Episode 36: 4/3/09

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Readings:

Psalm 128
Jeremiah 25:30-38
Romans 10:14-21
John 10:1-18

Sermon:

I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
John 10:9

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus gives us our most beloved image of Him, that of the Good Shepherd, who is willing to lay down His life to protect His sheep. It is easy to picture Our Lord searching for the lost sheep, or carrying the injured lamb on His shoulders, bringing it safely home. We are reminded of other famous shepherds in the Bible: of Moses leading his flock to water in the desert before hearing the voice of God in the burning bush, or David killing the lion and the bear threatening his sheep. We are told in Psalm 23 that God Himself is our shepherd, leading us to good pasture and fresh water, His rod and staff defending us from attack.

We all know what a good shepherd looks like, and what he does, but what are the qualities of a good sheep? Not much is required, simply that they recognize the voice of their shepherd and follow him, not allowing themselves to be deceived by imposters.

In Our Lord’s day, it was common for many flocks of sheep to graze together in the same pasture. At night they would be led to an enclosed sheep pen, where one of the shepherds would stand guard at the gate, ready to fight off any wolves or lions or bandits who saw the sheep as easy prey. In the morning, each shepherd would call his own flock, and they, recognizing his voice, would follow him back out to the pasture for another day of feeding.

In today’s reading Jesus tells us that there are two kinds of shepherds, the good shepherd who owns the flock and will defend it to the death, and the hired hands who will flee at the first sign of danger, abandoning their flocks to be devoured by predators. And then there are the thieves, pretending to be shepherds but instead stealing the flock and leading them to their deaths. The good sheep will stick close to his own shepherd, but the foolish sheep will run this way and that, heedless of the dangers that lay before it.

We Christians like to think that we are good sheep, that we listen to the voice of our Good Shepherd and are eager to follow His lead. And for most of us, that is a sincere desire, we have no wish to be foolish sheep. But with many competing voices claiming to be shepherds, it can be difficult to discern the truth. And where we were once able to rely on the Church to act as a good shepherd and guard its flock, now it seems to be full of hired hands and downright bandits who are on the prowl for souls to steal and lead astray.

The problem of false teachers is not a new one, St. Paul and St. Peter both warned us in their epistles of this danger. This is where it is so important for Christians to read and study the Scriptures so that they can discern the true voice of Christ and not that of imposters telling us what we want to hear but that will lead to our destruction. As St. Paul warns the Romans, beware of those who use flattery and smooth talk not to serve the Lord but to fill their own bellies. (Romans 16:17-18)

How else can we correctly evaluate the claims of those who say they are preaching a Gospel of compassion and love when they say that abortion is not only not a sin, but a blessing? How else can we know the truth when a clergyperson speaks in sacramental reverence of the sucking out of a child’s brain so that it can be aborted late in the pregnancy? Where once we would expect such a person to be condemned for their false teachings, now such persons are given positions of authority and responsibility for the shaping of the next generation of Church leaders.

Jesus said He is the gate through which we must enter to be saved. And Scripture, the word of God, must be our only sure guide by which we test the claims of those who would be our teachers and leaders.

Abortion, of course, isn’t the only area of false teaching in the Church, but it is a pretty reliable gauge of a person’s overall spiritual orientation and their view of Scriptural authority. In Psalm 128 we read today that

3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house; *
your sons will be like olive shoots
around your table.
4 Thus is the man blessed *
who fears the LORD.

This is only one of many verses that refer to children as a blessing from the Lord; not one cites the murder of those children as the true blessing.

Jesus says He comes to bring life, and this is a simple but trustworthy guide to follow when evaluating competing claims. Scripture says children are a blessing, the false teachers say they are disposable. The Bible tells us to honor and care for our mother and father; they say it is more compassionate to let our elderly parents kill themselves when they become sick or disabled. Jesus says that there is no greater love than to sacrifice our lives for others; the wolves say they have the freedom to eat anyone who gets in their way, all in the name of love and mercy.

It’s not easy being a good sheep when the pen is so full of fake shepherds and wolves in sheep’s clothing, but we must train ourselves to listen to the true voice of our Good Shepherd, no matter how sweet the other voices sound. It is a matter of life and death: will we be the blessed sheep led to green pastures or will we be lambs led to the slaughter?

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.