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Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
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Third Sunday After Easter |
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April 29, 2007 John 10:2-5 The Good Shepherd’s Sheep Last Sunday we talked about the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for His sheep. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who went to the cross for us to defend us from the thieves and robbers and wolves who would destroy us. Everything He does is for our benefit. He created us to bless us, and even in this fallen world, and even though we sin against Him every day in thought word and deed, we have His promise to uphold and comfort us, that all things work together for good to those who love God, and are called, according to His purpose. Today let’s shift the focus. Today let’s look at what Jesus said about the Good Shepherd’s sheep. His Sheep Listen to His Voice The very first thing we see in this passage is that His sheep hear His voice. This has nothing to do with sound waves vibrating tympanic membranes. It is possible for that to happen without real “hearing” taking place. Perhaps you have had the experience of talking to someone you know wasn’t listening to you. He heard your words but his mind was somewhere else. He was thinking about his next appointment, or his weekend trip, but his mind was not on you or your words. Perhaps you have been guilty of that in the past. It is possible for this to carry over into your relationship with God. In fact, I believe many who call themselves Christians don’t really listen to the Good Shepherd’s voice. They go through the motions of church attendance, hearing sermons, reading the Bible, even seeming to pray, but their hearts and minds remain untouched. They hear God’s word, but they don’t listen to it. By contrast, the Good Shepherd’s sheep listen actively and attentively to His voice. This means to, as you may have heard your teachers say to you when you were a child in school, “Pay attention!” I remember my grand father listening to baseball games on the radio when I was a child. Some of you may remember the old radios from the 1950s, scratchy sounding, with lots of background humming and feedback type noises. You had to really pay attention to hear a ball game on them, and only a real ball fan would bother. My grandfather was a real ball fan. You could tell he was listening to the game. He was focused on it. He wasn’t active in the conversations of others in the house. In fact, conversation was, let’s say, seriously discouraged during a game. He didn’t sit back in his easy chair and read the paper during the game. He didn’t do any multi-tasking. He sat in his easy chair with the radio on a table beside him, and he leaned toward the radio and listened to the ball game. He paid attention to the announcer’s voice as he described every detail of the ball game. He even looked at the radio the way you would look at a person speaking to you. That is the way we need to listen to the voice of God; intently, intentionally, attentively. His Sheep Recognize His Voice. The next thing Jesus says about the Good Shepherd’s sheep is that they know His voice. They recognize His voice. This is terribly important because there are wolves and robbers and thieves in this world who would lead sheep to their doom. We are constantly bombarded with the voices of false “shepherds” calling us to follow them. But the Good Shepherd’s sheep are not fooled by them. The Good shepherd’s sheep flee from the voice of strangers. We know the voice of God, and we follow Him. Sheep were something the Jewish people knew something about. They were familiar with the life of the shepherd, and the way the sheep followed him. They knew that the sheep recognized the shepherd’s voice and followed him. They knew the sheep ran from other people. Western shepherds use different herding methods, and, in the 1800s it was popular for American and European tourists in Israel to test this saying of Jesus. There were still many shepherds in Israel at that time, still living much as they did in the time of Christ. And the tourists used to give them money to allow them to dress in the shepherd’s cloak, carry his staff, and imitate his voice in an attempt to fool the sheep. It never worked. The sheep ran away from the phony shepherds every time. They recognized the voice of the real shepherd, and they followed only him. So it is with the Good Shepherd’s sheep. We know His voice. We follow Him, and we flee from all others, even though they dress like the Good Shepherd and imitate His voice. And what is the voice of God? Do we hear it in dreams? Should we expect visions and trances? Should we climb a mountain and contemplate nature? Should we look inside ourselves for the voice of God? There is only one place we can count on hearing the voice of God, that is in the Holy Bible. Nature may reveal that God is. The heavens may declare the glory of God. But the Bible alone reveals who God is and what he requires of us. The Bible alone tells us of our need of reconciliation, and of Christ our Saviour who bore in His own flesh the price of our forgiveness. All of our beliefs and practices must be examined by the Bible. There alone will we hear the voice, the word of God. The Good Shepherd’s Sheep Follow Him. The next thing Christ tells us about the Good Shepherd’s sheep is that they follow Him. I know you have heard many sermons and read many Bible studies about this, but let me say again that the Hebrew shepherds led their sheep. Each sheep had a name, and the shepherd called them by name and led them out. “He leadeth me beside the still waters.” He didn’t ride a horse and drive them with dogs. He led them personally. I have read, in the accounts of one who witnessed this in his travels to Israel in the mid 1800s, that you could see that the sheep intentionally followed the shepherd. They pressed against him and crowded around him as he walked, especially when danger threatened. This is a wonderful picture of the way the Good Shepherd’s sheep follow Him. We press against Him. We crowd around Him. We focus on Him. There is no such thing as following Christ from afar. Either we are with Him and part of His flock, or we are not. And it is evident in us whether we are or are not. I don’t know much about sheep, but I do know about horses. I know you can tell when a horse is following you or not, especially if you and he are attached to opposite ends of a lead line. A following horse goes where you go, stops when you stop, and turns where you turn. He mimics your movements, and he does it so well it sometimes seems like he knows what you’re going to do before you know. A non following horse is focused on other things, and he may run over you, step on you, or drag you around like a rag doll because he is focused on his own interests. The Good Shepherd’s sheep follow Him. We are focused on Him. We go where He goes. We stop when He stops. We turn where He turns. We obey His commands. We seek Him. To follow the Good Shepherd means to be like Him, to do the things He does, to follow Him in the paths of righteousness. All of these things are done by those who truly are the Good shepherd’s sheep. So the Good Shepherd’s Sheep listen to His voice. They recognize His voice. And they follow Him. God grant us grace that we may always be good sheep of the Good Shepherd. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
The Rev. Dr. R. Dennis Campbell, Vicar, Holy Trinity Anglican Church,
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