Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

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It seems as if there is an awful lot of finger-pointing going on lately. Fingers are being pointed at those who carry the Olympic Torch as a way of expressing disdain for one nation's human rights policies. Fingers are being pointed at those who are responsible for the sub-prime mortgage lending crisis that has wounded the economy and badly hurt many families. Fingers are being pointed at those believed to be responsible for disappointing progress in Iraq. Political candidates are pointing fingers at one another. Liberals are pointing their fingers at conservatives and Republicans are pointing their fingers at Democrats and everybody is pointing their finger at the President. It seems as if there is an awful lot of finger-pointing going on lately.

Maybe you came here this morning hoping to escape all of the finger-pointing. Surely, church should be the one place where finger-pointing is strictly taboo and unacceptable. Yet, on this "Good Shepherd Sunday," when we expect our attention to be directed to green pastures, still waters where our stressed out soul might be restored, what do we find? Finger-pointing, and from Jesus, no less. Jesus is pointing his finger at thieves and robbers.

"Truly, truly I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in another way, that man is a thief and a robber."

This is not simply a general statement that Jesus is making to whom it may concern. This whole discourse about the Good Shepherd is part of the fallout He faces for giving the man who was born blind his sight. The Scribes and Pharisees hassled the poor man terribly. "What did He do to you?" "How did he open your eyes?" And they hassled the man's parents too. "Is this really your son?" "Was he really born blind?" And they cast him out of the synagogue.

The poor man had to have been terribly confused. They used to tell him that he was blind because of his sin or his parent's sin so he couldn't enter the temple to worship God. Now he had his eyesight and he still couldn't worship God. An itinerant Rabbi performs a miracle on him but the religious leaders say it was all a hoax. What was he supposed to think and believe?

Jesus found the man to set things straight for him. "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" "Who is he?" the man asked. "You have seen him and it is he who is speaking to you." And with that, the man worshipped Jesus. He had it right.

Now, to clear up any lingering confusion, Jesus points at the Scribes and Pharisees and says, "Truly, truly I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in another way, that man is a thief and a robber.�"

Now, for all you city-slickers who may not know what a sheepfold is, let me explain. A "sheepfold" is a pen for sheep to stay in during the night. The stone wall keeps the predators outside from getting inside and it keeps the sheep on the inside from getting out and wandering off during the night. The whole key to a safe and secure sheepfold is the door and the doorkeeper. The "door" to the sheepfold is simply an opening in the wall that is just wide enough for a sheep to squeeze through. There is no real door or gate that opens or shuts. That's the shepherd's job. The shepherd lays down in front of the opening. The shepherd is the door to the sheepfold. No one gets in except over his body. No one gets out except over his body.

At least that's the way it's supposed to work. It all depends on the shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep because he loves the sheep. The bad shepherd, cares only for himself and when the big, bad wolf comes, he runs away, because he cares nothing for the sheep. When the sheep have a good shepherd, they may rest secure and know they're safe. When they have a bad shepherd, they're all stressed out because they live in constant fear of becoming the feature item on the menu at the Café du Wolf.

Jesus is pointing his finger at the Pharisees so that the man born blind will be able to recognize the bad shepherds. He calls them "thieves and robbers." There's a difference between the two.

"Thieves" steal another man's possessions by stealth and deception. The bible calls Judas a thief. Thieves are sneaky smart. They can quote all the right bible verses and talk a lot about God and even through around the name of Jesus. They're very spiritual and religious people. Many sheep would certainly think that they must be good shepherds.

"Robbers" steal another man's possessions by brute force and power. The bible calls Barabas a robber. Robbers possess their parishioners by force through guilt or fear or threats. Many sheep follow bad shepherds simply because they're afraid not to.

Jesus is finger pointing. He wants the man born blind and anyone else listening or watching, like you and me, to beware of bad shepherds. They're thieves and robbers. "They come to kill and steal and destroy." Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and He's doing what good shepherds do. He's protecting His sheep by pointing out the wolves who are disguised in sheep's clothing.

St. Paul does what good shepherds are supposed to do. He points the finger at the wolves threatening his congregation in Colassae. "See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ." (Col. 2:8).

Pointing fingers is part of the job of good pastors, who are Christ's under-shepherds. The Formula of Concord puts it like this. "It is not only necessary that the pure, wholesome doctrine be rightly presented for the preservation of pure doctrine and for thorough, permanent, godly unity in the Church, but it is also necessary that the opponents who teach otherwise be reproved. Faithful shepherds, as Luther says, should do both things: a) feed or nourish the lambs and b) resist the wolves. Then sheep may flee from strange voices and may separate the precious from the worthless." (FC. SD)

So, allow me then to do a little finger pointing here this morning. In the April Newsletter, I included an article by my good friend, Pastor Alan Taylor from Texas on the book titled, "A New Earth—Awakening To Your Life's Purpose" by Eckhart Tolle. One sheep who had purchased the book before reading the Newsletter, 'fessed up and handed it over. I read through some of it just to see if I could get a sense of what it was all about. It's all about how you can transform your inner self by certain techniques so that you may possess true happiness. In hopes of seducing some Christians to pay attention, there's some Jesus talk that runs through the book. But the talk sounds strange to our ears. "The possibility of such a transformation has been the central message of the great wisdom teachings of humankind. The messengers—Buddha, Jesus, and others—were humanity's early flowers . . ." (p.6).

In other words, Buddha and Jesus were two wise men who understood the wisdom of inner transformation. They're good examples for everyone to follow. Frankly, the whole thing is pretty absurd. But people will buy this book and read it because Oprah Winfrey has endorsed it and is really pushing it. A lot of people, particularly women, seem to think that Oprah is a good shepherd. Don't be deceived! This morning, in keeping with our gospel reading, we point the finger at Oprah and Tolle and say, "thief," and "robber."

As important as it is that we sheep recognize the bad shepherds so that we do not follow them, it is just as important to recognize the Good Shepherd so that we do follow Him. In this "Good Shepherd" discourse, Jesus instructs the sheep on how they are to recognize the thief AND identify the good shepherd. "The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out" A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."

Practically speaking, the kind of voice recognition that Jesus is talking about here doesn�t not come easily or naturally. It is not something that we are born with. In fact, St. Paul tells us that the voice of the Good Shepherd sounds all wrong to the untrained ear. "The message of the cross is folly . . ." he says. (1 Cor. 1:18). It's only when our ears have been baptized and our minds transformed that we hear the voice of the Good Shepherd and His message of the cross, as the sweet and beautiful gospel that it is.

Even then, it not an automatic thing. We need to hear His voice repeatedly and regularly so that we become so familiar with its sound that we both recognize it so that we may follow it, and recognize the thief and robber and reject it.

So, 52 Sundays a year, according to God's commandment, we gather together to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd. And every Sunday we hear it just a bit differently so that we may learn to recognize it in all the different settings and situations we find ourselves in throughout the week.

Practically speaking, recognizing the voice of Jesus Christ is a twofold responsibility. yours and mine. It's your responsibility to be here every Sunday, bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready to hear His voice. It's your responsibility to be daily, read His Word and think about it at home and with your family. It is the pastor's responsibility to speak His Word faithfully and clearly, through the service and the sermon, so that you may better understand it and recognize it in your daily life.

Personally, let me just say, that this responsibility of preaching and teaching isn't easy and it absolutely doesn't come naturally. It requires a great deal of training and a lot of work to prepare a dumb sheep to be a good shepherd. But that's why Christ has appointed in His Church, some to be pastors and teachers. And, that's why you call a man to devote himself full-time to the study of God's Word, so that he may preach and teach it faithfully and clearly.

Thankfully, in this country and with this church body in particular, we are blessed with wonderful seminaries and teachers and publishing houses that train and equip pastors and teachers to equip their sheep to recognize the voice of their Savior.

Such is not the case in other places of the world. For example, in Thailand and in Cambodia which are each 90% Buddhist, there is a small, fledgling Lutheran Church body with congregations and pastors. Unfortunately, the pastors do not have the benefit of a seminary or a publishing house. A LCMS organization called Lutheran Heritage Foundation has, as its mission, the translation of bible study materials into foreign languages—Luther's Small Catechism in particular, to help train and equip men to be good under-shepherds. These men are crying out for more instruction and training in the Scriptures and the Lutheran Confessions. In response, the Lutheran Heritage Foundation has established a seminary level training program in these two countries for these pastors.

And here's where all this gets really exciting. Lutheran Heritage Foundation has asked my friend Pastor Taylor and myself to teach the next course offering to these two church bodies in November. We're scheduled to go to Phnom Penh, Cambodia for a week and then to Bangkok, Thailand for a week to teach a course on the first three chapters of Genesis, which contain so many primary and fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith. After speaking with the Church Council about this, we are very excited to accept this opportunity to participate in such an exciting mission adventure.

Practically speaking, we're going to have to raise about $3,000 by September, a goal that we believe the Lord will truly bless and that will need to involve everyone. Much more information to follow. But we count it as a wonderful privilege to be called upon to help equip these pastors and congregations to be able to point fingers and help God's sheep recognize the voice of the Good Shepherd that they may follow Him and no other.

Today's gospel then, is all about finger pointing and voice recognition. Beware of bad shepherds who are thieves and robbers. "They come to steal and kill and destroy." Learn to recognize the voice of the Good Shepherd, who calls you by name. "He comes that you may have life and have it abundantly."

Tags: Good Shepherd, John, Lutheran Heritage Foundation

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This entry was posted on Monday, April 14th, 2008 at 1:33 pm and is filed under Audio Sermons, Sermons - Lutheran - LCMS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.