“A Sheep’s Survival Guide” John
Intro.: In a bizarre science fiction movie Arthur
Dent, a boring Englishman leading a predictable, ho-hum life of ignorance, is
suddenly awakened to the dangers of the greater, unseen forces around him. In the movie He is transported to a space
ship moments before the earth is demolished to make way for an interstellar
highway or some such thing. Now he finds
himself traveling through space without a clue of what to expect or how to deal
with the dangerous situations he encounters.
Fortunately Dent is given an electronic encyclopedia called “The
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” which teaches him everything he needs to
survive.
Like the clueless character in the movie
many, and perhaps some of us, do not fully comprehend the warfare which is
being waged over us. While we are
probably safe from space industrialists and intergalactic tyrants, we need to
get a clue, and realize that there is a spiritual battle being waged for our
souls in the heavenly realms. In our
Gospel lesson the Lord helps us to see that we are His sheep and that He is the
Good Shepherd who rescues us from the ferocious predator from hell. For us and for our salvation He provides: A Sheep’s Survival Guide.
Step number one in this survival guide
teaches you to… I. Know Yourself –That You Are A
Sheep.
A. When the Lord identifies us as sheep he is
reminding us that we are not ruddy, tough, self-sufficient animals like goats
which get along just fine with or without a shepherd. Rather, we are by nature weak and helpless like
sheep and are constant need of provision and care. Luther writes in his commentary on the 23rd
Psalm: “A sheep must live entirely by its
shepherd’s help, protection, and care. As soon as it loses him, it is
surrounded by all kinds of dangers and must perish, for it is quite unable to
help itself… It is a poor, weak, simple little beast that can neither feed nor
rule itself…”
When the Lord looks upon us, he sees just
this kind of weak and helpless little creature, as the evangelist writes: “When he saw the crowds he had compassion on them,
because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matt. 9:36) Our survival
depends upon us seeing ourselves the way Christ sees us, harassed and helpless
sheep who need a shepherd. Luther goes on to write: “As little as a natural sheep can feed, direct, guide
itself, or guard and protect itself against danger and misfortune—for it is a
weak and quite defenseless little animal—just so little can we poor, weak,
miserable people feed and guide ourselves spiritually, walk and remain on the
right path, or by our own power protect ourselves against all evil and gain
help and comfort for ourselves in anxiety and distress.”
Right now in Christ’s name I call upon you
to stop being stubborn goats, and accept your role as humble sheep. Put away your sinful pride, your delusions of
self-sufficiency, and your dreams of saving yourselves by the path of your own
choosing. Admit that you are harassed
and helpless without Christ; that you would, be lost, starving and on the verge
of eternal death apart from the loving care of your Shepherd; and confess that
you are indeed “poor, miserable sinners” who are…
B. Prone to stray from the Shepherd and the path
of righteousness. You and I are not
sweet and adorable little lambs who do nothing but bring pleasure to our
Shepherd. We are the sheep who like to
wander off, get ourselves into trouble, and cause sorrow for the shepherd. Though he loves us and feeds us in lush green
pastures; though he cares for us and provides us with rest beside the fresh
quiet waters, though he protects us and comforts us with His rod and staff, we
all like sheep have gone astray and each of us have turned to our own
ways. (Nt. Is. 40:11; I Pet. 2:25a)
In His Word the Lord has shown you the
path of righteousness, and a way of life that can truly bless you and others,
but every day you turn away from it and away from Him to venture down dangerous
paths of sin, and to live in ways that bring curses and suffering to you and
everyone around you. Again and again the
Lord seeks you, restores you through the Gospel and tenderly carries you in His
arms, and again and again you wiggle and squirm don’t you? You wiggle and squirm to be free of His grasp
to wander ever further away. If left to yourself
you would surely be lost forever as Luther writes: “you lost sheep cannot find your way to the Shepherd
yourself but can only roam around in the wilderness….to fall prey to the wolf.”
C. You need to know just how defenseless you are
without your shepherd. You are always in
danger from the world around you, from yourself, and from the demonic predator. With David you need to recognize that from
the day you were born you have been walking through the valley of the shadow of
death. It is the dangerous path through
the valley of a world in which you are but one step from wandering too far away
from your shepherd and falling into the depths of hell. It is the blackness of your own fallen nature
that continues to lead you into greater sin, to eat poisonous weeds, and drink
from putrid waters of death. It is the
shadowy place where the forces of evil, yes even the devil himself lurks ready
to pounce on you and swallow you up with guilt and despair. And like the little lamb, without your
shepherd you have no defense. You cannot
catch yourself and pull yourself up when you fall. You cannot win the battle against the sinful
nature that darkens your soul. And you have
nothing with which to defend yourself when Satan attacks you with his accusing
tongue and sinks his teeth into you. You are after all the harassed and
helpless sheep who need a shepherd.
After you have come to know yourself in this way, the second step in the
Sheep’s Survival Guide is to: II.
Know Your Enemy.
A. Know that your enemy is a ruthless and greedy
thief who wants to take what does not belong to him, namely your body and soul. In the verses just preceding our Gospel Jesus
likens Satan and his helpers to a “thief (who) comes only to steal and kill and
destroy…” (Jn. 10:10) Make no mistakes about it your enemy the
devil is an experienced adversary, consumed by a hatred you could never
understand, and driven by a three-fold purpose.
He wants to steal you away from the One to whom you belong and the One
who loves you with an everlasting love.
He wants to kill you both bodily and spiritually by turning you away
from God’s grace in Christ, and turning you instead to surrender your life to
sin or a vain trust in the law. And He
wants to destroy your faith in Jesus, so that He may have you to destroy for
eternity.
B. Your enemy shows no mercy. He is vicious and insatiable; stealing,
killing and destroying the people God loves for his own amusement and
pleasure. With great cruelty he tortures
his prey; as he tortures some of you with recurring guilt, relentless grief, paralyzing
fear, and perhaps even brutal slavery to sin and addiction to forbidden
pleasures. Our Gospel describes him as a
ravenous wolf which attacks the flock and the apostle calls him a roaring lion
who prowls around seeking someone to devour.
(nt. v. 12 & 1 Pet. 5:8)
C. And another thing you need to know about your
enemy the devil is that he does not plays by the rules, and rarely makes his
evil intentions known. He is sneaky and
crafty. Like the thief or robber he does
not come through the front gate for you to see, but with great stealth climbs over
the back wall, undetected, to kill and destroy you. (nt.
Jn.10:1)
Like the lion he lays low in the grass, waiting for you to show your
weakness. And once he has found it he inches
his way closer and closer until the moment you least expect it. Then he lunges for your throat to take you
down. (nt. 1 Pet. 5:8) And he
never comes at you with his teeth bared, but dressed like granny in her bed he
waits for you to come to him with your picnic basket. He engages you in conversation, and then
devours you. He doesn’t reveal himself
as the hungry wolf or blood thirsty lion.
No, he is too crafty for that.
Instead, just as he disguised himself when he tempted our mother, Eve,
so he presents himself to us as something else, even as something that appears
good. The apostle warns us that he
masquerades as an angel of light. (nt. 2 Cor. 11:14) How many have
been led astray in our day by his servants disguised as apostles of the
Lord? How many have wandered from the
true shepherd and overseer of their souls, to follow false shepherds who lead
them away from the pure Gospel and the rightly administered gifts which Christ
has given us in the Sacraments? Do not
be deceived! Know your own weakness as a
harassed and helpless sheep! Know your
enemy the devil who is dangerous and deadly!
But above all learn from the sheep’s survival guide to: III. Know Your Good Shepherd.
A. The risen Savior, Jesus Christ, who is God in
the flesh for eternity is your Good Shepherd.
He is the one who created you and gave you life. You belong to Him, and though you have
wandered off He will never abandon you.
Unlike so many in your life who are only there when there is something
in it for them, liked the hired hand watching over the sheep for a profit,
Jesus is like the faithful and loving shepherd who knows you intimately as His
own dear and precious lamb. You belong
to him, and to no one else, and he cares about you. He has and will stand His ground to protect
you from the thief, the wolf and the lion with the rod and staff of His
Word. He calls you through His Church to
be His forever, and to live with Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in
everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness. In baptism He calls you by name; he calls you
to come close to him, as he comes close to you and even unites Himself with you. With His tender voice He invites you to
follow him into the lush, green pastures and beside the quiet, fresh waters
where you will find restoration for your souls in the sweet Gospel of your
salvation. He calls and claims you to
belong to Him and to one another as a member of His One flock. (nt. vv.12-14)
B. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who loves you
enough to pay any price to have you safe in His arms. You know how much He loves you and the price
He paid for you. He laid down His life
for you of His own accord. No one could
take it from Him, but He offered it freely to rescue you from certain and
eternal death because of your sin. Just
as Satan was ready to swallow you up Christ threw Himself into the open mouth
of the wolf and lion as your substitute.
Upon the cross, He gave His life as an atoning sacrifice for your sin,
and not only for yours but for the sins of the whole world. But in that very act he became a poison to
the wolf, and broke the jaw of the lion.
Now, Satan is toothless and clawless, because death has been swallowed
up in victory. By the same authority by
which your Good Shepherd laid down His life, He took it up again on the third
day. He rose from the dead to take you
into His arms and hold you forever, and no one and no thing will ever be able
to wrestle you from His grasp. With Him,
you who are weak, and helpless little lambs, are made strong and more than conquerors, and nothing will ever be able to separate you
from God’s love which is yours in Christ Jesus. (nt. vv.11,15,17-18)
C. Jesus is your Good Shepherd, and my Good Sheperd, and He continues to gather from every tribe,
nation and language those who listen to His voice. Through us, through this little pen of sheep,
and others like it He continues to call out to the lost, the harassed, and the
helpless, to come and find restoration for their souls. Through us, and the ministry we offer here
and throughout the world by our missionaries, the Lord continues to care for
His sheep and add to His flock, so that there will be One flock and One
Shepherd over us all; the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. (nt. vv.12,16) And now the peace…