Tasting the Gruel of Love

Why We Need a Good Shepherd

Dr. Larry Thorson
January 3, 2010

John 10:1-5

¹ "Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. ² The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. ³ The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵ But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice."

Today I’m starting a new seven week series entitled “Why We Need a Good Shepherd.” Three years ago this winter I preached a series of sermons about sheep as we looked at the 23^rd Psalm. It was a fun series based on the Phillip Keller classic A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23. Diane Gutierrez even borrowed a real life sheep one Sunday for me to walk around with on this platform. I learned sheep don’t like to be led around a church chancel on a rope. They don’t know where they want to be but they know it’s not church.

This winter we’re going to study John 10:1-5. As an aid I’m going to be using Phillip Keller’s excellent little book A Shepherd Looks at the Good Shepherd and His Sheep. I recommend that you read John 10:1-5 regularly in your daily devotions this month and you’ll be blessed.

In case you haven’t noticed, I kind of like sheep. It’s not like I want one as a pet but they’re kind of nice to see on hillsides. When we went to Scotland I discovered that sheep are everywhere, literally. They’re in every field, every golf course, every street, and it seemed like in front of every car. You name it and a sheep isn’t far away in Scotland.

They also have a few shepherds in Scotland and of course a lot of border collies to move the sheep. Now when you first look at a field of sheep, being a shepherd doesn’t look like it would be that hard. They eat, they excrete and they eat some more. How difficult can it be to watch over them? It’s not…until you start moving the sheep to get them something more to eat and they don’t want to move. When a sheep doesn’t want to move, they don’t move.

It’s sort of like being the pastor of a church. How hard can it be to pastor a little 300 member church? One should be able to do this job blindfolded with one arm tied behind his back. Actually that would probably make this job easier. What I’ve learned is that as long as everything stays the same, which means no one falls, no one loses their job, the roof doesn’t leak, we get enough new elders, enough money to operate the church then this job is pretty simple. But whenever we have to move in a new direction or repair a broken situation it can become somewhat a tricky challenge. That’s where studying how shepherds move sheep can help us understand how to move a church to new heights.

I need to make something perfectly clear as we start off in this study. I am in no way going to say or even imply that you are dull minded like sheep and I’m smart minded like a shepherd. Not at all. The Bible says that we’re all like sheep and have gone astray. I’m more like a border collie helping the Good Shepherd to move his flock. Again, though I’m not saying that you’re dull minded like sheep and I’m intelligent like a border collie. Remember, I’m still calling myself a dog and border collies don’t survive long without a shepherd.

The Bible talks a reasonable amount about sheep and shepherds in various places (about 500 times). The 23^rd Psalm was written by a shepherd named David and he wrote the first half of the Psalm in a sort of whimsical voice of one sheep talking to another.

But in the book of Ezekiel we have a less whimsical prophecy against shepherds. Let’s read Ezekiel 34:1-10:

1 The word of the LORD came to me: 2 "Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? 3 You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. 4 You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally. 5 So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. 6 My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them.

7 " 'Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 8 As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock, 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: 10 This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.

Ezekiel was a prophet who had been hauled off to exile in Babylon a year or so before the fall of Jerusalem around 597 BC. God would speak messages through him that God’s people needed to hear.

In this particular case Ezekiel was preaching against the shepherds. Why pick on the shepherds? What you have to understand is that in the Old Testament the kings or rulers of the land were the ones considered shepherds of the people. In Psalm 78:70-72 we read He chose David his servant and took him from the sheep pens; 71 from tending the sheep he brought him to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel his inheritance. 72 And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them. David was the second king of Israel, and a good one at that. But the kings who followed him were not always so good.

Israel in the time of Ezekiel was in a mess and it was primarily the fault of the shepherd kings who led them astray. Israel had fallen to the enemy for one simple reason; they had rebelled against God. Any people who have rebelled against God in history have fallen. Whenever our leaders turn their backs on God or God’s ways, the fall of our country is not far behind.

But beyond that, whenever church leaders turn their backs on God or God’s ways, the church falls. Leadership is not a popularity contest. Leadership is sometimes having to say or do some unpopular things. The Presbyterian church is led by elders. The elders and I don’t sit down and make decisions based on what you want. As spiritual leaders we have to discern what it is God wants for our church based on God’s Word and discernment.

Last year (2009) our elders decided it was time for the church to practice the spiritual discipline of tithing as a church. But we can’t tithe the church’s budget if we can’t balance our budget. We can’t balance our budget if we won’t reduce our expenses or increase our income. That means we have to make hard decisions about how we spend our money as a church and as individuals even if they’re not popular decisions. But again, being a shepherd is not a popularity contest. No shepherd takes a vote among the sheep as to whether the majority want to move to a new field or not. If they did the sheep would die in the field of familiarity.

So the questions this series will speak to are what is a good shepherd and why do we need one? The Bible says we are all like sheep who have gone astray. That’s why the pastor is never to be the sole authority in the Presbyterian church. Pastors are capable of going astray. We’re a church run by elders taught by a pastor whose membership is in a wider district called the presbytery. It’s a system of checks and balances. Spiritual leadership is not a popularity contest, it’s an obedience exercise. It’s practicing obedience to the Savior, Lord and Shepherd of our lives, Jesus Christ.

This week as we start the new year, I urge you to commit yourself to 15 minutes of quiet, spiritual devotions everyday. Read at least a little bit of Scripture everyday. Sit and think about that Scripture for a minute or two. Thank God for that day, confess anything that you know you did that was wrong and lift up as petitions those things that you want to ask of God. If you need a place to start, start with John 10:1-5. Read it every day and allow God to reflect things back to you. You’ll be surprised at what happens.

Today is Epiphany Sunday, the day we remember when God revealed the Christ child to the astronomers and they brought gifts to Bethlehem. Afterward those wise men more than likely returned and helped many others believe in the Christ child. This week I want you to list out ways a spiritual leader has helped you find the Christ. It might have been a youth pastor. I’ve had three pastors in my life who took time and helped disciple me. Maybe it was some elder in a church. Maybe it was a parent, a friend or a spouse. Give thanks for those leaders this week and ask God to help you be such a leader in someone else’s life.

As we prepare for communion, may we reflect on the good shepherd Jesus Christ and how he gave of his life for his sheep. There is no greater love than to give of one’s life. Jesus Christ was such a shepherd and he’s our shepherd.