Sermon

John 10:11-18

Good Shepherds and Hired Hands

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John 10:11-18

Good Shepherds and Hired Hands

By Dr. Philip W. McLarty
When I first read the gospel lesson for this Sunday, I couldn’t help but smile and think back to the summer of 1972. I was just beginning my second year in seminary. A small group of us was asked to lead the worship service in Perkins Chapel. The weather was exceptionally beautiful, so we decided to have the service outdoors, underneath a grove of Live Oak trees. My job was to read the scripture and offer the sermon. As I prepared for the service, I read this passage seriously for the first time. Then I read it again and again and again. Every time, the words seemed all the more lyrical and poignant:

“I am the good shepherd.
The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd,
who doesn’t own the sheep,
sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees.
The wolf snatches the sheep, and scatters them.
The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand, and doesn’t care for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd.
I know my own, and I’m known by my own;
even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father.
I lay down my life for the sheep.”
(John 11-13)

I can remember being so touched by the eloquence of this passage that I committed it to memory and, instead of reading the gospel lesson, I recited it, verbatim, by heart. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the first thing about the sermon! Oh, well … It’s a beautiful passage of scripture describing the righteousness of Christ and calling us to be more Christ-like ourselves.

As we listen to it once more this morning, I’d like for us to consider the difference between good shepherds and hired hands; that is, between those who care out of a genuine sense of compassion and love, and those who care because of the benefits, either real or perceived.

The text begins, “I am the good shepherd…” What we need to know is that, in Jesus’ day, the term, “good shepherd,” would have been heard as an oxymoron – a contradiction of terms. In Jesus’ day, shepherds were anything but good. They lived as nomads, grazing their sheep on other people’s land. To this day, they’re known as Bedouins. They were notorious for lying, cheating and stealing. They were Jews, all right, but they were low on the gene pool.

They didn’t observe the kosher food laws, they didn’t practice ritual cleansing, and they certainly didn’t attend synagogue on the Sabbath. A popular song back then was, “Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be Bedouins.”

And so, for Jesus to identify himself as a shepherd is quite remarkable. It goes along with his willingness to befriend the outcast, touch the leper and eat with tax collectors and sinners. It speaks of Jesus’ humility, to become as one of us in order to redeem us from our sinful nature and give us grace to become more like him. Paul said it best when he wrote to the Philippians,

“…Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God,
didn’t consider equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant…” (Philippians 2:6-7)

Or, in the case of today’s text, taking the form of a shepherd.

All this is to say, we don’t have to be perfect in order to walk in Jesus’ company, he meets us where we are. The Good News is, we’re accepted, zits and all. In his Letter to Timothy, Paul said,

“The saying is faithful and worthy of all acceptance,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners;
of whom I am chief.” (1 Timothy 1:15)

In one of my favorite hymns, Charles Wesley writes,

“Depth of mercy, can there be mercy still reserved for me?
Can my God his wrath forebear, me, the chief of sinners spare?
There for me the Savior stands, holding forth his wounded hands;
God is love! I know, I feel; Jesus weeps, and loves me still.”
(The Book of Hymns, UMC, p. 94)

Jesus became as one of us in order to redeem us from our sinful nature and give us grace to become more like him. He said, “I am the good shepherd.” But he went on to say something unique about the good shepherd, and that is, “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

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In the Old Testament story of David and Goliath, David’s father, Jesse, sent him to the front lines to check on his brothers, and there, overlooking the Valley of Elah, David saw the great Philistine giant, Goliath, and heard for himself how he ridiculed the people of God. So, he went to King Saul and offered to fight Goliath single-handedly, but Saul only laughed and said, “…for you are but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.” (1 Samuel 17:33) But David said,

“Your servant was keeping his father’s sheep;
and when a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb out of the flock,
I went out after him, and struck him,
and rescued it out of his mouth.
When he arose against me,
I caught him by his beard, and struck him, and killed him.” (1 Samuel 17:34-35)

Well, you know the rest of the story: David walked out into the Valley of Elah with nothing but his slingshot and his confidence in the power of God. He picked up five smooth stones from the creek bed, and, with deadly aim, hit Goliath right between the eyes and brought him tumbling down to the ground. By God’s grace, David saved the people of Israel from the hands of the Philistines and, in time, he became the greatest king they’d ever known.

The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He’s willing to fight off predators to protect the sheep, weather ferocious storms to keep them safe, and traverse roughed wilderness in order to find even one that’s gone astray and bring it safely back to the fold.

Does this description of the Good Shepherd remind you of anyone you know? I wouldn’t be surprised if many of you were thinking to yourself, “Hey, that sounds just like my mother!”

Mothers are soft and warm and nurturing, to be sure, but, when someone threatens to hurt one of their children, they can be meaner than a junk yard dog! I wish my mother were here this morning. You could see for yourself. She’s as pretty and gracious and lovely as any woman you’ll ever meet, but when it comes to her kids, watch out – she can be as tough as nails. I’ll bet the same could be said of your mother, as well!

When it comes to their children, mothers know no fear. They have the patience of Job, the persistence of Jeremiah, and the perseverance of Paul to withstand adversity and overcome any obstacle in order to protect and provide for their children.

In the movie, Places In the Heart, Sally Field plays the part of a young mother in West Texas whose husband was killed in a tragic shooting accident. The story is set in the wake of the Great Depression. Times are hard. Money’s scarce. Unemployment is high. She’s never worked outside the home. She doesn’t even know how to write a check, much less borrow money or deal with shrewd businessmen and bankers. She has two small children who are depending on her to survive. And survive she does. She rolls up her sleeves and partners with a black tenant farmer, takes in a blind boarder and fends off the vultures who want to exploit her naiveté. By sheer determination and hard work, she and her partner cultivate thirty acres of cotton, win the hundred dollar prize for bringing in the first crop to the cotton gin and get top dollar to boot. By all rights, you could say she shouldn’t have succeeded. All the odds were against her. But then, she was a mother with two small children. What more can I say? Mothers are like that.

The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Can you think of a better text for Mother’s Day? Jesus goes on to compare the Good Shepherd with a hired hand. He says,

“He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep,
sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees.
The wolf snatches the sheep, and scatters them.
The hired hand flees
because he is a hired hand, and doesn’t care for the sheep.”
(John 10:12-13)

Have you ever had a “fair weather friend” – someone who was fun to be with and do things with, but when the going got rough and you needed understanding and support, was nowhere to be found? We’ve all had friends like that, haven’t we?

A fair weather friendship is a conditional friendship. It works as long as things are going well. But when things go awry, as they often do – when your out of money and out of luck and, perhaps, down on yourself as a result, and you really need someone to lean on, someone to be there for you – that’s when you know who your real friends are.

True friendship is unconditional and unrestrained. It says, “I love you,” not when, or if, or because; but simply, “I love you.” This was brought out in a clever, little song years ago by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. It’s found on their Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band album, and it goes like this:

“When I get older, losing my hair,
many years from now,

Will you still be sending me a Valentine,
birthday greetings, bottle of wine?

If I’d been out ’till quarter to three,
would you lock the door?

Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I’m sixty-four?”

The hired hand sees trouble coming and is nowhere to be found. He flees because he’s a hired hand – a fair weather friend – and he really doesn’t care at all, he’s only in it for himself, for what he can get out of the relationship. By contrast, the Good Shepherd is there for us through thick and thin. In fact, the Good Shepherd is especially there for us when we have nowhere else to turn. And this is what I hope you’ll get out of the sermon this morning, that when Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd,” he not only invites us to trust him and know that he’ll be there for us; he invites us to become more Christ-like ourselves and to be there for each other as good shepherds in his name.

I don’t know of a more important quality in a church than this, to offer sympathy and support in times of crisis – to visit someone who’s sick, to take a dish over to someone who’s had a death in the family, to listen to someone who’s lost his job or just broken up with her boyfriend, to offer help to someone who’s home has been damaged by a storm. It’s at times like these that the church is at its best, and we know the strength of Jesus’ promise,

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there I am in their midst.”
(Matthew 18:20)

It’s easy to come to Sunday school and listen to a lesson; it’s easy to come to church and hear a sermon; it’s easy to give a donation or to participate in some fellowship activity or mission project. And all these are important. But it’s at times when someone is hurting and in need and others respond with compassion and care that we experience the true nature of Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, and fulfill our calling to be good shepherds to others in his name.

The Trinity Presbyterian Church in Wichita Falls was a small church with a big heart. I found out just how big one day when a young woman named Cindy (not her real name) showed up in church one Sunday. She was not a member, but the sister of one of the members, and she was, shall we say, down on her luck. She was separated from her husband, penniless, homeless, uneducated and seriously low on self-esteem. Safe to say, she didn’t have much to offer. No matter, the church members rallied around her and welcomed her and made a place for her in their hearts. The younger women invited her to their circle. They offered help in caring for her two small children. They shared clothing and dishes and small appliances and helped her get into Section Eight housing. More than anything, they gave her a healthy dose of affirmation and encouragement and love. As weeks turned into months, Cindy began to blossom. She had a pretty smile and a willing spirit. One day she brought refreshments for the fellowship gathering after church. She borrowed a lawn mower and mowed the church lawn. When she finally got a real job, she began tithing her income, giving one-tenth to the church. “It’s the least I can do,” she told the church treasurer. When I left Trinity in 1995, Cindy was teaching a Sunday School class and serving on the Missions Committee. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that she’s now one of the elders.

This is what happens when we become good shepherds to others in the name of Jesus Christ. Transformation occurs, not only for those for whom we care, but for us as well. The church becomes vibrant and alive, and we taste for ourselves the first fruits of eternal life. And so, listen to these words of scripture once more and let them sink deep into your heart:

“I am the good shepherd.
I know my own, and I’m known by my own;
even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father.
I lay down my life for the sheep.”

Friends, go and do likewise. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Copyright 2003, Philip W. McLarty.  Used by permission.

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), a public domain (no copyright) modern English translation of the Holy Bible.