The Good Shepherd

The shepherd willing to go to extreme lengths for just one sheep. He doesn't look at his fold and says, well, I got 99. I'm doing pretty bad. Just one lost sheep. No. That one lost sheep matters. That one lost person matters. Not because that sheep promises to do better next time, promises not to get lost, tries and gonna try harder to do better, or deserves it somehow. No. The shepherd goes for that lost sheep, that lost person. Because that sheep, that person belongs to him. [00:05:54] (36 seconds)  #ForTheOne

Sheep are not impressive animals, friends. They're not strong or clever. They don't have sharp teeth or claws. They wander, they get lost, and they panic. And left on their own, they don't make it. And if we're honest, that's a really good description of not just sheep, but of each and every one of us. And despite that truth about us, the promise doesn't make change. You have a good shepherd, and he does not lose his sheep. Not one. Not ever. [00:12:42] (45 seconds)  #NotOneLeftBehind

The shepherd becomes the lamb of God who will take away the sin of the world as John the baptizer describes him. He is the one who leads the sheep, but in leading the sheep, he chooses to lay down his life to bring back his lost sheep. In that, we see this good shepherd is not just a god who yells yells directions from a distant. He's a shepherd who walks into the valley, into your sin, into your suffering, into your grief, into your death. [00:07:38] (32 seconds)  #LambWhoLeads

And he does not come out uninjured or unscathed. He comes out crucified, his body still bearing those marks even to this day in heaven, but yet death does not defeat him for he rises from the grave. See, what this means for us is that that psalm that's so near and dear to so many, that psalm 23, it's not just poetry that sounds pretty. It's the present reality we live in right now that the lord is my shepherd, which means I shall not want. [00:08:10] (32 seconds)  #Psalm23IsReal

In fact, he calls his friends and neighbors together. He has a party because that which was lost has been found. That which had wandered away on its own power, on its own strength, thinking, and following its own direction has been brought back home by the good shepherd. But the price of bringing that sheep back home is is incredibly great. So great that Peter tells us in the first letter he writes, first Peter chapter two, that the shepherd himself bore our sins in his body on the tree. [00:06:58] (34 seconds)  #FeastForTheFound

And when he finds that lost sheep I love that that Jesus tells us he does he doesn't scold it. He doesn't give it a good whipping or a good talking to or make it walk on his way home because it made the shepherd walk so far and do so much in order to find him. No. What does a shepherd do with that lost sheep? Puts it on his shoulders, carries it home, not begrudgingly, not unwillingly, but rejoicing. [00:06:30] (28 seconds)  #CarriedHomeInJoy

And here's the thing, when the good shepherd speaks, his word accomplishes something every time. Dead sinners here, and they're made alive. Lost sheep here, and they're and they're found. Not because they wanted to be found. No. But because the shepherd came looking for them. A shepherd who still comes to you with his gifts. See, Jesus, when he talks about sheep in general, he also gives you some specific ways where you can know that that he is for you, that you are that one that he has called by name and made you a part of his flock. [00:10:08] (35 seconds)  #WordsThatBringLife

leads to the valley of the shadow of death. And that valley of the shadow of death is not just at the end at death, it's death even now. The death of broken relationships, the death of hidden sin, the death of lingering shame, that quiet fear that nags at us in the in the echo chamber of our minds. What if I'm not okay? What if I'm really not enough? To which Isaiah says to all of us, all all we like sheep have gone astray. That all word is is inclusive. [00:03:39] (37 seconds)  #ValleyOfShadows

giving to you that meal you didn't deserve, but inviting you to receive a foretaste of the feast to come, a foretaste of the banquet that he describes that will have no end in his presence for all eternity because that's who your good shepherd is, calling you, cleaning you, feeding you, and will continue to be with you always. That's that promise. That's the beautifulness of Psalm 23. No matter where you go, the shepherd's with you leading, guiding, protecting, directing, and yes, he's even carrying you sometimes because he's the only one who knows the real way home. [00:11:59] (42 seconds)  #ForetasteOfTheFeast

And he did that for you in the waters and the word of your baptism, where in the name of the father, son, and holy spirit, you were named and claimed as a beloved son, as a chosen daughter in whom god was well pleased, not because of anything you could have done for him, but because the good shepherd is carrying you on his shoulders, and he knows the way home. He spoke that word of assurance over you today a couple of times. We confessed our sins before communion today, and we admitted there are things we did that were wrong. [00:10:43] (32 seconds)  #NamedAndClaimed

But yet the scripture over and over again, Old Testament, New Testament, doesn't matter where you look, it calls people, you, me, sheep. You are straying like sheep, Peter says. Jesus says, my sheep hear my voice, and and we said it together that that most famous psalm in all the Bible that the lord is my shepherd. And if the lord is my shepherd, that makes me the yeah. How do feel about that? Not lions, not tigers, not even bears. Oh my. [00:01:13] (37 seconds)  #IAmTheSheep

You know, you look at that picture on the screen, and it and it looks kinda good, doesn't it? A little sheep out to pasture, all peaceful, standing tranquil, looking like an idyllic scene out of, you know, like all creatures great and small, something like that. You know, and you look at that for a little bit and you see it's nice, it's sweet, and well, there's something that I don't know, doesn't actually like that image. If you know sheep, you know sheep are not really the most impressive of animals. (32 seconds)  #PastureIsntPretty

If you know sheep, you know sheep are not really the most impressive of animals. They're not strong in the sense of physical ability. They're they're strong in the sense of their head. They're very headstrong. You know that they're prone to wander. They're not the most clever of animals. They don't have sharp teeth or claws like a bear. They get lost. They they startle. They they they panic easily. And honestly, on their own, they don't make it very long in this world. [00:00:28] (29 seconds)  #ProneToWander

or or or live your best life. Just be true to yourself, and it sounds so good. But it's so deceiving. We follow and we seek after success and approval and comfort and power. Even religion can be something where we simply try to climb up to to be good to God, trying to be better than other people so that somehow God might think of us strong. But Jesus says these voices these voices don't give life. They actually steal it. [00:02:29] (35 seconds)  #VoicesThatStealLife

Because he's already gone through the varkest valley of the shadow of death, and he's come out on the other side, and he's brought you on his shoulders. So even now, you can say, the Lord is my shepherd. Not because I'm strong, not because I found my way, but because he he found me. He found me, and he he's gonna bring me home. [00:13:27] (27 seconds)  #CarriedThroughTheValley

And we know it because we've been down those paths, those paths that we chose on our own, the paths that lead to to anxiety, the paths that lead to guilt, the path that leads to emptiness, the path that leads to fear. And then comes Psalm 23, where the good shepherd desires to lead me not in those types of paths, but in paths of righteousness. Our paths, the ones we choose, following our hearts, following our own desires, trying to be true to ourselves, leads to destruction, [00:03:04] (35 seconds)  #PathsOfRighteousness

And we acknowledged our sinfulness. We acknowledged our brokenness. We acknowledged our our lostness. We could have just said, I've had a sheepish sheepish week. We'd be true about who we are. But yet in the stead and by the command of Jesus, the good shepherd, as your under shepherd, as your pastor, I declare over you that your sins are forgiven, not because I have that power, but because Christ alone has that power. And if we doubted that word, he came to us with real food, not just bread and wine, but the good shepherd feeding you with his body and blood as his words and promises declare, [00:11:21] (38 seconds)  #ForgivenAndFed

But sheep. Not people who are impressive, not people who are self made or leaders, but people who are lost, who need rescue, who need deliverance, and who need to come with the realization that you are not the shepherd of your life. In John chapter 10, we heard Jesus warning about thieves and and robbers and voices that call out that that promise that promise so so many good things. I mean, it sounds so good. People think say things like, well, just just follow your heart [00:01:50] (39 seconds)  #DontFollowEveryVoice