"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus again said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. (John 10:1-11 ESV)
Today is Good Shepherd Sunday, that Sunday where we once again picture that beautiful image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd and us as His sheep. We recite the 23rd Psalm and keep in mind that “The Lord is my Shepherd.” Our Gospel for today reminds us that the Lord is not just the shepherd, but also that He is the gate to the sheep-pen as well. And that there are other shepherds who have the job of making sure the sheep go in and out by the gate, and protecting the sheep from thieves and robbers.
It’s that particular theme which I would like for us to consider this morning. As great as it is to be the Lord’s sheep, we need to know whose voices to listen to. We need to be able to tell a shepherd from a robber or a thief.
First, as our text suggests, we need to know who the robbers and thieves are. Robbers and thieves are all those teachers or leaders who would point us anywhere other than Christ alone for our salvation and for the continuing strengthening of our faith. I was recently given a copy of Maclean’s from a couple weeks ago, featuring an article about a woman who is a United Church minister who doesn’t, it appears, believe in Jesus, or God, at all. She is a minister because, in her own words, “no other single organization can disseminate important messages like the church can.” It’s merely a good way of being in a position to transform society. She has little use for the Scriptures, and she thinks the Scriptural record of Jesus does more harm than good for society. She sees Jesus’ teaching as being full of bad ideas and that the church of today should ditch Jesus’ ideas and ideals and come up with their own. In Jesus' terms, she’s a thief. She’s taking the members of her church to a sheepfold other than the one that Christ would have them go to.
Or picture a pastor who teaches his congregation that in order to be saved, all they have to do is read his book and think positive thoughts. That’s a robber, putting himself in the place of Christ and taking away the truth that his people need. Or a pastor who says that if you experience love, that’s the same as being saved. Or a pastor who teaches that there are many ways to God and that Jesus Christ is only one of many equally viable options. Or a pastor who sets up laws and rules which have no basis in the Word of God and which serve only to prove the allegiance of the people to his own personality quirks and foibles.
We need to be aware that thieves and robbers often look like shepherds, but want to go about things in a way which does not point to Christ. They want people to do things their own way. In the original context, Jesus spoke His words about being the Good Shepherd, about the thieves and robbers, right after the Pharisees and teachers of the Law had thrown the man born blind out of their fellowship for the crime of being healed by Jesus. The Pharisees and teachers of the Law sat in Moses’ seat, but they had set their own laws and traditions in the place of trusting in God’s grace and mercy. They had become thieves and robbers.
These so-called shepherds—for that is, after all, what the word “pastor” means at its most basic level, shepherd—do more harm than good to their flock. In whatever extent they still teach the truth of God’s Word and still preach the death and resurrection of Jesus as the sole basis of salvation, they can do some good. But on the whole they are agents of devilish malice on God’s holy church, for they point the sheep anywhere and everywhere but Christ. Sheep under such shepherds struggle and suffer and often wander away from Christ.
But the one who enters by the door is a shepherd. The one who teaches the Word of God in its truth and purity, the one who points his sheep to Christ and teaches them to seek Jesus in every circumstance. That’s a shepherd. That’s the goal toward which every honest, faithful, and diligent pastor seeks to aim their own ministry.
It can be hard to be a pastor in this modern era, harder than it has been in a long time. Forty years ago, pastors were still regarded by the bulk of society as being important, positive figures. This region notwithstanding, in Canada nowadays to be a pastor is largely to be regarded as an irrelevant cultural relic, someone whom you have to make arrangements with for weddings and funeral services but otherwise someone who has nothing to do with your life.
I’m not looking for sympathy here; I’m simply pointing out that the pressure on the pastor is to try to reinvent himself to make himself more relevant to culture. To be up with the latest trends, to be cool. And on one hand it is important to make use of the things which our times and our technologies offer. The shepherd needs to know what the sheep are doing and how the sheep live. He needs to know the sorts of things the sheep are grazing on. In the same way, as your pastor, I need to keep in touch with you and know what is going on in your lives. I need to be aware of your pressures and commitments and careers and hobbies and pastimes. I need to know who you are and how you are doing, so I know how to bring the word of Christ to you. Nothing bothers me more than when I hear about someone in the congregation who has been in the hospital for some time and just come home—and I never even heard a word of it so I could at least pray for them. Or when I hear of someone who has gone through a great crisis but didn’t let me know because they thought I was too busy. My only business as a pastor is to care for the congregations that the Lord has called me to serve. If I’m too busy to care, then I should get out of the ministry and go do something else. Don’t ever be afraid to call me or to let me know about things that are troubling you.
But this also, on the other hand, shows one of the biggest faults that most pastors have. We know we have been called by God to be your shepherds, and sometimes, in the quest of wanting to be loved by our sheep, we can fall short on giving the whole counsel of God—both Law and Gospel. In the quest of being relevant and important, of having the personal honour and respect we would like, we can often stray from doing our job of teaching Christ and His Word. When Jesus Himself was walking this earth, He didn’t shy away from rebuking people and pointing out their sins where warranted. If you believe that Jesus is a kindly, gentlehearted man who simply wanted everyone to be nice to each other, you’ve been suckered by a thief or a robber somewhere down the line. Jesus could be very harsh when it came to sin. He called a spade a spade. He had little use for religious people, when their religion was focussed on themselves and not on God’s grace and mercy. He was calling the Pharisees and teachers of the law robbers and thieves, for that very reason. If people needed to hear of their sin, He didn’t shy away from telling them. If Jesus were around today, no doubt He’d be roundly denounced on television programs and people would be disinclined to listen. He shakes us out of our comfort zones and won’t let us remain on the fence. Jesus forgave and forgives, but He is also the great and final judge of all humanity.
He is, after all, the gate. The door. You can’t stay on a door very long. You have to be in or out. Only through Jesus can you be in. There’s lots of things going on outside the sheepfold—outside the church. No question. There are loads of things which can keep us interested and even distracted. Lots of interesting looking patches of grass out there to graze on. Lots of scenery, perhaps even some scenery which is pretty attractive simply because you’ve never seen it before. But do you know where your safe haven is? Do you have entrance to a sheepfold where you have a shepherd who can make sure you are fed and watered and protected from the thieves and robbers who prowl the countryside, looking for lambchops for dinner or a nice mutton stew?
You need to have a shepherd whose voice is recognizable—who says what the Good Shepherd says. Only then can you trust what this shepherd is teaching you. Little wonder that churches in general are shrinking these days. Too often, anything and everything but the words and the grace of Christ are what is taught and heard. This is why it is important for you, as members of this church, to stay grounded in the Word as well. Make sure that I, as your shepherd, am teaching Christ to you, am bringing Christ to you, am giving you both those things you don’t want to hear from the Scriptures as well as the happier, easier-to-listen-to parts. For the devil would love nothing more than for me to default on my duties of teaching the Word in an effort to be more culturally or socially acceptable.
But that’s not the call I have. I have been called to be a shepherd under the Good Shepherd, the one who laid down His life for His sheep, and took it up again in order that His sheep would have a permanent pasture. In order to do my job as your pastor, I need to remember that I’m just a sheep with a special calling. I also need to hear the word of Christ. I also need the rebuke of the Law. I also need the forgiveness of sins. I also need the Lord’s Supper. And so it is my privilege and honour to continue to serve you as pastor so that I also receive from our Lord’s hands what I so desperately need. May Jesus always be at the heart of who we are and what we do as a congregation in this place! Amen.
Last updated April 2008 by the webmaster.