Kept Safe in the Shepherd

John 10:11 "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. ¹⁷ The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life-- only to take it up again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."

Have you ever led a tour? Been responsible for a large group of people traveling a long distance? Chaperoned a field trip, band trip, or a sports traveling team? At the end of the day, what is your primary purpose? Seeing the Children’s Museum or winning the competition or coming home with the trophy are all great. But, at the end of the day, what is your primary purpose as tour leader or coach? It is to safely deliver the same amount of 1^st graders or band members or soccer players or adult day care residents that you started with.

That can be a challenge. Little kids get lost in museums. One van in the caravan doesn’t make it through the red light. Inquisitive old folks can wander.

When I was a sophomore, my high school band entered a competition that we had to travel to by bus. After our band was done playing, we had some free time to walk around, play cards (teenagers actually did that back then), and listen to the other bands. We were all to meet back at the bus at the designated time. But my friend and I unknowingly kind of missed that time. Unbeknownst to us – because we were busy goofing around – our band members had loaded onto the bus and driven off. While they were driving, the band director did a head count and came up two people short.

For some reason, he didn’t look to pleased when he found the two of us sitting comfortably in the stadium seating of the auditorium, blissfully eating popcorn and listening to the final band of the day, wondering why everything looked so empty.

But we were safe. And we are kept safe in our Good Shepherd.

But it doesn’t always seem that way, does it. Satan, the prowling lion, finds easy targets in little lambs and lost sheep. The devil wants nothing else than to destroy the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ and he goes about that by destroying the faith of one child of God at a time. The lion is prowling and will be attacked relentlessly.

The world is also trying to tempt us and pull us away from our Savior. Offering greener pastures over here, sweeter water over there. Tantalizing us with forbidden fruits and seductive lies. The wolves of the world are everywhere, waiting to pounce.

As if it wasn’t bad enough that we have the devil roaring in our ears and the wolves of the world biting at our heels, we are described time and again in the Scriptures as sheep. Sheep are defenseless animals. Sheep are dumb animals. Sheep are high maintenance animals. We truly are sheep. We butt heads with each other. We bully the weak. We are sheep who hurt each other and hurt ourselves. We stray away from the flock that gathers in the green pastures and quiet waters of the church on Sunday mornings. Stubbornly, stupidly, we stray from the safety of God’s gathered flock to hang out with the other straying sheep who don’t come to church, plus we listen to the goats (the unbelievers), play with the wolves (the world and its temptations) and ignore the lion (the devil).

Then we realize how hungry and thirsty we are, so we’ll much on the poisonous weeds of false religions and drink from the polluted puddles of vague spirituality. We’ll try to bandage our own wounds with busyness and salve our conscience with guilt. When all we really need is to listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd. As independent as we like to think we are, we follow the leader, and if that leader isn’t the Good Shepherd, we’ll follow the leader to our own death and destruction. The prophet Isaiah said, “All we like sheep have gone astray, everyone has turned to his own way, but the Lord has laid on Him – His servant, the Good Shepherd – the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).

Both the Old and New Testament Scriptures, the prophets, the apostles and Jesus, all call us sheep. That is not a flattering term. If a wolf is bearing down and baring its teeth, how could a single sheep protect itself? The score every time is: Wolf 1, Sheep 0. If there is a drought, where would the sheep find decent water and grass? Sheep might eat paint chips for all they know. And the very worst? If sheep could talk, as they are going astray into real but invisible danger, they’d say, “No problem. I can handle it.”

But a sheep can’t handle it. Ever!

So stop trying!

How incriminating to hear, you are like sheep going astray. You think you can handle a little temptation on the computer. You think you can drink a little too much and still handle your liquor. You think you deserve the right to remain bitter and it won’t affect you. You think its OK to not worship because you are strong enough that you don’t need God’s Word and forgiveness every week. How’s that all working out for you?

Peter, the apostle who knew a thing or two about straying, teaches in his Epistle, “For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (1 Peter 2:25)

It’s time to return to the Shepherd. No more excuses. No more wandering. No more thinking you can stare temptation in the eye and handle it alone. No more thinking you can solve all your problems. No more being deceived that you’re in control when you are not. Return to the Shepherd! Let him be your Overseer. Allow Him to be your Shepherd. Let His promises guide your way. Listen to Him as he tells you, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest for your souls (Matthew 11:28).” There you are safe for eternity.

Tune out everything else and listen only to His voice. For He is the One who tells you, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

It was summer and the door to the inn in Ragenbach, Germany, was open to let in a breeze, as well as the lunchtime clientele. The open door also provided an easy means of entry for a snarling dog, a mad dog. Sitting near the entrance, the village blacksmith quickly grabbed the dog. “Get out while I hold him,” the smithy shouted. The dog’s teeth tore the arms and thighs of the smith, but he refused to loosen his hold.

When all the people had escaped, he flung the half-strangled beast from him against the wall, left the room, and locked the door. The dog was shot, but what about the man? To his crying friends and family the blacksmith said, “Be quiet, don’t weep. I’ve only done my duty. When I am dead, think of me with love. Before then, pray that I will not suffer long or too much. I know I shall become mad, but I will take care that no harm comes to you.”

The blacksmith went to his shop, took a strong chain, and riveted one end around his body; the other end he fastened around the anvil. Turning to his friends, he said, “It’s done! You are safe. I can’t hurt you. Bring me food while I am well, and keep out of my reach when I am mad. The rest I leave with God.” In nine days he was dead; he had died to save his friends. That was love.

That is the kind of love Jesus had – and showed – to the world, except Jesus showed that kind of love for His enemies. When we were threatened by a painful, eternal death, the Savior grabbed hold of it, reached out to it, and throttled it. Sin, Satan and death snapped and tore at Him. But He offered Himself so we might be saved.

We say it so easily, but the truth is such an action was done not without cost. Jesus had to suffer, so we might be saved. He was crucified, so we might be cleared from the curse of sin. He did all this so that we – the damned – might be delivered, and those who once had been destined for hell would be given heaven. He came to save us. He came to make us safe.

A few weeks ago, we saw the Good Shepherd, beaten, bruised and bloodied, hanging upon the Roman cross, doing what He said He was going to do – laying down His life for His sheep. Being the point man in the battle with Satan, taking all that Satan had to give, paying the price of the sins of His sheep. But as we heard Jesus say today, “I lay down my life— only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.”

So neither death nor life have any power over Jesus, for He has authority over both. Life must obey Him for He is its Creator. Death must obey Him because He is its Conqueror. And so when the dead son of a widow is carried across Jesus’ path, the funeral procession must turn into a parade. When Jesus approaches the tomb of Lazarus, the dead man must come out. When the voice of Jesus is heard in the 23^rd Psalm at Christian funerals, the tears of sadness must be replaced with tears of joy. And so, when our Good Shepherd enters the grave on Good Friday, the outcome is never in doubt. He must come out of the grave. For the Good Shepherd enters death to defeat death – not for Himself, but for the safety and salvation of His sheep. So that His sheep may rise from the dead as He is risen from the dead. That His flock may be an everlasting flock – one flock, with one Shepherd, forever.

I like the comic who said he’d like to be buried in Jerusalem because it has the highest resurrection rate of any city in the whole world.

The Lord is your Good Shepherd. He pastures you in the green pastures of His Word; He leads you to the quiet waters of Baptism; He restores your soul, lifting you from death to life in Him. He guides you in the well-worn ruts of righteousness, the way of repentance, daily dying and rising, for His name’s sake. Though daily you walk through the dark valley of the shadow of death where threats to your life are all around you, where death and the grave loom large, you need fear no evil. Fear not, little flock. Good Shepherd Jesus has gone ahead of you through suffering and death to resurrection and glory. Your Shepherd lives and in Him you live too. The grave couldn’t hold Him, and it can’t hold you either.

He is with you, comforting you with His Word and presence; the rod of His Law, the staff of His Gospel always assuring you of His presence. He prepares a banquet table for you, the gifts of His sacrifice, His own Body and Blood which He offered up once for all right there in the presence of your enemies – sin, death, hell, the devil, the Law. Nothing can harm you. He will keep you safe.

The Good Shepherd stands in sharp contrast to the hired hand who runs off at the first sign of danger. For him, it’s just a job and a paycheck. He cares nothing for the sheep. But for the shepherd, the sheep are not only his livelihood, they are his life. They are his own, like family. He is a Good Shepherd who knows His sheep. He said, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.”

Like delinquent band members, we don’t listen to directions, we wander off, we do our own thing, we make everyone come looking for us. But the beautiful thing is that the Good Shepherd knows who you are. He knows you by name. You’re not like the sheep in the Serta mattress commercials, where you are an anonymous sheep with only a number on your side. Sheep number 78,563,472. No, your Good Shepherd knows you and knows who you are. He doesn’t want to leave without you. He doesn’t have to do a head count to see when you are missing. He knows your name. And He goes after you.

For you have a Good Shepherd who would rather He die than you die. A Good Shepherd who will lay down His life so that His sheep can live. A Good Shepherd who suffered so that you might be saved and kept safe – in Him. Amen.