Unsnatchable Sheep

Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God, our Father and our Lord, and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. The text for this morning is the Gospel lesson which was read from the lectern. Miss Tara shared a couple of tidbits about sheep, that are not very smart, that they need someone to defend them.

There's a couple other things about sheep: they are dirty. When the Bible speaks of our sin being white as snow, or our lord, Jesus' hair as white as wool, that isn't natural to sheep. They're dirty, they've got breyers and prickers, and all kinds of stuff stuck in that woll of theirs. And so after they're shared, that woll has to be combed and cleaned so that it comes out nice and white. They're also smelly. They're smelly. I had a friend in school who raised sheep, and believe me, they were smelly.

And a book has been put out - a book for pastors and how to releate with their parishioners - and the title of book is, "They Smell Like Sheep." They smell like sheep. You know, I have not purchased the book, I thought about it a time or two, but, you know, I think sometimes, at least as young pastors, we come out naively and we think that our congregants are just going to be wonderful, loving. And then we realize that, well, they're sheep. But pastors are sheep, also, of the Lord. We have our smells, we have our uncleanness, as well. They can't defend themselves. And they tend to be distracted and wander. Sounds a little bit like God's people, doesn't it? Why do you suppose our Lord describes us as sheep?

It's not because we're so smart. Probably because we can't defend ourselves against our enemies. Can't defend ourselves against the devil, can't defend ourselves against sin, whether within us or outside of us in the world. And we can't defend ourselves against death. We need someone to be our defender. Also, we tend to be easily distracted from our Lord, don't we? There are all sorts of snares and traps that the devil lays for us, and they all look interesting, and so we may say, "Hey, that looks interesting, I'm going to go check that out. Oh, it's something I could eat!" It may not be good for the sheep to eat, but they'll take it.

In the process, the shepherd and the flock have moved on. They're out of the protective care of the shepherd. And they are easy prey for the wolf, the devil. Or, not only are we easily distracted, we also tend to think we know where we're going and how to get there. And so, we run on ahead. And again, we get out of the protective care of our Shepherd. And we are easy prey for our enimies: sin, the devil, death, the world. And so, here we are.

Shepherd. Good Shepherd. We need the Shepherd, don't we?

And Jesus says, not only is he a Shepherd, He is the Good Shepherd. He leads His sheep out to good pasture. In fact, He tends to His pasture so that it is good and lush for His sheep. He leads us out beside still waters. He knows how well to care for us and provide for us and to protect and defend us.

And again, the shepherd puts his life on the line for the sheep. For the sheep. And sometimes, it may be that the shepherd ends up perishing in protecting and defending the sheep. And our Lord certainly did that. In fact He says "I have authority to lay down My life. Nobody takes it from Me but I lay it down of My own will." This is the 10th chapter of John, this is, you know, before our Lord's Passion. And He's telling the people, telling the disciples that "hey, what's going to happen to Me, I allowed to happen to Me. I choose to lay down My life for My sheep. I choose to lay down My life for you, that you might have eternal life."

It made it look like the Romans took Him. It may look like the soldiers of the temple took Him that night in the garden, but Jesus allowed it to happen. Jesus allowed it to happen to Himself. He willingly laid down His life. For you, and for me.

And He also had authority to take His life back again, and so we can rejoice and celebrate in a resurrected Good Shepherd. And we know where He's leading us to. He's leading us to good, green, pasture and still water, and yet, sometimes we'll still want to wander off, won't we? That Shepherd has a staff, and I could have brought a staff. But I didn't, I didn't want to have to dig through the stuff to get at it. And it's not anything like what we might expect a shepherd's staff to be, you know, the long straight with that hook on the end, that crook. It's just a stick, a pretty good stick. Pretty big stick. Actually, a limb from a hickory tree. It's about, well, it's taller than I am. It must be close to 6.5, 6.75 feet. I couldn't hook a sheep with it, but I could probably take out a wolf with it. If I got the swing right.

But the psalmist, David, he knew about sheep, and he describes the Good Shepherd. And he talks about that rod and that staff that bring us comfort as we go through this Valley of the Shadow of Death. That's our life's journey in this world of sin. And death is all around us. Even our own. In fact, when we come to the prayers, there will be five of this flock who have passed on. They've gone to greener pasture. And our Lord desires to lead us there, as well.

But later on, Jesus describes, and He says, "The Father and I are one. And the Father is greater than all, and no one will be able to snatch them out of His hand." You see, Jesus' duty is to hand us over to His Father. To turn us over to His Father, to bring the flock to His Father. He says "My own know Me, and I know Mine." Kind of sounds similar to last week's epistle lesson: "the reason they don't know us is because they did not know God." Jesus says we know God, because we know Jesus, we know His Father. And we listen to His voice.

While sheep are dumb, the do recognize the voice of their shepherd, and they'll flee any other voice. Theyll go away from any other voice. And we hear our Lord's word when we hear the scripture. And when we hear something that doesn't mesh with His word and scripture, we should flee, we should turn away, rather, and follow after our Lord Jesus.

But, again to this 'unsnatchable.' We're God's sheep. We're part of his flock, because He calls us to be His sheep. His flock, in the water of baptism. And He keeps us safe and secure. And God, the Father, His hands are strong. And Jesus says no one - not the devil, not anyting - can rest His sheep from His Father's hands.

Now, we may wander. When is something usually snatched from a person? Usually, when they're being inattentive or distracted.

When I was in grade school, we were - my brothers and I - we were at my aunt's house. And my aunt had made us some cookies. So, we're sitting at the table with my cousin, and we're having cookies, And milk, I think, and my middle brother was not paying attention, because Aunt and Uncle, they had a big samoyed, and he stood probably about the height of the top of the pew here in front, which was about table height. And my brother is kind of nonchalantly, you know, waving his cookie around. And pretty soon, the cookie's gone. Sunny, the dog, had snatched his cookie cuz he wasn't attentive. It didn't take much to snatch him out of his hand. Because it really wasn't secure in his hand. And if we wander away from God, if we fail to listen to His voice, you know, we may not be as secure in God's care as what we may think we are, and we become easy prey for the devil to snatch away. But if we are in God, we're attentive to His Word, we're attentive to where He's leading and directing us, we allow our Shepherd to tend us, to direct and to guide and to defend us, then we'll be secure. We'll be secure.

And Jesus said, "nothing will take them out of My Father's hand. They can't be snatched." And that's you and I! We're unsnatchable sheep. Yes, by ourselves, we wonder, we smell, we are dirty, we can't defend ourselves or protect ourselves. We are easily distracted and wander. But as God's sheep and part of His flock and by His Spirit at work in us, He makes us unsnatchable. Because He's the one that holds us in His hand. Often times, when we're praying for the sick and the dying, we offer up a prayer, and part of that prayer is "we commend them to your hands, oh Lord" the strongest and safest place for them to be.

Why? Because, as Jesus said, nothing, no one can snatch them, out of the Father's hand.

Sometimes, the Good Shepherd is pictured with the sheep or lamb across His shoulder, and He's holding on to his, I guess legs, I'll just call it. And caring that sheep back to the flock.

Now, how many of us when we look at our Good Shepherd, see ourselves as that sheep hanging across our Lord's shoulder? Or do we rather see ourselves as the dutiful sheep standing beside Him? You ever notice in the pictures those sheep? They kind of look like they're looking up at Him. I've kind of analyzed it. And they kind of got a smug kind of grin on. Like: "We didn't wander away. We've been here all along." We can sometimes think that way, can't we? Probably more often than not, we're the one that's being carried. And I think there's a couple reasons why the Good Shepherd is carrying that lamb. Maybe he's been attacked by the evil one. The devil. Maybe even was left for almost dead, and so he has no strength. And so the shepherd has to carry him back. Or maybe he's weary from fighting off the enemy. Or maybe he's wounded, hurt cuz he fell down a ravine. Maybe he's just tired from wandering off, and so he doesn't have the strength to walk back on his own. So, the shepherd carries him.

I bet you are familiar with a poem in which, this poor fellow is looking at two sets of footprints, and then there's that time when there's one, and he says, "It seems every time, Lord, that when things are rough, there's only one set." He's being a little conceited, because he thinks that's his set of footprints. And of course, the Lord says, "No, that's when I'm carrying you." Now, it's kind of hard to imagine Jesus carrying a man over His shoulders, but think of Jesus, carrying that lamb, that sheep. And that very well might be you and I. And maybe he's caring you or I today for whatever reason. Maybe we're feeling beat up. Maybe we've wandered and we're weary. Maybe we're sorrowful because of the loss of a loved one. But He's carrying us. And He's holding on firmly, and I think He holds on firmly for two reasons: one, He doesn't want the sheep to fall off, but He also wants to reassure that sheep that "I've got you in My care. I've got you in My care."

My great-grandfather, when he was in his 80s into his mid 90s, he would love to wrestle with me and my brothers. And he'd like nothing better than to grab us by the wrist, and we would try as we may to get out of his hold. His hands were strong. We'd struggle. In fact, if one of us got out, there'd be two or three of us working on his hand to get those fingers apart to release the other one. His hands were so strong from working hard on the farm, and then other labor that he did, and even up until his old age, he could latch on tight to us. I like to think that as an unsnatchable sheep, that that's the firmness with which my Shepherd and His Father have hold of me. Or, like when you were younger, maybe you had somebody, they gave you horse rides on their back. And they grab you by the ankles, probably pretty hard. And you'd say "Why are you holding on so tight?" Well, then they'd start running around. And maybe they'd do the old buck and you fly back along their back. I'd demonstrate, but I can't bend that far back. But you knew that as long as they were holding you secure, you were safe. And usually, it was somebody that you trusted that you would do that.

And so it is with our Good Shepherd. We trust Him. Why? Because we've experienced His Blessing.

We understand that it's by His blood that we are healed and saved and our sin forgiven. We understand that it's by His strength that we are defended from our enemies. We understand and trust that He leads us and is leading us beside good pasture and still waters. And even again today, He sets before us a banquet in the presence of those enemies: the devil, death, sin, the world.

And if we really pause and think about it, our cup is overflowing, isn't it? Because He cares for us and tend us quite well. Thanks be to God that by His powerful work within us through the sacraments, together with His Word, that He's called us to be sheep of His flock. And that He defends us, protects us, in at by His strong power, we are unsnatchable sheep. Thanks be to God for His immeasurable gift through His Son, Jesus Christ, our Good Shepherd. Amen. And now may the peace of God, which surpasses our human understanding, keep our hearts and our minds in faith in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.