The Gifts of the Shepherd
John 10:22-30 May 2, 2004
Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, [23] and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade. [24] The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."
[25] Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, [26] but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. [27] My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. [28] I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. [29] My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. [30] I and the Father are one."
CCI: The gifts of the Shepherd are available to the sheep of Jesus’ flock.
Intro: We live in a world that is filled with uncertainty, and insecurity. Fear runs wild not only in our society, but around the world. When Jesus was approached by the religious leaders and asked if he was the messiah, he responded by speaking of His sheep. Those sheep who were a part of his flock, Jesus said, have been given 4 gifts.
The first is the gift of recognizing his voice. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice and they know me.” Several years ago, in Central Africa, there were a number of shepherds whose flocks were stolen. In this region, it was uncommon to mark the ears of the sheep for identity as is done in many parts of the world. So the question arose, How do we know which sheep belong to which shepherd? The answer came as the first shepherdess arrived to claim her sheep. She stood in the middle of the field and called her sheep by name. As each name was called, that specific sheep ran to the side of the shepherdess. They had been lost, they had been stolen, but when they heard the voice of the shepherd calling their names, immediately they ran to his side.
To know the voice of shepherd is to have direction for your life. There may be times we become lost, but the shepherd’s voice can call us back to his side. We come to know the voice of the shepherd by spending time with him. That means time studying the scriptures, the record of God’s self revelation. Through scriptures, we find direction, correction and mission. Coming to know the shepherd also means spending time in prayer. Sometimes that prayer is telling God all that is on our hearts, but other times prayer is simply being in the presence of God. In the book Prayer by O. Hallesby, he writes, “In the fellowship with God, there are things . . . for which we can find no words. . . One evening our little fellow had played until he was tired, I noticed that he drew closer and closer to his mother. At last he found the place he was longing for, mother’s lap. We, too, become tired, deadly tired, of ourselves, of others, of the world, of life, of everything! Then we are blessed to know of a place where we can lay our tired head and heart, our heavenly father’s arms, and say to him. ‘I can do no more. And I have nothing to tell you. May I lie here a while and rest?’”
It is in these intimate moments that we learn to know the voice of the shepherd.
The second is the gift of eternal life. We often think of eternal life as a quantitative thing. However, when Jesus offers eternal life he is offering us a quality of life that refuses to be insignificant. Eternal life is broad as well as long. Eternal life impacts the universe throughout the ages. Eternal life begins now. Jesus said, “This is eternal life, that you may know God.” So once again the source of this gift available to the sheep of Jesus’ flock is received through an intimate relationship with the shepherd. Eternal life is our experience as we know God. So often we feel small, we fear insignificance, but the gift of eternal life is the gift of the splendor and majesty of the life of God.
The third is the gift of never perishing. One of the greatest fears in our world is the fear of death. And yet, as time marches on, death is inevitable. While there may be advances made in fighting cancer and safer cars built. The reality of death remains part of our existence. However, the finality of death has been vanquished through the life of the shepherd. The gift of never perishing is the promise Jesus made to Mary at the tomb of Lazarus, “"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”
And the fourth is the gift of the shepherd is the gift of security. The fears of our world and our society can be summed up in the word insecurity. In 2003 NewsUSA reported, “The recently broadcast threat by Al-Zawahiri, leader of Al-Queda, that bomb after bomb will soon fall on America has the majority of U.S. citizens frantic with worry. Indeed, terrorism has become one of the world's greatest fears and concerns.” In Japan a man, when asked what he feared the most, wrote, “I am terrified not so much of earthquakes but that one will hit Tokyo while I am away on a business trip. The thought of not being able to get back nor make contact with my family...” African American Teens said their greatest anxiety comes from fear of dying before their 21st birthday and fear of losing a loved one to drugs or gang violence.” To those of us who fear insecurity, the shepherd declares, “No one can snatch them out of my hand.” We are secure in the care of the shepherd wether there be violence, or earthquake or storm or terrorism, the sheep are safe in the hand of the good Shepherd.
But who are these sheep? They are those who are a part of the flock. I recently ran across a parable that beautifully describes the sheep of the flock.
There was a certain Professor of Religion named Dr. "Smith", a studious man who taught at a small college in the Western United States. The professor taught the required survey course in Christianity at this particular institution. Every student was required to take this course his or her freshman year regardless of his or her major.
Although Dr. Smith tried hard to communicate the essence of the gospel in his class, he found that most of his students looked upon the course as nothing but required drudgery. Despite his best efforts, most students refused to take Christianity seriously.
This year, Dr. Smith had a special student named Steve. Steve was only a freshman, but was studying with the intent of going onto seminary for the ministry. Steve was popular, he was well liked, and he was an imposing physical specimen. He was now the starting center on the school football team, and was the best student in the professor's class.
One day, Dr. Smith asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him. "How many push-ups can you do?"
Steve said, "I do about 200 every night."
"200: That's pretty good, Steve," the professor said. "Do you think you could do 300?"
Steve replied, "I don't know... I've never done 300 at a time."
"Do you think you could?" again asked Dr. Smith.
"Well, I can try," said Steve.
"Can you do 300 in sets of 10. I have a class project in mind and I need you to do about 300 push-ups in sets of ten for this to work. Can you do it? I need you to tell me you can do it," said the professor.
Steve said, "Well... I think I can...yeah, I can do it"
Dr. Smith said, "Good! I need you to do this on Friday. Let me explain what I have in mind...."
Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the room. When class started, the professor pulled out a big box of donuts. No, these weren't the normal kinds of donuts, they were the extra fancy BIG kind, with cream centers and frosting swirls.
Everyone was pretty excited it was Friday, the last class of the day, and they were going to get an early start on the weekend with a party in Dr. Smith's class.
The professor went to the first girl in the first row and asked, "Cynthia, do you want to have one of these donuts?"
Cynthia said, "Yes."
Dr. Smith then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?"
"Sure." Steve jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten Then Steve again sat in his desk. The professor put a donut on Cynthia's desk.
Dr. Smith then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, "Joe, do you want a donut?"
Joe said, "Yes."
The professor asked, "Steve would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut?" Steve did ten push-ups. Joe got a donut. And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did ten pushups for every person before they got their donut. And down the second aisle, Dr.Smith came to Scott.
Scott was on the basketball team, and in as good condition as Steve. He was very popular and never lacking for female companionship. When the professor asked, "Scott do you want a donut?"
Scott's reply was, "Well, can I do my own pushups?"
Dr. Smith said, "No, Steve has to do them."
Then Scott said, "Well, I don't want one then."
The professor shrugged and then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so Scott can have a donut he doesn't want?" With perfect obedience Steve started to do ten pushups.
Scott said, "HEY! I said I didn't want one!"
Dr. Smith said, "Look, this is my classroom, my class, my desks, and these are my donuts. Just leave it on the desk if you don't want it." And he put a donut on Scott's desk.
Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little He just stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and down. You could start to see a little perspiration coming out around his brow. The professor started down the third row. Now the students were beginning to get a little angry.
Dr. Smith asked Jenny, "Jenny, do you want a donut?"
Sternly, Jenny said, "No."
Then Dr. Smith asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten more push-ups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn't want?" Steve did ten...Jenny got a donut.
By now, a growing sense of uneasiness filled the room. The students were beginning to say "No" and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks. Steve also had to really put forth a lot of extra effort to get these pushups done for each donut There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face, his arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the physical effort involved. Dr. Smith asked Robert, who was the most vocal unbeliever in the class, to watch Steve do each push up to make sure he did the full ten pushups in a set because he couldn't bear to watch all of Steve's work for all of those uneaten donuts. He sent Robert over to where Steve was so Robert could count the set and watch Steve closely.
The professor started down the fourth row.
During his class, however, some students from other classes had wandered in and sat down on the steps along the radiators that ran down the sides of the room. When the professor realized this, he did a quick count and saw that now there were 34 students in the room. He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it. Dr. Smith went on to the next person and the next and the next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each set. Steve asked the professor, "Do I have to make my nose touch on each one?"
Dr. Smith thought for a moment, "Well, they're your pushups. You are in charge now. You can do them any way that you want." And the professor went on. A few moments later, Jason, a recent transfer student, came to the room and was about to come in when all the students yelled in one voice, "NO! Don't come in! Stay out!" Jason didn't know what was going on.
Steve picked up his head and said, "No, let him come."
Professor Smith said, "You realize that if Jason comes in you will have to do ten pushups for him?"
Steve said, "Yes, let him come in. Give him a donut"
The professor said, "Okay, Steve, I'll let you get Jason's out of the way right now. Jason, do you want a donut?"
Jason, new to the room hardly knew what was going on. "Yes," he said, "give me a donut."
"Steve, will you do ten push-ups so that Jason can have a donut?" Steve did ten pushups very slowly and with great effort. Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down Dr. Smith finished the fourth row, then started on those visitors seated by the heaters. Steve's arms were now shaking with each push-up in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity. Sweat was profusely dropping off of his face and, by this time, there was no sound except his heavy breathing, there was not a dry eye in the room.
The very last two students in the room were two young women, both cheerleaders, and very popular. The professor went to Linda, the second to last, and asked, "Linda, do you want a doughnut?"
Linda said, very sadly, "No, thank you."
Professor Smith quietly asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Linda can have a donut she doesn't want?" Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow pushups for Linda.
Then the professor turned to the last girl, Susan. "Susan, do you want a donut?"
Susan, with tears flowing down her face, began to cry. "Dr. Smith, why can't I help him?"
Dr. Smith, with tears of his own, said, "No, Steve has to do it alone, I have given him this task and he is in charge of seeing that everyone has an opportunity for a donut whether they want it or not. When I decided to have a party this last day of class, I looked at my grade book. Steve, here is the only student with a perfect grade. Everyone else has failed a test, skipped class, or offered me inferior work. Steve told me that in football practice, when a player messes up he must do pushups. I told Steve that none of you could come to my party unless he paid the price by doing your push ups. He and I made a deal for your sakes. Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Susan can have a donut?" As Steve very slowly finished his last pushup, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 pushups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.
Dr. Smith turned to the room and said. "And so it was, that our Savior, Jesus Christ, on the cross, plead to the Father, 'into Thy hands I commend my spirit'
With the understanding that He had done everything that was required of Him, he yielded up His life. And like some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk, uneaten." Two students helped Steve up off the floor and to a seat, physically exhausted, but wearing a thin smile. "Well done, good and faithful servant," said the professor, "Not all sermons are preached in words."
Turning to his class the professor said, "My wish is that you might understand and fully comprehend all the riches of grace and mercy that have been given to you through the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He spared not His only Begotten Son, but gave Him up for us all for the whole Church, now and forever. Whether or not we choose to accept His gift to us, the price has been paid. Wouldn't you be foolish and ungrateful to leave it laying on the desk?"
Would you not be foolish and ungrateful to reject the gifts of the shepherd by not tuning your ears to his voice?
