“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!

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This Sunday is called “Good Shepherd” Sunday. For our meditation we have this well-known section from the gospel according to John, where Jesus speaks about Himself as about the Good Shepherd. Today we will focus on two elements in Jesus’ teaching. First, we will talk about the sheep. Second, we will talk about the shepherd.

Let’s talk about the sheep first. I am sure many of you know more about the sheep than I do. So, we can easily describe what the sheep are like. It could go like this. They are smart, independent, discerning, autonomous creatures.

They can easily make up their minds and come to the right decisions. They clearly know right from wrong. They can take care of themselves. They can see their enemies coming from afar and can protect themselves. They are such wonderful creatures, we could say, the pinnacle of God’s creation.

We are still talking about the sheep, right? Is this a correct description of what the sheep are like? Of course not! When we think about this illustration of the Good Shepherd, should we ask – why did Jesus compare us, human beings, with the sheep? What was His reasoning? What point was He making?

It is rather obvious, isn’t it? He compared us with the sheep, because it is a very fitting comparison. We are like sheep. Without a shepherd we are lost. We go where others go, without much consideration, without much understanding.

But is this how people think about themselves? Is this how we think about ourselves? No, not at all. Not at this age. I think that we live in the age of the sheep. The age of the sheep! When the sheep rule. When the sheep don’t need shepherds anymore.

For this is exactly what we can observe in our society. Everyone is so smart. Everyone is so autonomous. Everyone is able to make up their own mind about what is right and what is wrong. Everyone is so discerning.

We can say that these days all the sheep are fully qualified to be their own shepherds. To lead themselves where they want to go, and to protect themselves if there are any dangers. Everyone wants to do what is good in their own eyes and there is no need whatsoever for the Good Shepherd.

Do you think that we are immune to this in the Church? No, we are not! We also have caught this bug of “everyone does whatever is good in their own eyes”. We can see it in our relationships with the Triune God. These days everyone wants to make up their own mind on how to approach God, how to worship Him. And God has to accommodate us if He wants our worship at all. Period!

Everyone wants to make up their own mind about what it means for them to be a Christian, what it means to follow Jesus, and let no one dare to be that judgmental as to invite, perhaps, to listen to what the Word of God says about it. We know better!

We can see it when it comes to our lives, to the most important relationships – marriages and families. Everyone does what is good in their own eyes. We know better! How many are looking for God’s guidelines? You tell me…

How many consider their sexuality as God’s gift given for their marriage? How many are simply following where the culture leads? Do whatever feels good in that moment! We also know where this has led our society and the Church.

It would be difficult to find a family where someone has not been hurt in their most important relationships. But why would we learn, why would we listen to the Good Shepherd?! We are the sheep and we rule! This is our age!

In one of my previous congregations, I witnessed how one of the chairmen got into an argument with a former district president. This pastor was explaining what the Bible and the Lutheran church teaches about Baptism and how we practice it, and this chairman was arguing that that was wrong, we needed to change it. The sheep rule!

I want to read to you a quote from Richard Paul. He was the founder of the movement for Critical Thinking. He was not a Christian as far as I know, but his description of our times is brilliant: “As creatures in the world we are best defined not as ‘the rational’ but as the self-deceiving animal”. We consistently deceive ourselves about the state of and the degree of our knowledge and our freedom.

We confuse our fervent beliefs with knowledge or proof, our judgmentalism with judgement, our point of view with reality. We confuse facts with opinions, data and interpretation, evidence and conclusion. We do all this with ease, with skill, both individually and collectively.

We believe that we are reasonable. At the same time whatever is commonly believed is taken by most to be self-evidently true. When schools teach what is commonly believed, they are taken to be teaching the truth. If they were to teach what flies in the face of common belief they would be taken to be biased and narrow.

‘Having knowledge’ is reduced to believing what those around us believe. ‘Being free’ is reduced to acting as we would like to act, which turns out suspiciously similar to acting as those around us act.” Don’t you think this applies to us as well? We all want to believe that we are objective and reasonable, when in fact so often we are led by our emotions and fears just looking around where the majority is heading.

It is sad when it happens in the world. But it is much worse when it happens in the Church. The world doesn’t have God’s wisdom, we have. At least it is available to us, if we are willing to listen to it. The world doesn’t have the Good Shepherd, we have Him.

The world can’t stand on a firm foundation and evaluate from the Creator’s perspective what is right and what is wrong. But we can. We have God’s own revelation, His own teachings, His instructions.

That’s why it is so sad when the Church becomes like the world, like the sheep who think they can be their own shepherds. It is sad when we hide our unwillingness to stand up for God’s truth saying that we do it for the sake of love, or peace or unity.

Thus, we become like the world around us, we gradually accept the ways of the world, we begin to imitate the world, turning away from our Lord, and all of this – for the sake of what? True Christian love? No! To fit it, to conform, to please people.

What has happened to “you are the salt of the earth and the city on the hill”? What has happened to “if you see brother sinning, go and tell him, and if he listens, you will have saved him”? Perhaps, that is too difficult… It is easier to go with the flow. 

This is the age of the sheep, when fewer and fewer are willing to listen to their Good Shepherd. But in reality, there are only two choices. To be with the Good Shepherd or to be left with the wolves. It is that simple. Either…or… There is no third option.  

But the wolves don’t care about the sheep. They care only about themselves. For them the sheep is only a prey. And in this age when the sheep have believed that they themselves can rule, they are left vulnerable and unprotected in the hands of the wolves. Only one, only the Good Shepherd can protect them.

Let’s now talk about this Good Shepherd, about Jesus Christ, the Son of God. First, we need to re-consider this image of the Good Shepherd. How is Jesus often portrayed? As this nice guy, holding little lambs in his soft hand. That is not a biblical understanding of the Good Shepherd! Being a shepherd was a hard and risky job.

Listen to how King David described his life as a shepherd. “I used to keep sheep for his father. When there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. If he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him.” (1Sa 17:34-35) Through the prophet Isaiah God announced: “Behold, the Lord Yahweh comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms.” (Isa 40:10-11) The Good Shepherd is not some nice, feminine guy. He is the all-wise God; He is the Lord Almighty Himself. He is fully capable of protecting you from any enemy. Even from our ultimate enemies – sin, devil and death. Yes, He is!

He can make you wise for salvation and for this life, He can teach you to see who your enemies are, if only you listen to Him carefully. Besides, think about His commitment to you. He is ready to lay down His life to protect you.

This is the definition of the Good Shepherd. Powerful and faithful. It means that you and your life and wellbeing for Him is more important than His own. And listen to these words: “I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.”

This is more than we could imagine. In the Bible ‘to know’ means much more than simply knowing something. In the Bible ‘to know’ means to know truly, deeply intimately, closely. Marital relationships are described as knowing one another.

This is what Jesus speaks about. He knows you, and He allows you to know Him. This knowing is similar to the love between the Father and Jesus. Unconditional, self-sacrificial love, which enables one to lay down his life.

If you are from Jesus’ sheep, then you also know Him. What does it mean? It means that you know Him as He is. His true nature. That you know Him both as the almighty God, your rock and shield. And at the same time, as one who comes to you gently and graciously in the Divine Service, to forgive you your rebellion, to purify your soul, to speak to you His love, to feed you with His holy and precious body and blood.

God for you. Your God. At the same time, the Father has given us this scary freedom. You can say ‘no’ to the Good Shepherd, and choose to listen to the wolves. If we don’t want Jesus Christ as our shepherd, we will be without Him.

We have the freedom to reject Him. We can go ahead with our life as the sheep that knows better. We are free to do whatever we want, to be led by whomever we choose, and do whatever our hearts may desire. We are free to do that, indeed.

But we will do well to remember that Jesus Christ paid with His life to make you His own, and He will never ever give up on you or forsake you. Never! Whatever happens, whatever we do. But if we choose to live without Him here, we will stand alone, completely on our own, on the day when we all will give our account to the Creator.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I pray that the Holy Spirit helps us to be wise and to be realistic about what the sheep are capable of on their own, and whatnot. Let’s listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd, let’s come before Him with repentant hearts, let’s pray for His Spirit to open our eyes to see the truth and to purify our heart.

Don’t try to rule yourself, be Jesus’ sheep. And He will take care of you, here and in the life to come. For He can. He wants to. He will. Amen.