Happiness, Blessings and Faith
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All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit. Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble. Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished. By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil.
Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud. Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord. The wise of heart is called discerning, and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness. Good sense is a fountain of life to him who has it, but the instruction of fools is folly. The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious and adds persuasiveness to his lips.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
Happiness, Blessing and Faith
Happiness, Blessing and Faith
Invite congregation to pray.
While growing up I had a friend named Kenny Kuhlmeier. Kenny had a grandfather that lived somewhere on a big farm. Every year he would come back with these crazy stories of what he’d experienced while staying at his grandfathers.
Some of his favorite stories he told were about the sheep on the farm. Not only would they get themselves into odd predicaments getting stuck somewhere that no one could figure out how they got there, but also their behavior seemed to defy any thinking capacity what so ever.
From Kenny I learned that sheep are curious, they won’t drink from moving water, and when in doubt they will absolutely follow the crowd.
Kenny shared about counting the sheep one day at his grandpa’s farm. They funneled all the sheep through a long shoot so they could see each one and only have one at a time pass by. His grandfathers said, “Watch,” as he stuck a stick blocking the lower part of the shoot. Immediately the next sheep stopped, stared at the stick and after some thought jumped over it.
The next sheep hesitated briefly and jumped over the stick. After that there was no hesitation all the sheep began jumping over the stick following the sheep in front of them.
“What?” Kenny asked his grandpa. Then his grandpa removed the stick. Grandpa had a lot of sheep. There was no longer any reason to jump. Yet as the rest of the flock passed by that spot every one of them jumped over that very spot because that’s what the sheep in front of them had done.
I used to refer to sheep as dumb. I was challenged in my thinking by a woman who raised sheep. She saw it as a form of self preservation. Regardless what I do know is that the Bible refers to us often as sheep - and their behavior does not always seem the brightest. As I study the wisdom of Scripture I don’t think the referring to us as sheep is meant to be a compliment but one of assurance.
We’re told things like, Is 53:6
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
This of course is a prophecy of Christ and what Jesus would do. All of our iniquity has been laid upon him. We read in the Psalms “The Lord is my shepherd, “ which we read this morning, and then we read things like this from Psalm 95
Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today, if you hear his voice,
God assures us over and over again that he is in control. As long as we are in his fold we do not have to be concerned. God is with us…yet are we trusting in our own wisdom, or the wisdom of God?
Our proverb passage this morning reminds us that when we’re focused on doing things OUR way that it leads to destruction. v. 18 - Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.
v. 25 - “There is a way that seems right to a man but its end is the way to death.
What does it mean to be “the sheep of his hand” or “in his fold”?
To understand this, we need to understand the way shepherds worked in ancient times. The Sheepfold was commonly a courtyard near of beside a house and bordered by a stone wall in which one or more families would keep their sheep.
It would have high walls, perhaps these walls would even be topped with thorns to prevent thieves or wild animals from getting into the fold. There was often an area that was covered and also area that was not covered providing both a safe warm place in the sun on cold days and a dry place on rainy days.
The sheepfold prevented sheep from wandering off and predators from getting in. Often there was not a gate, but the shepherd or a hired person would literally lie in the opening - Thus Jesus says I am the door.
As we read our parable Jesus says in Jn 10:1
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.
This is reminiscent of John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
He mentions that his sheep hear his voice and they recognize it.
To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
How do they know their shepherds voice? Because they’ve spent time with the shepherd. They know him.
My friend Kenny shared about all the weird places that the little lambs would end up, they are curious creatures, and they didn’t know their shepherd the way the older sheep did. They would hear his grandpa coming and run towards him. The little lambs wouldn’t - but if they were paying attention they’d follow the crowd.
I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
There is a promise that is not shared very often from this parable, and that is in verse 16,
And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
Other sheep - there are still sheep that have not been made a part of the fold.
Jesus says, I must bring them also.
They will listen to my voice.
I want to speak here to the idea of sharing our faith. I hear people say they don’t want to do it. I’ve never understood that. We will share the best cookie recipes or the fact that we found the best place to get a good deal on some good or service that will perish with this world, but we don’t want to share something that is the best and eternal?
It would seem that we’ve taken our eyes off the ball.
When we share what God is doing in us, in a real way we are sharing the Good News of our lives, the Good News of the Gospel!
How have you prayed? What answers have you received?
How have you humbled yourself before God and chosen to follow God’s way instead of your own? How has that worked for you?