Three P's of Good Shepherd Sunday

God’s grace, peace and mercy to you. My theme for today’s sermon is The Three P’s of Good Shepherd Sunday. My focus is on the Gospel of John, chapter 10.

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

Last week, I opened my sermon by saying that people remember a sermon if you simplify it by hanging it on three points all beginning with the same letter. Today, those three points are Painting, Parable and Pastoring.

First, Painting. Growing up, my parents displayed a painting in our house by the famous American painter, Warner Sallman. The painting was entitled “The Lord is My Shepherd.”

Warner Sallman was born in Chicago in 1892. At an early age he showed a talent for drawing and painting. He was fascinated by all kinds of religious art, such as stained-glass windows and paintings of Biblical scenes. These greatly influenced the boy artistically and spiritually.

As a young man, he apprenticed in local studios while attending the Chicago Art Institute at night. Eventually, he opened his own studio. In 1916, he married Ruth Anderson, whom he met while both were singing in the church choir.

Not long after their wedding, Sallman contracted tuberculosis and was given three months to live. His wife suggested they pray about it and let the Lord have His way in the matter. This they did, and a remarkable though gradual restoration to health began. After his recovery, Sallman enrolled in a Bible college to learn more about the subjects he desired to paint.

He is best known for his “Head of Christ”, which was designed in 1940, and has sold over 500 million copies. The paintings are displayed publicly and used for private devotions. In 1946, he painted “The Lord is My Shepherd”.

This favorite painting has been placed in innumerable bedrooms and classrooms. It visualizes the pastoral image of Psalm 23, but without the dark side of the verses. There is no hint of the valley of the shadow of death, but only a tranquil vision of still waters and green pastures. The small, plump sheep inhabit a peaceful, utopian garden landscape. Jesus, portrayed in a soft flowing white robe, is as gentle as his flock. Located at the heart of the quiet flock, the Good Shepherd radiates calm as he dotes upon the lamb held to his bosom, a symbol of his concern for children. Even the sole little black sheep – symbolic of the wayward sheep restored again to the fold – follows his lead.

Sallman elevated the viewer above the scene to introduce the colorful landscape. Yet in adjusting the perspective of the landscape and sheep, he did not reduce the height of Christ who towers above the flock gathering about his knees, making the sheep doll-like and enhancing their dependence on their Savior. Their size gives them a charm that corresponds to the cherubic cuteness of children in his other paintings.

While Sallman’s imagery is often dismissed for its sentimentality, he was able to create paintings that convey very effectively the sentiment that mattered to his appreciative public.

Good Shepherd Sunday often brings country scenes to mind. We picture a well-groomed shepherd, crook in hand, seated peacefully in lush, green pastures, surrounded by docile sheep. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?

Yes, but we leave the beauty of Sallman’s painting and enter into the parable of today’s Gospel. There are only two passages in John’s Gospel that are considered parables. In chapter 15, we read of the Vine and the Branches, and in chapter 10, the Good Shepherd.

The Good Shepherd parable begins with verse one of chapter ten, but we should always read Scripture within the larger context. If we step back to see the bigger picture, our parable falls between the narratives of Jesus restoring sight to the man born blind and raising Lazarus from the dead. The structure of these passages is important because in chapter 9, John wrote of Jesus giving sight to the man born blind and blindness of the Pharisees. Chapter 10 opens with five verses of Jesus speaking of the door and the sheepfold before He retells the parable because the Pharisees failed to understand it. In fact, Jesus’ original words are directed against the Pharisees whom he accused of being blind (9:40-41). His parable kept outsiders in the dark and disciples in the know.

This is not the only passage where Jesus criticizes Pharisees for their lack of pastoral leadership. In Mark 6, where Jesus feeds the 5000, we read how he took his disciples to a deserted place so they could rest, but “when he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.”[1]

In Luke 15, the Parable of the Lost Sheep is prefaced by the grumbling of the Pharisees and scribes: “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”[2] In Matthew, Jesus warned his followers, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”[3] Later, he reminded them, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”[4] All these passages are criticisms of the Pharisees’ failure to shepherd the flock.

Now, some scholars think that there are two separate parables in verses 1-5. In the first three verses, we find that anyone who does not enter the sheepfold through the door or gate is a thief and robber while the one who does is the true shepherd. From there, the focus is on the relationship between the sheep and the shepherd. The sheep respond only to the voice of their own shepherd.

Now, for one who has just read about the blind Pharisees being condemned, it is clear that one should not respond to their voices. In other words, a mature Christian will know in his heart that when a false teaching sounds eccentric or implausible, it is. That is why we keep returning to Scripture as the authentic sounding board for our minds, hearts and consciences.

The parable continues in verse 7, with Jesus stating that he is the gate or the door. As the portal, he is the only way to the sheep, the flock, His followers. The choice to use door or gate to describe Jesus is a messianic symbol taken from the Psalms. We read in Psalm 118:20, “This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it.” If you prefer a more contemporary wording, you can read it, “Here is the gate of the Lord! Everyone who does right may enter this gate.”

Nevertheless, for John, Jesus is the only source of salvation. Those who came before him, a reference to the Jewish teachers and the tradition to which they appealed, are rejected as thieves. The contrast with thieves who will not bring salvation recalls the 34^th chapter of the Prophet Ezekiel. There because the shepherds did not watch over, protect and seek out the sheep, God promised to rescue His people. At the end of the chapter God declares, “You are my sheep, human sheep of my pasture, and I am your God.”[5]

Recasting the words of Ezekiel into his own, Jesus concludes today’s passage by declaring, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”[6]

Abundant life is reminiscent of the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, where we read that Jesus descended from heaven to bring eternal life – participation in God’s life – by being lifted up on the cross.[7]

And in chapter 14, Jesus promises Thomas, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”[8] Through abundant life in Him, Christ provides (1) escape from the perils of sin, (2) freedom and (3) the spiritual abundance of bread, water and the light of life. … What else does a person need?! In short, Christ is Gospel. He is Good News!

More good news! I have come to my third and final point, pastoring. To illustrate how each of us can pastor like the Good Shepherd, let me offer a reminder of how to recall a pastor’s duties the next time you go through a security checkpoint staffed by the TSA because, pastors Teach, Sanctify and Administer.

Pastors teach the Faith in Sunday School, inquiry and confirmation classes, from the pulpit or over the internet. Pastors form Christians through correct teaching and correct misinformed Christians and catechists when false teaching appears under the guise of Christian orthodoxy.

Pastors sanctify – or make holy – when they lead worship and when Christians gather for any type of prayer. Lastly, pastors administer the daily business of the church. However successful, every pastor knows that through the Holy Spirit, Christ continues to oversee and shepherd His Church.

Yet, the ultimate responsibility of shepherding the Church falls not to the pastor or the elders, but to the parents. Parents bear responsibility for teaching their children God's Word so that the Faith may remain alive and grow. Godparents, pastors, elders and catechists assist parents in their duty to shepherd their children. Together, we ensure that everyone enters the sheepfold by the door and not in some other way. That said, I close with a story of how my mother taught me how to pastor by showing me how to grow tomatoes.

Every spring our family planted more than 100 tomato plants, which sufficiently fed our family of five. When the weather broke, we tilled the garden for tomatoes and many other vegetables.

We dug holes, planted, fertilized and watered our plants. Through the summer, we weeded and watered; checked for bugs and blight and discarded rotten tomatoes.

We harvested tomatoes for salad, sauce and juice. We buried the discarded skin and seeds which produced a later crop. Since we were 4-H members, we entered our prize tomatoes in exhibits at local fairs.

Growing tomatoes taught me three practical necessities about pastoral ministry: nourish, reserve and share. Parents, pastors, elders and all members need to nourish, reserve and share their faith.

First, nourish. By exercising our faith – by attending worship, reading God’s Word, taking Communion, seeking forgiveness and attending religious education classes – we nourish ourselves.

Second, reserve. 33 years of ministry taught me there are times when we cannot nourish ourselves adequately. There will be times when troubles and temptations attack us. … We need a reserve. There will be times when caring for sick children or frail parents exhaust us. There will be times when completing projects, cramming for exams or meeting deadlines consume us. There will be times when we do not have the luxury to bathe ourselves in God’s Word or enjoy the feast of His banquet. We can only birdbath and eat on the run. During difficult times, we need that reserved Mason jar of tomatoes in the pantry. That is why my mother taught us how to can tomatoes. That is why she taught us to memorize Scripture passages and prayers because she knew we would someday need a reserve – of spiritual food that God provides to nourish our bodies and our souls.

Third, share. When God blessed us with plentiful tomatoes, we shared them with others. We shared tomatoes with friends, neighbors, pastors and the less fortunate. Mom taught me to practice charity by sharing God’s abundant blessing with others. How do we share God’s abundant blessings with others? Or, how does this apply to you?

Well, the next time you are in church, take a moment to look around and notice who is missing. Who is not there that you normally saw? Make a list of names of people you did not see in church, and when you go home, call those individuals.

You may be thinking that I am kidding. I am not. … Do not protest by thinking, “That’s not my job. That’s my elder’s duty.” … True, it is not your job. True, it is your elder’s duty. … Being the Good Shepherd is not a duty or a job, it is a privilege, your privilege, my privilege. … Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ risen from the dead for the forgiveness of sins is not a job to be completed, but a privilege shared by all.

In this liturgy, God nourishes us so abundantly that we have enough reserved in our spiritual pantry not only for those times when life tests us and Satan tempts us, but also enough to share with others.

Lest thieves and robbers enter the sheepfold and steal souls for Satan, we – pastors, elders, parents and members – must nourish, reserve and share our faith. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God the Father and Christ His Son charge you to watch over, protect and correct one another as good shepherds.

By teaching me how to grow tomatoes, mom taught me how to be a good shepherd. She taught me to nourish, reserve and share. I am sure your mother taught you the same. Next Sunday, as you honor your mother, do it by sharing the Gospel with others. Share with others how God has blessed you today and ask them the same. And when you listen to their blessed answer, may the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:7). Amen.

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[1] Mark 6:34.

[2] Luke 15:2.

[3] Matthew 7:15.

[4] Matthew 10:16.

[5] Ezekiel 34:31.

[6] John 10:10.

[7] cf. John 3.

[8] John 14:6.

Three P's of Easter

Three P's of Easter

God’s grace, peace and mercy to you. My theme for today’s sermon is The Three P’s of Easter. My text includes all three readings.

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.’” Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.

People remember a sermon if you simplify it. Most often, I simplify sermons by hanging three points on one letter. Today, three Ps – Proclaim, Passages and Practice. Three points are easier to remember if they all begin with the same letter. For instance: An investor analyzes businesses through people, product and process. An entrepreneur states the key to success is passion, patience and perseverance. An anthropologist deems it imperative that males aspiring to be men must protect, procreate and provide. A professor teaches that we handle setbacks through personalization, pervasiveness and permanence. While I do not expect you to remember all those Ps, they illustrate that points are easier to remember if all the words begin with the same letter. That said, our worship today contains three P’s: Proclaim, Passages and Practice.

First, proclaim. The word proclaim means to declare formally, officially, publicly or solemnly in speech or writing. It also means to praise or glorify openly. The root word of proclaim is the Latin proclamare meaning cry or call out, from pro meaning forth or forward and clamare meaning to cry out or shout.

Modern languages create words to convey meaning. By now, we’re all familiar with the word social-distancing. Well, there is a Greek word that is used to describe the type of proclamation we find in our worship and readings today. That word is kerygma. Kerygma is a noun that came into use in the English language around 1879.

Kerygma comes from the Greek word of the same name. It is a proclamation or public notice cried by a herald. Kerygma or kerygmatic literally means to cry or proclaim as a herald and is used to proclaim, announce or preach. It is used in the Greek New Testament for preaching.

Matthew employed kerygma when he introduced John the Baptist. In chapter three, we read, “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”

Luke illustrated how Jesus proclaimed his own ministry when he stood in the synagogue in Nazareth and read from the scroll of Isaiah these words: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And in Romans 10:14, Paul asks, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?”

Among biblical scholars, the term means the core of the early church's oral tradition about Jesus. The New Testament includes many of the same proclamations as the oral tradition that preceded it, for the promises of God made in the Old Testament were fulfilled with the coming of Jesus, the Messiah. He was anointed by God at his baptism as Messiah and then began his ministry in Galilee. Throughout his public ministry, he performed mighty works by the power of God. He was crucified according to the purpose of God, was raised from the dead and appeared to his disciples. Jesus was exalted by God and given the name "Lord". He gave the Holy Spirit to form the new community of God, and will come again for judgment and the restoration of all things. Therefore, all who hear the message should repent and be baptized.

Folks, if that sounds like a familiar refrain, it should. We recite it every Sunday when we speak the Nicene Creed. In that 4^th century kerygmatic statement, we Christians proclaim our faith in our Triune God in every age, culture and language.

So much for my first point, proclaim. Let’s move to my second point, passages. If you search passages on the web, you will be directed to a company that organizes trips for college students, a rehab center in Malibu, or book about adult crises. Here, I am talking about the passages the Church selected for the Third Sunday of Easter. Our passages today focus on Peter’s Pentecostal Proclamation, Peter’s Letter to the Household of God, and the account of Jesus accompanying and revealing himself to two disciples leaving Jerusalem on the day of his Resurrection.

The Book of Acts is a continuation of Luke’s Gospel and is directed to Theophilus, which means lover of God. Without going into identifying details of Theophilus, Acts opens by telling us that the Gospel of Luke dealt with all that Jesus did and taught up until his bodily Ascension into heaven. Our passage resumes on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit filled the Apostles.

After proclaiming Jesus, whom the men of Israel crucified, as Lord and Christ or Messiah, they repented and were baptized. In its entirety, Peter’s speech is a fine illustration of Law and Gospel. Three thousand sinners were baptized, and in doing so, were saved, redeemed and sanctified. What greater news is there than that?!

The passage from First Peter is addressed to sanctified and obedient Christians exiled from their homes and living in modern Turkey. Dislocated from their place of origin, they are disenfranchised, and subject to the ignorance, slander and hostility of the locals who are suspicious of their pedigrees, intentions and allegiances. Such was the perennial predicament of strangers in the ancient xenophobic world.

In comparison to any problem we face, they encountered the perennial problem met by all displaced peoples: the maintenance of a distinctive communal identity, social cohesion, and commitment to group values, traditions, beliefs and norms in the face of constant pressures urging assimilation and conformity to the dominant values, standards and allegiances of the broader society. Judeans – so-called because of their allegiance to Judea and the Jerusalem Temple – could always be forced out of cities where they had taken up residency. This made the existence of Jews and Christians in the first century vulnerable. It is part of the reason why 1^st Peter was written and later included in the Bible.

V. 17 begins with “If you invoke the Father” or “since you call upon a Father.” Jesus’ followers conceptualized God as father. They also saw Jesus as God’s Son, and after His death, continued to pray as He taught them, calling God their Father, a practice that continues today. The whole idea of God as Father forms Peter’s ecclesiology, or study of Church, in that believers are called into the family or household of God through baptism.

God is also seen as judge. This too is commonplace in the Bible. God is an impartial judge, and his impartiality is based not on our earthly fathers, but solely on our behavior. Because Christians saw God as judge, they “conducted themselves with fear” or reverence. Keep in mind, in that culture fathers were not treated like television fathers. Fathers were revered, feared and seen as judges. Awe or fear of God, which is the beginning of wisdom, motivated people to keep His commandments and set them apart from ignorant Gentiles.

Christians saw themselves as set apart from others. They saw themselves as aliens on foreign soil. They were strangers living among hostile natives who were ignorant of their origins, their families and their history, and suspicious of their commitments and conduct. … Peter drives home the point that because you are Christian, you are different because you have been elected by God and obey His commands.

Finally, our passage from Luke presents several problems we cannot address in the course of a sermon: locale of Emmaus, the identity of the unnamed disciple and so on. The point our passage raises is the distinction between perception and recognition. The disciples see but do not recognize the Lord. They need a sign. This is because the risen body, though the same body that died on the cross, is in a new condition. Its outward appearance is changed, and is exempt from the usual physical laws. We know that Jesus entered the locked room where the Apostles gathered and that he appeared in another form to two disciples in Mark 16:12. We read in 1^st Corinthians: “So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” (15:42-44)

Here, the risen Christ opens the eyes of the disciples to see his true meaning in God’s plan, but their eyes are only fully opened after they have shown hospitality to a stranger.

Luke is making the point that mere recital of the creed will not create the sight of faith. What upholds our creeds, our beliefs is Jesus’ interpretation of his life as the fulfillment of God’s promises from one end of Scripture to the other. When we read the Bible through the eyes of the risen Lord, we see that God exalted his rejected prophet, his innocently suffering righteous Son.

When our eyes are truly opened to who Jesus is, this we will know: The lordship of Jesus is not known or shown in acts of war or vengeance or in dreadful and mighty signs, but is attained through a cross and expressed in a meal – an act of hospitality, peace, brotherhood and sisterhood.

Friends, the upshot of my second point, passages, is that any passage of Scripture we read must be seen through the eyes of the risen Lord Jesus Christ. And as we move from passages to my third point, practice, I lead you with one of my most oft-used questions: “Now what?”

Now what? How do we put our passages and our proclamation into practice? There are many ways, but let me leave you with a few.

When we gather for prayer as a faith community, we proclaim what we believe when we recite our creeds – the Nicene Creed, the Apostles Creed or the Athanasian Creed. If you know anything about Martin Luther’s prayer life, you know that he was fond of reciting the Apostles Creed and strongly encouraged daily recitation of it. When we do this as individuals, it reaffirms our faith.

But as I said earlier, mere recital of the Creed will not create the sight of faith. We must devote time to reading and reflecting upon the Scriptures. There are many methods of scriptural prayer that can assist our reading and understanding, but we must always remind ourselves that we want to read Scripture through the eyes of our risen Lord Jesus Christ. And to do that requires grace. Each time we open our Bibles, we must ask our Heavenly Father to grant us that grace and humbly accept it.

Lastly, the disciples on the road recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread. As a faith community, we should receive the Sacrament frequently and always in good conscience. When we gather again, we will do this every Sunday. Hopefully, you will never pass on the opportunity to receive Christ’s Body and Blood for your salvation, redemption and sanctification. And after you receive His Body and Blood, you thankfully reflect on what just happened to you as individuals and as Church.

Lastly, as I said, the two disciples came to recognize Jesus in an act of hospitality. These disciples were not tax collectors or public sinners, but individuals who strayed from the way. Forgiven and sent back on their way, they proclaimed what they had witnessed. As a church of forgiven sinners, we have multiple opportunities to receive and offer hospitality. From the Lord’s Supper to a pot luck supper, as recipients and hosts, we recognize the Lord’s presence when we open our hearts to God’s grace and to God’s graced sons and daughters breaking bread with us.

Friends, as you resume your daily activities, I ask you to practice your faith, read your passages and proclaim how good our gracious God has been to you. And when you do that, may the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, keep your minds and hearts in Christ Jesus. Amen.