Firstly, I'm a Canadian, not a person from New Zealand like some of the past shepherds of KUC. Just so you know, in Greek, "ποιμήν" (poimen) is for Shepherd and also Pastor. So, I will interchange them a bit during this sermon. When you hear me say shepherd, think of pastor, and vice versa. Being from Canada, I know a lot more about ice hockey than rugby, and a lot more about chickens (having worked in a chicken plant) than I know about sheep.
The most common analogy in scriptures of the people of God is as sheep. I'm sure you've seen Sadao Watanabe's Last Supper where Jesus is passing out sushi and sake for bread and wine. Scripture says that Jesus saw the people like sheep without a shepherd. I'm not sure that would work, as Jesus saying he saw them as chickens without a farmer. So, I say this, that you might come to me with facts about sheep that I am not familiar with, but I know a little about human sheep because I have looked at myself first and have walked with other sheep. So, here goes something that I do not know a lot about. But first, a story. The Christian writer, Lynn Anderson, tells a story of a tour that he was on to the Holy Land (Israel). In the story, he tells of this tour guide that was leading a bus tour, and because they saw a lot of sheep, the guide started talking about how the Middle Eastern shepherds do not drive the sheep like the Australians do, but who use dogs to scare the sheep into compliance with the shepherd's will. He talked about how the ancient shepherd had a loving relationship with the sheep, he talked about how the shepherd would care for his sheep and provide for his sheep. He talked about how the shepherd did not need to be harsh with his sheep because they knew his voice and smell. When all of a sudden, the tour guide lost interest in the group as they saw a man with a stick hitting the sheep, screaming at the sheep, and totally intimidating the sheep. The tour guide stopped the bus and went up to this shepherd and asked him what he was doing. The man turned to him and said, “Friend, you misunderstand me, I am not a shepherd. I am the butcher”. Just for your information, being called a sheep is not a compliment. Sheep have no natural sense of direction, they have very few natural defenses if in danger. Their choices are to run or to run, but they are by no means the fastest of God’s creatures. Actually, sheep fight each other. (I did not know that). They will fight and kick each other, but if a wolf or dog comes, they stand no chance. Just to let you know, we are good at fighting each other (forgive us, Lord) but not against our real enemy. We always have to remember our fight is not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers. NOT AGAINST FLESH and BLOOD but against Principalities and powers. Against these, we stand no chance on our own. We can kick and scream, but we will not win. What we need is the shepherd. Fight a demon either from the outside or from your own making, fighting it on your own power, and you stand a better chance against Mike Tyson or Manny Pacquiao. When in trouble, call on the name of Jesus because at his name, every knee will bow and tongue confess that he is Lord. In the Old Testament, before David became a king, he raised his father’s sheep, and when the predators came, he stood his ground because he loved his sheep. We do not need a (Small a) shepherd in times of trouble; we need THE GOOD SHEPHERD in times of trouble. I have often prayed, “God, I am your sheep, and you are my shepherd. I need your help. I need you to lead me. I need you to protect me, especially against myself. God forgive me when I forced you to look for me when I willfully did not follow you.” Sheep are also emotional creatures, and they can work themselves into a panic easily. Did you know that sheep do not like to drink from running water because it scares them? It is why in Psalm 23; the Psalmist says he leads me beside still waters. Our shepherd does not want to frighten us. Sheep do not deal well with burdens Mt 11:28~29 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Our faith needs to be life-giving because that is how God designed it. When it becomes a list of does and don’ts instead of a relationship, it becomes really heavy and we need the good shepherd to sheer us. When I walk by faith not by sight, I follow along after my master’s voice that not only knows my name but knows all the names of all of his sheep. I just got a list of 400 new students, and it takes me a semester to remember their names, but Jesus does not have that problem. With all these deficiencies, why does God call us sheep throughout the Bible? One is they sheep are valued. Sheep was how you measured your wealth in the bible. You are valuable and valued by God. When Jesus was starting his ministry, he was going from town-to-town teaching in the synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When a crowd came, he had compassion on them (WHY?) because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Matt 9:35-36) As KUC starts the process of a pastoral search, you are really looking for an under-shepherd to follow THE GOOD Shepherd. (That job is taken). Interestingly, the under-shepherd is also a sheep. (Be careful of any pastor that does not know that reality). Interesting we look at the characteristics of The Good Shepherd and as Christians, we should look for these characteristics in an under-shepherd. The first characteristic of the shepherd from v.11 is that the good shepherd lays his life down for his sheep. It is called sacrificial love. A love not of the results but of the processes. We all like winning. Every football player I have ever had likes winning more than losing. But not many people like the process of getting to the win. (The Grind). Jesus of course paid the ultimate price on the cross for the sins of the world. Not many pastors are asked to pay that price. Some have, but that is not a burden most pastors (Shepherds are called to pay) but will they pray for their people, will they love them, will they fast and pray for them? Most days a hired hand will do a good job, but there are times when the crap hits the fan and the pastor is called to stand in the gap for the people of the church. A friend of mine in Toledo had the crap hit the fan. It is a nasty image because the poop goes everywhere. Anyway, his church was going right along when his treasurer stole the money of the church. The pastor had a wife and kids and responsibilities, and he had to get a job outside the church and worked for the church for a year without any pay. They actually could pay him but would have to lay off the part-time youth pastor and secretary. So he worked and through that outside work, he stood in the gap for his people. If the paycheck was all he wanted (if he was a hired hand) he would have left for a bigger church. It was not only him but him and his wife that committed themselves to the sheep as an under shepherd. Secondly, a good shepherd knows his sheep by name. Not just their name but knows them. A while ago at my school an older teacher had to replace a homeroom teacher because of trouble. The class was chaotic before their homeroom teacher left and then more chaotic as he left. This older soft-spoken teacher came in and I thought they would tear him apart. I, like the other teachers, was almost having to shout over the students (it really was chaos), but I walked by his class and saw the class calmly studying. I had an open period, and I went in, and when the kids got noisy, he got quiet. He fought their chaos with calm and love. Slowly, slowly as he got to know the students, it became one of the most well-behaved classes in the school. It was a miracle like turning water into wine. Well, maybe not. Well, our gentle and good shepherd knows you. Loves you. You have only one task to know and love him back. And once you know that love nothing. NOTHING can separate you from that love. Paul said, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. [No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Rom 8:34-37 Compared to the good shepherd, the hired man. Let’s be honest on good days. On days when there are no real problems, a hired man will do. No, they will not go above and beyond, but generally, they will do their job. They will not wake up in the middle of the night and feel the need to lift up the congregation in prayer. When things do not go perfectly, they will not risk upsetting the apple cart. They do their job, get their pay that they worked for, and then they go home. If big problems come (and they do for all of us) they just move on. They do not have a passion for or really care that much about what they are doing but they do their job. I’ve known pastors like these guys and generally they are professional pastors and that is not bad but there is better. Compared to a bad shepherd, a hired man is so much better. The difficulty with the bad shepherd is at first, it is difficult to distinguish the bad shepherd from a good shepherd. Remember we are talking about under-shepherds. Ezekiel 34 is the account of a prophet in exile. In Ezekiel 33, he hears the terrible news that Jerusalem has fallen (He prophesied it but did not want it) the temple had been sacked and destroyed. Then in Ezekiel 34, he prophesies against the bad shepherds. God says this through him. “Is it not enough for you shepherds to feed on the good pasture? Must you also trample the rest of your pasture with your feet? Is it not enough for you to drink clear water? Must you also muddy the rest with your feet? Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you have muddied with your feet?” Where the good shepherd brings peace and stability, the bad shepherd brings division and strife. They are passionate and often articulate, but they are pointing in a direction that is opposite to where God is leading the people. Remember sheep are poor at directions; that is why when they get lost, they have a hard time finding their way home. That is why Jesus tells the story of the 100 sheep; when one is lost, he goes out and searches for it because it is not capable of finding its way back. The bad shepherds scatter the flock with their fine words. They eat first, but that is not their worst characteristic; after they eat, they then trample on the grasses, so it is difficult for the sheep to feed themselves. Thus making the sheep more dependent on them. Another characteristic of a bad shepherd is that they muddy the waters. Oh, they drink. But after they drink, they wade into the pools and stir up all the mud and silt at the bottom so the other sheep can’t drink or can’t enjoy drinking. And bad shepherds take the life out of church or try to. How do bad pastors do this? Number one, they make the ministry about themselves instead of the people. These are people who will not ask for forgiveness while making all the problems of the church about the sheep. Often they have terrible theology. Health and wealth gospels are one of them. These are pastors that fly around on private jets. Forget business class or first class; it has to be a private jet. They live well above the station of the people. Another way they trick the people is they use big words and big ideas not to draw people up but to make themselves look good. They appear humble, but they are just wolves in sheep’s clothing. Where the hired hand does his job and goes home, the bad shepherd will never go home because they are afraid of losing their control of the people. How did our Lord teach? He taught us in a way that a small child could understand. Because he wanted us to understand and grow. To have life and have it in its fullness because our good shepherd wants us to grow. When Jesus says I AM the GOOD SHEPHERD believe him. Trust him. Don’t run away from him. Let’s pray.
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