than the voice of Jesus, the Good Shepherd. 

It has never been, is not, and will never be, the church’s mission to get people to come to church! It is the church’s mission to share the voice of the Shepherd, because as Jesus has clearly said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

We have four Gospels in our Bibles that are the center piece of the Lord’s voice in the Word. In them, Jesus speaks about who we are –fallen people (that means me, that means you, sheep without a shepherd), what the world is- in pretty bad shape (did you notice), who God is – a Father looking for lost sons, a master forgiving his servants, a hen gathering chicks, a physician for the sick, a liberator for the captive and the oppressed, and yes, a shepherd leading his sheep

It has been rumoured that there is a Lutheran pulpit that has one simple verse from John 12 inscribed on the bookholder. It is the words of a bunch of Greek Jews to Philip: “Sir, we desire to see Jesus.” In other words, preachers, get out of the way and speak Jesus’ words. Speak this Shepherd Jesus to the people, who offers them: an easy yoke, rest for their souls, sets a table in the presence of their enemies, promises them peace in a world of tribulation, says he is the resurrection and the life, does good to his enemies and prays for forgiveness for his persecutors, who is the Shepherd, the Good One, and leads his sheep now and forever by the words of his mouth

Jesus’ first major parable in Luke’s Gospel is that of the Sower sowing seed. After he tells it, his disciples ask him what it means. Who are they, these disciples? They self-identify. They are disciples, BECAUSE they ask what the parable means.

Who are Jesus’ sheep? Those who listened to Jesus’ voice and said, “I will follow YOU.” Those who hear him say, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand” and say Amen! Those who hear him say, “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand” and say, “this is most certainly true.” Those who hear his voice – and want to hear it again and again.

We share the voice of Jesus. His sheep cannot help but hear his voice, come to him, and live.

Amen.