Knowing the Shepherd

​4th Sunday of Easter – B                                                                                 LSB #’s 740, 735, 711
Text – John 10:14
 
I am the good shepherd.  I know my own & my own know me.
 
KNOWING THE SHEPHERD
 
 
As we sung the opening hymn,  did the thought occur  that it’s a cute little song  but it’s  sort of embarrassing to sing as an adult?   “I am Jesus’ little lamb,  ever glad at heart I am;  for my Shepherd gently guides me…”  (LSB 740:1) 
In the Gospel reading from St. John,  the apostle is basically asking you this question, “Can you be Jesus’ little lamb  in your heart   & in your mind   & in your soul?”    Can you be a tender baby lamb  that loves to rest in the arms of its master?    Can you follow & respond to  the gentle guiding  of your Shepherd?     If you can  then   you know the Shepherd! 
Adults  struggle with being embarrassed.   Children do as well,  but since it tends to happen to them a lot more often,  it’s not as earth shaking  when it does.   One of the advantages of being grown up  is that we learn how to avoid embarrassment,  so when it does happen  it’s more difficult to deal with.   So, adults don’t commonly think of themselves  as a helpless lamb. 
Christian adults know better  & it’s still difficult.   Intellectually,  or spiritually,  we recognize that being Jesus’ little lamb is a good thing,  because that’s how the Word of God pictures it.   It’s our emotions  that get in the way.   Adults do not enjoy feeling helpless. 
It’s one reason of many  that nursing homes are not a popular place.   There, helplessness is on full display.  It confronts you  face to face,  if you make eye contact with the residents.  When you do,  you can literally feel their pain.  It’s the pain of being helpless & embarrassed.  When someone is comfortable with that  it’s probably because  they know the Shepherd. 
Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd.  I know my own   & my own know me.”  (John 10:14 ESV)   Do you  know the Shepherd?   Do you know  Jesus?   Sinful creatures  that we are,  we cannot know the Shepherd  in our pride,  nor  in our arrogance.   We only know Jesus  in the humility  that the Holy Spirit gives to us.   Sinful creatures that we are,  we know that humility the greatest  in our weakness.    We know,  & we appreciate, the Shepherd  the most  when we are helpless.  Being a Christian in this broken world  offers plenty of opportunities for weakness. 
And weakness  is not a fun  place to be.  In Christ  we have amazing joy,  but that delight is not centered in this world.  Because of what mankind did to God’s first creation,  The Lamb of God had to die  in order to fulfill His being  as our Shepherd.   That was,   is   & always shall be the plan of Yahweh  to rescue us  from what we have done.   
Jesus is the Shepherd of all humanity.   Trusting in Him  is eternal life.   Whether people connect the dots,   or not,   something about Jesus as Shepherd resonates with human beings.   Psalm 23 is probably  The  most common  Scripture lesson  at funerals.  That reveals, at the very least,   a subconscious longing for human beings  to rest in the arms of their Creator. 
God uses the weaknesses  in our lives  to nudge us  toward surrendering to Him.   That’s one of the ways in which ‘my Shepherd gently guides me,’ as the author of the hymn put it.  That surrendering is a constant & ongoing part of our sanctification.  The Holy Spirit is always & ever working   to point us to Jesus as the good Shepherd:
“He makes me lie down in green pastures.  He leads me beside still waters.  He restores my soul.  He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod & your staff,  they comfort me.”  (Psalm 23:2-4 ESV) 
All other shepherds have failed & will continue to fail.   That doesn’t mean  we should never lean on friends & family for support & encouragement,  but it does mean that only Jesus will always be with us in this life,  & only Jesus can get us  into heaven.  For those of us who’ve been followers of Jesus  a long time,  we’ve grown comfortable with the idea that Jesus knows us.  We follow Him because we believe that He is good,  even when difficult things come into our lives.  Not everyone  is there  in their spiritual life. 
Jesus knows our every thought, even those we try to bury.  He knows our every word, the ones our filter catches before they’re spoken aloud, the ones we look over our shoulder before we speak, the ones we dare speak  only at a whisper.  Jesus knows our every action.  He knows what we spend our money on & what that says about the true  treasure of our heart. 
When Jesus says, “I know my own,” that can be scary.  To be fully known by God is to be exposed & vulnerable.   The good news  is that God loves us & sent His Son to die for us  precisely because He does know you & me.  He knows us in all our sins & He knows our desperate need to be saved from ourselves. 
Since Jesus already knows our sins,  there’s no reason to be afraid & looking over our shoulder before we speak.  Nothing we do can change God’s opinion of us.  We can’t get any worse  than we already are.  The eternal Son of God had to suffer hell  in order to pay for what you & I have done.  And He did so willingly  for the joy of heaven that was set before Him. 
Yahweh knows the threats we face,  within & without.  He knows the brokenness of our condition.  He knows the evil Foe who threatens to devour us.  He knows not only our guilt, but especially our helplessness.  We are like little lambs who have no chance of fending off a wolf.  Where our sinful heart at times will kick someone when they’re down,  Jesus has compassion. 
The Good Shepherd realizes that unless He reveals Himself to us,  we could never find Him – not in this world of total brokenness in which we live.  He didn’t laugh at our futile attempts to find a god worthy of our service & devotion.  Instead, Jesus came to us as a helpless baby child.  He came to rescue us in a position of weakness in order to understand our fears.  One of the greatest fears,  for Christian parents,  is that their children may wander from the true faith.  During His ministry on earth, Jesus had plenty of opportunity to experience that with His own disciples & other followers.  Fears like those  leave us helpless,  because we cannot control the heart,  the mind  or the soul  of other human beings. 
In those fears,  & in that helplessness,  Jesus calls us to turn to Him  in our own heart, mind & soul,  like little baby lambs.   The Good Shepherd calls us to entrust to Him the fate of all God’s children & sheep,  even when we think of them as our own.  We can give our anxieties over to the Great & Good Shepherd of the sheep.  We are wholly inadequate to save anyone.  
Whenever sin overtakes you,  use that as a reminder to know Jesus as the Good Shepherd & to return to Him.  Let Him be your shepherd in your heart   & in your mind   & in your soul.  Find rest in His loving arms, & do not be ashamed that you are so helpless & lost without Him.  “The good shepherd has laid down his life for the sheep.”  (John 10:11b ESV) 
Another shepherd once wrote, in Psalm 95, “For He is our God, & we are the people of His pasture, & the sheep of His hand.”  (95:7a ESV)  Today, we hear the voice of our Shepherd in the words of Absolution,  in the words of Holy Scripture & in the words of Benediction.  We are the little lambs of the Good Shepherd & He is risen from the dead  to love us  forever.  Amen. 
 
 
 
Have no fear,  little flock;  have no fear,  little flock,  for the Father has chosen to give you the Kingdom;  have no fear,  little flock!    Have good cheer,  little flock;  have good cheer,  little flock,  for the Father will keep you  in His love forever;  have good cheer, little flock.  Amen.  LSB 735:1-2.