New Yearfs Day, 2015
Psalm 23, John 10: 1`16
Happy New Year, AD 2015, Anno Domini 2015, The Year of Our Lord 2015, also know as, the Year of the Sheep. Since we are in Japan, I thought it would be interesting to think about sheep in the Bible. In the Bible, there are sheep all over, it is like a pasture! 152 sheep in the English Old Testament, 41 in the English New Testament, 149 lambs in the English Old Testament, 6 lambs in the English New Testament
From Genesis 4 where Abel was a shepherd who offered a sheep as a sacrifice to God to Revelation 22 where Christ is the Lamb in heaven. There is the beautiful Psalm 23, gThe Lord is my shepherd, he makes me lie down in green pastures.h Jesus says. gI am the good shepherdh John 10:11. And of course the words of John the Baptist, gBehold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the worldh John 1:29. There is the Passover lamb at the time of the Exodus. Sheep and lambs were offered daily at the Temple in Jerusalem as sacrifices of thanks to God and for the forgiveness of sin. And Jesus becomes the ultimate Sacrificial Lamb when he died on the cross to forgive the sin of the world. In the Bible, sheep are raised for their wool, for food for people to eat, and for sacrifices to God.
As we begin this new year, we want to think about how we will live this year. We do not know the future, we do not know what will happen or how to prepare for everything, but we can prepare our hearts and minds to face anything that will happen. We can do that because we know that God will be with us no matter what happens. This is the clear teaching of the Bible, and to help us understand that, the Bible uses the image of sheep and shepherd. None of us here live on a farm and the only sheep we have actually seen may be in the zoo or on television, but we can easily understand the parables.
There will be times this year when we will be like sheep in green pastures beside the still waters. Life will be happy and interesting. We will be with friends and family. We will have no pain or worry. It will be a time to thank God for his blessings. Letfs try not to forget to thank God, just like we thank people who have been kind to us.
There will be times this year when we will feel like sheep being attacked by wolves and thieves. This might happen literally. In Okinawa there are no wolves, but there are habu and car accidents and identity thieves and other robbers. They are not our enemies, they love our money. Real enemies are they people who hate us and want revenge or who want to hurt us. They might have a good reason sometimes to hate and mistrust us because of something bad that we did. Forgiveness and trust are hard. This is when we need to pray to our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. gO Lord, lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. O Lord, protect us in times of sickness and accident. Better yet, show us the path to avoid the evil in the first place.h We might remember that sometimes God guides us with his rod and staff, that is, he pokes us and pushes us and has to pull us sometimes. We pray that the Lord would give us the wisdom to know when it is the Lord who loves us who is doing this. We pray that we would accept the guidance of the Lord.
In the Bible sheep are often used as sacrifice. Christians know that sometimes this means that we give our lives for others. Sometimes we help others rather than ourselves. It is service to others. Jesus teaches us what this means. In the Garden of Gethsemane he prayed, gAbba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you willh Mark 14:36. At another time he said, gFor even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for manyh Mark 10:45. But the greatest sacrifice was when Jesus died on the cross to take away the sin of the world. This fulfilled the words of John the Baptist, gBehold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the worldh John 1:29. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, but at the same time he is the Lamb of God. This combination is pure Gospel. This Gospel will guide us and empower us for this coming year.
In the Bible, besides sacrifice, sheep are used for food and for wool. As food, we also want to give strength and nourishment to other people. As wool, we want to give warmth and comfort and joy to other people. I will let you use your imagination as how to do that.
I could only find one passage in the Bible where a lamb is a pet. That is in Second Samuel 12 when Nathan tells David the story after he had Bathshebafs husband Uriah killed so he could take Bathsheba as his wife. Nathan said, gThe poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to himh @@@2 Samuel 12:3. I do not know if God thinks of us as his pets. But we do know that he loves us. And like a pet that depends on its owner for everything, so we depend on God for everything we need to live.
I pray that this will be a good year for all of us. May it be a year of peace and joy and love.
Amen.
Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church
