{"id":73,"date":"2010-04-25T09:00:01","date_gmt":"2010-04-25T16:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/?p=73"},"modified":"2017-03-29T10:09:45","modified_gmt":"2017-03-29T17:09:45","slug":"my-sheep-he-calls-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/2010\/04\/25\/my-sheep-he-calls-you\/","title":{"rendered":"“My Sheep,” he calls you…"},"content":{"rendered":"

John 10: 22-30 | April 25, 2010<\/strong><\/p>\n

22 Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter,\u00a0 23 and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon\u2019s Colonnade.\u00a0 24 The Jews gathered around him, saying, \u201cHow long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.\u201d
\n25 Jesus answered, \u201cI did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father\u2019s name speak for me,\u00a0 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.\u00a0 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.\u00a0 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.\u00a0 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father\u2019s hand.\u00a0 30 I and the Father are one.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

There can be something warm and special in hearing someone call you my wife or my husband, my boyfriend or girlfriend or my good friend.\u00a0 It\u2019s because those relationships are meant to be special.\u00a0 You have a special place in that person\u2019s life.\u00a0 These words remind us of the place, the special relationship we have with Jesus.<\/p>\n

It was the Feast of Dedication. We know it as Chanukah.\u00a0 In the home or in the temple, a candle would be lit for each of 8 days.\u00a0 In this way the children were taught to how the Lord\u2019s temple was rededicated after it was terribly desecrated by pagan conquerors.<\/p>\n

Here Jesus was walking in a temple area that was something like a covered patio held up by massive columns\u00a0 This area wrapped around the temple courtyard.\u00a0 It served as a meeting place and a teaching place for the Jews.<\/p>\n

The Jews gathered around him.\u00a0 But these were not fans of Jesus.\u00a0 They did not surround him here to cheer him on.\u00a0 They came to confront him.<\/p>\n

How strange that in the midst of this confrontation, our good Shepherd speaks some awesome words of comfort. How strange to find such comfort when the next thing his enemies would do was pick up rocks to stone him to death.\u00a0 And whether we are young or old, rich or poor, living or dying it makes no difference.\u00a0 There is something very special in what Jesus has for us here.\u00a0\u00a0 I see it in just these two words.\u00a0 My Sheep.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy Sheep,\u201d he calls you\u2026<\/strong>
\nI.\u00a0 The Lord, your Shepherd
\nII.\u00a0 Who look to him in faith<\/p>\n

<\/strong>Who is this man they confronted?\u00a0 Who is this man who calls you and me, my sheep<\/em>.\u00a0 It matters doesn\u2019t it who he is?\u00a0 Even though they were not really looking for the truth, it is important. .\u00a0 If you are the Christ,\u00a0 tell us plainly.<\/span> Who is this man who calls you and me, my sheep<\/em>?<\/p>\n

Remember the Christmas angel?\u00a0 What did he tell some other shepherds about the baby Jesus?\u00a0 What did he say about this one we call our good Shepherd?\u00a0 He is Christ, the Lord.<\/span> Jesus is the Christ, a King sent by God to save his people.\u00a0 That descendant of Abraham who would be a blessing to people all over the world.\u00a0 Tell us plainly if you are the Christ they demanded. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father\u2019s name speak for me<\/span>,\u00a0 Just before this Jesus had healed a man they knew was blind from birth.\u00a0 And he was only one example of many. You know, My mom used to say:\u00a0 actions speak louder than words<\/em>.\u00a0 Well Jesus miracles speak plainly.\u00a0 Jesus is the promised Christ.<\/p>\n

But he is more than someone special. He is more than a man who shared this planet with us.\u00a0 He is Christ ,the Lord.\u00a0 He is true God with the Father.\u00a0 I and the Father are One<\/span> he told them.\u00a0 And again we don\u2019t have to just go with his words. his actions speak loud and clear.\u00a0 After he laid down his life for you and me, he took it up again.\u00a0 He is the Lord, your Shepherd.\u00a0 So it is something very special to hear Jesus call us, my sheep<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0 For what does Jesus tells us here.\u00a0 He knows<\/strong> you.<\/p>\n

You sit in the exam room and wait for the doctor to come in.\u00a0 You want him to know what\u2019s going on.\u00a0 But he comes in, asks a couple of questions, writes a prescription and he\u2019s gone. Does he know? Does he understand?<\/p>\n

How different the One who calls you my sheep.\u00a0 He does know.\u00a0 As the son of Mary, he walked in our shoes.\u00a0 He laughed and cried tears . He felt the pain of suffering and betrayal. He knows.\u00a0 Our Shepherd knows his sheep because he lived as one of us.<\/p>\n

But the Lord is my shepherd.\u00a0 So he knows us better than we know ourselves.\u00a0 Remember King David\u2019s words in Psalm 139:\u00a0 1\u00a0 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.\u00a0 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.\u00a0 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways<\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0 think about it.\u00a0\u00a0 My sheep, he calls you.\u00a0 He knows your hopes and fears. \u00a0He knows how prone we are to wander.\u00a0 And even though it may not make sense to us at the time, he knows what is best.\u00a0 My sheep<\/em>, he calls you.\u00a0 The Lord, your Shepherd<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

And what a claim he makes.\u00a0 What a promise!\u00a0 I give them eternal life.<\/span> And notice something.\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t say, I show them eternal life.\u00a0 I show them how to earn it or deserve it.\u00a0 For we can\u2019t.\u00a0 There is no one righteous, not even one<\/span>, the Bible says\u00a0\u00a0 We all like sheep have gone astray, turned to our own ways.<\/p>\n

But this Shepherd came between us and what we deserved.\u00a0 He took it.\u00a0 He suffered it in our place.\u00a0 And he rose to show us that our sins are paid for and forgiven. My sheep, he calls us now . And this I can know. This I can know even when death is staring me in the\u00a0 face.\u00a0 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever <\/span><\/p>\n

Do you believe that?\u00a0 That Jesus is the Christ, the Lord, your Shepherd.\u00a0 Those who confronted Jesus did not.\u00a0 Many we share this world with, do not.\u00a0 They think we are fools \u2013 fools for Christ.\u00a0 But we are something more in Jesus\u2019 eyes.\u00a0 My sheep, he calls you\u2026who look to him in faith. <\/strong><\/p>\n

If we took a survey of our country, we would find a lot of people who identify themselves as Christians.\u00a0 But suppose we followed up with another question. What does that mean for you?<\/em> I\u00a0 imagine we would find some for whom Christian is nothing more than a label, an occasional trip to church on Christmas or Easter.<\/p>\n

My sheep listen to my voice<\/span>, Jesus says here.\u00a0 The Jewish shepherd didn\u2019t have to drive his sheep. He called them because they knew the voice of their shepherd.\u00a0 And when they heard it, he had their attention.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why we come.\u00a0\u00a0 Jesus has our attention.\u00a0 The Holy Spirit has brought us to trust in Him.\u00a0\u00a0 He has brought us to recognize our Shepherd\u2019s voice in his Word and His Supper.\u00a0 My sheep, he calls you, who look to him in faith<\/strong>, a faith that listens to his Word.<\/p>\n

And they follow me<\/span>, Jesus reminds us.\u00a0\u00a0 There\u2019s the trust in his promises. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil<\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0 For thou art with me.\u00a0\u00a0 There\u2019s the willingness to obey his commands.\u00a0\u00a0 He leads me in the paths of righteousness<\/span>.\u00a0 His sheep follow Him in faith and obedience.<\/p>\n

Of course, we are still sheep.\u00a0 We do stumble. We foolishly wander into trouble.\u00a0 Maybe we straggle behind and put too much distance between us and our shepherd.\u00a0\u00a0 But when we hear his voice, we know.\u00a0 We need to head in his direction.\u00a0 We need to close that distance, \u00a0We need to follow his lead to those quiet waters where we can drink up his peace and forgiveness.\u00a0 If that is you, know this, my sheep, he calls you, who look to him in faith<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

And ours is a faith that can rest assured.\u00a0 Think about your faith. In a way, it is like a hand that holds onto Jesus.\u00a0 Nothing in my hand I bring simply to they cross I cling.<\/em> Well when I was younger these hands were a lot stronger than they are now.\u00a0 And sometimes our hand of faith is not all that strong.\u00a0 Maybe we worry that something will happen and we\u2019ll lose our grip on Jesus.<\/p>\n

But notice where Jesus points you.\u00a0 They shall never perish. No one can snatch them our of my hand<\/span>..\u00a0 No one can snatch them out of my Father\u2019s hands. I and the Father are one<\/span>. In other words, don\u2019t dwell on the grip you have on me. Look at the hold I have on you.\u00a0 Look at the hold my Father has on\u00a0 you.\u00a0 Whose hands are those? Hands that created this universe.\u00a0 Hands that stretched out on a cross for you and me.\u00a0 My sheep, he calls you. you who look to him in faith,\u00a0 a faith that can rest assured.\u00a0 You can rest assured that nothing in all creation will be\u00a0 able to separate you from his\u00a0 love.\u00a0 Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John 10: 22-30 | April 25, 2010 22 Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter,\u00a0 23 and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon\u2019s Colonnade.\u00a0 24 The Jews gathered around him, saying, \u201cHow long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.\u201d 25 Jesus answered, \u201cI did tell […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":74,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73\/revisions\/74"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.livingwordpetaluma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}