Test Sermon

We are drawing near to Jerusalem.

There are only a couple of weeks left in the season of Lent,

and soon our focus will shift to remembering

the entrance of Jesus into the city on Palm Sunday

his Last Supper with the disciples

the betrayal by his friend Judas

Christ’s arrest

mock trial

and execution.

It is without a doubt the centerpiece moment

of the Christian faith.

It is the moment that all history up until that point

was moving towards…

…and the moment that all history since that point

flows out of.

And as I’ve already suggested in this Lenten sermon series,

I believe Christians often have a very limited view

of what is taking place at the cross

and the empty tomb.

So often we reduce it to being only about a person’s eternal destiny.

Like some sort of spiritual security checkpoint,

a heavenly TSA screening through which we need to be cleared

before we can continue to our final destination.

But I believe what we remember and celebrate this time of year

is about so much more than that.

It’s not just about getting your sinful rap sheet erased

so you can get out of jail free.

Yes, that’s a huge part of it.

But if we approach the crucifixion

and resurrection of Jesus

as if the only part of our lives they impact

happens after we die…

…we are missing out on so much

of what the Christian life offers to us.

The cross and the empty tomb

impact our lives in a powerful way

on a daily basis…

…if we will let them.

That’s why it seemed a good thing

to spend our time on Sundays in Lent

focusing on the promises of God

and how they bring a deeper level of healing

and transformation

to those who claim Christ as Lord…

…so that we can understand at a more profound level

all that is made available to us

because of his sacrifice and his victory.

I said earlier in this series

that at the heart of Good Friday and Easter Sunday

is God’s love

and God’s desire to be in relationship with us.

It’s the fulfillment of the promise God spoke

through the prophet Jeremiah

when he said:

[SLIDE]

“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel

after that time,” declares the Lord.

“I will put my law in their minds

and write it on their hearts.

I will be their God,

and they will be my people.

No longer will they teach their neighbor,

or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’

because they will all know me,

from the least of them to the greatest,”

declares the Lord.

“For I will forgive their wickedness

and will remember their sins no more.”—Jeremiah 31:33-34

No longer will they teach their neighbor

or say to one another, “Know the Lord,”

because they will ALL KNOW ME

from the least of them to the greatest.

The heart of the new covenant is knowing God.

That’s what Jesus died for,

that’s what is made possible by his sacrifice

and his victory at the empty tomb.

It’s a picture of intimacy with God,

a picture that comes into focus

in today’s gospel reading

from the gospel of John:

[JOHN 10:1-16]

What Jesus is saying here in John 10

is a teaching that reflects

the growing tension

between himself

and the religious leaders of the day.

In John 9 Jesus tangles with the Pharisees

over the fact that he heals a man

on the Sabbath.

And now Jesus addresses the reality

that the Pharisees are “false shepherds”

who lead their people astray.

Jesus is evoking imagery that shows up quite a bit

in the Old Testament,

that of the leaders of Israel

failing the people entrusted to them.

In Ezekiel 32 God pronounces this judgment on Israel’s leaders:

[SLIDE]

“Ah, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. You have not strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the injured, you have not brought back the strayed, you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and scattered, they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep were scattered, they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with no one to search or seek for them.”—Ezekiel 34:2-6

Look at what happens to the people

in the absence of a good shepherd:

They become prey for wild animals

they become scattered and lost

separated from the place of safety and provision.

Scattered and lost…

…anyone here ever feel that way sometimes?

I don’t know about you,

but being lost is just about

my least favorite feeling in the world…

…well, maybe second least

after watching Ohio State lose

like what happened yesterday.

Talk about scattered and lost!

Anyway…

…I have to say that for all the hassles

brought into our lives

by modern technology…

…I am extremely thankful for the ability

to pull up directions instantly

on my phone

when I get lost,

which can be quite often.

If only there were a similar GPS system

for the soul.

Because it’s one thing to feel scattered and lost

while trying to find a place where you’re

meeting someone for coffee…

…it’s another thing entirely to feel scattered and lost

when it comes to your life

both present and future.

And yet when I talk to people these days

it seems to be a common condition.

I’ve often said that it’s the second most asked question

I receive as a pastor,

just after “Why do good people suffer?”

The question: “How can I find direction for my life?”

“How can I know God’s will for me?”

If you’re a Christian,

you can’t escape the truth

that the Bible indicates time and again

that God desires to lead his people

and help them make the right choices in life.

Our passage in John references this promise

when Jesus talks about his sheep,

the ones who know his voice

and follow him.

He’ll speak to this promise again

in his final teaching to the disciples

when he talks about the ministry of the Holy Spirit…

…who will guide the followers of Jesus into all truth.

In the same way Jesus promised

that the disciples would be given wisdom and words

when facing persecution in his name.

The life Jesus describes for those who follow him

is one that is filled the promise

we heard earlier in the service

from Psalm 32:

[SLIDE]

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”—Psalm 32:8

And when you read the history of the early church

in the book of Acts,

you certainly see this playing out

in real time.

The disciples experience prompting and guidance

from the Holy Spirit

in so many ways…

…not just telling them where to go,

but also where NOT to go.

And when I talk to folks about this subject,

I often hear a tinge of jealousy

in their voice.

“Why can’t I experience God’s guidance like that?”

“Why is it I can’t hear God’s voice they way others seem to?”

And let me tell you…

…pastors ask that question just as often sometimes.

And it begs the question:

if God has promised to guide his people,

why does that guidance seem so hard to find sometimes?

And as I’ve contemplated that question

for many, many years,

I can’t say I have an answer.

Especially since we’re all so different,

you can’t claim a single solution

is going to apply to every single individual.

But I do have a theory.

A theory that starts with a question:

“What if we’re looking for the wrong thing?”

What if we’re looking for the wrong thing?

You see, most of the people who I chat with

who are wrestling with discerning God’s will…

…usually they’re facing a pretty big decision

or opportunity

or crisis…

…and they’re seeking God’s guidance

for what to do next.

Nothing wrong with that.

We should certainly pray through

situations like that

and seek the Holy Spirit’s counsel

for whatever we’re facing.

But just like our view of the cross,

so often our focus is only on the future.

What’s next?

What’s coming up?

Where do I go from here?

And as good as those questions are,

I think there’s a more important question

we need to address first.

The question:

How is God forming me right now

in the midst of whatever situation I’m facing?

How does God desire to use this current reality

to draw me closer to him?

I’d like to share with you a very profound quote

that isn’t something we can just move past quickly.

It comes from Ignatius Loyola,

a Christian from the 16th century

who focused a lot of his teaching

on the subject of discernment

and listening to God.

In his book called “Spiritual Exercises,”

Ignatius wrote these words:

[SLIDE]

“God who loves us creates us and wants to share life with us forever. Our love response takes shape in our praise and honor and service of the God of our life.

All the things in this world are also created because of God’s love and they become a context of gifts, presented to us so that we can know God more easily and make a return of love more readily.

We should not fix our desires on health or sickness, wealth or poverty, success or failure, a long life or a short one. For everything has the potential of calling forth in us a more loving response to our life forever with God.

Our only desire and our one choice should be this: I want and I choose what better leads to God’s deepening life in me.”—Ignatius Loyola

Ignatius places the subject of discernment

and making choices

squarely within in the context

of God’s love for us

and his desire to draw us closer to him.

And I think this phrase he uses is key:

“fix our desires.”

What is our greatest desire as followers of Jesus?

If you listen to a lot of modern Christian teaching

you’d think the pinnacle of Christian experience

is defined in very earthly terms:

Physical health

Financial prosperity

Vocational success

A happy family life…

…and a lot of Christian teaching

and writing

is focused on achieving those desires.

Now those desires aren’t wrong by any means,

but neither are they central

to our walk with Christ.

“We should not fix our desires on health or sickness, wealth or poverty, success or failure, a long life or a short one. For everything has the potential of calling forth in us a more loving response to our life forever with God.”

EVERYTHING has the potential of calling forth in us a more loving response to our life forever with God.

Even those seasons of life that make no sense at all.

Even those times when we feel scattered and lost.

And if all we’re focused on in those times

is how we’re going to get out of them…

…then we might miss the very work God desires to do in us

during those times.

When the Hebrew people were wandering in the wilderness

because of their sin and lack of faith,

it wasn’t just punishment.

It was formative.

God used that time to purge and to cleanse

to teach and refine.

So that when they finally did get to the Promised Land

they were a different people

from the ones who rebelled in the desert.

It was a profound moment in my life

when started to grasp that God is less interested

in where I’m going…

…than he is in who I’m becoming.

We can get so paranoid about it:

afraid we’re going to miss “God’s perfect will” for us.

Do you know what God’s perfect will for you is?

It’s to make you more like Jesus,

to draw near to you

as you draw near to him

so that your life becomes more and more filled

with his peace, his power and his love…

…and that your life reflects that peace, power and love

to a hurting and dying world.

EVEN IN THE MIDST OF OUR WILDERNESS WANDERINGS.

In fact,

leaning in fully to what God is doing in us

during our seasons of scattered-ness

might just be the most powerful witness to Jesus

we can provide

to someone who doesn’t know him yet.

Like Tolkien said in Lord of the Rings:

“not all who wander are lost.”

Sometimes our season of wandering

is purposeful,

and rather than focusing only

on how we’re going to find a way out of it…

…maybe we should focus on WHAT we’re going to find

in the midst of it.

And what we find is the invitation of God…

…an invitation to intimacy and knowing him more.

That’s the imagery in John 10,

that’s what this text is all about.

It’s about the relationship of the sheep to the shepherd.

The focus of Jesus in this passage is not the following and the leading…

…it’s the knowing.

[SLIDE]

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.”—John 10:14

The discernment

the wisdom

the guidance for decisions…

…they are an outgrowth of the relationship and the intimacy.

We know where God is leading us

because we know him

and we recognize his voice.

There’s no shortcut to this.

God is not some nameless, faceless military commander

in a far off command post

who issues orders to his troops

that they follow out of duty and obligation.

God is a loving father, a compassionate parent

who takes up residence in his people

and speaks tenderly to them

“this is the way, walk in it.”

[BLACKABY…AGAIN]

For 12 years I pastored in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. One day a farmer said to me, "Henry, come out and visit with me at my farm." His directions went something like this: "Go a quarter mile past the edge of the city and you will see a big red barn on your left. Go to the next road and turn to your left. Take that road for three-quarters of a mile. You'll see a tree. Go right for about four miles, and then you will see a big rock…" I wrote all of this down, and one day I got there!

The next time I went to the farmer's house, the farmer was with me. Since there was more than one way to get to his house, he could have taken me any way he wanted to. You see, he was my "map." What did I have to do? I simply had to listen to him and obey him. Every time he said, "turn here" I did just what he said. He took me a way I had never been. I could never retrace that route on my own. The farmer was my "map;" he knew the way.

God doesn’t desire to give us a map,

he desires to BE our map.

To be our guide…our good shepherd.

The one we know so well

that when he speaks

we recognize his voice instantly.

In the passage we heard earlier from Ezekiel,

God speaks out against the false shepherds

who lead his people astray.

Later on in that same passage

God promises to send a new shepherd

from David’s line

who will restore and protect the people

and usher in an era of peace and blessing.

And that particular prophecy in Ezekiel ends with these words:

[SLIDE]

“They shall know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord GOD. You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture and I am your God, says the Lord GOD.”—Ezekiel 34:30-31

We keep bumping up against this same promise

whenever we hear God talk about the new covenant

that comes in Jesus:

The promise that we will know him

that we will know he is with us

that he will know us by name

and we will know his voice by heart.

And what it asks of us is to make a choice,

a choice we need to make

before we worry about any other choices.

Ignatius said it best:

[SLIDE]

“Our only desire and our one choice should be this: I want and I choose what better leads to God’s deepening life in me.”—Ignatius Loyola

If we can grasp wholly and completely

what that choice looks like for us…

…we will find that every other choice we face

every decision

every situation and season…

…will be filled with a completely different power

and flow out of a completely different place:

the place of intimacy with our shepherd.

See…we want God to give us directions,

but what he gives us is himself.

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