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Atlantis: the domain of the Stingray
14Apr
2013
Sun
21:41
author: Stingray
category: Sermons
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Misericordias Domini

John 10:11-16

Misericordias Domini 2013 Wordle
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

What do you hear when you hear those words? You likely hear about a gentle and self-sacrificing Savior giving to you in the picture of a shepherd—the Good Shepherd. You likely hear of the tender-hearted mercies of God—the Merciful Heart of the Lord, Misericordias Domini. I hear that, too, and it is quite a comfort. But there is something else that I hear, that I’m sure many other pastors also hear. If we are completely honest with ourselves and our God, we pastors hear a little of ourselves in the hireling. Now, before I continue, I will say that I do care about God’s sheep, though certainly not as I ought, and definitely not to the best of my ability. We pastors also hear what it is we ought to be doing. We all hear comfort with Jesus as our Good Shepherd while clergy also hear a job description.

While we certainly can and should get those things out of what Jesus says, the greater comfort comes from the fact that what Jesus is saying and what He will do from His saying are a fulfillment of what we heard from the prophet Ezekiel this morning. Listen to God preach to Israel:

For thus says the Lord GOD: “Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them to their own land; I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, in the valleys and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them in good pasture, and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down,” says the Lord GOD. “I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment.” (Ezekiel 34:11-16)

Then hear God, Jesus Christ, proclaim, “I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.”

“[T]here will be one flock and one shepherd,” declares Jesus. This is in keeping with a verse following today’s Old Testament reading: “I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them—My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd.” (Ezekiel 34:23) Jesus is YHWH’s servant, David, the Son of David. He will gather His sheep from the four corners of the earth. And YHWH will be their God (cf. Ezekiel 34:24a), as Jesus reveals Him to them, as He is that revelation.

This should come as great comfort for those who are considered sheep of the flock. I mean, you know how sheep are. Sheep like to wander. Sheep blindly follow other sheep, mindless of any danger they may encounter or of the fact that they aren’t getting anywhere beneficial to them. I remember a video of a group of sheep running in a circle around a car; round and round they all went simply because the animal in front of them was going in that direction. Sheep are stubborn and will see to whatever they have their feeble little minds set to. Sheep easily get into places that they cannot get themselves out of.

Did I just describe you? Yes, in a way I did, but I was talking specifically of sheep. Nevertheless, you should be able to see yourself in those statements. Any moment the Word of God leaves your thinking, your mind starts to wander, and your footsteps easily follow. Now, couple the image of your wandering with where the world sits now; we should be in awe of the fact that the populace we see around us—around the globe—all came from eight believers who stepped off the Ark of Noah; how many countless false beliefs are out there now, wanderings, as they are, from the truth? As far as following the leader goes, how often for your own disobedience have you given the excuse that everyone else was doing it? Can’t you recall the times where you had your mind set on doing something, and despite the fact that you knew doing so was wrong, you stubbornly did it anyway? Before you know it, you often find yourself in situations you cannot get yourself out of.

Of course, the situation called sin is one no one can get out of. And everyone since the fall of Adam has found themselves in this situation. Don’t deny it; God calls you a sinner, to deny it is to call Him a liar—you’re only deceiving yourself, though. (1 John 1:8, 10) The condition of our sin is something we heard about every Sunday morning in Lent: “[I]f we thus examine ourselves, we shall find nothing in us but sin and death, from which we can in no wise set ourselves free.” And since all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (cf. Romans 3:23), we have all, like a sheep—like all sheep do—find ourselves in places from which we in no wise can set ourselves free.

That’s what makes Jesus the Good Shepherd such a comforting image. Unlike the hireling who cannot and will not see first to the needs of the sheep, Jesus does, even to His own detriment—even to the point of death: “The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” Jesus, the Good Shepherd puts the needs of the sheep over His own needs and desires, and gives His life for the sheep. We get glimpses into the fact that if it could have been any other way, Jesus would have preferred that. From the night in the garden when Jesus prayed to His Father, when He said His soul was sorrowful, even to the point of death (cf. Matthew 26:37-39), to the fact that, even as He admits, He could have angels come and rescue Him from the task He set His face to (cf. Matthew 26:52-54)—giving His life for the sheep, giving His life for yours!

And so it was that Jesus, the Good Shepherd was nailed to the cross, lifted up for all the world to see. He did once say, “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” (John 12:32) “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.” “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) “And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken.” (Ezekiel 34:24)

Jesus gives His life for the sheep. Don’t be fooled, Jesus didn’t die to give the sheep a little more time, as if a little more time is all that is needed for the sheep to correct their errors. That’s not what the Good Shepherd does. Jesus died so that the sheep didn’t have to die. Jesus died to cover with His blood all that you, by being sheep, have done. As Isaiah wrote, “All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6) YHWH has laid on Jesus, the Good Shepherd, the iniquity of us all—all of it, every last bit of it, from greatest to least, from east and from west, from all. You for your iniquity deserved to die, but your iniquity was laid on Jesus, and He died with it for you. The Good Shepherd gave his life for you.

Your being sheep is who you are. Jesus’ being the Good Shepherd makes you His sheep—makes YHWH your God. And here’s the thing, Jesus takes away the sin of the world—He is the world’s Redeemer—and YHWH is the God of the universe—the only true God! Jesus is the propitiation for the sins of the world, so every last person who is living, ever has lived, and ever will live is a sheep for which Jesus, the Good Shepherd, the Lamb of God, died.

Are they all Jesus’ sheep, though? What is it that makes one a sheep in Jesus’ fold? Why are you one of Jesus’ sheep? Truly, it’s not about you, but what Jesus does to you. God in Christ by way of the work of the Holy Spirit gives you faith to believe and trust in Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection for your forgiveness, life, and salvation. You are a sheep in Jesus’ fold because He has made you His sheep. In fact, as Dr. Norman Nagel once preached, “If we are in the flock today, we must confess it is because Jesus has so often come after us and carried us back.”

Now, when Jesus speaks, though you hear the voice of another, as His sheep you recognize Jesus’ voice: “[The Good Shepherd] goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” (John 10:4) “I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own,” says Jesus.

And, if you are a sheep in Jesus’ fold, by way of faith in His sacrifice for you in your place as the Paschal Lamb of God, then you are in Christ. And if you are in Christ, then your sins are no longer held against you—the Law no longer condemns you. For, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus...” (Romans 8:1a) By the work of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, you have been added to the flock that is His Israel, His Bride, His Church. And Jesus so often comes after you and carries you back into His fold, brings you time and time again to this place to hear Him and receive Him, even as He gives you His life given for you in His Word and in His body and blood in, with, and under the simple forms of bread and wine.

This is great comfort to you and to me. And so, it becomes my prayer, since I also hear a job description in today’s text, that when I speak, my words are His words, so that when I speak, the voice you hear is that of Jesus, your Good Shepherd. It is my prayer that when I serve, it is Jesus doing the going after you and carrying you back and giving Himself to you through my hands, and that you and I recognize it thus, and not as my good work. That is the task of the under-shepherds of Jesus’ flock, not to be hirelings that run at any sign of danger (that’s my sin among many for which Jesus, the Good Shepherd, died), but to be the voice of the Good Shepherd in your midst, so that you follow Him and not the man in the pulpit. May my response to Jesus on the last day be, “I am an unprofitable servant. I have done what was my duty to do.” (cf. Luke 17:10)

No, my profit is the same as your profit: that God “made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) We are the righteousness of God because Jesus is the Good Shepherd who is the Lamb of God become sin for us and gave His life for us. And because we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, we know the voice of the Good Shepherd and follow Him.

Where do Jesus’ sheep follow Him? They follow Him through life to death, confident, by faith, that just as He was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so shall we be raised when Jesus, the Good Shepherd, returns to claim His Bride, the Church, ultimately and finally to himself.

Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. (Romans 6:3-9)

You, by way of your baptism into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who gave His life for you, are made a part of Israel, His flock. Therefore,

O little flock, fear not the Foe / Who madly seeks your overthrow; / Dread not his rage and pow’r. / What tho’ your courage sometimes faints, / His seeming triump o’er God’s saints / Lasts by a little hour.
As true as God’s own Word is true, / Not earth nor hell with all their crew / Against us shall prevail. / A jest and by-word are they grown; / God is with us we are His own; / Our vict’ry cannot fail. (O Little Flock, Fear Not the Foe, TLH #263, stanzas 1 & 3)

You are God’s—you belong to Him; YHWH is your God—Jesus is your God. Your victory cannot fail, because it has already been won for you by His Gideon, the Good Shepherd, Jesus the Christ, who was crucified, died, and who has arisen. (cf. TLH #263, stanza 2) The Lord YHWH has fulfilled His Word by Ezekiel with you. He has sought you out and gathered you here in His Son, Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, making you a part of His flock. Here He feeds you in pleasant pastures by still waters with forgiveness, life, and salvation, given you by way of the Word and Sacraments, and your cup runs over! (cf. Psalm 23)

For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls... (1 Peter 2:21-25)

...who has forgiven you for all of your sins.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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