VAN BUREN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 1 Peter 2:19-25
FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER John 10:1-10
APRIL 13, 2008
“THE ONE TRUE SHEPHERD”
Almighty God, who sent Jesus, the good shepherd, to gather us together: may we not
wander from his flock, but follow where he leads us, knowing his voice and staying near
him, until we are safely in your fold, to live with you forever; through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Amen.
Imagine that you are about 6 or 7 years old. You are at the mall with your parents shopping. As
your parents are looking at paint and wall-paper, you spot what looks like toys not to far away. The
paint and wall-paper is boring do you take a few steps towards the toy aisle. A group pf people pass by
and you get turned around and you can no longer see your parents. You start to panic.
Just as you are about to cry, you hear the voice of your mother and then feel the hand of your
father pulling you close. All seemed lost until you heard that voice, and then you knew you were safe.
That feeling of assurance at the sound of a voice is a part of what Jesus is alluding to in our gospel
lesson this morning.
As he speaks to his disciples and to some pharisees Jesus describes himself as a shepherd. He is
the true shepherd of the sheep and he is the one who enters by the gate. The sheep know his voice
and when he calls, they follow. They will not follow another voice, only yhr voice they know, the voice of
the shepherd.
Sheep and shepherds are a theme we find throughout the Old and the New testaments. Shortly
we will recite together the 23rd Psalm. Most people have some knowledge of this psalm. It is the
shepherd psalm - “The Lord is my shepherd....” Christian or non-Christian, most people have some
familiarity with it.
Not everyone in the Old testament or in the New Testament had sheep, but probably they all knew
someone who did. Sheep were common because they provided wool and they were a source for food.
They were also used in the sacrifices in the temple and for Passover. Sheep and shepherds were no
strangers to the people.
Perhaps that is why the shepherd image is applied to God so often. The shepherd takes care of
the sheep. The shepherd watches out for the sheep, and searches out the sheep when they get lost.
That getting lost part may be why God uses the image of shepherd for himself and the image of
sheep for us. Like sheep, we tend to wander off and get lost.
And the main component of that lostness is our sinfulness. From the time in the garden when
Adam and Eve choose to follow their own desires instead of God’s instructions, humans have been in a
broken relationship with God. And that broken-ness is being lost. Like the sheep in the flock, we tend
to wander off wanting to do our own thing, and before we know it, we don’t know how to get back home.
However, God is the shepherd, and being the shepherd he searches us out and calls us back.
That is why Jesus came to earth. The Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, leaves his throne
in heaven and takes on the body of a human being. God in the flesh, God incarnate. He didn’t come
to show us how to live, though he did that when he was here. He didn’t come to tell us that God loves
us, though he also did that while he was here. He came for one purpose. He came to bring us back
from lostness and back into the flock.
He came to die on the cross and pay the price of our sin, so that we can be reconciled with God.
In 1 Peter 2:24 we read: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins
and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” The healing is the healing of our
broken relationship with God. That verse has nothing to do with physical healing, though there are
some preachers who claim that. The healing is the healing from our sins. It is the healing of our
spiritual sickness, the healing of our spiritual terminal illness.
Notice how Peter finishes this section: “For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have
returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” Jesus has called us and we have listened to the
voice of the true shepherd.
This brings us to something that I believe gets blurred in our pluralistic society. We don’t want to
be judgmental of others, and certainly not of other peoples religious beliefs. After all, we believe in
“Freedom of Religion.” Now, let me state up front that I believe on Freedom of Religion. But, I do not
believe Freedom of Religion means that I have to accept other religions as equal to Christianity. I
believe that we each have the right to choose what we will believe, but that doesn’t mean that what ever
someone chooses to believe is true. I will stand by their right to hold those beliefs, but I will also stand
by my right to disagree.
What I’m saying is not popular, even among some of my brothers and sisters in the Presbyterian
Church. I know some Presbyterians who believe Christians have the same standing before God as
Moslems, Hindus, Buddhists, and any other religion. They would say that Christians, Jews and Moslems
all worship the same God, just by a different name. Funny, you won’t mind many Moslems saying that.
Some Christians believe that since God is a God of love, he will condemn no one. That we are all
children of God, and he will bring us all into his kingdom. Nice sentiment, but not very Biblical.
In verse 9 of our Gospel lesson this morning we hear Jesus say: “I am the gate; whoever enters
through me will be saved.” Sounds like there is only one way into heaven.
A few chapters later in John, on the night of his arrest, as Jesus is spending his final time with his
disciples, he begins chapter 14 by telling them that they do not have to have troubled hearts. He tells
them that the Father’s house has many rooms and he goes to prepare a place for them.
Then there is Thomas, the one who always wants the facts. He points out to Jesus that they don’t
know where Jesus is going, so how can they follow him.
To this Jesus answers: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through me.” Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. The only way to the father is through Him. Jesus
says nothing about being martyrs, or about having Good Karma, or about Nivarna, nor even about
doing good works. The only way to the Father is through Jesus. Without a relationship with Jesus, we
do not have access to the Father - we do not go to heaven.
In John chapter 1, verses 12-13 we read:
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become
children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but
born of God.
Friends, this may not be very popular, but there is a certain exclusivity to Christianity. I believe the
Bible is very clear: the only way to be right with God is through Jesus Christ. If that is true, and I believe
it is, that means that Christianity is the only true religion. That doesn’t mean that those who hold other
religious beliefs are evil people. I’ve known some non-Christians that are nicer people than some
Christians I’ve known. But, no matter how nice they are, without a relationship with Jesus Christ, they
will never know heaven.
In Acts 4, as Peter and John stood before the Sanhedrin, Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and
he spoke to rulers and elders of the people. In verse 12 he says: “Salvation is found in no other name
under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” In chapter 16 of Acts, the Philippian jailer
asked Paul and Silas, “What must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you
will be saved - you and your whole household.”
I’m afraid that the reason we go with the flow of our culture and accept all those beliefs out there,
isn’t so much in the belief of Freedom of Religion, as it is that if we really believe that what Jesus and
the Bible says is true, that there is only one good shepherd, there is only one way to heaven, then we
might have to say something to a friend or even a loved one. If we believe that everyone is going to
heaven, then I don’t have to share my faith with others. I don’t have to run the risk of having them not
agree with me, even the risk that they may get mad at me because I believe the Christian claims are
true.
I know, I have the same feelings.
However, if we do believe the Bible, and that Jesus is the only way to the Father, that he is the one
true shepherd, then shouldn’t we care enough about our friends to share with them the story of our own
faith?
I’m not asking you to become an evangelist and speak to the crowds or to go from door to door
handing out leaflets. All I’m asking you to do is to let others know that you believe in Jesus, that
because of your faith in him, you know that you are right with God. You don’t have to try to show them
all that is wrong with their religious beliefs, all you have to do is show them the truth of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the one true shepherd. He said, that he is the gate and whoever enters through him will
be saved. He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through
me.”
Do you believe Jesus is the only way? Who will you tell? Who will you invite to have a relationship
with Jesus Christ?