Easter 4 A [John 10:1-10] (11-May-2014)

This sermon was preached at St Mark's Lutheran Church, Mt Barker (8.30am, 10.30am).

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The sermon text for today was inspired by the Holy Spirit through the apostle St John, who calls himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved”, from his Gospel 10:1-10, which we read earlier. And we read:

The sheep hear his voice,
and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, send to all of us your Holy Spirit, to me that I may preach well, and to all of us that we may hear well. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to you, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

 

Do you have a favourite part of the church service that you look forward to every week? I have found over the years, that there are all kinds of parts of the service that I have “hooked on to”, if you like!

One part of the service which I have found has often been precious to a lot of people is where the pastor says before Holy Communion that we are singing with angels, archangels and all the company of heaven. There’s this mighty army that is fighting for us, that is rejoicing over one sinner who repents, this wonderful group that spend all day every day singing: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts. Here they all are in such heavenly joy, singing back and forth the purity, the holiness and joy of God’s presence!

And we say in church that we are joining in with them. The angels actually come and join in with our singing and we join in with them, just as the angels came and sang with the shepherds at Christmas time. Isn’t it a wonderful thing to be part of that choir, to be baptised into that band, to be part of the Holy Spirit’s own music group?

But you know, there’s also another army, which we could call the “demons, the arch-demons, and all the company of hell”. The devil also has an army, and it is the kind of army that is so much more powerful than any of us human beings. We can’t fight against them with our strength. But we have our own captain, our own army-general, Jesus Christ – all we have to do is call upon him and he comes and fights for us together with all his angels. And Jesus is so wonderful and loving that he fights for us even when we don’t ask.

It’s strange – there are hardly any references to demons in the Old Testament. (I think in total demons are mentioned 4 times). But as soon as Jesus goes about preaching in the synagogues, all of a sudden, demons are all over the place. In Mark’s gospel we read how as soon as Jesus went into a synagogue and started teaching, we read: Immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”

What an amazing thing that happened here! A few verses later we read: He went out throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. Jesus does these two things together – he preaches and he casts out demons. Not anybody’s preaching can cast out a demon; only Jesus’s pure, holy teaching can cast them out.

You see, Jesus is the light of the world, and when he steps into the synagogues, the darkness is revealed. It’s like someone who has a messy floor in their bedroom, and all of a sudden someone walks in, turns on the light, and everything is revealed: the clothes, the books, the socks, the shoes, the musical instruments—everything is revealed.

So when Jesus walks into a synagogue, he turns on the light, and all the demons are revealed.

Jesus says to us: Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.

Jesus is actually with us, standing right in our midst, just as he was with his scared disciples on Easter Sunday night, just as he was with Thomas inviting him to look at his wounds, just as he was with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Jesus is making his own disciples in his own church: and when we baptise people and teach them, we can trust that Jesus is with us, baptising them with his own hands and his own mouth, and teaching us with his own voice.

This is such a wonderful mystery! Just think that Jesus is so concerned about us, that he visits us this morning to come and breathe out his Holy Spirit on each of us personally?

And when we are baptised, the first vow we take is this: Do you renounce the devil, and all his works and all his ways? In baptism, Jesus himself comes to speak his own word and cast out demons. And every time we come to hear the word of God, this is not mere people speaking to you, this is Jesus himself speaking to you. He is the one who preaches, who blesses, who comforts, and he is the one who casts out demons and who breathes out his Holy Spirit and says: Peace be with you.

In one of the Lutheran Church’s statements of faith, called the Smalcald Articles, which was written by Martin Luther, he says: Thank God, today a seven-year-old child knows what the Church is, namely, the holy believers and lambs who hear the voice of their Shepherd. For the children pray, “I believe in one holy Christian church.”

Isn’t that a wonderful thing? Isn’t it a blessed and wonderful thing to come together not to hear the voice a mere human being, but to come and hear the voice of Jesus himself?

+++

You know, being a pastor isn’t an easy job sometimes, because there’s a temptation for us to preach to you our own ideas. That’s not the reason why pastors are put here. We’re put here to speak to you only what your Good Shepherd speaks to you in his word. Only our Shepherd’s voice has the power to cast out the demons, and only his voice has the power to unite us with the angels, the archangels and all the company of heaven. So we pastors better make sure that we get this right.

In Acts 6, it says that the apostles devoted themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. Prayer comes first, because without God’s help, there’s no way that we pastors can preach God’s word. That’s why we pastors need to ask people to pray for us.

Martin Luther wrote in the Small Catechism: God’s name is hallowed when the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity and we as the children of God also live holy lives according to it. Help us to do this heavenly Father! Did you hear that last bit? Help, help, help! Help us to do this heavenly Father! You know how much you need God’s help to live a holy life; pastors also need God’s help to teach his word in its truth and purity. Help us to do this heavenly Father!

So in our Gospel reading today, Jesus says: Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.

There are two voices that you can hear in church: you can hear the voice of your Good Shepherd, or you can hear the voice of a thief and a robber. Do you know that it’s your job, your duty, your privilege as laypeople to hold your pastor to account? No pastor should require anybody to do anything that he says, but if it’s the words of Jesus, then the sheep should listen to their Good Shepherd’s voice.

Sometimes people have said to me: Pastor, I don’t want to be annoying, and I’m not educated in theology, but I disagree with something you said. Well, as pastors, we need to listen to you, because St Paul says: To each is given a manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. Sure, you might think that you have a simple or a simplistic faith, and don’t know the bible as well as you think you should, but you too have been given the Holy Spirit. And maybe the Holy Spirit will use you one day to correct your pastor for the benefit of everyone. You sheep need to listen carefully to what your pastors say to you, not to do observe everything we command you, but to observe everything Jesus has commanded you, to listen to his words, to listen to his forgiveness, his gospel, his grace, his peace. Pastors don’t have the power to do anything unless we speak the words of Jesus.

So let’s listen to what Jesus says about false teachers. He says:

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. There is only one door, and that is the Scripture. In fact, Jesus says: I am the door. The door, the gate for the sheepfold is Jesus as he shows himself to us in his word. He says: A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. The Holy Spirit is true God and he will not call people to gather together around a thief. So you sheep need to judge your shepherds on whether or not they are speaking the voice of your Good Shepherd, because there is no other God except for our Lord Jesus Christ whose blood is able to save you. There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

But listen to what Jesus says about himself:

But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. Yes, we hear the sweet Gospel from Jesus’ own lips, he calls us by name and applies the forgiveness of each and every single one of our sins to each one of us. He says: When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

What wonderful gifts Jesus gives to us as our Good Shepherd! He enters by the door, and he shows himself to us from the Scriptures. He allows us to recognise his voice! He sends us the Holy Spirit so that when we hear his word, we receive it and rejoice in it, just like the baby John the Baptist leaped for joy in his mother’s womb! He goes before them, he leads us and guide us and shows the way before us. He says: I am the way, the truth and the life. He lets us enter into eternal life completely through him. If we want to enter through ourselves and our own works, the door will always be shut. But he forgives, he leads us, he saves us through water and the Spirit, and he leads us to good pasture. And he gives us life, eternal life, and lets us enjoy it abundantly. This is not talking about life as in cars, money and success—he’s talking about the life that comes from his wounds, his resurrection, his Holy Spirit, which is the salvation of our souls, the peace and comfort of eternal life.

So let’s hear our Good Shepherd’s voice! And may he descend from his throne right into our midst and pour out his forgiveness upon all our human voices! May he himself preach, cast out the demons, breathe out the Holy Spirit, and may he send us his peace.

Amen.

Lord Jesus, our Good Shepherd, like seven year old children, we are so glad that we know what the church is, and we are glad to be here in your presence and to hear your holy, powerful and comforting voice! Amen.