Who are you listening to?
Notes
Transcript
Disclaimer - pretty awful joke in many respects - but I think it dramatically makes the point
Two hunters head out with rifles for a day of shooting. Hunter 1 collapses and Hunter 2 calls 999 as he just doesn’t know what to do...
When his call was put through he explained that he was concerned his friend had died.
The 999 call handler assures Hunter 2 she is here to help, to stay calm and that she will talk him through it.
“The first thing we need to do is make sure he is actually dead”, she said calmly.
Hunter 2 put down the phone and after a few seconds the call handler hears a loud gun shot in the background.
Hunter 2 returns to the phone and says - “OK, now what should I do?”
When you find yourself in a crisis - it’s one thing to know who to call - but its another to make sure you listen very carefully to what they are saying.
Last week, Sharley helped us explore our passage from Acts 3 under the title “It’s all about Jesus”.
Together, we looked at this Jesus that Peter preached about, focusing on his death and resurrection, about our need for repentence and faith as we hear the message of Good Friday and Easter once again.
As we arrive at Acts chapter 4 the unfolding events to the healing of the begger provide us with another example of Peter’s boldness. This time before the Sanhedrian.
We don’t know if Peter shared the exact same mesage in its entirety.
What we do know is that Peter, once again, draws attention to the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth (Acts 4:10), who they crucified.
10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.
How in fulfilment of Psalm 118: 22
22 The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone;
What they had sought to remove and destroy, God had designed all along to be the capstone, or cornerstone, upon which everything else was to be founded upon.
And in doing so, Peter attributes not only the healing of the Beggar outside the Beautiful Gate to Jesus, but also proclaims boldly and some would say courageously, that (Acts 4:12)
12 Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
Peter and John continue to stand in stark contrast to the Religious Leaders of their day, as they did when Jesus walked among them.
Without Jesus guiding and teaching them in person, what was it that would continue to form the basis of their convictions?
They certainly didn’t wake up one day and decide to just commit their life to annoying the establishment for the sake of scoring points.
What Truth would the Holy Spirit continue to lead them in?
Well, it seems clear from the accounts of preaching we read in Acts, that the Apostles centred their gospel on the person of Jesus and the central role he plays in God’s plans for His people of restoration and renewal.
But how important is that?
In one survey 65% of people from across churches in America showed evidence of adhering to contradictory religious beliefs. In addition to believing the message of the bible, they also believed in reincarnation, astrology, seances, ghosts, psychics and yoga as a religion.
Christianity has become a bit of a pick and mix affair. Ask 100 Christians to express their take on the key aspects of the Christian faith and you are likely to get an array of different priorities.
Does it really matter? I mean - I just need to believe in God, right?
Well, faith is certainly central as we respond to God and step forward into relationship with Him.
It’s essential we recognise that we can bring nothing to the table in what is ultimately the initiative and work of God. We sing (when permitted) ‘Nothing in our hands we bring - simply to thy cross we cling” - in faith we trust what Christ has done.
And it has to be said that there are some aspects of Christianity that we can cling to with all our might, that actually when all is said and done aren’t at all central to what it is to be a disciple of Jesus.
But I think Peter and John would agree that we cannot compromise around the aspects of Christianity that centre on the person of Jesus.
It’s fairly safe to say that Peter and John were with the other disciples when Jesus healed the man born blind. We read that account in John chapter 9, just prior to the reading Heather led us with from Chapter 10.
Just by way of context, the issue here could be looked at from a number of angles - there is the issue of sin as the cause of the man’s blindness and whether his parents sin was to blame.
Then there is a huge furore as the Pharisees learn about what has happened.
The man born blind is given his sight by Jesus and then interrogated by the Pharisees. All sorts of arguments are had about where Jesus came from, whether he was a man of God, the fact the man was cured on the Sabbath.
There’s pride, anger, arrogance, disbelief - its all there - quite a dramatic portion of scripture - do go back and read it.
Needless to say, Jesus hears that ultimately the man He has cured is thrown out from the Pharisee’s midst and Jesus encounters him again.
After we are confronted with the Pharisees expelling a member of God’s flock, I don’t think it is an accident that Jesus counters the event with a discussion around His role in gathering God’s flock.
There’s a conversation about belief in the Son of Man, to which Jesus identifies himself. Notice the man born blind exercises faith ‘after’ he is healed...
And then there’s a little parting shot from Jesus in response to the Pharisee’s baiting, before we come to the focus of our gospel reading.
And here’s the point - we often read this passage around false shepherds versus the true Shepherd, or Good Shepherd - Jesus.
Of course, that very real and present issue has most likely prompted Jesus to share this particular teaching. But there’s more going on here.
So here’s a question for us in this Post Easter season, where are we in this account of the Good Shepherd and His sheep?
What does it say to us about our Christian walk, about who we listen to and upon whom our convictions rest?
Here are just a few points that I gleaned as I read the passage:
1. Jesus is the gate.
There’s no mistaking that Jesus wants those listening to him to see the role he plays in this illustration.
Yes, He appoints under shepherds or watchmen to guard the gate, but ultimately He is the gate - and to get into the sheep fold you have to go through Him.
Anyone trying to enter the sheep fold to get access to the sheep, by-passing Jesus - are compared to thieves and robbers (John 10:1). Likely, because they want the benefits of being in the fold and within the safety of the sheep pen, without acknowledging Jesus.
1 “I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber.
Rightly, as Jesus has suggested on more than one occasion, Peter can testify that Jesus is the only name through which we can be saved; that Salvation is found in no one else.
1. Jesus is the gate.
2. The sheep and Shepherd share relationship.
3 The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
1. Jesus is the gate.
2. The sheep and Shepherd share relationship.
3. The sheep can discern the Good Shepherd’s voice, from imposters.
5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognise a stranger’s voice.”
There is an acknowledgement here that discernment is required in recognising the voice of the Good Shepherd, amongst all the other voices and to follow Him alone.
1. Jesus is the gate.
2. The sheep and Shepherd share relationship.
3. The sheep can discern the Good Shepherd’s voice, from imposters.
4. As the sheep follow the Good Shepherd they find pasture and life.
9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture.
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Only in following the Good Shepherd, can we experience life as it was designed to be lived, now and into eternity.
5. The Good Shepherd’s ultimate role is to lay down His life for the sheep.
15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.
Just a couple of things before we consider how we might come back to our questions posed at the beginning.
When we hear Jesus refer to himself as Good, He isn’t trying to compare himself in the sense of Good versus Bad - like Good cop, Bad cop.
When Jesus calls himself Good, John uses the Greek word kalos which means ‘...that which is beautiful, noble, honourable and worthy of praise’.
It is His death that draws people to Himself,.
His is no martyr’s death - or an example to us about true sacrifice.
It’s an intentional action on the basis of His intimacy with those who are under His care; those who are members of His flock.
An intimacy grounded in the very intimacy that is expressed between Father and Son.
And notice how knowledge intrinsically linked to relationship and sacrificial service: John 10:14-15
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.
The word for here is more literally ‘instead of’. His life instead of ours.
And let’s not think verse John 10:17 suggests that the Father’s love for the Son is conditional.
17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again.
A Father who loves unconditionally a disobedient world could not base His love for the Son on conditions, rather the Father’s love is...
John The Good Shepherd Lays Down His Life for His Sheep (10:11–18)
“eternally linked with and mutually dependent upon the Son’s complete alignment with the Father’s will and his obedience even unto death”
So to finish with those questions
If you have forgotten them here they are again...
Where are we in this account of the Good Shepherd and His sheep?
What does it say to us about our Christian walk, about who we listen to and upon whom our convictions rest?
We live in a world of marketing strategies that offer much, but delivers very little. Offering life but only kill and destroy.
I attended a study workshop last week and as we talked about the images of leadership projected versus the reality of leadership someone mentioned the Malborough man ads. Do you remember them - they were internationally known for promoting cigarettes.
Come to Malborough country and live life to the full. You too can be a cowboy with a square jaw, smoking in a series of locations, waterfalls, sea, sky, beauty and romance admist the rugged outdoor life of horses.
Of course, Malborough man prior to dying of lung cancer due to smoking from an early age, sued Phillip Morris the makers of Malborough cigarettes.
Alcohol is one of the most heavily marketed products in the world.
In 2009 the abundance of alcohol advertising in Australian culture contributed to around 6,000 deaths and 144,000 hospitalisations every year.
Alcohol sponsorship of sport impacts players and spectators. An Australian study of 164 children aged 5 to 12 years found that 76 per cent were able to correctly match at least one sport with its relevant sponsor.
Young people are exposed to an astonishing 51 million instances of alcohol advertising while watching televised AFL, cricket and NRL in any one given year. Like the cigarette advertising before it, alcohol promise life, but actually takes it.
Friends, as I have said many times - the church is never too far from the pervading culture in which we operate.
Sadly, even the very foundations of Christian belief and therefore faith are under attack from a form of Christianity that offers much - but at it’s core is something other than the gospel of the biblical Jesus Christ.
“Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjacks' wares. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices.
Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.
Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock.
Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: "ye were bought at a price," and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship
Some of us may still be trapped in a false view that Christianity is about keeping rules and being good. Don’t get me wrong - being good is a helpful thing for all those who come in contact with - it makes for much better relationships.
At the heart of Christianity is an intimate and genuine relationship with the Lord God, through faith in Jesus. Could you describe your relationship with God that way?
Because the breathtaking thing about Christianity is the truth that the Creator of the universe knows us personally and calls us by name. God offers his friendship to me, an insignificant sheep on a small planet in a single galaxay in a vast universe. That is life friends.
Someone once said to me that a good exercise to do every now and again is to try and imagine you were to swap places with God just for a moment - if you were God would you be happy with what you have going with each other?
Is ours a 999 relationship with God? Used for those emergency situations we often find ourselves in?
Or suppose today is Judgement Day and you are standing face to face with your Maker.
Will he say - how good it is to see you old friend? Or will he say good to see you, I don’t think we have had a chance to get to know each other before?
Friends, on what - or should I say, on whom do your convictions stand?
What is the foundation upon which you are building your life? Is it the only sure and certain cornerstone? And how will you know - do you recognise the Good Shepherd’s voice?
We often love the sound of The Lord is my Shepherd - but do we really understand the truth of it? I wonder if we would often prefer a consultant than a Shepherd?
The problem is that in prefering a consultant we have to understand that without listening and following the lead of the Good Shepherd; without allowing his own life given and taken back up again to provide the forgiveness we need, we will not have life.
Friends the Good Shepherd knows every aspect of our character and life - yet He still gave up his life that we might gain life. We can know the glorious release and freedom that comes from being known, led, forgiven and accepted by the Good Shepherd.
Who are you listening to? On whom do your convictions rest?
Can you truly say in teh fullness of what it means - The Lord is MY Shepherd? Do you know his voice? Do you recognise and follow His leadership? Have you received His forgiveness?
Maybe as you sit here today the answer may be NO, or I’m not sure...
Some of us may feel we know who the Good Shepherd is but we are really listening and following the Good Shepherd?
Today would be a great day to change that, which ever camp you may find yourself in.
3 things to pray:
Heavenly Father, I want to come into relationship, into friendship with you.
Lord Jesus, I want you to be my Shepherd, please lead me.
Lord Jesus, thank you for dying for me on the cross, please forgive me.
Let’s do that together and you may wish to echo these words and claim them for yourself as we go along:
Heavenly Father, I want to come into relationship, into friendship with you.
Lord Jesus, I want you to be my Shepherd, please lead me.
Lord Jesus, thank you for dying for me on the cross, please forgive me. Amen.
Who are you listening to?
Who are you listening to?