Easter 4

June 7, 2017 in Sermon by Scott Landrum

John 10:1-10
1 “Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. 7 So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

“He goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice,” Jesus said. Sheep it seems, in spite of all their limitations, have the keen ability to pick out the voice of their shepherd. I’ll have to take the expert’s word because I’ve not spent a lot of time with sheep. I do know a thing or two about competing voices though. There’s Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, CBS, CBN, ABC, TBN. There’s the Dali Lama, Mohammed, Krishna and the Mormons. There are the Jehovah’s Witnesess, the Coexist movement, the agnostics, the Communists and Militant Atheists.
I could go on but I think you get the point. There are a ton of voices saying many, often contradictory, things and the voice of the shepherd is nestled right in the midst of the fray. Now I suspect it’s not real hard for you and I to hear his voice over these other voices that I just named. We can hear the problems with those voices a mile away and we run away or we should at least. But it’s the other voices that are the problem. It’s the voices in your head. They sound exactly like you talking and they will not shut up. They’re never satisfied it seems.
They are constantly talking to you about yourself and it’s always as a judge. Too weak, too fat, too skinny, too old, too young, not smart enough, not pretty enough, not fast enough, not rich enough. These voices also love to take you down memory lane and remind you of every bad decision, every mistake, and every bad turn you’ve made. Then having sufficiently pointed out how hopeless you are; the voices offer you solutions. A different job, a bigger house, a different place to live, a different car, a different spouse, a different doctor, a new this or that, on and on it goes because the grass is always greener you know, especially for sheep. And oh by the way, this happens to churches also. These voices will turn you to just about anything but the one who really matters, the shepherd. He’s speaking too you know. It seems to me Jesus, with his word here in this passage, is encouraging us to listen. So what does the voice of the shepherd say? What is it we are to follow, to trust, to put our hope in? Well he promises that you will lack for nothing. He promises you a good life. Sure darkness and evil and death are always around you but what of it, he’s prepared you a feast right in the middle of all that for you. Goodness and mercy are following you around and you belong to the Lord forever. You see, he died on the cross for you and took your sin. He occupied a tomb for you and came out the other side alive and now he sits at the right hand of the Father for you. But wait, I know that other voice is screaming again. “Jesus is a liar, just look at your life” it says to you. But Jesus is not a liar, he is the Lord God almighty and his promise is for you. His promise is as certain as that water poured over you with his word to be with you always, even to the end of the age.

And that feast in the presence of your enemies is as certain as that bread and wine put in your mouth with the promise that peace with God is yours because his body and blood is given and shed for the forgiveness of your sin. And in case you’ve missed it the first nine times I’ve said it already, hear it again. By the authority of Christ and for his sake I forgive you the entirety of your sin. You have life and you have it abundantly in Jesus Christ. That is his word to you, go there, listen to him there. Those other voices are never going to shut up. They sound like you but make no mistake it is the evil one talking, seducing you away from your hope in Christ. The devil wants nothing more than to steal, kill and destroy your trust in Jesus and he is infinitely patient. A depressing word here, a bad thought there until he’s got you turned back inside yourself and into your circumstances wondering where God is and if he even cares. Run away from the evil one and run to Jesus Christ in his word. And what should we do with Jesus words?
Perhaps Luther says it best in “A Mighty Fortress”:
That word above all earthly powers, 
no thanks to them, abideth; 
the Spirit and the gifts are ours, 
thru him who with us sideth. 
Let goods and kindred go, 
this mortal life also; 
the body they may kill; 
God’s truth abideth still; 
his kingdom is forever.
Listen to that. It’s the voice of the Shepherd. Amen