4^th Sunday of Easter – Confirmation – at Epiphany on May 3, 2009

John 10:11-18 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. ¹³ The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. ¹⁴ "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me-- ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father-- and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. ¹⁷ The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life-- only to take it up again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."

The sheep of the Shepherd

In a movie classic – “National Lampoon’s Vacation” – Chevy Chase, otherwise known as Clark Griswold, leads his family across the country to their dream vacation at Wally World. Along the way, Clark gets lost several times. One time happened to be in St. Louis. After several wrong turns, the neighborhoods became scarier and scarier, leaving Clark and his family more and more scared themselves. As time wore on, Audrey and her mom started having a very distressed look on their faces and asking, “Are you sure you know where we are?” Confidently, Clark gave the answer every husband knows by heart, “No problem kids, we’re just getting to see a part of America you don’t see every day.” Right after that, several gun shots went off, and he quickly said, “Roll ‘em up!” Their trust in their fearless leader had evaporated and the family was scared to death.

Isn’t that the way we often end up with our Good Shepherd? At the beginning of the trip, like good sheep we say to Jesus, “I’ll follow you wherever you go!” But then Jesus says to kids, “I want you to go the honest way – don’t cheat.” He says to teens – “I want you to take the high road – remain sexually pure until you’re married.” He says to adults – “I want you to take the faithful way – bring your children up in the nurture of the Lord. Support Christian instruction. Be regular in worship. Support My missions and ministry.” And we reply, “Are you sure Lord? That’s kind of hard. Isn’t that asking too much?”

Throughout the Bible we are called sheep. Being called sheep isn’t exactly a compliment. Sheep are weak and helpless, stupid and fearful. On their own, sheep don’t do well at finding adequate food and water. Lost in the wild, they are goners. They have no natural defenses. They can’t even run real fast. One of our 3^rd graders the other day even called sheep “boring.” They are.

Sheep are prone to wandering. The prophet Isaiah says, “All we like sheep have gone astray, everyone has turned to his own way.” We lambs and sheep don’t like to stay close to the flock.

My fellow pastors all note with frustration how prone believers are to wandering. By the way, “pastor” means “shepherd.” We are under-shepherds of the Good Shepherd. That makes the congregation a flock. One of the great frustrations of pastoral work is the constant wandering of the sheep. I’ve already spoken with the confirmands that historically half of all confirmands won’t be in church by this time next year.

We are prone to wandering. We’ll drink from any putrid, polluted puddle that promises refreshment - religions, philosophies, self-help fads. We’ll sample any weed in the pasture that looks tasty, no matter how poisonous it might be. We’ll wander off on our own, thinking we can go it alone. The American breed of sheep is particularly prone to wandering. We are, after all, a nation that admires rugged individualism – the cowboy sitting high atop his horse, the self-made millionaire, the single mom who does it all by herself. Just me and God, thank you. Who needs a congregation or a pastor, when you can do it yourself and dial direct and get all the religion you need off the internet? But remember – the lone sheep, the isolated Christian, is easy pickings for the wolves.

You and I have an inborn tendency that manifests itself in our spiritual restlessness, our boredom at the Good Shepherd’s table, our continual flock-hopping from one church to another, our itch for the novel and exciting over the well-worn ruts of righteousness.

Sometimes the church is like life in a sheepfold. Sometimes it’s crowded and smelly. Sometimes we find sheep we don’t like so much. Sometimes there are fights among the sheep. Sometimes we don’t feel like being shepherded, so we go off on our own.

Left to our own we’d be dead sheep, devoured by the wolves – the wolves of the devil and his demons, the world and its temptations. Had the Son of God not joined the flock by becoming man, we would be doomed by our own sin and death. But this is the heart of the merciful heart of God, the Good Shepherd. He became one of us. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, the way a shepherd dwells among his flock. God didn’t sit there on a throne in heaven saying, “They sure look lost; I hope they find me.” Yahweh, the Good Shepherd, joined the flock. “I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep,” God said through the prophet Ezekiel. God didn’t leave shepherding His people to hired hands. He sent His Son Jesus, to seek and save the lost, to gather the scattered, to be the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.

Jesus says to us, “You are all My sheep. Because I bore your sins in My body. I died that you might live. I laid down my life for you, My sheep. I created you and I redeemed you. You are mine, and I love you. I love you when you’re good, and I love you when you embarrass me. I will discipline you when you need it. I will bandage your wounds when you’re hurt. I will go after you when you wander off. I will protect you and give you all that you need for your life. I don’t promise you “sheep paradise” – your own pasture, your own stream of water without other sheep tramping in it, or your own private, luxurious sheepfold. No, but I promise you myself. I promise that I will never leave you or forsake you. You are not only mine – I am yours.”

You – the lambs and the sheep – you are Jesus’ life. He isn’t a hired hand who runs off at the first sign of danger. For the hired hand, it’s only a job and a paycheck. But the Shepherd lives for the sheep. You are His own, His family. He calls each of us by name, as we do our pets. We hear His voice and follow where He leads. He leads us through places where we don’t naturally want to go, through the dark valleys where predators abound – for our confirmands that could be public high schools, secular universities, immoral and unbelieving friends. Jesus defends us with His rod and staff. If anything wants to get to the sheep, they’ll have to get through the Good Shepherd first.

In His death on the cross, Jesus has already defeated the wolves of sin, death and the devil. He laid down His life for a world of lost sheep. Lifted up on the cross, He drew all to Himself, gathering a sinful, damned humanity in the embrace of a loving shepherd God who is willing to suffer and die to salvage the unsalvageable.

You are the lambs and sheep of the crucified and risen Good Shepherd. He pastures you in the green pastures of His Word. He leads you to the quiet, flowing waters of Baptism. He prepares a table for you, the meal of His own Body and Blood. He gives you this food and drink at the banquet table of His altar. Today these confirmands receive this precious Feast of Victory for the first of many times to come.

He restores your soul, raising you from death to life in Him. He guides you in the paths of righteousness, the way of repentance, daily dying and rising, for His name’s sake. Even though you daily walk through the dark valley of the shadow of death, where threats to your life are all around you, where death and the grave loom large over you, you need fear no evil. Jesus isn’t a shepherd who says, “I’ll meet you on the other side.” Jesus has already walked through the dark valley of death, so He knows the way. He will walk side-by-side with you safely to the Paradise of Heaven. Your Shepherd lives and in Him you live too. The grave couldn’t hold Him, and it can’t hold you either. This is your faith. This is your confidence.

Today our confirmands publicly express their faith and their confidence in Jesus, their Good Shepherd. Not only can you learn from the under-shepherd, today you can also learn from Christ’s lambs. I asked our confirmands why they are willing to face all, even death, rather than fall away from the faith in which they are about to be confirmed. Here are portions of a few of their responses:

“I realize that confirmation is giving me a renewed start as baptism did. I also believe that I can be strong enough to lead my friends on His path.” A lamb leading other lambs to the Shepherd.

Another wrote: “I know that I would do anything, even die, instead of turning away from my faith because this is the true faith. I am ready to do anything to defend it, because without it, I would have nothing. I know that God has given me this faith and that I am His. So even if I die defending it, I will be with him, and no one can take that away from me.” Another wrote: “By being confirmed I am ready to do anything, even die for my Lord and God. The reason I would do this is because I love God and He is my Lord. I am His servant and minister. I want to and need to worship Him.” They are not embarrassed to be called Christ’s sheep. On the contrary, even at their young age, they recognize their need and are grateful that God has not abandoned them in their lost condition. Instead, He has sent the Good Shepherd to guard, feed and lead us. With the sheep of Psalm 23 we are able to say, “Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Another wrote: “I know life in heaven will be without pain or agony and totally peaceful. Anything we suffered from here on earth will no longer be there. I know we will see all of our loved ones and live a blissful existence of eternity. What is there to fear about that? Living here on earth is much more fearful!” Because Jesus, our Good Shepherd, loves us, He may permit us to experience pain and suffering in order to keep us from straying from Him. When the sinful world injures us, He gathers us up in His arms, holds us tenderly, and teaches us dependence on Him. He then leads us through the fearful dark valley of death to the green pastures and quiet waters of a blissful existence in eternity.

Another wrote: “Because I know that my Lord Jesus Christ is going to be with me wherever I go and whatever I do. I know that I will be with the Lord for the rest of my life.” The lambs resting comfortably in the arms of the Good Shepherd. Confirmands have been looking up in faith at this Good Shepherd stained glass window for generations and we pray that these confirmands and the generations that follow them will continue to receive comfort and faith gathered around the Good Shepherd.

Another wrote: “I would rather face death and all that comes before it rather than give up my faith in Christ. Since He already took upon Him the sins of all people, we should at least be able to die to exclaim our love for Christ and choose death over denying Him. The Bible says we’ll be persecuted, so I understand the day will come for me to stand up for what I believe. In the end, we will meet up with Christ in heaven. So if it comes down to me being killed, I could simply look at it like I will be able to see Christ even sooner and enjoy heaven.” The Good Shepherd laid down His life for His sheep. These sheep are willing to lay down their lives for their Shepherd.

The true sign of a sheep of the Good Shepherd is one who is willing to follow – even through the valley of the shadow of death. When difficulties and dark paths and dangerous wolves are near, we might fearfully ask, “Are you sure, Lord? That’s kind of hard. Isn’t that asking too much?” Today these confirmands instead reply, “Lord, where you lead, I will follow.” Amen.