The Good Shepherd loves His sheep

John 10:11-16 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. ¹³ The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. ¹⁴ I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me-- ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father-- and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.”

Shrek the sheep became famous several years ago when he was found after hiding out in caves for six years. Shrek had wandered away from his shepherd and flock. The shepherd searched and searched, but assumed that the sheep had died. Shrek had managed to survive on his own for those six years … but just barely. He was malnourished and wary of strangers, and even other sheep. During that long time without having his wool shorn, it was all matted, covering his eyes and down to his knees, and filled with thistles and twigs.

When he was finally found and shaved, his fleece weighed an amazing sixty pounds. Most sheep have a fleece weighing just under ten pounds. For six years, Shrek carried the extra weight of his fleece, he had less strength because of his poor diet, and he had to fend for himself against any kind of predators – which if you know anything about sheep, they cannot do. All because he was away from his shepherd.

Do you ever feel like Shrek the sheep? Do you ever feel lost, alone, afraid? Weighed down with burdens and cares and worries? Malnourished and weak? Wary of others reaching out to you? Of course you do. We all feel that way at times. And for good reason. The Bible says, “All we like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6).

We hurt. We despair. We are weighed down. We get into trouble. And we wonder, “Why? What have I done to deserve this? What am I doing wrong?” Hopefully we then begin to open our eyes and really look at our situation more clearly. Because we have gone our own way, our wandering us led us out of the pasture and into a barren wilderness. God wants us to enjoy the nourishment He has provided in the pastures of His holy Word. He wants us to enjoy peace and safety with fellow Christians in the flock of His Christian Church. He wants us cared for by a pastor who is the Good Shepherd’s under-shepherd. But our wandering away from the Shepherd, His flock, food and protection gets us into trouble. And there is much trouble to get into these days.

Many of our troubles are brought on by ourselves and our sins. Some of our struggles are because we are living in a sinful world that is a dark valley of death. And sometimes we are tormented by the devil and his pack of demonic wolves who are attacking us on all sides. We are not only wandering in the barren wilderness … but we are wandering alone, lost, afraid, weighed down, without nourishment, without a Shepherd to protect us, attacked by wolves. We have been following our own way down the path of pain, sorrow, and suffering … and eventually to hell.

We are like sheep. And sheep need to be tended. We need a Shepherd. We need someone to keep us from wandering, someone to point out the dangers, someone to remove the weight of the word’s pressures, someone to feed and nourish us, someone to lead us in the right direction, in the safe direction, towards green pastures.

Sheep need a shepherd. And not just any shepherd, but a good one, a faithful one, one who loves the sheep. A shepherd who loves his sheep so much that he is even willing to die for them.

Elizabeth needed a shepherd. She needed someone to watch over her, care for her, feed and nourish her, love her, who would lay down his life for her. Elizabeth had such a shepherd in Jesus Christ, her Good Shepherd.

The Good Shepherd brought Elizabeth into His flock in her baptism as an infant. He walked beside her every day as she walked in the snow to school or kept her safe from the bears in the woods when she had to bring in the cows for milking. It was His abiding presence that helped her to remain strong to care for her family when her mom died when Elizabeth was just 13.

The worship of the Good Shepherd was always important to Elizabeth’s family. That’s why both sets of her grandparents were very involved in getting churches started in Greenwoods and Palestine, Michigan. That’s why Daniel and Elizabeth were married at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Greenwoods and why they made Epiphany their church home when they moved to Racine. Elizabeth made sure the children were in Sunday School, Pioneers and Loyalty League. She was involved for a time in Home Guild and as a Sunday School teacher. Elizabeth loved her church. The last few years she would often apologize to me that I had to come over to her house instead of her coming to church. I kept reassuring her that now it was time for church to come to her. The under-shepherd of the Good Shepherd was coming to feed and nourish her with Word and Sacrament.

It was the Good Shepherd’s Word and Sacraments, His love and strength that allowed Elizabeth to continue on when Daniel died so young after only 19 years of marriage. Christ had devoted His life to Elizabeth and that motivated her to give her life to her children who were only 17, 13 10 and 5 when their dad died. They worked together as a family turning over their side lawn to grow a vegetable garden to eat from. They made sausages together. They ate homemade bread that they dipped in bacon grease for meals.

Elizabeth loved to travel. Whether it was packing up the 1960s Oldsmobile or flying around the world. She always talked about her 22 trips she was able to take. Trips to Germany, Bermuda and Canada.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. He is your Shepherd. He was and remains Elizabeth’s Shepherd. The Good Shepherd loves His sheep. He loves you! He loves you enough that “the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” He has seen the wolves advancing upon you. He is not a hired hand who cares nothing for the sheep and runs away. He is not here so you can have some sense of vain comfort by placing a plastic figurine on your dashboard and watch it bobble as you go along. No, He gives you real, lasting and eternal comfort by dying for you.

Here we see the greatness of our Good Shepherd. In His death, the Savior ensnares our enemies. Although He, Himself, is captured, He captures the devil. Although He dies, He destroys death. Although He is slain, He undoes the work of the grave. Although He takes our sins, He endures our punishment. Although we deserve it, He suffers it. Although the hired hands flee, He remains at His post. He is fixed in place as our Savior. He is nailed to the cross as our Redeemer.

He gives us life by dying our death. He gives us His seat of honor at the wedding feast of the Lamb by being forsaken, tossed out of the Trinity, and bound hand and foot at Calvary’s cross. He washes our filthy lives of sin clean through His shed blood. His suffering is our healing. His death is our life. His resurrection is our hope. All that is wrong with us is made right in Him.

Though we wander, He searches. Though we stray, He finds. Though we push away, He pulls us back. Though we enjoy the polluted waters and unhealthy meals of this world, He nourishes us through the bread and water of life which is His holy Word and Sacraments.

Beloved in the Lord, you and I are like sheep. And we like sheep often go astray. We sin against God. We sin against and hurt each other. We sin and stray away from God and His love. We sin and follow our own path into the desolation of hell. That’s why we need a Good Shepherd. We need the absolute and objective truth of the Good Shepherd’s Word. That Word corrects us. It disciplines us. It calls us back. It binds our broken lives. It remedies our hurting hearts. It gives us hope. His Word forgives our sins. It guides us in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.

It is the Good Shepherd’s Word and Sacraments that prepared Elizabeth for the end of her life. She was not afraid to die. She lay on her bed in hospice care hearing Jesus speak His resurrection comfort to her when He said to the repentant thief on the cross, “Today you will be with me in paradise.” It was her dying prayer, just like it was Jesus’ dying prayer, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” She closed her eyes and mouthed the words of the 23^rd Psalm: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want …” She led her family in praying the Lord’s Prayer, over and over again. She enjoyed listening to her family sing hymns to her in her last days.

Through faith in her Good Shepherd, God’s angels have guided Elizabeth’s soul on one last trip – to the gathering of the saints and angels around the Lamb’s throne. No more bread and bacon grease, but a banquet table has been spread before her. No more family members – mom, husband, daughter – dying early on her. For she is in heaven where “He will wipe every tear from their eyes; there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Revelation 21:4).

No more single parent household where she took care of everyone with sewing, crocheting, knitting or cooking. Now she is in the physical presence of her Savior who is taking care of her night and day. Elizabeth always loved to arrive early at an event and leave right away. That’s why she was often sitting in the parking lot with her daughters 20-30 minutes before a worship service. But now she has arrived in heaven … at just the right time … and she gets to stay late … even for an eternity. All because the Good Shepherd loves His sheep. Amen. 

Obituary of Elizabeth Erickson