You Have the Perfect Pastor (A sermon based on John 10:11-18)

You Have the Perfect Pastor
A sermon based on John 10:11-18
Sunday, May 3, 2009 - Easter 4B
(Good Shepherd Sunday)

    The results of a computerized survey indicate the following: the perfect minister preaches exactly fifteen minutes. He condemns sins but never upsets anyone. He works from 8:00 AM until midnight and is also a janitor. He makes $50 a week, wears good clothes, buys good books, drives a good car, and gives about $50 weekly to the poor. He is 28 years old and has preached 30 years. He has a burning desire to work with teenagers and spends all of his time with senior citizens. The perfect minister smiles all the time with a straight face because he has a sense of humor that keeps him seriously dedicated to his work. He makes 15 calls daily on congregation families, shut-ins and the hospitalized, and is always in his office when needed.
    How blessed you all are that you don't have to worry about all that, because you already have the perfect pastor. (Pause to pose for photos.) Okay, okay, I don't really mean me. I know this may come as a shock to some of you, but I'm not really perfect. ... Okay, maybe it wasn't that much of a shock. But do you know what the word pastor literally means? It means shepherd. Today is that Sunday in the church year that we celebrate Good Shepherd Sunday. And you really do have the perfect pastor--the perfect shepherd.
    As the members of Tree of Life met last week to try to determine  what kind of qualities they should seek in their next pastor, the congregational president commented that with all the things the members wanted from the next guy, "It looks like we're going to have to call Jesus as our next pastor." Of course, he meant it in jest. But the truth is, you already have Jesus as your pastor, the Good Shepherd. Listen now to Jesus' description of his work of shepherd (or pastor) for you... Our lesson is from John 10:11-18, where Jesus says:

¹¹ "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. ¹³ The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. ¹⁴ "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. ¹⁷ The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."

I. He Knows My Need

    Sometimes Pastors don't know what's going on. It's sad, but true, that sometimes I don't have a clue what's going on in your life. Maybe it's because you don't want to tell me because you think it's not that important or because you're embarassed. More often it's probably because I don't ask as often as I should. You and I both know that I'm not the perfect pastor. I don't always know what you need or how to meet those needs. But you can thank God that you do have the perfect pastor in Jesus, who says, "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep...  just as the Father knows me and I know the Father…" If I say, "Do you know President Obama?," you might respond, "I know who he is, but I don't really know him." But Jesus really knows you, intimately—as well as God the Father knows Jesus and Jesus knows God the Father.

    Hmmm... You know, I don't know that I want to be known that well. When you consider that "we all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way…" (Isaiah 53:6) the fact that Jesus is the perfect pastor that knows everything about us is kind of scary--especially when we try to hide some sin from him. You can hide it from me. You can hide it from your friends and family. And you can even hide it from yourself. But not from Jesus. Whatever we think, say, and do, Jesus knows. He doesn't just know who we are, but he really knows us. He knows everything about us. He knows how sinful and wicked we really are--better than we do. And he knows, even better than we do, how many times we've wander away from him, go astray and turn our own way.
    And you know what happens when a sheep wanders away from the Shepherd. "The wolf attacks..." and it doesn't stand a chance. It's devoured. God warns that "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8) And that's exactly what we deserve to have the wolf attack and that lion, the devil, to devour. We deserve to join him in his hell for rebelling against our perfect Pastor.
    But thank God we're not left to ourselves. When we wander away we have the perfect Shepherd who knows us so well. He knows that our greatest need is not more financial stability or job security. It's not perfect physical health or protection from cancer or swine flu. Our perfect Pastor knows that our greatest need is for a solution to our problem of sin and the hell it deserves, even if we're not aware of how serious that need is. And our perfect Pastor not only knows my need, but he also well provides me. He meets that need...

II. He Well Provides Me

    Again, you know that I'm not a perfect pastor. Even when I do know your needs, I have not always met them. Sometimes I've been unable. Sometimes my sinful nature gets the best of me and I'm unwilling. There are days that I don't feel like writing a sermon or making any more phone calls.And just because you're not called to be a public minister, doesn't mean you're off the hook.You too are called to be your brother's keeper, your sister's keeper--to be shepherds of one another to look out for each other. But sometimes you're far more concerned with your own needs instead of someone else's. And you and I both act like that hired hand of Jesus' parable... "The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep."

    We don't show love to others, but in cowardice we run the other way when helping someone or standing up for the truth might put us in harms way. "I don't want to defend a classmate who stands up for the truth of God's Word. I might get picked on!" "I don't want to point out to a co-worker that his religion is leading him to hell. He might not work too well with me after that—then think how hard my job would be!" "I don't want to invite my neighbor to church. I don't want to stick my nose where it doesn't belong… So instead I'll leave him to the wolves." And for abandoning others in need, we deserve to be abandoned. But thank God for our perfect Pastor--the Good Shepherd--Jesus, who not only knows how great our need is, but who also provides for that need.

    It's hard to miss the focus of these verses. Four times Jesus says it... "I lay down my life." Thank our Good Shepherd Jesus that there was never a selfish bone in his body.  In fact, "he lays down his life for his sheep."  Now, where the NIV says "for" the sheep, the Greek is more clear. It says huper, "in the place of" the sheep. Jesus laid down his life as a substitute for us. But what makes that so special is that he's the "Good" Shepherd. Again, the Greek is more clear. We use the word good as something that's okay. Like, "I got a 92 on my test! I did really good!"But in the Greek, the word that's translated here as "good" means "excellent, the very best, the real thing, the ideal, the model." By God's holy standards, only Jesus can rightly be called good—for only he met God's demand for total perfection. That's why he's the Good Shepherd. There is no other. And taking all of your sin on himself, he gave his perfection to you. God's wrath against sin is satisfied in Jesus. Your need for forgiveness has been met by your perfect Pastor.
    And finally, your perfect pastor continues to call you by name and to call others through you...

III. He Calls Me by My Name

    I admit it. I don't call you as often as I should. That's one of the reasons for my long-overdue attempt to visit with every member this month. It's been said that a home-visiting pastor makes a church-going people. But I struggle with my schedule. And I sometimes struggle to find a balance between in-reach--nurture of the sheep already in the fold, the members entrusted to my care--and outreach--to sharing the gospel with those who aren't yet a part of our family at Gethsemane. There are only so many hours in a day, so many days in a week and only so much of me.
    But that's not how it is with our perfect pastor--Jesus. There's not only so much of him. He has time for both in-reach and outreach. And he does both perfectly. He calls us who are already in the flock by name. Through the Word, through the Sacraments, he calls to you, "Stan, Carol, Barbara, Mark," (and insert your own name here) "You are forgiven," he says to you, "You are my own--my sheep."
    You know it's not always a compliment to be called a sheep. After "mutton" and "cud-chewing mammal" the third definition in the dictionary is "a person who is timid, unimaginative, or stupid." Maybe that's why you never hear a professional sports team called the sheep. But what a priviledge it is to have the Good Shepherd, the perfect pastor, call us by name! The Psalmist writes in Psalm 100 (v.3), "Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his we are his people, the sheep of his pasture." To be called a sheep—his sheep—is not an insult, but the most comforting truth there is. We are on his team! Go, Sheep!
    But we're not the only ones. Jesus said, "I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice..." There are still others to be gathered into the flock. And Jesus calls to them too. And he calls them through us. So share the Good Shepherd! Unlike your earthly pastor, where the more members there are the less personal attention you might get, there's never a shortage of the Perfect Pastor. He can and does care for us all at once without ever growing tired.
    So don't run the other way, even if you are threatened socially, financially, or even physically. But show others the same loving concern that your Good Shepherd has shown to you in making you his little lamb—for your shepherd--your Perfect Pastor--gently guides you, he knows your needs and well provides you, he loves you every day the same and even calls you by your name. Amen, dear sheep! Amen!

 

Prayer:  Jesus, You are our Good Shepherd, our Perfect Pastor who knows us so well. You know our sin and all our guilt, yet you willingly laid down your life in our place. You have called us to be sheep in your flock by faith. Continue to lead us through your Word that I may come to know you better and be with us as we call others to you that they might be your sheep. Amen.