April 21, 2002
(Year A, Easter 4)
John 10:1-18
A Life More Abundant
by Jeff Hall
Have
you ever had to explain something to someone who just didn’t get it?
It
happens to those of us in the Army all the time. Anyone who has had to stand
before their commander or 1SG or even their supervisor knows how hard it can be
to explain their actions or words. Those of us who are leaders have all had the
experience of looking at a formation of blank stares.
We see it here in Korea as
well. Most of us are in the midst of a foreign country, with a foreign language
and foreign customs. It is, at times, a struggle to make even the simplest of
requests understood. And we can’t rely on that tried and true American method
of yelling our questions as loud as we can in English.
Yesterday we talked about how
it can happen in evangelism, when we use church terms instead of words that
nonbelievers can relate to. We even see it in a humorous way when we come to
chapel as we sometimes confuse hooah or airborne with amen.
It happens to us a lot. It
happened to Jesus all the time in His ministry. He was always trying to explain
things to the disciples that left them confused about His purpose, His goals,
and, most importantly, his character. Most believers have heard the 23rd
Psalm, and we hear again in today’s reading that the Lord is our shepherd. But
what does that mean? What does this assertion tell us about the nature of Jesus
Christ and His relationship to His children? And how does this lead to a more
abundant life? Today’s reading gives us 3 lessons that we can use to gain a
greater understanding as we seek the Lord’s answer to these questions.
1.
JESUS TAKES OWNERSHIP OF HIS CHILDREN.
v. 3 He calls us by name and
leads us
The Lord knows us intimately
and completely. We are on a first name basis with God – think about how
amazing and revolutionary that idea is. On the one hand there is God: the all
knowing, all powerful creator of the universe. And on the other hand there is
us. And yet despite those differences God wants to be with us. We were created
for communion with him and he is wounded when we separate from him through sin.
He does not have to be with us. We are the ones that broke the relationship with
him! But he loves us so much that he sent Jesus so that there would be a bridge
of love between us and him. This is exactly the opposite of what humans do. When
someone hurts us, or separates from us, the LAST thing we want to do is be close
to them. God models a different path. In every other major world religion, man
is asked to find his own path to God through meditation, prayer or
reincarnation. Our God comes looking for us.
v. 12-13 He is not a
“hired hand”
God cares for us as a true
Father. He didn’t sign for us on a 2062 that transferred the “Children of
God” to His property book. He sacrificed His own life that we might be saved. We behave differently when something belongs to us. We treat
others differently when they are a part of us. When I was a kid, I can remember
being on the playground with my friends and making fun of the “short bus” as
it arrived each day to drop off the special education children. We would be mean
and cruel in the way kids can be and then laugh as if it was the funniest thing
in the world. 20 years later, I have a different view of the short bus. See,
that is the bus that comes to my house every day to pick up my 3 year old
autistic son. The first day that he rode that bus, my wife and I cried because
he was riding to school. See, as his father, I knew what a struggle it was for
Will to get to that point. I knew about all the doctor’s visits, all of the
therapy, the special diets and the drugs. I knew my son, and knew that for him
that bus was not a joke, it was a path to a hopeful future. So it is for us and
God. He knows each and every one of us intimately. He knows where we have fallen
short, and where we are strong. He knows our weaknesses and our gifts. Because
he is our father, because he is not just a hired hand, he thinks about us
differently.
v. 14 Not only does God
know, us but we know Him
God gives us His revelations
and places His hand in our lives. He gives us the gifts of prayer and the
Lord’s Supper that we can come to know Him in a real way. He seeks our
communion, not our distance. St. Augustine once said that there is a God-shaped
hole in our soul. No matter what we try to do, we will never find true happiness
outside of the covenant relationship with Christ. Jesus opens himself to us and
gives us the chance to come near to Him. He is available in prayer and present
in his word.
2.
JESUS WILLINGLY SACRIFICED HIS LIFE FOR OUR OWN.
v. 11 He lays down His life
for the sheep.
The man who knew no sin, died a
criminal’s death on a cross for a people who have no excuse. The only way to a
life more abundant is through sacrifice, not of ourselves, but of our savior.
You can try all day to lead a better life, to mend
your ways and make a new start. But you will struggle without Jesus. My
mom started smoking when she was in high school. As she got older, she began to
realize how unhealthy it was, and made the decision to quit. Actually she made
several decisions to quit, because each time she tried to stop, the nicotine fit
would come back and she would start again. She tried everything, the pills, the
patch, the gum. At some point in the 80s she even tried hypnosis. Nothing
worked. When my daughter was born, it was my mom’s first grandchild. She
decided that as a grandmother, she shouldn’t be smoking. So, she quit. There
was no tapering off, no fancy gimmicks, she just stopped. She loved her
granddaughter so much that her love had the power to break a 30 year addiction.
Love is powerful. God’s love is infinite. The cross is the ultimate proof of
God’s love for us. And that love has changed the world, and has the power to
change every single one of us. All because the shepherd was willing to lay down
his life for the sheep.
v. 16 He sacrifices for
everyone.
It is not just the disciples
who were saved, or those with money, or the priests and rabbis. It is all of us.
Jesus is the ultimate shepherd because he sees beyond herd and looks into every
heart, including yours and mine. The things that God values are not the things
that the world values. God does not care what you wear. He does not care where
you are from or what color you are or what you drive. Only sinful human beings
place importance on those things. God died for all of us. Pastor Jim Cymbala
tells a story of a man that came to his church in inner city New York, smelling
of filth and drink. Jim found himself repulsed by this man, and, disgusted by
his presence, prayed for the Lord to take away the smell. But God spoke to Jim,
letting him know that if he was serious about helping the world, if he was
serious about being a Christian that that smell was a part of it. Because that
smell is of the hungry and the lost and the hurting. Jesus died for that smell.
v. 18 Jesus makes His
sacrifice willingly
In our culture, we have grown
uncomfortable with sacrifice. See everything we are taught is transactional. The
rule is that there is no such thing as a free lunch. It is hard for us to give
freely. Part of this difficulty is human nature. Have you ever seen 2 year olds
play together? This is their attitude: what’s mine is mine. What’s yours is
mine. All of that stuff I do not yet have but I saw advertised on TV and might
some day get is mine. Anything not covered in the above categories is also mine.
The more special the toy, the more fiercely it is claimed. We do this as adults,
especially in our relationship with God. Lord, I am willing to give you control
over everything except my finances. I earned this money, I get to spend it how I
want to. Lord, I give you control of everything buy my sexuality. I am still too
young to think about abstinence. We are always holding something back,
forgetting one simple thing: all that we have we have because of the grace of
God. God gives us the ability to work for money. He gives us life and pleasure
and joy. By refusing to give up our lives for Him, we are left out of the
greatest joy: life in the will of God. But Jesus gave everything without
reservation for His sheep. He was not forced to get on that cross. He could have
come down anytime He wanted. But he loved us so much he stayed. And that is our
challenge. Do we love Him enough to sacrifice our lives?
3.
JESUS’ AUTHORITY IS ETERNAL AND RESTS IN GOD THE FATHER
v. 18 He has the
authority to lay down His life for the sheep.
In military terms, Jesus is the Commander-in-Chief. He has the final say-so. He is given the power over every inch of our lives so that through Him our lives can be transformed and we can live a more abundant life.
v. 18 He is also given the authority to take it up again.
This is the good news. The pain
and anguish of Good Friday give birth to the joy of Easter morning. Jesus gave
His sacrifice so that we could be raised to a new and more abundant life in Him.
See, death is not the final chapter in the life of the believer. Our struggles,
no matter how difficult, are temporary. There is the promise of a new day.
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