John 10 22-30 2004

Easter 4 / Confirmation

May 2, 2004

John 10:22-30

“Needle and Thread”

ESV John 10:27 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.”

Introduction: One evening at a mission station in the Belgian Congo a recent convert to the Christian faith prayed, “Lord Jesus, Thou art the needle, and I am the wool (cotton).” To the missionary this seemed strange language, and so he asked the man what he meant by His unusual words. It turned out that the new Christian had visited the mission school that day and watched the girls sewing. What interested him the most was that the thread always followed the needle. In the same way, he wanted to follow Jesus wherever He led. When Jesus calls us to follow Him, He wants to have us so close to Him at all times, so completely yielded to Him, that we follow Him directly and dependently, as the thread follows the needle. (Enc. Sermon Illus.)

How appropriate that on this day of confirmation we should also celebrate Christ the Good Shepherd Sunday. Surely these young adults have heard the call of their Good Shepherd and just as thread follows the needle they are following their Shepherd  Jesus.

            Our Lord said, “My Sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me.” Most of us heard our shepherd’s voice when our parents and sponsors brought us to be baptized. In baptism we heard our savior’s voice proclaim that we e God’s dear children. In baptism He marked us as His very own and promised to always be with us, to guard and protect us, and to lead us home to our Heavenly Father. This is what a shepherd does.           

There Is No Shepherd Like Jesus

I. Because He Laid Down His Life for the Sheep

            A. By laying His life down He made it possible for us to be His sheep.  By dying He gathered us together as His flock. Where is the gathering point? It is His cross. When Jesus died on the cross He purchased us as His flock.  Saint Luther, in His explanation to the second article of the Apostles creed speaks:  I believe that Jesus Christ, is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature (sheep), delivered me and freed me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with silver and gold but with his holy and precious blood and with his innocent sufferings and death, in order that I may be his, live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, even as he is risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  Without our Good Shepherds death there could be no sheep, no sheep fold, no flock.

            B. Jesus didn’t just die for His sheep, for us. As such He would have protected His flock and defended His sheep only once, but what good would that do his sheep?  The sheep would no longer have a shepherd to guard and watch over them.  They would be prey to the wolf and a multitude of other dangers could befall them.  Jesus did a far greater thing than just giving up His life.

            C. Jesus our Good Shepherd did not just die for the sheep, for us.  He laid His life down willingly.  Nor did He leave us alone.  He picked up His life in His glorious resurrection.  As the living Shepherd He preserves and protects His flock.  In His death and in His resurrection He stands alone as Shepherd.  Who else can compare to Him?   

            B. Our Shepherd knows us and we know Him.  He sought each one of us out.  He found us in the craggy cliffs of sin and at the very precipice of death.  He bound and healed broken limbs and bloodied wounds.  He picked us up in His arms and took us safely home. As Isaiah wrote, “He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. (Is. 40:11).  Our Shepherd calls us by name.  Just like He called Lazarus and Mary and Paul He calls us by name at our baptisms, claiming us as His sheep. 

II. The Sheep Respond to the Voice of Their Shepherd

            A. They not only hear but they follow, like thread follows a needle. That is what is happening to day as our young people, having been instructed in the Christian faith, confess their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior and pledge to follow him by becoming faithful members of His Church. Thereby they pledge to faithfully come to church and receive the Lord’s supper. They pledge to become part of a community of people responsible for each other, to remember the people of this congregation in their prayers. They pledge to serve this congregation by participating in its ministries and serving it with their time, talent and money and in whatever ways they can. Together we will work, knowing that the Lord is using us to accomplish His purpose on earth. Just as thread following the needle has the purpose of making clothe and clothes we do have a reason for being here. Together we confess our faith and proclaim the good news of God’s love and forgiveness given only in Jesus Christ.

            C. We have been given a tremendous gift.  We have been given faith in Jesus Christ through which we receive the blessings of God. Jesus said, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish.” These are given to those who believe that Jesus died on the cross for the so that they would be forgiven of all their sins. This is a precious gift. Those things that we consider precious we cherish and protect. The way that we protect our faith is by attending church, hearing God’s Word and receiving His sacrament. There is the temptation, after confirmation, to become slack in church attendance. For this reason I encourage the parents of our confirmands to continue bringing their young adults to church, even when they don’t want to come, and there will be times when they wont want to come. Just as parents continue to make decisions for their children until they are eighteen, church attendance is a decision that parents should make for their children. After all the knowledge of our Salvation is more than we can learn in a couple short years. It takes a life time and even eternity itself. And children, obey your parents.

Conclusion. Our faithfulness always comes in second to what our faithful Lord does. Our promises and pledges are fickle and inconsistent. But our Lord’s promises to us are reliable and unfailing. The Lord gives us a most wonderful promise. He said, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.” Our good shepherd is watching over you, walking with you. He has promised to always be faithful to you. His faithfulness does not depend what you do or how you do it. Though we will fail Him, He stands besides us, picking us up when we fall and offering us forgiveness. He is with you every day of your lives, through good times and bad times, when you feel holy and when you feel like you deserve the flames of hell. He will always be with you. He gave His life for you and now lives for you. For this reason remember how special you are and how much God loves and cares for you. There is only one Shepherd.  Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd. He is your shepherd. He will lead you through life. Follow Him, follow Him every day, like thread follows a needle.