When Jesus taught the people listened, and it's obvious why
they did. He conveyed deep truths using vivid images: life with God takes a
second birth, a thirsty soul can be satisfied with living water, the joy of the
new creation is like a wedding celebration with really good wine. Or Jesus is a
shepherd and you are His sheep. Today's sermon is part two to last week's
sermon. After I explain some of what this shepherding image is about I'm going
to make some connections with last Sunday's theme. First, listen to Jesus (John10.1-5).
So, what is Jesus doing? He's talking about the bond between
a shepherd and his sheep, something that was common in His day. He’s using that
to describe what's going on between Himself and His disciples. He's talking
about relationship. So, in describing a shepherd, in describing Himself, He
says,
… he calls his own sheep by name
and leads them out.
You are a Christian today because Jesus decided to call you.
But He didn't shout to all and then wait to see who responded. He called you by
name. It was as if He said, 'Hey, (and here insert your own name) I want you to
be one of My sheep. I want you to join My flock.' It was a very personal call.
So, when Jesus was making His way to the Cross He wasn't going to die for a
bunch of strangers. He died for His sheep. He died for you. It's clear that
Paul got this.
I have been crucified with Christ.
It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live
in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Jesus set His heart on particular people, His sheep. When He
went to the Cross He did it expressly for you. You see, there's this bond
between Him and you. Jesus knows you and loves you. So, He knows all about your
struggles and your doubts, the things that confuse you and frustrate you. He
knows about your wounds and your longings. He was touched by the pain and the
grief of Mary and Martha and so, wept at Lazarus' grave. He is still touched by
the pain and the grief of each of His sheep. Jesus, the good shepherd, knows
each one of His sheep intimately, by name. He knows you and understands what's
going on with you. There is a bond between Him and you.
This bond does not only reach from Him to you. There's more
to it than that. Listen to Jesus.
When he has brought out all his
own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his
voice. A stranger they will not follow,
but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.
The world is filled with false shepherds who also lead
flocks. And because they are false shepherds they lead their sheep into hell.
But Jesus' sheep are protected from these false shepherds. His sheep can tell
the difference. They can tell when a false shepherd calls. His voice does not
ring true, so they flee from him. But they know the voice of their true
shepherd and, hearing Him, they follow Him.
You know the difference between Jesus' voice and the voice
of a counterfeit, and that protects you from being misled. But how is that
possible? How do you know the difference? This is something that is given to
you by Jesus through the Spirit. Just as He gives sight to the blind, He gives
hearing to the deaf. You can hear Him while others can't. There is something
mystical here. Being one of Jesus' sheep is more than knowing your Bible and
saying your prayers. There is something unseen and unseeable that changes who
you are so that you can see and hear Jesus. This is the ministry of the Spirit.
So, you see, the bond between Jesus and His sheep moves in
two directions, back and forth. He knows you intimately and cares for you. You
also know Him and respond to Him. As Jesus says,
I am the good shepherd. I know my
own and my own know me…
There is a bond between you. And there is nothing in all of
creation that can break that bond. Nothing.
So, Jesus calls to His sheep, these for whom He has suffered so much. Able hear
His call, they respond to Him. They follow Him. And Jesus leads this His flock
into eternity where the bond can only grow stronger.
So - and this is something that I want to lean on - because
Jesus is your shepherd, you enjoy the certainty of rescue. You will be rescued
from your sin and to the unending experience of the life of God. That is a
certainty. A very personal bond has been created, and it is a bond that will
last forever. It cannot be broken. So, the sheep can be sure that they will
arrive safe and sound at the promised destination, the new heavens and new
earth. Jesus, the good shepherd, promises this to each of His sheep.
Now, let's connect all of this to last Sunday's sermon. If
the stress of today's sermon is certainty, the stress of last week's sermon was
conditions. This is what I told you last week.
If Jesus continually makes this
sort of distinction in His Church, then your relationship with the Father is
conditional. Jesus will either bless you or curse you depending on what He
finds in your life.
And then I reminded you of how God made and then unmade a
promise to Eli. He did not meet the conditions and so he lost it all.
So, between last week and today you have heard two very
different ways of looking at your relationship with God: conditions last week
and certainty today. They seem to contradict. But we can't just choose one or
the other. They're both in Scripture. Consider all those places in the Bible
that sound so much like there are conditions that you need to meet and might
not. We spent some time on some of them when we studied Hebrews. Here's one.
Take care, brothers, lest there be
in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the
living God.
But then there are all those places in the Bible that sound
so much like your rescue is certain beyond any doubt. Here's one from later in
this chapter in John.
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.
Two sets of verses that sound so very different. What do we
do with them?
This is another place where it is so important to cling to
the basics. The Bible is the Word of God. All of it. And so we believe all of
it. When people compromise that, then things start to unravel. Then we get to
the place where we pick and choose what we will believe. And if unchecked that
leads to chaos and on into death. This is not theoretical. I have just
described what many who are labeled 'evangelical' are doing. No, the Bible is
the Word of God. So, what do we do when we find things that seem to contradict?
We work to see how they actually do fit together - because they do.
God shows us how to do this. The Bible presents us with
other things that don't seem to fit together, but do. Here are some verses that
will help.
Answer not a fool according to his
folly, lest you be like him yourself.
That seems clear enough. But here's the verse which
immediately follows.
Answer a fool according to his
folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.
So, which is it? Do I answer him or not? How do you obey
both of these? They don't seem to fit together. The point that the Scriptures
are making is that how you are to act depends on the situation. One must choose
wisely how to respond to the fool standing in front of him. There are times
when you need to answer him and there are times when you need to walk away from
him. Is there danger that you will become like him? Or is the greater danger
that he will see himself as wise when he needs to see his foolishness? The
particulars of the situation will let you know which to choose.
That helps us to understand how 'conditions' and 'certainty'
fit together. There are times when you need to understand being a disciple of
Jesus in terms of conditions that need to be met. And then there are times when
you need to understand being a disciple of Jesus in terms of the certainty of
the rescue. Which is when? It depends on the particulars of the situation.
There are times when we get lazy in following Jesus. We know that He talked
about striving to enter but coasting feels so much easier. That's the time to
lean on those conditions. Your relationship with the Father really does depend
on what Jesus finds in your life. Don't coast. It's dangerous. Really. That's
when you remind yourself that Jesus said, 'He who endures to the end will be
saved.' Get up and get going. Endurance is required. Return to the battle and
stop that laziness. Your relationship with the Father is at stake. Your
relationship with Him is conditional.
But there are times when you are just worn out by the war.
And it seems like another battle is looming, and you're not sure that you can
hang in there. You just might give up. That's when you need to lean on the
certainty of the rescue. That's the time to meditate on this:
Who shall separate us from the love
of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or danger, or sword? … No, in all these things we are more than
conquerors through him who loved us.
Both themes are in Scripture because we need both, but we
need them at different times. The one is our protection against presumption and
the other is our protection against weariness. We need both.
The key, of course, is knowing when to apply the one and
when the other. The imagery of Jesus as shepherd of His flock is helpful here.
While Jesus called us individually by name, He didn't call us to follow Him
alone. He called us to be a part of His flock. We need each other. We need the
others in this room to help us when we are being tempted by one or the other of
these dangers. We need other people who know about following Jesus well enough,
and know us well enough, to give some wise counsel. We need them to remind us
of the appropriate theme of Scripture. I am quite sure that when we get to
eternity we will all be amazed at how dependent on each other we all are. We
are just way too given to being individuals. We need each other. And I say that
as someone who is a committed loner. We need each other.
And that leaves this last thought about wisely applying the
one theme or the other.
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him
ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given
him.
We need to pray. There are pitfalls galore. We don't get it
at all well. Satan is out to destroy us. And we need to choose, wisely and
quickly: conditions or certainty? Which one fits this situation? It may, at
times, feel impossible to know. But all things are possible with God. He is our
hope. He will give wisdom. It is a life of prayer, a life of depending on Him,
that will result in choosing wisely.