Every Which Way But Loose

4th Sunday of Easter – A                                                                   LSB #’s 740, 569 tune 348, 711
Text – John 10:1
 
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief & a robber.
 
EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE
 
 
It’s an English  idiom  describing a state of being  thrown,  turned, or manipulated  in many different directions – often in a chaotic or disorienting way – while still being tethered or held back  from being completely free.   As I think about it,  it’s a rather appropriate description of what sin has done to our lives,  & to the world in which we live. 
You & I are being torn in many different directions all at once.  Our world is in chaos.  No matter how hard we try,  we can never truly break free of our own  sinful nature.   The corrupting & destructive effects of sin  turn our lives every which way  but loose.   In the sermon text, Jesus warns us that thieves & robbers try to enter every which way  but the door. 
The Creator of the universe  was describing how sin had corrupted the religious leaders  who were supposed to be caring for the people of God’s kingdom.  In the verses immediately preceding the Gospel reading for this morning,  Jesus healed a man  who had been born blind.  You’d think everyone would be happy with that,  but  Jesus healed him on a Sabbath. 
Not that the Pharisees were backing Jesus anyway,  but healing the man on a Sabbath baited them  right into the test Jesus had put before them.  Instead of caring for the man who was healed of blindness, the Pharisees condemned him & cast him out of the synagogue.  They did so because the man was now following the Good Shepherd  who did care for him. 
After Jesus found the man again, He did encourage & care for him.  At that point, Jesus said, “‘For judgment I came into this world,  that those who do not see may see,   & those who see may become blind.’  Some of the Pharisees near Him heard these things, & said to Him, ‘Are we also blind?’  Jesus said to them, ‘If you were blind, you would have no guilt;   but now that you say, “We see,” your guilt remains.’”  (John 9:39-41 ESV)   If the Pharisees would have admitted that they were blind,  that would’ve been the equivalent  of confessing their sins.   Then, Jesus would have removed them  & they’d be clean. 
Instead, by claiming to ‘see’ they are denying their guilt, & therefore,  that guilt remains.  Jesus highlights the religious leaders in stark contrast to the man who was born blind, yet came to faith in Jesus.  This sets the stage for Jesus’ teaching on how to enter the sheepfold,  that is, how to enter eternal life & live abundantly in Christ:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door  but climbs in by another way,  that man is a thief & a robber.”  (John 10:1 ESV)   Jesus calls the Pharisees thieves & robbers because their teaching is false.  They lead people away from salvation.  Four chapters later Jesus explains, “No one comes to the Father except through me.”  (John 14:6b ESV) 
Jesus is the door to eternal life.    As the letter of Hebrews puts it: “…we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new & living way that He opened for us through the curtain, that is,  through His flesh.”  (10:19-20 ESV)    The body & blood of Jesus are the door, the way, the entrance  to perfect glory.   
Any other teaching, no matter how sincere or logical,  is a lie that leads to eternal death.   Our sinful nature always chooses the wrong way – the broad & easy road.   That’s why Jesus came to earth  to open that new & living way through the curtain.  We needed God to deliver us, not just from sin & death,  but from  our very selves. 
The journey that God’s people are on  has many detours & exit ramps.   And just like driving a car,  we sometimes don’t realize we took the wrong exit  until we’re far off the path.  That’s why the repentant heart that the Holy Spirit works in us  is so vital to our spiritual & physical health.   When we’re going in the wrong direction  we need to turn around.   Last night we saw another example of the lawlessness that seems to be overtaking our nation.  Our political & religious leaders are leading our people down a road of violence  with their thoughts, words & deeds.  Only the work of the Holy Spirit can turn this nation around in repentance. 
However, too many of our current leaders are like the Pharisees & believe they know the way when in fact they are terribly lost & deceived.  Their sinful nature is turning them every which way but loose & they remain blind to their sin.  What shepherd  are you following this morning?  Only Jesus  is leading anyone to eternal life with no more pain, sorrow or tears.   
Are your leaders trying to climb in  by a way other than Jesus?  Are your leaders going every which way but loose?  If you turn back to Jesus, the world will reject you & label you a fool.  The world crucified Jesus because He was pointing out the lies that were leading people down the broad & easy road.   The world cannot tolerate truth & light because they reveal sin. 
Yet, we shine the light of Christ onto our world not to condemn the world, but to save it.  The only attitude I can change, & that only with the power of the Holy Spirit,  is my own.   And that’s where shining the light of truth must always begin  is with me.  The only way you can change the world  is to change yourself, again  by the power of the Holy Spirit. 
 Through our baptism, the Holy Spirit works each day to drown the old Adam, the sinful nature in each of us.  It must be put to death every day in order to live the abundant life that Christ promises at the end of today’s Gospel reading.  Then, we are not tossed every which way but loose because Christ’s promise does set us free. 
Those who think they can free the world of evil by cancelling or even killing other people, only bring more evil into our world.  Self-righteousness never makes our world a better place.  Jesus highlighted the self-righteousness of the Pharisees by telling them their guilt remains.  Then, He called them thieves & robbers by describing how they try to enter the sheepfold by any way  but the door,  which is Christ Jesus.  Keeping the law cannot save us,  but breaking the law can condemn us.  Many of the people acting in such lawless ways today seem to think they are free  while in reality they are slaves to sin & don’t even know it. 
To sing “I am Jesus’ little lamb” may sound too naïve & innocent even for ourselves, let alone for people of the world, but it is our true reality if we are children of God.  It takes humility to sing those words from the heart.  That’s the kind of humility that Jesus offers us along with faith & all the fruits of the Spirit. 
Jesus is our Good Shepherd who loves His sheep enough to die for our sins.  We are all prone to wander, but He constantly searches for us to bring us home.  He’s the Shepherd who feeds & protects His sheep, & rose from the dead that we may have a perfect future uncorrupted by sin.  It is His voice of comfort that we hear when we are weak & weary. 
His voice is one of love & forgiveness whenever we turn back to Him, no matter what we have done.  The voice of our world only makes demands.  It never makes sacrifices for the sheep.  In the sheepfold of Christ, life with God is not restrictive because our hearts are made new by God’s creation of the new man through the resurrected flesh & blood of Jesus.  Amen. 
 
 
 
In Adam  we have all been one,  one huge rebellious man;  we all have fled that evening voice  that sought us as we ran.      We fled Thee, & in losing Thee  we lost our brother too;  each singly sought & claimed his own;  each man his brother slew.       But Thy strong love,  it sought us still  & sent Thine only Son  that we might hear His Shepherd’s voice  &, hearing Him, be one.         Send us Thy Spirit,  teach us truth;  Thou Son, O set us free  from fancied wisdom, self-sought ways,  to make us one in Thee.  Amen.  LSB 569:1-3, 5.