The Shepherd of our Hearts

My wife and I knew this story. Before I came to Christ our family was wrecked. Broken. Hurting. And hopeless…but only for me. You see, even in the midst of suffering my wife had hope. Because she knew who Christ was.

We shared this with this family. The hope of Christ. How he had transformed our lives. Our marriage. Our family. Our purpose.

That day they were struggling to understand this. You could see the pain in their eyes. The suffering. I was considering packing up and leaving. Thanking them for their time. And then a great rain came.

It rained with epic proportions. The street began flash flooding. It was biblical in some sense. And. It gave us extra time with them.

In that extra hour we spent with them we got to know them on a deeper level. Got to know their hurts. Got to know their objections to Christ. And we got to share the Good News with them. That even in spite of their marriage. Even in spite of their pain. Even in spite of their suffering. Christ had already died for their sins. And he wanted them to have rest and life in His comforting arms. He wanted them to come home.

That day they accepted Christ as their good shepherd. As the one who could call their hearts. Guide their hearts. Lead their hearts. That day they surrendered their lives to his leadership because he is the one who sacrificed all so that in death, we could have life.

Will you pray with me: I will pray over our time.

Today we have some tough verses to tackle. Some sobering words that I believe will speak to the believer, the skeptic, the seeker and everyone in between.

Today Jesus is going to present himself the THE shepherd. As the one who wants you to submit to his authority and come under his reign and rule.

In today’s world that word, submit, is not popular.

We live in a generation that says “no one can define what is right and wrong for me - only I can.” And so we have a generation of people missing from this world because abortion is illegal. We have men dressing as women because the world says that no one can tell them who they are, even though their creator physically decided who they were at birth. And we even have the church redefining the word of God to make it move convenient for the world to consume so that they, the church, can avoid the judgement here on earth that Jesus said would become of his believers.

But today I am going to make the case to you that in death to yourself you can find true life and fulfilment in Christ. That in submission to His word and authority you can find the peace that this world tries to peddle to you through sports, entertainment, sexuality, food, seeking of wealth, lack of accountability and the list goes on. ..but I promised Israel to keep this sermon to 35 min so I will stop our list there ;)

Will you stand with me as we read from God’s word - read

So what is going on with this story?

Jesus represents himself as the shepherd. But to fully grasp what is being said here, we must understand what shepherds are. Anyone in here a shepherd or know a shepherd?

A shepherds job was dangerous. He was to care for the flock of sheep. There were predators that would come and try to snatch the sheep. He might have to kill off a wolf or even fight a bear, to the death. To protect the flock.

Depending on his situation he may or may not have owned the flock. Many shepherds were hired help. And in the face of danger and losing their own life, they would run, for they figured it better to live than to die for a mere sheep.

So when Jesus is preaching this and saying he would lay down his life for his sheep, this means something. Shepherds would not die for their sheep. The thought being if they lost a few sheep better that than their own life. But here Jesus, speaking to a jewish culture that valued and understood the role of a shepherd is saying that if he were the shepherd of the sheep he would lay down his life, willingly.

Sheep are dumb. I am not sure how many of you have experience with sheep. But they simply are not the smartest animal in the barn. I find it interesting that the bible would juxtapose sheep in place of us. Because I honestly think in all our perceived wisdom (we act so smart) we are actually quite dumb. We make things harder than they need to be.

Jesus is saying here that he knows the sheep, because they are his. He knows what they need. Knows who they are. Knows how to care for them. And because he made them (he is the creator, God in the flesh) he is willing to die for them. He is willing to sacrifice his life so they could have life through his death. He is willing to protect his flock. But they must know his voice.

But how then do we know the voice of God. How do we know Christ. How do we know the Good Shepherd?

First we must recognize that He is God, and we are not. We must come to a place that we recognize He is in control and we are not. We must recognize that He reigns supreme and should we be willing to surrender he will graciously allow us to live in His kingdom and under his rule. He is a merciful King.

It is not enough to say we are “good people” for the bible teaches in “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” This is core to our understanding. We must first come to recognize that no amount of good we ever do in this life will cancel out our sins. If we cannot recognize and fully accept this then we cannot move forward in our relationship with the Good Shepherd. For us to be able to hear his voice and follow his lead, we must first surrender our perception that we are good.

Story in Cuba of lady who had never sinned. Until I asked her if she had ever spanked her kid too hard. Even those that think they are good, recognize they are not.

Once we come to this realization of the depravity of our sin, we can begin to look for a solution. If we have all fallen short of the glory of God then according to the bible we all deserve certain death. Hell. Eternal separation from God. For since God is perfect in all ways, sinless, he cannot co-exist with the sinful. Our wayward hearts lead us away from the loving kindness of God. And just like a wandering sheep, our hearts so often wander to the temptations and pleasures of this world.

In comes the Good Shepherd. Thankfully we have a Good Shepherd, God’s own son, who came down from earth to live amongst us. Gave up his place at the throne to live amongst us. Eat like us. Drink like us. Sleep like us. Walk like us. Talk like us. Human in all ways and yet God in all ways. The bible says he was without sin. Lived a perfect life in every way so that in the end, just as the Good Shepherd should do, he would lay down his life for his flock.

You see God wants us to have a deep intimacy with Him. In sending His son, he sent the one He so loved the most. And in sending His son, he not only revealed His sons heart (who was willing to die for us) but He also revealed His own heart (allowing His son to die for us). He willingly allowed His son to lay down His life so that we might have life. Eternal. With Him. That my friends is crazy love.

And we can have this. If we are willing to surrender to Christ. Lay down at his feet. Look up to his son and be willing to call him Lord. Lord of our lives. Lord of our hearts. Lord of our decisions. Lord over all.

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

But friends it is not enough to just say a prayer. It is not a prayer of the mind and mouth. It is a prayer of the heart. You have to believe this. You have to believe Jesus died for your sins. You have to believe that He is God and you are not. You have to believe that you are desperately in need of a savior not just for today when things are tough, but for tomorrow when things are looking up. You have to believe that you need this shepherd to direct you life, guide your life and give you the direction to live out your remaining days the way that He would want. Not the ways that you would want.

And if you are ultimately willing to give your life to him, in devotion and as an offering, then in return He is willing to welcome you to the table. You see that is the great mystery of the universe, this amazing grace that makes no sense on a human level and yet has the power to change humanity for all time because God himself in the flesh, Jesus Christ chose to lay down his life for his sheep

On my last trip to Cuba I had the chance to see two things that deeply impacted my relationship with my Lord, Jesus Christ.

1. I had a chance to spend time with Malades, that lady I was telling you about from earlier on one of my previous trips to Cuba. My translator Lazaro and I stopped by her house unannounced to check in on her and her husband. Given the nature of their home the last time we were there, I was not certain what we would find. You see as I stated earlier for us to be shepherded by Christ it is not enough to say a prayer, we then need to devote our life to the pursuit of a relationship with Him through prayer, reading the word, fellowshipping with other disciples, etc. etc. So in truth as we walked up to her home, my hopes and expectations were unsettled and uncertain for what we would find.

Share with them the new life you saw in her, how she and her family were running with Christ and how you got to baptize her in the river the next day.

2. Deeply encouraged by this experience (seeing the fruit of our Lord and what He could do in just six, short months) I began to make my way on foot some six miles back to the church we were partnering with. As we were walking I noticed a giant herd of sheep. They were unattended and standing on the side of a busy dirt road, one in which heavy multi-ton trucks would go back and forth all day long. I remember thinking to myself “I wonder whose these sheep belong to” and as that thought passed my mind, a man some quarter mile down the road led out a loud yell and whistle. Instinctively all of the sheep knew this mans voice and whistle and upon his calling they all in sync ran down the road to him. You see, they knew the love of this shepherd. They knew the protection of this shepherd. They knew the covering of this shepherd. And they knew the voice of this shepherd. They knew that when he called they should listen. And so when he called, they ran to his loving, protecting arms. Ready to be taken back in by him.

That is how our God works. He restores lives. He restores homes. He restores hearts. He calls us when we stand on the side of a busy road and we need his protection and covering for He alone is our shepherd - the one who created us - the one who died for us - the one who knows us best.

Two closing messages:

- For the believers in this room, the challenge to you is this - do you know the voice of your shepherd? Do you know how to hear him when he calls you back home. Do you feel his presence in your life? Do you make the time to get to know him on a deeper and more personal level? If you answered yes, then I commend you for this means you are seeking to grow in your love and understanding of Him as our redeemer, our shepherd. Our Father. But if you are in a season where you often say to yourself “I am not sure God even talks to me anymore - cares for me anymore - listens to my prayers anymore - has the patience for me anymore - etc etc” then my challenge back to you is what are you doing to know his voice better. What do your rhythms look like on a weekly basis. Do you wait until Sunday to hear the word. Are you a doer of the word. Do you have sin that needs to be confessed to a brother or sister. Do you spend more than 5 minutes a day talking to him. To be able to hear his voice clearly we need to spend time getting to know that and for me the only I get to hear his voice more clearly is to spend time digging into the word getting lost in it, getting on my knees more than when I just need something and making sure I am telling others about Him because then it reminds me how much I need his mercy and forgiveness every day. Just like those sheep who trained their ears to hear their shepherd from 1/4 mile away - we must train our ears to hear our shepherd and that come through devotion to him through his word, prayer, fellowship, evangelism, confession, etc etc.

- For those of you in this room today who might not be believers in Christ, or are seeking a relationship with God this story today has a message for you as well. You see it ends with this argument amongst those he was telling the story to. Some thought he was insane, a demon. Others thought that he was surely not insane based on all the good works he was doing. You see there confusion was rooted in the fact that this man, Jesus, was claiming to be God’s son. God in the flesh. One in the same. And so they had to wrestle out the same question that you must wrestle out - who is Jesus Christ. Is He Lord or Lunactic? Is He God in the flesh as he said he was, or just some crazy person who was trying to start a religion? Is He someone we can trust as God and an authority over our life or just some good Jewish teacher.

- Jesus answered this question. In he says I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” He says he is God’s son. If you know Him you know God. And if you received Him you can come into the presence of the living God, the creator of the heaven and earth. But first to do so we must believe.

We must believe that Jesus Christ came to live amongst us. To teach us about the ways of heaven here on earth. To qualify and help us understand that the depravity of our sin had separated us from God. That our imperfection kept us from His glory and from being able to eternally rest in His presence. But that by Him being the Christ, the son of God, being willing to go to the cross for our sins, He could pay our price in advance so that the penalty of our sins would already be covered.

says “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11” we first have to believe in our heart that Christ died for our sins, and then confess with our mouth that we need him to rule and reign over our life. To protect us as our shepherd. To help to lead us away from our old lives. To help guide us towards our eternal resting place, heaven, for those of us who call upon Christ as our Lord and Savior.

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11

Will you bow your heads with me in prayer.

Pray for believers - deeper walk with their shepherd

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

Call to non-believers to receive salvation

I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

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