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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
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
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
This is reminiscent of John 14:6
He mentions that his sheep hear his voice and they recognize it.
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.
There is a promise that is not shared very often from this parable, and that is in verse 16,
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?
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