Sermon 12th May 2019 – 4th
Sunday of Easter – Good Shepherd Sunday
Text: John 10:22-30 – More than a number
I was watching a TV show the other
night and a person when about to die says –
“well, I guess my number is up”.
How often are you identified with a
number?
At the bank you have account numbers,
PIN numbers and credit card numbers with expiry dates and security number on
the back that you have to constantly quote.
The taxation department identifies
you by your Tax File Number.
You have a Medicare number.
When you enquire about a bill you are
asked is, "What is your customer number?"
When you go to McDonalds you are
assigned a number and you pick up your order when your number is called.
If you are in business you need an
ABN
When driving you’re identified by
your licence number and your registration number
Numbers are so impersonal.
You are not a number to God but it’s
your name that is important to God.
When Moses was sent by God to free
Israel from slavery God didn’t given him a special weapon to fight Pharaoh with
– he gave him his name.
Names are so important that God has
enshrined his own name by the 2nd Commandment: You shall not take the name of
the Lord in vain.
Philippians, when telling us about
Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice says that God gave to him – the name that is above
all names that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow and every tongue
confess.
In John’s Gospel we hear Jesus speak
words that give us comfort knowing that we are more than a number to God.
Jesus tells us about the very
personal and intimate relationship that he has with us.
He says, my sheep hear my voice. I
know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never
perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.
Jesus is the Good Shepherd and he
says, as our Good Shepherd - “I know my sheep and my sheep know me—
And that knowing goes right back to
your Baptism where you are named before God – Peter James Ghalayini – I baptise
you in the NAME of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
We can be excused for not quite
connecting with this illustration that Jesus has given as our Good Shepherd and
we as his sheep.
The Australian sheep farmer does not
give off the same type of image that we read about in the Bible.
We would rarely see a Shepherd today
lay down his life for one of his sheep.
We would rarely see a shepherd lie
across the sheep pen to act as a gate to stop predators attacking them.
We would rarely see a shepherd leave
99 sheep to go looking for a single lost sheep.
And that’s why Jesus, when referring
to himself as our Shepherd says he is our “Good Shepherd”
Jesus does things for us that others
would not do, especially fulfilling what he said about himself as the Good
Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.
That’s what we have just celebrated
again this Easter.
Jesus is also connecting himself to
the Old Testament imagery that we read in Psalm 23.
King David, the writer of Psalm 23,
refers to the Lord as my shepherd.
There is nothing I need – I shall not
be in want.
I will not be afraid for you are with
me.
King David is expressing the personal
relationship that God had with him.
King David went through difficult
times with the previous King, King Saul, refusing to give up his kingship after
God took it away from him and gave it to the young shepherd David.
As our Good Shepherd King David
speaks about Jesus being with us wherever we go.
He is there in green pastures to
celebrate in good times
He leads me beside still waters
bringing us peace in times of distress
He revives my soul when the stresses
and pressures of life wear us down.
He guides me along the right path for
his Name's sake to help us when we don’t know which way we should go in a
particular situation.
He is there in times of grief and
despair so that even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I
shall fear no evil; for you are with me;
He is there to spread a table before
me in the presence of my enemies to protect me from dangers;
There is never a time or place in our
lives when his goodness and mercy don’t follow us all the days of our lives,
And especially important is his
promise – I am with you always till the end of the age when I will dwell in the
house of the Lord for ever.
There are times when it seems that
Jesus is not so close to us.
When he seems anything but the Good
Shepherd.
We have prayed for help in times of
sickness and the pain is as intense as ever.
We have asked him to guide us through
some difficult decisions but we have taken the wrong direction.
We have wanted him to watch over our
loved ones, but they have still been caught up in trouble and accidents.
But the fact is that Jesus hasn’t
gone anywhere.
It’s not about how we feel but what
we know about Jesus our Good Shepherd.
He is right here with us.
He knows what is happening in our
lives.
He knows how anxious we are.
Jesus’ promise to be with us is
assured even when we are doubting and despairing,
He promises: "I am the good
Shepherd, I know my sheep".
Even though we are down and almost
out, we are assured that we are in the arms of the everlasting shepherd who
lovingly supports and strengthens us in our weakest and most painful moments,
and no one can snatch us out of those loving arms.
The image of the Good Shepherd is one
of love and closeness.
And as his followers, we share the
same concerns as he has, and show our love in very practical ways, as Jesus
did.
As he said to Peter when reassuring
him of his love for him he said that that love is shown in physical ways:
Feed my sheep;
Care for my sheep;
Jesus calls us to become shepherds to
one another.
We are to be shepherds to one another
as members of this congregation and parish.
We are to be shepherds to one another
in our families, in our work, in our schools, in our sports and hobbies and
amongst our friends.
Just as Jesus shepherds us with his
love, we shepherd those whom God has placed in our lives with that same love.
That was his new commandment before
he died – love one another as I have loved you.
We don’t know what tomorrow will
bring, but we do know that we have a loving shepherd who walks with us through
the good and bad.
And that day when we must walk
through the valley of the shadow of death he will walk with us and lead us to
the glorious new life beyond the grave.
Because we have a loving shepherd,
our Good Shepherd, whose goodness and love will follow us all our lives and we
will live in the house of the Lord forever.
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