Easter 3 May 1, 2022 Good Shepherd Sunday
Good Shepherd Sunday
John 10:11-16
May 1, 2022
“Shepherd – An Outdated Image?”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
God’s Word is never, ever outdated. It’s never, ever behind the times. But that’s the negative perception that a lot of people have today about the Bible and about the Church. Many people grow up in the Church and then decide it’s old-fashioned, outdated, and behind the times. So we have our more “modern” churches today who try so hard to appear that they’re “with the times”—pastors dressing in skinny jeans with holes all over them, dancing around on stage like a pop star, huge screens all over the building. But that’s an endless battle trying to keep up with what people think is currently cool.
The Church doesn’t have to play that game because God’s Word is never, ever out of date. People are the ones out of date. Not God. Not ever. God is ahead of the times. Always. He knows the days ahead. We don’t. He knows what is always right and good and true no matter the date…we often don’t.
So please forget this idea that God or His Word is ever outdated. Because it’s not ever. And the specific example of this in the Word today is Jesus as a Shepherd. Is that an outdated picture? Jesus as a Shepherd? “Ugh,” you might say, “How old and nostalgic. There aren’t any shepherds today.” But you would be wrong and also missing the point. Actually, there are shepherds today. In fact, many of us personally know shepherds—the ________ family. They herd sheep. They had a little newborn lamb in for the preschoolers to see this year. So yes, there are shepherds today.
But it’s much, much more than that. We’re also missing the point. The point God is making is that animals need humans to take care of them. Are there people today who take care of animals? Is that outdated that we need people to take care of animals? To animals take care of themselves today? Not hardly. And they never will. Which is why this image will never, ever go out of date. We may not always use the word “shepherd” for all of them, but there are farmers, ranchers, zoologists, biologists, veterinarians, trainers, pet owners, pet stores, pet day cares, pet hotels. Do people take care of animals today? Of course! God is saying that just like animals need people, like Shepherds, to take care of them—so also we sinners needs God to take care of us. It’s that simple. Is that out of date? Do sinners today not need God? Hardly.
So be careful on this Good Shepherd Sunday that you don’t get all nostalgic when you hear about sheep and shepherds and still waters and green pastures. This isn’t about some olden time. This is about today. Right now. You need a Shepherd. ‘Cause if you don’t have a shepherd then you’ll die, lost in your sin, and fall into the pit of hell.
Now God isn’t out of date and He also doesn’t do things accidentally. This image of a shepherd is for all time. He planned it. It’s not like Jesus was just walking through the fields with His disciples and saw a shepherd and then thought, “Hmm, you know guys, I’m kinda like a shepherd…leading you, protecting you.” No, not at all. God doesn’t do things accidentally or coincidentally. He specifically promised to send a shepherd and prepared us for it all through the Old Testament.
This is another small thing I wanted to teach today about God’s Word—not only that it’s never out of date—but also that it all fits together perfectly. I put two images in your sermon insert this morning. One is a bookshelf with all 66 books. Now think about how wide a variety that is—66 books of many different genres—but all of them coming together perfectly to tell one story of Jesus.
The other image I put in there, the Bird’s Eye View of Scripture, is one I use often showing how the Old Testament was building and building until it finally hit its peak moment and fulfillment in Christ. And now the New Testament is building and building until Christ comes again.
Now Jesus coming as our Shepherd is a great example of how all the Bible fits together perfectly like pieces of a great puzzle. Shepherds are all over the Old Testament and the image goes all the way to Revelation where it shows God shepherding His people. So right at the beginning God tells Adam and Eve to take care of the animals—to have dominion over them. Adam names them. They’re taking care of the animals, you see. Then Abel is a shepherd, a keeper of flocks. Then Noah bringing the animals on the ark. Then Jacob was a shepherd, serving 14 years as a shepherd for Uncle Laban. Then Moses tends sheep. David is a shepherd. It’s David, of course, who writes the song, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.”
But perhaps the clearest of all of them comes in the book of Ezekiel when God is utterly frustrated with all the leaders who were supposed to shepherd His people—they were evil. They only cared about getting rich themselves. So God said (and we heard it today in the Old Testament reading), “I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down.” And then it’s no accident that Jesus comes and says this, “I am the Good Shepherd. I lay down My life for the sheep.”
So this isn’t an accident. It’s not outdated. It’s an eternal truth—you and I need a shepherd. Just like animals need humans, so we humans need a shepherd. We humans need the God-man Jesus to be our shepherd. To save us. To take care of us. To provide all things good for us. Because, and this is hard to hear, because we’re like animals. Now I don’t mean that we’re animals in the sense people say it today like we all evolved from animals. No, of course, you know I don’t believe it in that way. I mean “we’re animals” in the sense that we behave like animals. We’re wild sinners.
I really do like animals as I know many of you do as well. But there’s that tension. You like them but you also get really tired at times of shepherding them. Of taking care of them. Because, well, they’re animals. When I was growing up I tamed down a number of cows on our farm. They were like pets. And I’ve had any number of dogs and cats that I’ve loved. But think of what we do for these animals. How much time do we spend working with their manure? Their waste? A lot. In fact, a lot of our time on the farm was spent working in their manure. How many of us have walked behind a dog ready to pick up their waste when cued? The other day I was stopped at a traffic light and two girls are walking their dog across the street and he decides to stop right there and do his business. Right in front of a bunch of cars with a light turning green.
They’re animals, right? We clean up after them, we feed them, water them, give them all the medicines, let them in and out and in and out and in and out. A shepherd spends all his days taking care of them because they need him.
So you see why this isn’t an outdated thing—that Jesus is our Shepherd? We need Him. We will die eternally without Him. We’re dropping our waste all over His creation—figuratively and literally. Have you seen a landfill lately? We’re sinners. Have you seen two cats fight? Have you had to yell at them to break up the fight? Look at Russia and Ukraine right now. You see what kind of sinners we are? All through history this is what we’ve done—fought with one another. Warred with one another.
You need a Shepherd. Jesus says, “I am the Good Shepherd.” First of all, you need Jesus because He lays down His life for you. That is most important. Would you give your life for a sheep or a cow or a dog or a cat? God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. That’s Romans 5. That’s quite the love that your Shepherd has for you. He gave His very life to save you. To save you from death and hell. He loves you. He’s a good Shepherd.
Secondly, Jesus is so good because He owns us. He’s not a hired hand who’s only here for the money. Or only here to get something out of you. There are countless people in the world today who are interested in you only because they can get something out of you. You’ve noticed, of course, how nice people we will be to each other when we want to sell something? Yes, then we pour on the nice. All those advertisements we hear every day that tell us how great we are. Those are false shepherds. Hired hands. You are God’s sheep. He loves you as His very own.
And Jesus says He knows you. How comforting that is. He knows you. “I know my own and My own know Me.” There’s no awkwardness with Jesus. We are perfectly known and we know Him and trust Him. He knows all your sins and weaknesses but also He is all your hope and joy.
Finally, Jesus says that He has other sheep that He’s bringing into this fold. Remember, this is nothing outdated. Don’t be ashamed of the Gospel that Jesus is a Shepherd. There are many more sheep today who need Him. He has many more He’s bringing in. So you make sure your heart is open and we make sure the doors of this Church are wide open.
Jesus says, “they will listen to My voice.” His voice is His Word. The Word that we hear today. The Word of God that doesn’t go out of date and isn’t accidental. The perfect Word of God that leads us, feeds us, restores us. So right now today—in this Word of God and in this Divine Service—the Lord is your Shepherd, your Good Shepherd.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.