From the Pastor |
1 John 3:16-24 & John 10:11-18
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me…” This is a common and well- known image of Jesus. I remember as a kid in Sunday School seeing a picture of Jesus gently carrying a lamb on his shoulders… I was taught that the message of this image was that Jesus loves and protects us and we are forever carried by that love. It is the image of God we get from the 23rd Psalm… Even if you cannot recite the whole thing by heart… I bet you at least know the opening line: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…” These are words of comfort and grace… often used during funerals or times of trial and distress, because these words remind us that we are never alone… that we are known by God. We know the shepherd and the shepherd know us each by name. Think about that for a moment… you are known… personally… by God. The Good News of John’s Gospel message is that even with all our flaws and shortcomings… even with all our sins we are known… we are loved and we are forgiven. What incredibly Good News! “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me…” But how well do we really know God? I mean… Jesus tells us that HIS sheep recognize and listen to HIS voice. Have you heard His voice lately? I think the real question for us today is NOT “Will God speak to me today?” but rather… “Will I hear and listen to God’s voice?” Unfortunately in this day and age it is easy to be distracted. Our world is noisy and we move at such a fast pace that sometimes it is hard to hear God’s voice speaking to us. We are called to listen… But not only listen, we are expected to hear. There are many instances in scripture where Jesus said “Whoever has ears, let them hear.” [Matthew 11:15] And he is telling us today that the sheep of his flock do indeed hear his voice. So… are you listening? Are you hearing what the shepherd is saying? Can you hear the voice of Jesus? Are you even listening for it? Most of us would probably have to confess that we are not very good at listening. It is easy to be distracted… to fail to hear Jesus’ voice calling to us amid the noise, the distractions and the hustle of our daily lives. And if we were to be honest… Sometimes we choose NOT to listen because that “still small voice” … is not telling us what WE want to hear. This morning… I would like you to ask yourself: What are the voices that you listen to? Who is speaking to you? Are they leading you to Christ, or away from Him? I truly believe that the best trick the devil ever played upon us was convincing so many people that he isn't even real. That way he works in the background without anyone giving him a second thought. Let’s face it… The devil is very good at pulling people away from the Lord… And the sad reality here in America, is that he doesn’t seem to have to work that hard to make his voice heard. The noise and voices of this world seem to make hearing the voice of the Good Shepherd difficult to hear, but the voice of evil… it is loud and strong. IT is the voice of selfishness and greed… of anger, fear and hatred and that voice is permeating our society… and even our churches. In Jesus’ parable of the good shepherd, he says that the sheep listen to his voice. But note in today’s reading… he is telling us that there are others… “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.” Yet, so many Christians seem to believe that they are the only ones who truly hear Christ’s voice… that their way is the ONLY way… that those who do not believe as they do are damned… not worthy… NOT a part of Christ’s flock. So… Who are these others? The truth is… we don’t know, and it is NOT our job to decide who is in and who is out. That job belongs solely to the one who will sit on the Throne of Judgement… and that ain’t you or me. Our job is to invite others to come and get to know the Shepherd… to include everyone we can… to come and hear the voice of the Lord. In order to do that… however… we NEED to be able to recognize and hear the voice of Christ our Shepherd among all the different voices around us and within us… in the midst of the noises that tries to distract us… The problem is… how do we do that? … How do we hear his voice? … How do we decide what it is that the Lord is telling us? How do we know what is truly right and good? The first thing we need to realize is that God does, in fact, speak to us today. Don’t wait for the booming voice from heaven… or the burning bush… look around and open your hearts to the many ways that God not only makes God’s presence known… but speaks to us every day. God speaks to us all through Scripture. The Bible gives a great deal of guidance on the things we encounter in life, so reading and studying the word of God can result in the right verse and message coming to mind just when we need it. We can hear the voice of God during our times of worship. Through the prayers and songs… the scriptures and sharing we can hear the voice of Jesus speaking to us… About who we should be… what we should do… and the mission to which he has called us. When a concern moves us to pray… When we rejoice at a new birth, or mourn together a death… when we are reminded that the kingdom of God continues in the lives of those just coming into it and those who have moved on… when a song resonates with us… that is God speaking. God speaks through our own thoughts… that gut feeling we refer to as intuition. It can be thoughts and feelings that come to us during prayer, or out of the blue. You know… that strange thought that suddenly pops on in and won’t go away. Pay attention to that. We can hear God speaking through other people… sharing their thoughts and dreams and ideas. God speaks through books, letters, movies, art or music… whatever might grab your attention and move your heart and mind… bringing God into your focus. We can even hear the voice of God throughout the beauty and wonder of creation. There are so many ways that the voice of the Lord… Our Good Shepherd speaks to us… not just in church… but everywhere… every day of our lives. We just need to take the time to listen and to hear what God has to say. So, the question for us in not, “Does Jesus still speak to people today?” But rather, “What is Jesus saying to us this morning?” What is our Lord saying about the violence in our nation? About the blatant injustice and inequity and hatred? Are we called to do something to be his peace, his shalom, in this world? In our community? What is our Lord saying to us today about the poverty in our area? About those who do not have decent housing, or who go to bed hungry, or who are victims of domestic abuse? What is he saying to us about how we can be salt and light in this community? The important thing is not that we come up with “THE ANSWER” but that in listening… we live the answers that we already have been given by our faith: Live in peace with each other… lift up the down trodden, help the poor and the weak, be patient, loving and compassionate with everyone. Do not repay evil with evil but combat evil with love. Rejoice always; pray continually; and give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Our Shepherd’s voice is clear about how we should live and act, it is clear about what our attitude should be to those who are both our friends and those who we might consider our enemies. We can’t go wrong by doing the things that the Shepherd has already told us to do in a very clear way. When we continue to listen to and follow the voice of our Shepherd in the little things… those things that relate to our loving of both God and neighbor, then we will discover that God’s voice will become clearer… more discernable… and we will discover what it is the God is saying and what God wants us to do. Amen.
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Yeon Shin
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