GOSPEL LESSON: John 10:22-30 [The Good Shepherd]
Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade. The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."
Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one."
Jesus is the Good Shepherd and we are his sheep. You do not look like sheep, however. You do not have wooly hair and cute little ears. But I can imagine that you are like sheep that enjoy following the Shepherd when leading off to greener pastures and still, peaceful waters. And I can equally imagine that you are like playful sheep and curious sheep that like to wander off. Although I cannot tell from here, there are probably some "black sheep" out there in the congregational flock. These would be the trouble-makers that disturb the herd and perturb the Word.
Personally I was not born on a farm, so I have never been around sheep much. They tell me that domestic sheep are weak, defenseless animals. They are easy prey for wild animals like wolves and coyotes. Just like cattle rustlers of old, even today there are sheep rustlers who would rob the shepherd of the sheep. Sheep need to be protected by a dedicated shepherd. This is an ancient problem, even in Bible times. And so Psalm 23 tells about God the Good Shepherd who guides and protects his sheep. And in John 10, Jesus says that he will protect his followers, his sheep, so that no one can snatch them from his hand. "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand."
There are many things that want to snatch us out of the hand of God. Ultimately they are all the work of the devil. The devil works in many ways to do his work. There are many things that want to pull us away from Jesus. Today let's list some of the things that try to snatch us away from the flock, that is, away from the church, which is the flock of Jesus. If we are snatched away from the Church, we are snatched away from the Gospel voice of our Shepherd, Jesus.
Since the flock gathers on Sunday mornings, there are all those activities that are on Sunday. Let's make a list: work, school activities, family outings and family duties, demands by non-Christian family members or friends, neighborhood events, vacation travel, leisure activities, laziness, hangover from Saturday night, tired from working all week, being sick or having to take care of someone else who is sick, guests in the house, car problems, no bus money. It takes wisdom and sometimes courage to balance all the demands of our busy lives. Most of these things are not bad of themselves, but when we can never go to church or even pray or read the Bible at home, then we are being snatched.
If the devil cannot get us away from Jesus by these things, he has other tricks, too. He works inside the flock to make us want to leave it. The devil comes to church. Yes, the devil comes into the church and starts to make problems in the congregation. People disagree about little things, then about bigger things, and soon it is not a matter of what policy is right or best, but it is a fight to see who will win, right or wrong. Communication becomes argument. And then people want to leave the church because they want to be away from the other people of the church. This is the devil snatching us.
But the best trick of the devil is sin. When we sin we are embarrassed to be seen by our shepherd. When the guilt of sin is too great, we don't think that Jesus can ever forgive us. We don't want to be a hypocrite so we just "get out of it." This is just a matter of not trusting our Good Shepherd to be good. We do not believe that he will lead us to the green pasture of heaven if we are bad sheep. Psalm 23 says, "Your rod and your staff, they comfort me." The rod and staff are for protecting the sheep from wolves. They are a sign of protection. God's Law and Commandments are to protect us from evil-doers and help us and guide us to live a life of love. But in our sin, we fear that the rod and staff will beat us. We are afraid of God's punishment, so we flee from God. We stop praying and coming to church. We've been snatched!
Jesus said, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand." We will not perish because Jesus died on the cross and rose on the third day. Yes, he died, but he did not perish. He loved us so much that he forgave our sin. By forgiving our sin, the devil no longer has a permanent hold on us. Because we are following Jesus, we can slip out of the devil's grasp. We are still slippery from the water of Baptism. We know that we deserve beating by Jesus' rod, but he took the beating for us when he suffered and died for us. Therefore his suffering is our comfort. Therefore the symbol of the cross gives us comfort and strength. Like the rod and staff, the symbol of pain has become a symbol of hope and peace.
Because we are all secure with Jesus, our Christian fellowship is secure. Sure there are mischievous sheep that are always making problems, but they are forgiven by the same Lamb of God that we are. We are all led by Jesus, so in mutual love and forgiveness, our congregation is secure.
Do you have to work next Sunday morning? Is next Sunday a family outing? Because Jesus is our Shepherd, we will not fall away from Him. Perhaps the work place will be a place to witness for Jesus. Perhaps the beach will be a place where we will see and experience the grace of God. Perhaps we will experience the Valley of the Shadow of Death and will fear no evil, for we will know that He is with us. Just because we are not in church 24-7 does not mean that Jesus is not with us 24-7. After all, he is the Good Shepherd. We know that we are in the flock of Jesus and he will lead us to eternal life.
Amen.