Like a Good Shepherd
By Rev. Heidi L. Barham | April 30, 2023
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Read John 10:1 – 10
For more than 30 years, I have carried my automobile as well as my homeowner’s insurance through State Farm®. You probably know their famous tagline, “Like a good neighbor, State Farm® is there.”
Now, I don’t know if anyone in their marketing department was thinking about this phrase from a particularly biblical or theological perspective when they created their ad campaign; however, there are definitely a couple of parallels that could be made to some of the lessons that Jesus taught.
What comes to mind, first and foremost, is the Parable of the Good Samaritan found in Luke 10 (25 – 37) … which was Jesus’ response to an expert in the law who was trying to understand who his neighbors were… given Jesus’ admonition to “love our neighbors as we love ourselves” … a tenet which we also know is part of the Greatest Commandment that we read about in Matthew 22.
But there is something else that comes to mind when I think about State Farm®
which is the purpose of insurance in general… and what it means to have a certain level of protection in the event of an emergency or problematic situation…
I must admit, there have been plenty of occasions when I have had to call our insurance agent, Toni, and ask for guidance in handling whatever issue may have arisen related to one of our vehicles or to the house.
Toni has always been a great and trusted resource… and for more than 30 years, I have considered her to be more than just an insurance agent… I count her among my friends as well as a sister in Christ. She and her daughter even joined us here for worship at Ledgewood several years ago. She truly embodies the essence of State Farm’s® motto… like a good neighbor State Farm® (and more specifically, Toni) is there.
Now with that as our backdrop, I want to invite our attention this morning to our New Testament lesson from the Gospel of John as we think on the subject: LIKE A GOOD SHEPHERD.
Now, in this 10th chapter of John’s gospel, we find Jesus using the image of a shepherd and his sheep as a way of explaining His identity and defining His relationship to His people.
Jesus also uses this image of the shepherd and the sheep as a means of cautioning the people… to help protect them from those who would seek to do them harm… warning them that there will be some who try to climb into the sheep pen without going through the gate…. Explaining that those who seek to come in this way are nothing but thieves and robbers.
And Jesus went on to explain that the true shepherd will enter through the gate that the gatekeeper has opened for Him… and once the shepherd has entered through the gate… the sheep will hear His voice and follow Him because the sheep know the shepherd’s voice.
Now, it was quite some time ago that I read about sheep not being the smartest creatures on earth. It has been said that sheep can be stubborn, helpless and even timid… I wonder if that is why Jesus compares us to sheep…
Now, I also learned that sheep will not lie down if they are afraid and so it is up to the shepherd to provide a sense of comfort for the sheep… so when the sheep see the shepherd and hear the shepherd’s voice… they have the assurance (and insurance) that all will be well… so they can rest and be free from fear.
If we keep reading our New Testament lesson, we will see that the Gospel writer does not only use the image of Jesus as shepherd… beginning in verse 7 we read:
So, not only is Jesus the shepherd, Jesus is also the gate. And it is through Jesus, who is the gate, that all of us sheep have access to God… and as a result we have all been given access to eternal life.
Now perhaps you may be wondering… but who are these thieves and robbers that Jesus warns us to be on the lookout for?
They are the folks who come into our midst… like wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing… they appear to be good-hearted and good natured and give the impression that they mean well… but then these thieves and robbers almost always give themselves away … they just can’t help it.
Try as they might, they cannot stop themselves from being the naysayer when someone else has something positive to say or has a new idea to suggest… they cannot resist the temptation to find something negative to say about anything and everything anyone else is doing.
They do their very best to rain on everybody else’s parade… criticizing and judging others… and making it their mission to get others to do the same as well… and they see the church as fertile ground… ripe for cultivation… and propagation… of their mean-spirited attitudes and hardened hearts…
Often times brandishing the Bible as a weapon of mass destruction rather than as the sword of the Spirit… misinterpreting the Scriptures as a means of justifying their behavior… trying to shield themselves from scrutiny by hiding behind the Word of God that they have taken out of context.
The thief comes in to steal the joy of believers… to kill the hope of the faithful… and to destroy the dreams of the righteous.
But thankfully Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly.
LIKE A GOOD SHEPHERD… Jesus is there… looking out for us and protecting us because He knows each one of us and He has called us to be part of His flock.
Now this image of the Lord as Shepherd and His people as sheep is not exclusive to the New Testament.
The prophet Jeremiah used this image of the shepherd in Jeremiah 31 (10) where we read, “Hear the word of the LORD, O nations; proclaim it in distant coastlands: ‘He who scattered Israel will gather them and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.”
And the prophet Isaiah used this image in Isaiah 40 (11) which reads, “He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.”
While in Psalm 78 (52), we read, “… he brought his people out like a flock; he led them like sheep through the desert.”
LIKE A GOOD SHEPHERD… Jesus is there… calling us by name and leading us through even the most difficult and desolate times.
And, not only does Jesus know us and call us by name… LIKE A GOOD SHEPHERD… Jesus is there… caring about us and providing for all of our needs.
In Philippians 4:19, the Apostle Paul writes, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”
While our Old Testament reading for today from Psalm 23 also reminds us that because the Lord is our Shepherd… we have everything we need. He gives us quiet places to lie down. He gives us restoration for our souls. He leads us in paths of righteousness and protects us from all evil. He makes provision for us even in the presence of our enemies and anoints our heads with oil.
And as if that wasn’t enough, He gives us goodness and mercy to follow us all of the days of our lives. And then… after all of that… He makes it possible for us to dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
All because the Shepherd cares about us and provides for all of our needs.
Now, not only does Jesus call us by name and care about us and provide for all of our needs… LIKE A GOOD SHEPHERD… Jesus is there to comfort us in our times of trouble, as well.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians:
And in John 14 (18 – 26), we find Jesus’ promise that He would not leave us comfortless… and His assurance that God would send us the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to teach us and remind us of all the things that Jesus had said.
While in Revelation 21 (4), we read about the day that will come when the Lord will wipe every tear from our eyes… when there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain… in essence, giving us reassurance that we will be comforted in our time of need.
So, LIKE A GOOD SHEPHERD… Jesus calls us by name… Jesus cares about and provides for all of our needs… and Jesus comforts us in our times of trouble.
But then what are we supposed to do in response to all this? Well… I am so glad you asked!
LIKE A GOOD SHEPHERD… Jesus calls us to act… and how are we to act? You guessed it! We are called to act LIKE A GOOD NEIGHBOR.
In Matthew 25, Jesus gives us another image of the shepherd to help us understand what we have been called to do and how we have been called to act.
It is through the image of a shepherd separating the sheep and the goats that Jesus encouraged His disciples (and us) to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, invite the stranger in, clothe the naked, look after the sick and visit those who are in prison… basically, to act like a good neighbor… to keep from being cast aside like one of the goats.
Then further on in Matthew 28, we find Jesus telling the disciples, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (This charge to the disciples, and by extension to us) is often referred to as the Great Commission).
However, over in Acts 1, we find Jesus giving the disciples instructions to wait in Jerusalem… not forever… but until the Holy Spirit came. Now, it is important to note that Jesus was not sending the Holy Spirit so the disciples could stay in Jerusalem and simply keep themselves locked in the upper room to have prayer meetings all day long.
On the contrary, Jesus told the disciples that once they received the power of the Holy Spirit… they were to go and be His witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth…
In other words, the plan was for the disciples to go outside of the four walls of that upper room… and that is where He continues to send us today… outside of these walls and into the world to serve.
As the body of Christ, we have been given a responsibility to care for the “least of these” … those who are hungry, thirsty, naked, homeless, sick and imprisoned.
But we have also been given the responsibility to care for our brothers and sisters in Christ… to act like a good neighbor to them as well.
The Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 6:10, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”
And in Colossians 3, we read these words:
We are called to be kind and compassionate to one another… which means we have been called to not only be patient with one another and forgive one another… most importantly we have been called to love one another… which is the message that Jesus has been giving us all along…
LIKE A GOOD SHEPHERD… Jesus has been modeling for us what it means to live like a good neighbor… telling us in John 13:35, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
And the reason we are able to love one another is because Jesus first loved us. He loved us so much that He gave His life for us that we might have not only abundant life but eternal life…
Jesus has given us His very best because He wants the very best from us as well… which is why He calls us to follow Him.
And if we were to keep reading further in John 10, we would find these words in verses 27 – 28, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.”
Please forgive me for mixing metaphors and insurance slogans…
but I think it is safe to say that LIKE A GOOD SHEPHERD… Jesus is there calling us to follow Him… giving us the assurance that we will be with Him for eternity… trusting in the promise that we truly are, “in good hands with Jesus.”
So… when I printed out the sermon yesterday morning, this was the point where it ended… when I was planning to invite us to stand and join in singing our Hymn of Discipleship… but then I saw the news about what happened in Cleveland, TX… and I could not help but notice the counterpoint to the message of what it means to be a good neighbor…
Please know, it is not my intention to be “that pastor” who continually gets up on a soapbox preaching the same message over and over again… day in and day out… week after week… but there is a rather sobering statistic that we are faced with… in 2023, there has been on average one mass shooting every 6.5 days… we cannot accept this as our new normal.
If you know me, then you know my heart’s desire is for us to get to a point in time when the subject of gun violence and the need for common sense gun laws is not part of my daily vocabulary… but clearly, we are not there yet.
And I need to say this yet again, lest there be any doubt… this is not simply about politics or partisanship… it is about saving the lives of our CHILDREN…
One of the people killed in that shooting in Texas was the same age as our youngest grandchild… he was only eight years old.
And the whole issue that the one neighbor had with the other neighbor which seemed to have started the whole thing was a request for the one neighbor to stop firing a gun in the yard because the other neighbor’s baby was trying to sleep…
It is mind boggling to think that guns have become the leading cause of death in this country for children between the ages of 1 and 19… the leading cause… it is not car accidents… it is not cancer… it is gun deaths that are taking the lives of our children… and yet we are still not seeing any meaningful action to address the issue.
Why is it that we can come up with programs like the Muscular Dystrophy Association, St. Jude’s Hospital, Shriner’s Hospital, Ronald McDonald House, Love to the Rescue, and so many other organizations… to address the serious issues impacting the health and well-being of our children with a mission of helping them to live longer… but when it comes to the LEADING CAUSE of their deaths… we cannot seem to get our act together?
When Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14), I do not believe for one moment that allowing them to fall victim to gun violence is what He had in mind…
If we ever hope to create a better world for our children… it is going to take the intentional concerted effort of all of us being willing to work together… if we believe what we say when we say that the children are our future… it is up to us to do our part to help ensure that they can actually have a future.
Hymn of Discipleship: Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us #558.
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