I know my Good Shepherd whose work put me in his hand!

“I can do it, mom.” As we grow up, we want to do more things on our own from tying our shoes and pouring a glass of milk to driving to school to interacting with our spouse and raising children. God gave us moms and moms are good. We need a mother for the wellbeing of our mind, body and soul. Plus, without a mom, none of us would be here. Yet, we take for granted all mom has done for us and ignore the care she can continue to provide us by wanting to do things without her. You can recognize a mom by what she does. Even if your mom only gave birth to you, that is still an incredible gift because without it, you would not be here.

A sheep without a shepherd will not last long. A sheep with a shepherd is its own worst enemy. The shepherd protects the sheep, even disciplines them, but a stubborn sheep might eventually get its way and be all alone. A lone sheep may have learned where the green pastures and cool waters run, and to avoid the rocky crags and places where the lions, wolves and bears roam, but the sheep cannot control all the threats waiting to take its life. For example, wolves do not see an ill or injured sheep and think, “Aw poor little sheep, let’s leave the sheep alone until it feels better. Then, we will attack when it is stronger.” No, wolves wait for the vulnerable, broken, lonely sheep to surprise and overtake it. Wolves see a sheep and think dinner.

The enemies of sheep are ruthless, cunning and quick. And now I am talking about us against sin, death and the devil. These enemies do not wait for us on a warm Spring Day when we are feeling good. These enemies do not send us a notification on our phone so that we are ready for the attack. Instead, these enemies are insatiable and empty eager to devour us. Yet even with the warnings, these enemies overwhelm us as we hear about in our Gospel reading from John 10. John set the scene that it was the Feast of Dedication, or Hanukkah, a national holiday celebrating the purification of the temple by Judas Maccabaeus in December of 165 B.C. It was almost the 200^th anniversary of this event when Jesus was at the Temple walking through Solomon’s Colonnade, and we read in John 10,

24 The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep.”

The Jews who were questioning Jesus had all the information about the Messiah along with plenty of warnings about sin, death, the devil and turning away from God from the Old Testament. Plus, they had seen the works of Jesus. But they were stubborn sheep, who refused to listen to the shepherd; stubborn sheep who were shepherding themselves.

We self-shepherd too. It happens to me when I have in mind so many words, phrases, verses and truths from our Good Shepherd, Jesus. And all of those make me eager to carry out the mission of the church, be a Christian spouse and father, stick to a healthcare routine and be involved in our community. The pasture is so large and there are so many places and people, but I am still a sheep. You also are a sheep who like me knows words, phrases, verse and truths from our Good Shepherd Jesus, and you are living the Christian sheep life. But then, we get too far away from our Good Shepherd, and we keep going rather than turn back to him. As we roam, our sinful nature, the devil and the feral sheep pull us down dark paths. We can become Christians who wear long wool coats, but underneath where the heart is the love for the Good Shepherd has gone away. It is not enough to know where to find good pasture and cool water, and how to avoid the cliffs and lairs of bears, wolves and lions. We will always be sheep. We always need our Good Shepherd. Alone, the enemy eats us alive until we are cut off from the prospect of heaven and caged in the dungeon of hell.

You can recognize a mom by what she does, and the same goes for recognizing the Messiah. We might get the impression that mom’s worry too much as they paint horrific scenes of our futures taking a dark path because we did not brush our teeth, mind our manners and go to church. Our enemy would have us believe the same about Jesus, but what he says is true. Jesus took his role as the Good Shepherd seriously to save you from death and hell. When he was questioned about his identity in Solomon’s Colonnade, we read in John 10,

25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father’s name testify about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

Jesus’ response was a matter of life and death, and of eternal futures and enemies prowling around ready to rip precious souls out of his hand. Jesus did all the Old Testament prophets recorded the Messiah would do. Those prophecies and their fulfillment in Jesus are the voice of God calling to you and keeping you in his hand. In our reading today from Acts 13, Paul shepherded the early Christians by leading them to the green pastures of prophecy to keep them strong in their faith in Jesus’ work for them as the sacrificial Lamb and resurrected Lord who saved them,

32 “We tell you the good news: What God promised our ancestors 33 he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: “‘You are my son; today I have become your father.’ 34 God raised him from the dead so that he will never be subject to decay. As God has said, “‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’ 35 So it is also stated elsewhere: “‘You will not let your holy one see decay.’ 36 “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. 37 But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.

Paul connects the Old Testament with Jesus’ resurrection that proved him as the Son of God, the King of Israel, the Holy One who lives forever. And Paul drives home the truth that we cannot shepherd ourselves to heaven by our works. Instead, we have forgiveness, freedom from sin and eternal life in heaven through Jesus, as we read in Acts 13,

38 “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 39 Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses.

God gave us into the hand of our Good Shepherd. You are his sheep and heaven’s green pastures are your future.

Know your Good Shepherd’s work. Know what the Bible says about the work Jesus did to save you. Do not listen to another shepherd’s voice, even if it is your own. Jesus has saved you and he is now your shepherd through life. He guides you to know how to handle what you watch and listen to, who to surround yourself with for their good influence and who needs you to go to them with the healing words of Jesus, how to care for your physical body honoring it as a gift from God and how to steward your time, money, possessions, etc. to give glory to God and help others. We are sheep, and we will always need our Good Shepherd. God did not create us to be independent, but to depend on him and belong to a community with other sheep who rely on the Shepherd and point us to the Shepherd. Shepherded by Jesus through this life, we will go to the eternal green pastures of heaven to join the forever flock as revealed to John in our New Testament reading from Revelation 7, with quotes from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah,

14 … “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16 ‘Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them,’ nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’ ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

Relief waits for us in heaven. It is our true home. And this description of heaven does make me think of what moms do for us like feed us, give us drink, cover us with sunscreen, dry our tears and tell us about Jesus. This is not to say moms are not able to go and do other work besides caring for children. It is to say that God the Father and Jesus do this work, so it is very good work. So, we thank God for our mothers and for mothers who share Jesus with their children. All of you, do all you can so that the moms in your life are sheep of the Good Shepherd as they carry out their good, God given calling.

“I can do it, mom.” As we grow up, we want to do more things on our own, but we still need our mom. God gave us moms for the wellbeing of our mind, body and soul. Plus, without a mom, none of us would be here. You can recognize a mom by what she does, and the same goes for recognizing the Messiah. Jesus did all the Old Testament prophets recorded the Messiah would do to save us, but our sinful nature rebels against these truths saying, “I can do it, Good Shepherd.” Only our Good Shepherd has done the work to save us, and by listening to his voice, you know your Good Shepherd whose work put you in his hand. Amen.