Have you even gotten one of these calls?
“Hi! Please stay on the line for an exciting offer from endless mortgage and casualty insurance corporation…..
It’s not even a person. It’s a machine calling with a recorded voice.
We used to have to deal with just all that junk mail, now we get junk phone calls.
Does anyone actually listen to the message?
Does any one respond to them or do they do what I do. Hang up.
Sometimes the call is a real person. But I immediately know if it’s a sales call, or someone I know.
How they say my name is the dead giveaway,
If the call starts with “Is Timothy there?” I know that it’s either my mother and she’s really mad at me, or it’s someone I don’t know, or more importantly, someone who doesn’t know me.
Calling me Mr. Henry is another way I can spot the stranger.
Mr. Henry is my Dad, and he doesn’t live here. Sorry. Click.
And please don’t start the call with Sir. Don’t call me Sir, I work for a living.
If someone does get my name right, then it comes down to recognizing the voice.
Do I know this person? Do they know me?
Some times they’ve got me at Hello. Sometimes someone’s voice is so familiar that they need only say Hello, and I am comfortable that I know them, and they know them.
But I am hesitant to share a lot with a unfamiliar voice. But I am comfortable to share my soul with a voice I recognize.
Today is known in some circles as “Good Shepherd Sunday” and thousands and thousands of congregations around the world wi11 be sharing the words and teachings of the 10th chapter of the book of John.
Many have come together today to hear the voice of the Shepherd and learn to follow Him.
And many first recognized His voice in these verses.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me
beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness for his name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine
enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of
my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
Though out the bible, stories and teachings about sheep and shepherding were used including the 23rd Psalm, a passage of scripture so well known is easily recognized by over 70% of the world’s population.
In 1st century Palestine, sheep and shepherds were everywhere. Sheep were a vital resource supplying wool, food and animals for sacrifice. Everybody in Israel was aware of this industry and many either owned sheep or were shepherds themselves.
Therefore since this trade was so well-known to the average Jew, Jesus, a Jew himself often used shepherding and sheep as vivid illustrations in His teaching.
Starting at verse one of John
1 “I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! 2 But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
It was common for sheep to be kept in a large community pen, translated here as a sheepfold. It was a square shaped building made with stone walls 10-12 feet in height often topped with thorns. The pen was open on the top and open on one side where there was a door; a small door. In this way, wild animals and thieves who wanted to harm the sheep would try to climb the wall, but the shepherd, who was charged with protecting them, would use the small gate.
In describing sheep, Kent Hughes once wrote: “Among the animal kingdom sheep seem to have come out on the short end. From all accounts they are of limited intelligence. When it comes to finding food, they are definitely uncreative. As creatures of habit, they will follow paths through desolate places even though not far away is excellent forage. Sheep are also given to listless wandering…There are even accounts of their walking into an open fire! Shepherds confirm that they are timid and stubborn. They can be frightened by the most ridiculous things; though at other times nothing can move them. They are absolutely defenseless…Furthermore, of all the animals subject to husbandry, they take the most work”
Listening to all that, is it any wonder why humans are so often referred to as sheep in the Bible!
3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. 5 They won't follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don't know his voice."
The gatekeeper, sometimes referred to as the doorkeeper, the watchman, or the porter in some translations was an undershepherd.
He was not one of the primary shepherds, but he was hired to guard the door at night when the shepherds would return to their homes for sleep. His ultimate responsibility was to protect the sheep. In the morning the returning shepherds would be given access to the fold and each individual shepherd would gather his specific sheep from the community flock.
Some consider gatekeeper here as a reference to a modern day pastor, who although they are a shepherd and are charged with watching the flock by night, they are not the Good Shepherd who returns in morning glory.
The gatekeeper job, as verse three points to, it to open the gate for Christ so that His sheep can hear his voice.
In the west, shepherd use dogs to drive sheep, but this was not the case in Israel.
They would walk in front of their sheep and guide them with their voice and staff. The sheep would learn to trust their particular shepherd since he would be their only protection once outside the pen
A shepherd, at least the good ones, took their job very seriously, and their sheep loved them very much.
They were happy and eager to follow their shepherd. But strangers meant danger, and they would run from them, or at least ignore them. They simply could not and would not recognize the sound of a strangers voice.
This showed the intimate relationship between a sheep and its shepherd.
Even though the communal pen, or a field might contain many sheep, only a shepherds "own sheep" would respond to the shepherds voice. He would even call them and lead them by using their names.
And though it might seems ridiculous that a shepherd would take the time to individually name his sheep, but in Israel it was a common practice. Each would get a name based on a mark or a special feature. Kinda like we might call our dog "SPOT" or our cat "SNOWBALL".
The sheep would only respond to the voice of their personal shepherd, as he alone would lead them.
6 Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, 7 so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. 9 Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures.
When I first read this I thought about the gate, and Jesus being that gate, keeping his sheep in the pen, safe and sound.
And yes, the Lord is a shelter in times of storm and protection from harm, as he goes on to explain, but Jesus also states “they will come and go freely” and “He calls his own sheep and leads them out.
He leads them to green pastures, and still waters. But keep in mind, those things are not inside the pen, but outside of it. He doesn’t lock his sheep into a box with 12 foot high walls, he frees them from it.
So, Christ is the gate in two regards.
Christ IS the way to ENTER IN:
We can feel good about Jesus; we can cheer for Him; we can even attend a place where his name is celebrated; and we’ll hopefully find it to be enjoyable. However, we do not experience the life transforming power of Christ until we actually ENTER IN to a relationship with Him and follow Him.
He cannot work in us until we let Him in.
In this way, we choose to ENTER IN to a continuous relationship with the Lord and with one another, a relationship like that of the sheep to the shepherd and the sheep to the rest of the flock.
We need a way in. Christ is that gate.
Christ is the way to enter in.
But Christ, as the gate, is also, an maybe even more importantly, the WAY OUT.
In fact, Jesus talks more about how the shepherd leads the sheep out of the safe place into places of pasture. The sheep, Jesus says, come in and go out and find pasture. They move between the place of safety and new places where they can eat and wander, under the guidance of the shepherd.
The Good Shepherd not only helps the sheep to ENTER IN, but stands firm to lead the sheep to the WAY OUT of the gated area, out of the safe places and into places where life can be experienced. As I said earlier, in some places the sheep of many villagers were kept together in one gated area. When a shepherd came to lead his sheep out, he would have a unique call, so that his sheep would know who he was and follow behind him. The shepherd calls his sheep by name and leads them out. We must leave the gated area to take part in the life that Christ calls us into.
The shepherd calls the sheep by name, and because they know the shepherd, they trust the shepherd and follow where he leads.
The safest place for the sheep might be inside the pen, where the gatekeeper can watch out for thieves and bandits, and where the sheep might be sheltered and protected.
But to find the pastures, the sheep have to leave the safety of the pen. Day after day the Good shepherd calls them out again, finding new places where they can feed. Outside the pen there are risks: of getting lost, or stolen, of meeting an enemy who will try to destroy the sheep. But with the shepherd right there guiding them and watching over them, the flock can go anywhere.
10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
That’s not sitting at home in your sheep’s pen. His purpose “is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” The thief is the one trying to get you scared and hiding out. The hired hand, the part time gods we worship our lives like fame, and money, and ego, they will abandon us, because we do not truly belong to them. We belong to the Good Shepherd, if only we can recognize his voice.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. 12 A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. 13 The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, 15 just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep.
God is never content to leave us in our safe places. God is always calling us, to new pastures, to new tasks, to new experiences in life. We can resist and refuse, but when we do so, we are missing out on the promise of life that Jesus shares with us. We can’t experience this from the safety of the sheep’s pen. We must go out and take risks. But we don’t go alone – God always goes with us.
There are so many voices pulling on us, telling us to follow, urging us to go in different direction. We may even wonder to ourselves – isn’t this path too frustrating, too hard, too long, too much? Among all these voices, sometimes it is overwhelming to figure out what’s what. But God’s voice has a unique sound, and God calls us by name. The shepherd calls his sheep by name and leads them out.
So, do we follow, or do we stay in the pen? Inside the pen is safety, but outside the pen is life. Life full of pains and sorrows, of stumbling blocks and risks, but it’s also full of promise and green pasture, joy and hope. Gods call is constant yet always changing.. But God promises to go with us. We are called by name. Jesus has come, that we might have life, and have it fully and eternally, a rich and satisfying life right here, and right now.
Then, Jesus makes make two more statements. First:
16 I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.
Notice that Jesus said back in verse 9 about himself as the gate “whoever enters through me will be saved.” The invitation is an open invitation. It is not restricted to the “religious folks” or the people look, act or vote a certain way.
This invitation is for anyone who will go though the door.
God has other sheep and will and does provide for them as God does and will provide for us.
Who these sheep are, Jesus does not make clear. But he does state that they WILL listen to his voice, and they will be one flock.
Not maybe, the sheep WILL return to one fold.
And secondly: I am willing to sacrifice my life for them. I choose to lead them out.
17 “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. 18 No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”
You could argue from this that Jesus was locked in, by what his Father had commanded him to do. But he states clearly, “18 No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again.”
He chose to lead us out and sacrificed his life for us. Isn’t that what a Good Shepherd would do?
19 When he said these things, the people were again divided in their opinions about him. 20 Some said, “He’s demon possessed and out of his mind. Why listen to a man like that?” 21 Others said, “This doesn’t sound like a man possessed by a demon! Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
He must be crazy, demon-possessed. We can’t understand it. We can’t make up our minds.
When in doubt,we look through a child’s eye. Hear with a child’s ear.
A 7th grader named Caitlin was asked to write what she thought this passage meant.
Here’s what she wrote: “There is no other God but God,” she wrote. “The Lord leads you with love, for your heart is like the front gate. “Any other who tries to rule you will rule through temptation and threats, and they are the thieves and bandits who climb in other ways that cannot get to your heart.” “Jesus is the gate,” she went on to write, “he is your heart. Obey your heart and you will find the true place, heaven … if you do not go through the gate, you shall be left with the thieves and robbers who … cannot open the gate.”
In John 10:1-21, there’s nothing written about love, no mention of the heart. Caitlin must have been reading BETWEEN the lines, hearing the voice of the shepherd speaking her language.
She must have recognized his voice.
If you don’t let Christ into your heart, doesn’t that leave it open for thieves and bandits?
Does it actually say that? Not literally, but there’s truth there, as long as we keep listening for his voice speaking in the scripture…
As long as we work to filter out the noise in our lives so we can hear him clearly.
As long as we take open ourselves and allow the Holy Spirit to do His Work.
As long as we don’t get so distracted we cannot recognize His voice.
The saddest thing for a shepherd is to stand in his field, calling his sheep by name, and having them not follow. Let us recognize his voice, and hear him call us by name, and follow him.
Amen.
