MAY 3, 2009  SERMON ARCHIVE

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our heavenly father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, AMEN

In today's Gospel, our Lord Jesus speaks Words both of stern command and of great comfort to us: "I am the Good Shepherd," He says. "The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep."

Dear Christian friends,

During my school years and the years of ministry in Missouri, the Jehovah Witnesses would sometimes show up on the front porch of the parsonage. But they usually did so when I was not home.

This careful timing was probably the result of having learned their lessons the hard way. On those rare occasions that I was home when these heretics came calling, I usually got right to the point, loudly warning them that their satanic false teachings would destroy both them and their hearers if they did not repent and confess the Triune God of the Apostles' Creed.

The Jehovah Witnesses always preferred to talk to my wife instead, though that was not always wise either. Think for a moment about the Witnesses when they visit. They always want to talk about Jesus, and how we all should want to follow His example in our lives. (To be fair, St. Peter does say in his first letter that Christ is our Example, 1 Peter 2:24-25).

But an example is all the Jehovah Witnesses want Jesus to be for them. They do not want our Lord to be God the uncreated and eternal Son Who has no beginning and apart from whom nothing exists.

The Jehovah Witnesses want Jesus to be their example and not much more than that. Forget the atoning sacrifice for our sins, forget the Living Power of His Word and His Sacraments.

Just follow Jesus the example. In this manner, the Jehovah Witnesses sort of cut our Lord Jesus in half, taking only the half they want to have and abandoning the rest.

Now, the real problem is this. This great sin of cutting Jesus in half and taking only what you want might not be the sin only of the Jehovah Witnesses. So many Lutherans also feel the temptation to take only what they want from Jesus-they just want different things than what the Jehovah Witnesses want.

Where the Witnesses cling to Christ's example, and throw away His atonement, Lutherans tend to do the opposite, clinging to the atonement but closing eyes and ears to the example that the Lord gives. Stated another way, Lutherans often times so earnestly fix their attentions upon what Jesus did that they tend to excuse themselves from also looking at the examples from Jesus’ life.

In today's Epistle, St. John would like to see us put an end to such nonsense. "By this we know love," St. John states, "[Christ] laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers" (1 John 3:16). If we were to re-word this verse using the vocabulary of today's Gospel, also written by St. John, we could say, "By this we know love: Christ Jesus is our Good Shepherd, and we ought be good shepherds for the brothers, our fellow Christians." In other Words, treat each other in the same way that your Christ treats you.

That is why I introduced today's sermon by saying that Christ speaks both command and comfort to us in today's Gospel. "I am the Good Shepherd," He says. "The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep." With these Words, Jesus preaches both faith in Him and love toward your neighbor. In other words, in today's Gospel, Jesus teaches us that He is both our atoning sacrifice AND our example for living.

"I am the Good Shepherd."

With these Words, Jesus warns you that nothing in all of creation can guard and protect you against the wolf, the devil, and the curse of death. Only He-only the Good Shepherd-is your faithful helper and only He can guard and protect you from all that would destroy you.

While others might love you enough to die for you, only the life of Jesus your Good Shepherd is powerful enough to put your enemies to death. "I am the Good Shepherd," He says. "The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep."

In this laying down of His life, you now have forgiveness of all your sins, protection against all your enemies, and a guarantee of eternal life with Him.

But Jesus also says ""The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep." With these Words, your Lord Jesus calls upon you to love and to serve your neighbor in the same manner Jesus has likewise served you. John says in his first epistle, "[Christ] laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers" (1 John 3:16). Through your love and devotion to your neighbor, whether your acts are noticed or ignored, you are not only sheep but you also become good shepherds.

A devout and faithful pastor is a good illustration for how each Christian is both shepherd and sheep (and I will leave it up to you to decide whether I myself am devout and faithful). This is how Luther explains pastor as shepherd-and-sheep:

.... at the same time that they [pastors] believe they are saved by the death of Christ, they straightway follow the example of Christ, ready to die for the little sheep, and willing to give up their lives for the Word. Such surrender of life redeems no one, for salvation comes only through the death of Jesus Christ; and, yet, it strengthens the others and God is glorified through our death and blood, and our neighbor is strengthened in faith. [Those are] hirelings who have no love for the flock; a devout pastor, on the other hand, gives up everything for the flock, even body and life (Luther).

So a pastor must be a sheep, believing only in Jesus His Good Shepherd, in order that he may be saved and protected from every evil. But a pastor must also be a shepherd, serving his neighbor as a good shepherd ought, so that his neighbor might also come to know Jesus the Good Shepherd.

I am telling you these things about pastors, not so that you may look at my life, but so that you may look at your own. Is there really that much of a difference between us? Are not you and I washed clean in the same Baptismal font? Do we not at this altar both receive the Body and Blood of our Lord for the forgiveness of our sins?

You and I both are sheep-precious lambs of God-because Jesus says to you and to me both, "I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep."

You and I are both shepherds, too, because the same Jesus says through His apostle John, "[Christ] laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers" (1 John 3:16). The only real difference between you and me is the flock we have been given.

You are my flock;

Your family, your co-workers, and the others whom God has placed into your lives all together form your flock.

As I must lay down my life for my sheep, every day serving you with faithfulness and devotion, so also must you lay down your life for your sheep. That is to say, you also must serve your flock with devotion and faithfulness, following the example of Jesus your Good and Faithful Shepherd.

Faith and love: these two things meet together in today's Gospel.

So Dr Martin Luther would say....

"This Gospel highlights the teaching on love. It points out that everything our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, has done has been placed before us as an example. There is nothing I can or should add to this, but only believe. Nevertheless, in faith I should follow His example and serve my fellow men, no matter whether it's acknowledged or disdained. In this way every Christian also becomes a good shepherd" (Luther).

And again...

"In speaking of faith, it [this Gospel] explains that Christ is the only one, the Shepherd, who dies for [you] His sheep. 'I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.' With these Words he [Jesus] draws all men to himself (Luther).

With these same Words, Jesus proclaims to you eternal life, and no one can snatch you out of your Good Shepherd's hand.

Remember dear friends,

Christ is risen!

AMEN