I Am the Good Shepherd
John 10:11-16
May 5, 2019 anno Domini – Confirmation Sunday
Catechesis is learning words. Church Words. Confession Words. Law and Gospel. Commandment. Sin. Repentance. Sacrament. Sanctification. Absolution. Invocation. Incarnation. Chalice. Paten. It is not enough to know the words, you must be able to answer Martin Luther’s favorite question, “What does this mean?”
Definitions and meanings are all important. Imagine a young high school girl going to her first dance with a young boy. Let’s call her Allie. She says to her dad, “I’ll be home after the dance.” After the dance is not well defined. It could mean “after my boyfriend and I go to a party, or grab a burger, or watch the submarine races under the Bridge of Hope.” It might mean 10 minutes or 3 hours after the dance. Meanwhile her dad (let’s call him Troy) defines his terms more precisely. “The dance is over at midnight. You’ll be home at 12:30.” Allie better understand her dad’s precise definition or she will lose her freedom.
Jesus is defining Himself to His disciples in today’s Gospel reading when He says, “I AM the Good Shepherd.”
Have you ever been in a conversation with someone who begins nearly every sentence “I”? Or been in a classroom or seminar or business meeting where that one person must always speak and his subject is always himself, his stories, his thoughts, his way. What words do you use to define that person? Narcissist. Egotistical. Self-centered. He thinks the world revolves around him. What would we do without him? Jesus’ favorite subject was Himself. His most memorable teachings begin “I AM.” We’re left with only two options when it comes to Jesus. Either He is the most narcissistic man who ever lived or the world does revolve around Him because He is the God who made it all.
“I am” is what the God of Scripture called Himself from the very beginning. At the burning bush, when Moses asked God His name God responded, “I am who I am.” Whenever Jesus said, “I am” He claimed to be the only true God, the God of Holy Scripture, the same God who created the world, drowned Pharaoh in the Red Sea and brought down the walls of Jericho with a parade and trumpets.
Our problems with Jesus begin with His “I am.” We don’t care for the person who is always talking about himself. Why not? Because you want to talk about you and I want to talk about me. Our rebellion against God leads each us to believe the world revolves around me. When Jesus says, “I am God” our old sinful self replies, “but what about me?” Who am I?” Jesus answers, “You are not.” When God created Adam and Eve in the garden they were the perfect male and female, husband and wife, son and daughter. Adam lived for his wife and ruled their life in the garden with perfect love and strength. Eve lived for Adam and desired him to lead their life together. They both looked to God first and then to each other in love. No thought of self. No looking out for me first. Because of their sinful rebellion you are not the man or woman God created you to be.
That is why Jesus says more than “I am.” He says “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.” If Jesus says He is a Shepherd that means you a sheep. This too is a definition that rubs us the wrong way. Jesus says “I am God and you are not.” Jesus says, “I am the Good Shepherd” and the obvious corollary to that is “you are a bad sheep.” Sheep are not the leaders of the barnyard animals. They are not bright or powerful or emulated. You have teams with names like the Chicago Bulls and the Arkansas Razorbacks. You even have the Mighty Ducks, but you don’t have the Saint Paul Sheep or the Minnesota Woolly Lambs.
Sheep are followers. They follow one another and follow their stomachs. Adam followed Eve and his stomach instead of leading Eve with God’s Word. Without a fence or without a shepherd a sheep is in trouble and that trouble is usually deadly. You confirmands look good in those robes, but remember white is the color of sheep. Those robes teach you your need of Jesus.
This is what defines Jesus as the Good Shepherd. He has a “misericordias” – that’s the name for this Sunday. It means He has mercy in His heart for His sheep. The people He created and to whom He gave everything – that’s you, you wandered. You follow your appetites, your hunger for pleasure and fulfillment and fun and ease, and you cross the fence of God’s commands again and again. Instead of listening to the voice of the Shepherd you followed the rumbling in your stomach or the calls of the false shepherds who promise greener grass outside the bounds of God’s Kingdom.
What does He do? He, who made all things and rules all things, could easily do so without you, but that is not His heart. He is good. He is full of steadfast love and His goodness is not practical or cost effective or profitable.
He lays down His life for the sheep. The Shepherd dies for sheep that loved to wander. Jesus is the shepherd who will leave the 99 to search for the one. He chooses to climb down into whatever mess His sheep are in. God becomes a man. He comes down to be with sinners – in His baptism, at His table, with His Word. He comes down to be sin for you. What does the sheep deserve who gets stuck in the thicket of this world, who listened to the Devil’s voice and is trapped in the raging waters of an addiction, who is a glutton for every pasture but only occasionally eats on the green grass of God’s Word? Behold the cross. That is what wandering sheep deserve. “Let them go. Let them die. It’s their fault,” said the Good Shepherd never.
Behold the cross and see how good your Jesus is. He lays down His life for you. He’s covered in your sin, stuck in your mess, devoured by death and the devil. The Shepherd becomes the Lamb of God who is offered for the sin of the world.
Then when He is risen He sends His men – pastors they are called – the word means shepherds. Sometimes we’re even called sheepdogs. (Perhaps that’s why some of us wear dog collars.) Our only purpose is to turn you to the Shepherd so you can hear His voice and listen to His Words. Repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Take, eat, this is the true body of Christ. Take, drink, this is the true blood of Christ.
So today we have some sheep (Allie, Hannah, Evan) who have heard the voice of their shepherd. Their parents brought them to the waters of baptism, dragged them to church, and brought them to catechesis to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd. Today they confess what they have heard and promise by the grace of God to hear their Shepherd’s voice and follow Him until death. Jesus is the Good Shepherd because He has a heart of mercy for you. In the name of Jesus. Amen.