John 10:11-18-27-30
✠ In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ✠
Today’s Gospel says that the hireling doesn’t care much about the sheep because he doesn’t own the sheep. Not much skin in the game, and so when danger approaches, he flees. But that means that there is one who does own the sheep. And that is the Good Shepherd, Jesus. The sheep belong to Him. That’s one of His main points in contrasting Himself to the hired hand. The owner cares about things much more deeply than someone who is simply there to earn a paycheck.
But stop for a minute and consider what that means for you. Jesus owns you. Usually we think of being owned as a negative thing. We resist and rebel against the notion that we belong to another. We want to be free to do whatever we want. We like saying to others, “You’re not the boss of me.” We think of being owned as being dominated and put down, as slavery.
But the truth is that, no matter what we may think, we are dependent creatures; that’s how we’re made. Our existence and our life doesn’t come from within us; it depends on God. We can’t belong to ourselves. We are created to belong to a lord and master. And if we are not entrusting ourselves to the true God, then we inevitably are entrusting ourselves to some idol. That’s why when people desert the church and the Christian faith, they don’t really stop being religious. They are always giving themselves over to some sort of ruling philosophy or spirituality or way of life; they’re always seeking after some idol to serve. People are always going to be religious about something in their life, even if it’s just their hobby or their exercise regimen. You can’t help being owned. In the end, you either belong to the evil one or to God.
And so it is the greatest good news to hear that Jesus is the One who owns us. We are His treasured possession; we are in His safe keeping. He is our Lord, not as an angry slavemaster, but as One who offers us life and protection within the safety of His flock. You have gone from having a hellish master and captor to having a gracious Lord and King. Martin Luther spoke of it this way, “I . . . was captive under the power of the devil, condemned to death, enmeshed in sin and blindness . . . There was no counsel, help, or comfort until this only and eternal Son of God . . . had compassion upon our misery and wretchedness, and came from heaven to help us. Those tyrants and jailers, then, are all expelled now, and in their place has come Jesus Christ, Lord of life, righteousness, every blessing, and salvation, and has delivered us poor lost men from the jaws of hell, has won us, made us free, and brought us again into the favor and grace of the Father, and has taken us as His own property under His shelter and protection.” Notice there how real freedom comes from being the property of Jesus.
So you are owned by the Lord twice over, then, once because He made you, and again because He redeemed you and bought you back with His holy precious blood. As St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6, “You are not your own, you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.”
This is the difference between Jesus and the hireling: The hired hand, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and runs to save his own hide. But Jesus doesn’t run away. He is the one and only true Shepherd and Pastor whom you can always count on. Whereas we tend to look at things that don’t belong to us and say “Someone else will deal with it; not my problem,” Jesus looks at your situation and says, “That’s My problem. It’s not one I caused–but still, I am their Creator, and they are My creatures, and I love them, and I wish to care for them.” The Good Shepherd cares for the sheep like no one else because you belong to Him, and He has compassion on you. He died for you.
Since all of this is so, why then would you live as though you belong to this world, as if the love and approval of other people is more important? Why, when the Good Shepherd speaks to you, would you wander from divine service and listen to shallow entertaining voices? Why, when the Good Shepherd leads you to green pastures and still waters, would you prefer to give your attention instead to those who lead you astray into fleeting pleasures and passing things? Beware of those who say to you, “Don’t be owned; you belong to no one but you. Live for yourself!” They do not truly love you; they cannot give you life. Living for yourself is the way of death.
Today we mark a rather important event which demonstrated how Martin Luther understood this. By the grace of God he was a pastor and teacher who was not like a hireling. He did not run away when the wolves came, the false teachers from Rome. Luther knew personally what it was like to be under the tyranny of the Law, of having to strive to be good enough to be accepted by God and never being able to get there. He had been freed by the Gospel of the pure unmerited grace of Christ. And he cared about the church which was under the same tyranny he had been under. He was a theologian and pastor who wanted to protect Christ’s sheep from the false, works-righteousness teaching of the papist wolves.
And so exactly 500 years ago this very weekend, Luther didn’t flee when he had the chance to save his own skin. He had been called before the holy Roman emperor himself and asked to recant his writings and his teaching. Failure to do so meant that he could be put to death as a heretic. Luther had just been excommunicated by the pope a few months earlier. There didn’t seem to be a way out for him. This event turned out to be a two day affair. On the first day, April 17, 1521, in the presence of the emperor and princes of the empire and church officials in all their finery, when asked to recant, Luther faltered a bit and asked for another day to answer. When he was brought back the next day, strengthened by God in his faith, Luther gave his now famous reply, “Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted, and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not retract anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. I cannot do otherwise, here I stand, may God help me.” Protected by his prince, Frederick of Saxony, Luther was able to depart, and the Reformation carried on.
This is a good example for us to follow in a world that is hostile to the truth of God’s Word. When we are presented with opportunities to confess our faith in Christ, we too may briefly falter. We may be tempted to compromise and go along with the world’s ways in order to keep ourselves out of trouble. But in the end we know that the only voice that is worth following is the voice of the Good Shepherd. How can we be ashamed of the Gospel of Christ who has saved us? Unlike the lords of this world, there is no selfishness in Jesus, only love. He lays down His life even for wandering sheep like us. He speaks His words to you not to dominate you or control you, but because He knows what is best for you, because He desires to lead you to eternal life.
In the end, that is what it means to be a Christian–to hear Christ’s Word and follow Him. And you can’t do that on your own. He has put us all into one flock, and that is where He has promised to be, wherever we are gathered in His name. Lone sheep are wolf food. You need to be gathered together in the flock of the Church, around the table the Good Shepherd has prepared. And the Church is found not where things are hippest or most up to date, nor where things are biggest or oldest, but only where the Word is rightly preached and where that Word is joined to water, bread, and wine as Christ instituted it. There is no being a Christian apart from the flock which gathers to hear the voice of Christ the Good Shepherd.
And what does the voice of your Good Shepherd say to the sheep? He says things like this: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand! Go, and sin no more. I do not desire your death, but that you should turn from your wicked way and live. Rejoice, your King comes to you! I forgive you all your sins; I will wipe away every tear from every eye; I will never leave you nor forsake you; I give you eternal life and you will never perish; nothing can snatch you out of My hand. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise you up on the Last Day; Behold, I make all things new!”
Those are the things your Good Shepherd says to you. Those words are your life. All other words, even if they’re sometimes helpful, are temporary and un-saving; or, all too often, they turn out to be devilishly deceptive and damning. Do not listen to them. Keep your ears tuned to the voice which is saying to you continually, “Repent! Follow Me!” and “I forgive you! Do not fear!”
Christ the Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep, meaning He puts His own body between you and the attacking wolf, between you and death. He takes the attack in Himself. And when death and hell came to swallow Him up on the cross, they seized a bite that they could not swallow. The teeth of the devil were broken, and now his snarling voice is nothing more to you than an empty threat. The devourer was devoured, the destroyer was destroyed, the enemy was routed.
And now, Christ the Good Shepherd prepares this table for you right in the presence of your enemies, right in their face. He feeds you with Himself, so that what happened to the dead body of Jesus on Easter also will happen to your dead body on the last day, the day of resurrection. He leads you through this valley of the shadow of death and out of it. You are His and He is yours.
So it’s not just that you belong to Jesus–that’s wonderful enough. It’s also that He belongs to you. He has given Himself to you and made Himself your own with His whole being. He has sacrificed Himself for you. His life is yours. And so you need fear no evil. He is with you. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow you all the days of your life, and you will dwell in the house of the Lord forever as His very own.
✠ In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ✠
(With thanks to the Rev. Christopher Esget)