JESUS
- The Shepherd to Lead Us
John
10:1-21
10:1
“I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall
of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and
a robber! 2 But the one who enters through the
gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him,
and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by
name and leads them out. 4 After he has gathered his own
flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice.
5 They won’t follow a stranger; they
will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”
6 Those who heard Jesus use this
illustration didn’t understand what He meant, 7 so He explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the Gate for
the sheep. 8 All who came before Me were thieves
and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. 9 Yes, I am the Gate. Those who come in through Me will be saved.
They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. 10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is
to give them a rich and satisfying life.
11 “I am the Good Shepherd. The good
shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. 12 A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon
the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so,
the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. 13 The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money
and doesn’t really care about the sheep.
14 “I am the Good Shepherd; I know My
own sheep, and they know Me, 15 just as My Father knows Me and I
know the Father. So, I sacrifice My Life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must
bring them also. They will listen to My Voice, and there will be one flock with
One Shepherd.
17 “The Father loves Me because I
sacrifice My Life so I may take it back again. 18 No one can take My Life from Me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I
have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again.
For this is what my Father has commanded.”
19 When He said these things, the
people were again divided in their opinions about Him. 20 Some said, “He’s demon possessed and out of His mind. Why listen to
a man like that?” 21 Others said, “This doesn’t sound
like a man possessed by a demon! Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
I am trying something New here
today.
I thought I would bring a herd of
Sheep into the Office, so that I could get-into the Groove of this Week’s
Message. But I am beginning to think that this wasn’t such a Great Idea.
But Have you ever wondered the ‘WHY’,
Why did Jesus pick ‘sheep’ as the metaphor to represent or to describe us?
Have you ever been around sheep?
·
They
are Smelly!
·
They
are Dirty!
·
They
constantly Need Attention!
·
They
are Pushy!
·
They
want Their Way!
·
They
never Think as Individuals but rather – Always as a group!
·
And
they Think the World was Created Just for Them!
But Why are we considered to be Sheep
by Jesus?
Let
us Talk about Leadership.
Don’t we all want good leadership.
·
You know, a Good Shepherd to
lead us
o
Safely
in and out of green pasture is always a Great Idea.
We Try to pick Good Ones
·
We
vote - in hopes to elect Great Leadership.
·
We
apply for jobs - hoping to work into Leadership.
·
And we choose the schools based upon their past leadership
o
And
we do the studies, in hopes that we will be educated by it. and
But the sad fact of it is,
·
That we do not always Find Great
Leadership.
o
The trust we place in
our leaders can so easily be broken.
So, what are we to do?
I am sure you have heard that the Scriptures Holds the Answer
·
So, let’s just do
that.
o
Let’s
go to the Gospel of John, Chapter 10,
§ And see if it is True that it Holds our Answer.
Do you see the picture that
Our Lord, Jesus gives us here within John 10.
·
We have all seen
them.
o
This wonderful and intense,
but also, so relaxing - portrait
§ Of the Great Shepherd
caring for His sheep.
But what are the truths which makes this story so connecting to us?
·
The
Shepherd, would lead
His herd out to the distant areas.
o
And there, they would stay out in the fields –
§ Together for several days.
·
And to help in
keeping all of the sheep safe,
§ When they can,
§ The shepherds would
bring all of their herds together
§
Into
one large group.
·
Then they would surround the sheep by using temporary corrals.
§ Making One large pen
§ So that they can keep the sheep in
§ During the times when they were not grazing.
·
The shepherds
would then keep watch over the sheep
§ To make sure that No
predators would sneak in,
§ And Scatter the sheep
§ Only to later, begin to pick them off one by
one.
·
See – It is the
shepherds who always camp at the gate
§ So that the sheep would remain safe.
§ Then, in the morning, as the herder is ready
to leave,
§ He would to his sheep
·
And they would
all come running
·
Then they would follow
their shepherd
·
Throughout that
day, grazing on the hillsides.
Do
you see what is really happening here?
·
More than any other
DUTY,
o
More than any
other RESPONSIBILITY,
§ The #1 GOAL of the shepherd
·
Is to ALWAYS Protect their sheep.
And Right Here, This is the
‘HOW’ You
Know a
·
Good
shepherd
·
From a Bad shepherd.
But do you know
the ‘HOW’ we do this?
·
What do we use as a tool
o
To separate the Bad Shepherds from the Good Shepherds?
§ How can you tell the Good from the bad?
Of course,
·
A Good Shepherd
o
And A Good Leader
§ Will Always Have the Best Interest of his (her) people
·
Within
their Own Heart.
But what would you LOOK for so YOU KNOW a Shepherd
is either Good or Bad?
·
The
ANSWER is simple.
o
You
find this out By Looking at his sheep.
So, let us take a Look at Jesus’ Teaching which
we find in John 10.
·
And within this,
o
Let’s see if we
can answer Three Important Questions?
So,
let’s get started.
What are the NEEDS of the Sheep?
The
first and most obvious answer would Have to be:
PROTECTION!
But – Protection from What?
SEE – It is Jesus who warns us that there are
predators Always about
·
And
that they are always trying to get into our
sheep’s pen.
·
They Want to SCATTER the Sheep into the hills.
·
They Want to get the
Sheep SEPARATED from their Shepherd,
o
Get them lost in
the Hills
§ So that later, one by one,
§ They will DEVOUR
these lost sheep.
There are Wild Coyotes,
Hungry Bears, Sneaky Wolves, Slinking Bobcats and even Pouncing Cougars.
They All will try every trick-within-the-book,
·
Just
to get into the herd.
·
That’s
all that it would take.
These predator’s only
have two Things-On-Their-Minds
·
And that is to Steal and to Rob.
And what is so sad about this whole thing is,
·
The
sheep do not even have a clue
o
Of
what is really going on here.
o
Even
if it happens right next to them!
See, If a predator quietly - sneaks in,
·
He can easily kill
one of the sheep
o
And, while he is
laying there,
o
Having this Wonderful
Feast
o
Right there - In the
middle of the other sheep,
o
The sheep who are
right there
§ Right next to this “event”,
§ They Have NO CLUE of ANY of The Danger which
they are in.
§ Even though their grazing partner is now gone
·
They will remain there.
·
Either - Lying Down,
·
Standing Up
·
Or Even, Munching
on the Grass,
·
They will remain
to be Totally Oblivious to the whole thing.
·
Their friend
o
Was Just their enemy’s
supper
o
And Now, they are
going to be the seconds.
See - Not only do sheep need
·
Protection from the predators,
·
But they also
need Protection from themselves.
I am sure that you All Have Heard that:
·
Sheep
Are some of the Dumbest animals
o
Within
all of God’s animal kingdom.
§ And that they are most certainly,
·
Creatures
of Habits.
So,
What are Some of the BAD HABITS of the Sheep?
They
Can KILL the Land!
If they are left alone,
·
They will graze
the same spot until Nothing is left.
o
They will nibble
all of the grass down to their roots.
o
They will pull-up
all of the grass roots and eat them as well.
o
If they are Not
Moved on,
§ They will eat until nothing is left
·
Except the ground
which they stand on.
This is why you see nothing but bare ground.
·
Hard - Packed –
Bare Ground
o
Where ever sheep
are kept.
(circles in the land)
If they are not shepherded and moved on,
·
They will kill
everything and they will leave an everlasting mark
o
On the ground.
To say
it Politely, they are Creatures of Bad Hygiene.
They will pollute their own ground
o
To such a degree that
it will soon be ran
§ Over with disease and parasites.
To their own ILL HEALTH,
·
They will Not
Only Live upon,
o
But they will Stand,
o
Lie down,
o
And even sleep in
their own filth.
o
And their wool will
house
§ All of these So Wonderful of Elements until
they are sheared.
They
are creatures with heavy coats:
Their fleece can grow very long
o
And become very
heavy - weighted down
§ With mud,
§ Manure,
§ Burrs
§ And all other types of debris.
And
They have one Major Dangerous Flaw:
And this can very easily lead to certain death.
·
This is when a
sheep lies down
o
And for some
reason
§ They get rolled on to their backs,
o
This is certain
death to them
o
Because - They Can
Not Roll Back Over by themselves.
So, this is another Reason why the Good Shepherds,
must be alert at all times.
·
If nothing more
than to just help them to get back on their feet.
YES - Protection is the first task of a shepherd
·
This is Because - Sheep are by nature - Followers.
My wife and I are watching a TV series show in
where there are 6 couples
·
Who are competing
with each other
·
For an opportunity
to impress this older couple
o
Who over their Lifetime
of years,
§ Have built a Wonderful Home within the
wilderness of Alaska.
·
It is ONLY because
of their age of this older couple that they
o
Are now looking
for a new, younger couple
§ Who has the right set of skills and the
correct mind set
§ To be chosen to inherit this wonderful home.
§ Not only are they to live there and to keep it
§ So that it will not have a chance to grow back
to wilderness
§ But also, to continue to enrichening this dream
·
Of which they had
begun.
Each day, these couples are put into
situations which are not strange for Alaska but are challenging to say the least
for the lower 48.
·
And during these
situations,
o
These couples are
Scrutinized
o
And Judged upon how
they react and on all that they do.
After having some of these challenges,
·
It was very apparent
o
That this elderly
couple are seeking
§ Not only leaders
§ But a couple who works well together
§ And of who would have a wide range
·
Of not only commonsense
·
But of survival
and reasoning talents as well.
It was during one of these challenges,
·
When one of the observers
began to point out
o
Of a recent
switch in some of the participants behavior.
·
Although each
couple was trying so desperately
o
To Impress, and Influence
their judges,
o
Some of these couples
decided to put a great deal of effort
§ In trying to become the type of behavior
§ Which they thought - was a desirable behavior,
·
And a behavior which
they were looking for
·
Just so that they
could win that selection for that day.
·
But ultimately, the
observers were not fooled!
·
One behavior
which had been rewarded on the earlier challenges
o
Was the behavior
of a Nature Born Leader.
§ So, this became the behavior
·
Which some of the
couples
·
Began to try to
display for the judges.
It was so obvious that these couples were
trying to display a behavior
·
Which was not one
of their own
·
And through their
efforts of trying to lead,
o
They so miserably
failed in developing any who followed them.
So, in other words,
·
Another factor of
a Good Shephard or a Good Leader
o
Is one who others
follow.
It may not come to you
as a Surprise,
·
BUT - Most of us
o
Do Not Like to be
think of ourselves – as being a follower.
We think of ourselves as Leaders
·
But if-the-truth would
be told,
o
The vast majority
of us – are simply, Not Leaders.
Outside of being a parent,
·
Most of us Rarely
are placed into positions of caring over others.
But the thing is - Jesus recognizes that we
are
·
By nature, followers.
·
This means –
o
That we need – Good People Over Us
§ So that they can take care of us.
YES - Sheep are
followers.
·
It is Comforting
o
To Hear the Voice
of the One we Know,
o
Of the One we Recognize,
o
Of the One we Trust
o
And of the One
who we Follow!
·
But IF That Voice
is of a Stranger
o
No One will Follow.
 |
So - What are the needs of
sheep?
·
They
need to Follow
·
And
they need to be Protect.
 |
Who
will be given the responsibility
to
care for these creatures?
·
Will it be a good
shepherd?
o
Or a bad
shepherd?
We know that someone
·
Will step in and
take this position of the leader
o
But the health of
any given flock
o
Depends Directly upon
what type of shepherd is over them.
If the shepherd is NATURALLY
and TRULY
·
Gentle,
·
Kind,
·
Intelligent,
·
Brave
·
And Self-Sacrificing
o
Within his
devotion to his flock
§ The sheep will naturally – THRIVE!
BUT - If the shepherd is
·
Cruel,
·
Inattentive,
·
Haphazard,
·
And
selfish
o
Within his Lack
of Devotion to his flock
§ The sheep will struggle,
suffer and starve.
§ Their hardship will Have No End!
As we read further in verses 11 and 12
·
Jesus uses a contrast
between
o
A good shepherd
o
And a temporary
shepherd who is a hired hand.
Jesus says that the hired hand shepherds
·
Are not fully
committed to their cause
o
Simply because,
they do not own the sheep.
o
They have no
investment in these sheep.
Have you ever been fully
committed to some cause?
Have you had full ownership
of some project or program?
If you have,
o
Then, I believe, you
know what our Lord is talking about.
§ Who is it who puts in the Most Hours?
§ Who is the one who Works the Hardest?
§ Who Worries the Most?
§ Who Cares the Deepest?
·
It is the
owner.
·
It is the one
who is Invested.
o
And It Is Not the
Hired Help.
Jesus says when they see the wolves coming
·
They flee and leave
the sheep and run away.
Let us be honest.
·
We all know of
those appointed pastors
o
Who do not have people’s
best interest at their heart.
·
There are those
who are only interested in
o
How much money they
can earn?
o
What Title they
will be given?
o
And of What prestige
will be given to them?
·
Yes – is it sad
that some are filled
o
With their own
sinful desires
o
And, Yes, these
are of a danger to their flock.
It is a pity but it is true.
HOWEVER - Let us Also be Realistic!
·
One who makes Mistakes
does not mean that they are a pastoral failure!
·
Anyone and
Everyone –
o
Even the greatest
religious leaders will fall.
·
Mistakes,
·
A sin,
·
A moral failure,
·
A principle lapse,
o
All of these DO NOT
Disqualify a person from
§ Being a Good pastor or priest.
If it does, we would have no Religious Leaders.
·
The bar cannot be
set so high that it is Totally Out of Reach.
But there must be some acts which will
naturally, remove a leader from leading.
·
If a shepherd
puts his flock at risk,
·
If he exposes his
sheep to danger,
o
Then, who will
follow that shepherd
o
Therefore, naturally
- removing that shepherd from being a leader
§ Is the thing to do.
 |
So,
let me ask the Last Question:
What are the Traits, the Characteristics,
the Personalities of an effective shepherd?
We could list so many Traits, Characteristics
or Personalities of a Great Leader.
We have been touching on this point all the
way through this message but
Dwight D. Eisenhower put it well when he said:
“In order to be a leader
a man must have followers.
And to have followers, a
man must have their confidence.
Hence the supreme
quality of a leader is unquestionably integrity.
Without it, no real
success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, on a football
field, in an army, or in an office.
If a man's associates
find him guilty of not being genuine, if they find that he lacks forthright
integrity, he will fail.
His teachings and
actions must square with each other.
The first great need,
therefore, is integrity and high purpose”
So, let’s take a look at just a few definitions
of the
·
Traits or Characteristics
or Personalities
o
That we should be
looking for within
§ One who is able to lead effectively.
1. Courage -
Leaders express ideas to help others improve, in spite of their personal risk
or opposition.
2. Non-conformity -
Simply swimming with the tide leads you nowhere.
3. Foresight or
Vision - The ability to look ahead and see what's
coming.
4. Steadiness –
Having patience as well as persistence, inspite of your failures and of the obstacles.
5. Righteousness -
The willingness to do the right thing and speak the truth.
6. Humbleness –
The willingness to not take the spot light of success. Being commended, taking
the credit is not the goal nor a mark of a leader but rather, it is the ‘Leading
of Within’ which points out the qualities of a leader.
AGAIN - These are only 6 of the vast number of
qualities
·
That mark a true
and faithful leader.
But even as hard as we may try or as gifted as
God had made us,
·
We will always
have much to learn from the master of Leadership.
Jesus always had a way of summing up the True
Meaning of anything.
·
He took the Ten
Commandments and said,
o
“Love God and
love your neighbor” and you will fulfill the law.
·
He took the
complicated issue of divorce and said,
o
“God hates
divorce” so don’t do it.
·
When the
disciples said how do we pray he said,
o
“When you pray,
say: Our Father, hallowed be thy name.”
So, Jesus looks out at the people and He sees
that they have had bad shepherds.
He sees that the nation has been put in danger
·
Because of these
leaders and He says,
·
“The
good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.”
You just cannot argue with that.
That is True Leadership.
We all will spend our entire lives
·
Trying to be
imitators of Christ
o
Whether we are leading
or we are following.
We all want a leader.
·
We all Need a
Leader.
·
A True Shepherd who
will lead us.
·
Someone we can
trust.
·
Someone who has
our best interest at His heart.
·
Someone who will
not disappoint us.
o
I offer you,
Jesus Christ. He is the Good Shepherd.
May God bless the sheep within the church and
those who shepherd. Amen.
