Have you ever watched the news—as it showed people caught in a flash flood or involved in a huge car wreck—or running from a burning home—and wondered how YOU would handle that situation? I mean:
- Would you know how to treat a snake bite while on a hike?
- If you were lost in the woods would know how to make a fire without matches or how to track and hunt wild animals for food?
- Would you know which way to run if terrorists showed up at your place of employment?
- Do you have any idea how to survive major disasters like floods, avalanches, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and nuclear aftermaths?
If your answer is “no” to any of all of these scenarios, never fear, because now there’s an app to help you with all of these crucial questions. It’s based on a best-selling book by a guy named John “Lofty” Wiseman—a British soldier in the Special Air Service. This app is jam-packed with extremely useful and potentially life-saving information including videos, and other tips and tricks for how to survive when the unexpected happens.
For example the photo galleries on the app show you how to recognize different animal tracks, medicinal and poisonous plants, sea creatures, and snakes—-while the videos show you various instructions. The app also has a comprehensive First Aid section. With all this information at your fingertips you could say it literally makes your smart phone—SMART.
Well, the popularity of Wiseman’s book—and the app that is based on it—shows that people all KNOW that we need specific guidance in life. Deep down inside we realize that we require GUIDANCE or leadership—also known as SHEPHERDING—to make our way down the roads of life. I mean, think about it: How many times in the past week have you asked someone for their opinion on a decision that you faced? I’m talking about things like what to wear or how to handle a homework problem or where to go to eat or how to resolve some child-rearing or marital crisis. The fact is all people need guidance almost constantly—and they seek it everywhere—from horoscopes to psychics—from parents to pastors.
By the way, a study done in the UK revealed that the average person will make 773,618 decisions over a lifetime. I mean, a typical adult makes 27 judgments each and every day – usually starting with whether to turn off the alarm or hit snooze button. Some decisions can take as much as nine minutes, which can add up to a mind-numbing four hours lost in thought every day. One reason we take so long deciding is the fear of getting that decision WRONG. In fact, this makes many people unable to MAKE decisions. They have what you might call “decideophobia.”
So guidance is important for us. As HUMAN BEINGS we need all the help we can get. To give you a word picture to help you understand why this is true, let me pose a question: “Which animal or mammal or insect are you and I most like?” There are several different opinions these days.
- Charles Darwin of course claimed that the MONKEY was the nearest animal to man and his assertion that we are descendants of apes caused quite a stir.
It still does to this day. And like all controversies it has been the source of several JOKES. Have you ever heard the one about the ape that was seen ambling out of the public library with a Bible under one arm and a copy of Darwin’s book, The Origin of the Species, under the other? A passerby asked the ape what kind of research he was planning to do with those two books and the simian replied, “I’m trying to find out whether I’m my brother’s keeper or my keeper’s brother.”
- Now other scientists—mainly biologists—tend to act like man is most like a MOUSE or a RAT.
I say this because they base their testing of drugs for potential human use on these rodents—saying that their bodily functions are very similar to our own. I don’t know about you but it’s a little UNSETTLING to me to know that but pretty much whatever makes a rat sick will affect a human in a similar fashion. I mean, what does THAT say about our inner nature?
- Some scientists say that we are a lot like ANTS or BEES because like humans they are social creatures that live in highly structured societies.
- Others have recently compared people to DOLPHINS because of the similar ratio of brain mass to body size.
Well, in the Bible we are MOST often compared to a SHEEP. David, the psalmist, a shepherd himself, employed this analogy repeatedly.
- In Psalm 100:3 he said, “We are [God’s] people and the SHEEP of His pasture.”
- In Psalm 77:2 he wrote, “God, You lead Your people like a FLOCK.”
- Psalm 79:13 says, “We Your people and SHEEP of Your pasture will give You thanks forever.”
- And—in Psalm 23, his most popular Psalm containing this comparison, David said, “The Lord is my SHEPHERD.”
Throughout the Bible we see this same parallel drawn between man and sheep. One of my favorites is in Isaiah 40:11 where it says that God, “…tends His flock like a Shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads those that are with young.”
Now—we could go on and on citing Scriptures that infer that we are similar to sheep. In fact, I’ve lost count of how many times we humans are compared to sheep in the Bible and I think God inspired this comparison in His word so often because—of all the animals God created—the species that most NEEDS guidance is SHEEP. I mean, with all the problems we have making decisions the SHEEP comparison just fits. Here’s why.
First of all, no insult intended—I mean you and I are in the same boat here—but sheep on the whole are pretty STUPID and STUBBORN animals. Ask yourself, have you ever seen a group of TRAINED sheep? Of course not. You’ve seen trained apes and even trained mice or rats or dolphins but not sheep. And you probably never will because sheep are just too simple-minded.
Second, sheep are dirty and wayward. Real sheep aren’t like those clean, fluffy balls of cotton depicted on greeting cards. If you’ve ever seen the southern end of a northbound herd, you’ll know why. I mean they don’t even have enough common sense to keep themselves clean so they smell atrocious. Plus, they tend to wander off easily, perhaps because they can’t see very far—less than 15 yards. And—no matter how many times you bring wayward sheep back, they are prone to wander off again because they can’t learn from their mistakes.
Third, sheep are defenseless and dependent. They don’t have much of a bite no natural defense—no claws, no horns, no fangs—not even a stink bag like a skunk. In his book All the Places to Go. How Will You Know? John Ortberg says this explains why you don’t see a sheep as a nickname for a sports team. Quoting from his book: “There are the Bears, Tigers, Diamondbacks, Wolverines, Badgers, Sharks, Eagles, Hawks, Bulls, Panthers, Bengals, Raptors, Bobcats, Broncos, and Grizzlies. But I don’t know of a single team—professional, college or high school—called the SHEEP. I mean, ‘The San Francisco Sheep just doesn’t inspire anybody.” This is because sheep aren’t threatening in any way. They are top-heavy and their legs are spindly. This makes them slow. Plus they have no camouflage, so when they are being chased by a wolf they are out of luck—unless there happens to be a store that sells racks and racks of wool sweaters nearby.
Sheep are also susceptible to all kinds of diseases. In fact, they will eat too much if you let them—so much that they make themselves sick. They are definitely not your king-of-the-forest types.
And finally, sheep are easily frightened and confused. It doesn’t take much to scramble the simple “mental yolk” of a nervous sheep. They’ve even been known to plunge straight over the edge of a high precipice, one following right after another. This week I read about shepherds eating breakfast outside the town of Gevas, Turkey, who were surprised to see a lone sheep jump off of a nearby cliff and fall to its death. But what really stunned them was when each of the rest of the nearly 1,500 sheep in the herd followed his example, every single sheep leaping off of the same cliff. When it was all over, the local Aksam newspaper reported that “450 of the sheep perished in a billowy, white pile.” It was only 450 because those that jumped from 450 on were saved because by then the pile had become higher and the fall more cushioned. The estimated loss to the families of Gevas was $100,000—an extremely significant amount of money in a country where the average person earns about $2,700 annually.
Now—God doesn’t compare us to sheep so often in His Word to put us down. No—He makes this comparison in His book so often because He wants to communicate one very important truth to us. He wants us to know that we are DESIGNED to need a Guide—capital “G”—in life. As David wrote in the 23rd Psalm, we need Someone to “…lead us on paths that are right.” We need a Shepherd with a “…rod and a staff to protect us.” So—when we read Scriptures like Isaiah 53:6 where it says, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way.” Or Mark 9:36 where it says, “When Jesus saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” Texts like this should remind us that we DO have an inborn NEED for a Shepherd.
This morning’s message is the second in a series designed answer a question posed in one of our most popular Christmas carols—“What CHILD is this?”As I said last week it’s not just a “Christmas Carol question.” No—it’s a question that has been on the minds of people since the day Jesus was born. To help prepare ourselves to answer it—this advent we are looking at some of Jesus’ own answers to His identity and nature—His “I Am” statements. And one of the most popular of these statements is when Jesus identified Himself as “the Good Shepherd.” With that in mind take your Bibles and let us read together John 10:11-15 and 18. Jesus is speaking.
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.
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.”
Now, what is it about Jesus—that makes Him QUALIFIED to be our Shepherd through life? I mean, what are the items on Jesus’ resume’ that show Him to be capable not only to be A Shepherd for us—but THE GOOD Shepherd?
(1) Jesus is not some stranger—some hired hand—some substitute teacher paid to do the job. NO, He knows us and loves us.
I need to remind you that the relationship between sheep and shepherds was different in Palestine than in other parts of the world. For example—in Britain most sheep are kept for killing and eating. We ate a lot of them in Ireland this fall and I have to say—they were quite good! But in Palestine MOST sheep were not EATEN. Rather most were KEPT for their wool or milk. So in the land of the Bible, the sheep were often with a shepherd for years—many times from birth throughout their entire lives. The result of all this time together is those shepherds KNEW their sheep and gave them names!
And we could certainly say the same thing about Jesus. From the beginning of time He has watched each man and woman be born and grow up. As God in the flesh Jesus knows everything about us from the molecular level on out! I mean, to the US government you may be just a number—but the God of the universe knows you by name. He knows your fears, your trials and temptations. He knows your strengths and weaknesses. There is not a sorrow you have that He is not aware of. He knows even your darkest thoughts—and as I said, He loves you anyway.
I like how MAX LUCADO spotlights this wonderful truth with his comparison of COWBOYS & COWS to SHEPHERDS & SHEEP. Perhaps you’ve heard it before. Lucado writes:
“Behold the hero of the American west: The Cowboy. Behold the hero of the Bible: The Shepherd. On the surface he appears similar to the cowboy. He, too, is rugged. He sleeps where the jackals howl and works where the wolves prowl. Never off duty. Always alert. Like the cowboy, he makes his roof the stars and the pasture his home. But that is where the similarities end. You see, the shepherd loves his sheep. It’s not that the cowboy doesn’t appreciate the cow; it’s just that he doesn’t KNOW the animal. He doesn’t even want to. Have you ever seen a picture of a cowboy caressing a cow? Have you ever seen a shepherd with his arms around a sheep? Sure! Why the difference? Simple. The cowboy leads the cow to slaughter. The shepherd leads the sheep to be shorn. The cowboy wants the meat of the cow. The shepherd wants the wool of the sheep. And so they treat the animals differently. The cowboy drives the cattle. The shepherd leads the sheep. A herd of cattle has a dozen cowboys. A flock has one shepherd. The cowboy wrestles, brands, herds, and ropes. The shepherd leads, guides, feeds, and anoints. The cowboy knows the names of the trail hands. The shepherd knows the names of the sheep. The cowboy whoops and hollers at the cows. The shepherd calls each sheep by name. Aren’t we glad Christ didn’t call himself ‘The Good Cowboy?’”
Our Lord is THE GOOD Shepherd because He knows us. We can all say with David: “O Lord, You have searched me and You know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, you know it completely O Lord—for You created my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother’s womb. Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.” (Excerpts from Psalm 139)
Listen fellow “sheep!” Jesus knows everything there is to know about you and your life situation. And this is not just an INTELLECTUAL awareness. This is an INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE between God in the flesh and you—His child. There isn’t a single motivation, thought, act, or word that has slipped out of your being and escaped our Lord’s undivided attention. As Hebrews 4:13 puts it, “All things are naked and open to the eyes of God.”
And not only does He know us. He WANTS to guide us through life.
- Psalm 25:12 says, “Who is the man that fears the Lord? God will teach him the way that is best.”
- In Psalm 32:8 God says to us, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.”
- In Isaiah 65:24 God says, “Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.”
(2) And then—another fact on Jesus’ resume’ that makes Him qualified to be our Shepherd is the fact that not only does He know us—WE know HIM.
When—in our decision to follow Jesus—we acknowledge Him as our Shepherd—we learn to recognize Him when He speaks. This is the way it is with sheep. They may not be too bright—but they have enough gray matter up here to recognize their true shepherd. So when he calls they will follow. In fact this is how shepherds proved OWNERSHIP in Jesus’ day. They didn’t have brands or marks. Each shepherd had his own distinctive CALL and sheep would only respond to that call.
This week I read the true story from the days of WWI when a group of Turkish soldiers came to one of the hills near Jerusalem and stole a large number of sheep to feed their unit. The shepherd had been asleep and when he woke up and realized what had happened and ran into the hills and looked down. And when he did he saw his sheep a few hills over being led astray by these Turkish soldiers. The situation was pretty much hopeless. The Turks were armed and he was outnumbered so he couldn’t attack. Well, the shepherd did the only thing he knew to do. He stood on the hill and put his hand on his mouth and gave out his unique call—that one he always used with his sheep. When he did they stopped, turned, and ran back across the hills to him, leaving their captors behind for they had enough of a relationship with him to know his voice.
As Christians we are like sheep in that we know Jesus’ voice. We can recognize the call of our Creator and Redeemer. When ask Jesus to forgive us and lead us through life as LORD God gives us a sort of “caller ID” that enables us to distinguish His voice from that of our adversary.
And—the more time we spend with Him in prayer and Bible study, the better this “caller ID” functions. The wonderful thing about this is when we heed the instructions of our Shepherd we not only make wise decisions that benefit us—we actually join God in His work and benefit others!
In his book, Surprise Endings, Ron Mehl tells a powerful story of what happened when a Christian by the name of Roger Simms recognized the guiding voice of God, and obeyed. On May 7, 1945 while hitchhiking his way home after his discharge from the army during WWII, Roger got a ride from a rich business man driving a brand new Cadillac. When he got in the man asked, “Are you going home for keeps?” Roger replied, “I sure am! In fact I can hardly wait to get this uniform off!” Roger found out that the man was on the way to Chicago and would pass right by his driveway. Well, as they rode along they talked and Roger discovered that the man owned a business in Chicago and that his name was Hanover. Well, after conversing about many things, Roger, a Christian, felt a compulsion to witness to this man about Christ. But he kept putting it off, ignoring the guiding voice of our Lord, until he realized he was just 30 minutes from his home and that it was now or never. So, Roger cleared his throat and said, “Mr. Hanover, I would like to talk to you about something very important.” He then proceeded to explain the way of salvation, ultimately asking Hanover if he would like to receive Christ as Savior. When he finished Hanover pulled the Cadillac over to the side of the road and Roger feared he was about to be ejected from the car. But the business man bowed his head and prayed to receive Christ. He then thanked Roger saying, “This is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me.”
Well, five years went by. By then Roger had married, had a two-year-old son, and started a business of his own. One day while packing his suitcase for a business trip to Chicago, he found the small, white business card Hanover had given him five years before. When he arrived in Chicago he felt compelled to look up Hanover Enterprises. When he did, a receptionist told him it was impossible to see Mr. Hanover, but he could see Mrs. Hanover. A little confused as to what was going on, he was ushered into a lovely office and found himself facing a keen-eyed woman in her fifties. She extended her hand and said, “You knew my husband?” Roger said he did and proceeded to tell her how her husband had given him a ride when he was hitchhiking home from the war. She asked, “Can you tell me when that was?” Roger replied, “It was May 7, five years ago, the day I was discharged from the army.” At this point Roger hesitated. He wondered if he should mention his witness to Hanover and at this point he sensed the voice of His Lord saying, “YES, do! By all means!” So he did. He said, “Mrs. Hanover, I explained the Gospel to your husband that day. He pulled over to the side of the road and wept against the steering wheel. He gave his life to Christ that day.” When Mrs. Hanover heard this, explosive sobs shook her body. Then, getting a grip on herself, she sobbed, “I had prayed for my husband’s salvation for years.” Roger said, “Where is your husband, Mrs. Hanover?” “He’s dead,” she wept, struggling for the words. “He was in a fatal car crash that apparently occurred not to long after he let you out of the car. He never got home.”
You see, Jesus is qualified to be our Shepherd because we know His voice and when we listen and do what He says, we join Him in seeking and saving the other lost sheep of this world.
(3) But there is one other quality that makes Jesus more than capable of being our Good Shepherd. And it is the fact that He LAID DOWN HIS LIFE for us.
There are many stories of shepherds in Jesus’ day dying in the process of attempting to protect their flocks from wolves or lions or thieves. And, as Jesus said in our text, a hired hand would not do this—for he was only interested in his pay but a true shepherd would, for he loved his sheep. After all they belonged to Him. A TRUE shepherd knew his sheep from birth.
Well that is a great picture of our relationship with Jesus. Our Creator and Redeemer laid His life down to protect us from sin and death. In essence, the Good Shepherd, became a Lamb, that One sacrificial lamb Who died for the sins of all mankind.
Understand—up until the time Jesus was born, sheep were sacrificed in the temple for PEOPLE—including the shepherd. But in Jesus the roles were reversed. The Shepherd sacrificed Himself for His SHEEP. I remember reading that when cowboys in Argentina or Brazil would come to a piranha infested river, through which they had to drive their cows—they would protect the herd by taking one cow upstream a few hundred yards where they would kill it and throw it in the river. The piranha would attack the dead cow and while they were thus distracted the cowboys would lead the rest of the herd across safely. Well, this is an example of what Jesus has done for you and me—except for one thing. As He says here in John, no one took His life from Him. “Jesus laid it down of His own accord.” He willingly died for you and me. This was His purpose in coming to earth in the first place. Warren Wiersbe writes, “Jesus did not die as a martyr, killed by men. He died as a substitute, willingly laying down His life for us.”
Shepherds do this for sheep because of the danger they face from PREDATORS like wolves. Jesus did this for us because of the danger we face due to SIN. Do you remember what John the Baptist said when He saw Jesus coming to be baptized in the Jordan? “Behold, the Lamb of God, Who comes to take away the SIN of the world.” (John 1:29)
In the same text where the prophet Isaiah compared us to sheep who had gone astray He spoke of Jesus and said, “Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows. He was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities…by His wounds we are healed. For He was led like a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open up His mouth.”
You know, one of the things many people do is over-sentimentalize Christmas such that they just make it about the baby in the manger—and in so doing they forget that this Child is the Messiah Who grew up to die on the cross for our sins, Who rose from the grave, Who ascended to the Father, Who gave us the Holy Spirit—Who lives in us now. I challenge you—fellow sheep—This Christmas don’t make that mistake. Don’t embrace this “seasonal amnesia.” Don’t leave the baby in that manger.
I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “Keep Christ in Christmas!” Well as Christians we should say more than that. We should say, “Don’t leave the baby in the manger.” Because we know it wasn’t just about a wooden manger. Jesus grew up—to die on a wooden CROSS. Jesus is the GOOD SHEPHERD—Who laid down His life for us—His sheep.
This week it hit me that one of the recurring themes in movies is SACRIFICE—heroic sacrifice where one person dies to save others. For example, in the movie ARMAGEDDON the character played by Bruce Willis stays behind on the meteor hurtling toward earth—so as to push the button detonating the bomb that will save humanity. In the last MATRIX film, Neo gives his life for all the people living underground. In Saving Private Ryan—Tom Hanks character dies so that Mat Damon’s character can live. In the Wrath of Kahn Spock dies to save the crew of the Enterprise. In the remake Kirk does it. Well—why this recurring them? Where did this idea of self-sacrifice for the good of others come from? I can assure you it didn’t come from the heads of sinful, selfish people like you and me. No—they are part of the ripple effect of what Jesus did on the Cross. I mean whether or not these writers know it, their story lines are inspired by the Good Shepherd laying His life down for you and me.
And—in the same way that a “ripple” is not the same as the thing that cause it—all these movie plots aren’t the same as what Jesus did. You see—in all these stories the good guys died for their loved ones—or for other good guys. For example, Spok died to save his crew. But Jesus—THE Good Shepherd—He died for ALL people—for SINNERS like you and me. As Paul says in Romans 5:8—say it with me: “God demonstrates His love for us in this while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”
One more thought. Do you remember those first five words of the Shepherd Psalm—Psalm 23? Let’s say them together: “THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD.” Now listen as I say these words, “THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD.” “THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD.” Do you get my subtle emphasis there? God WON’T BE your SHEPHERD until you make Him your LORD.
Shepherd’s lead. Sheep follow. God won’t lead you—until you commit your life to follow Him. If you are here today and you don’t know the GOOD Shepherd, He is here right now and as I said a moment ago He wants to guide your life! Even now He is calling you by name! So it is up to you. Will you accept Him as Savior and follow Him as Lord? There may be other Sheep here this morning who know the Good Shepherd but don’t have a fold! You are looking for a flock to join! I know I am biased but I think the best one on the planet meets right here! We would love to have you become a part of this church family. However it is that God is leading you—we invite you to follow. Won’t you come as we sing?