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Sunday, April 29, 2012

“Life Snatchers”

A sermon based upon John 10:1-18
Charles J. Tomlin, DMin
Flat Rock-Zion Baptist Partnership
Easter 5,  April 29, 2012

The closest I ever came to A MAJOR HOIST was when we were living in Western Germany.   As new residence in a strange land, we often traveled TO NEARBY HOLLAND SHOPPING for items we could not find in Germany; soda crackers, salmon, jelly beans, lite Bread, and movies in English.   Once, when returning from one of our day trips, we were stopped by the German police.  What made this more alarming is that this was the day I HAD FORGOTTEN MY GERMAN POCKETBOOK, which had my passport and other papers.   In that pocketbook was the Fuehershein; the registration card for the car.  In Europe, the RULES ARE A BIT STRICTER and clear cut than in the U.S. : whoever has the Fuehershein has the right to drive the car; whoever does not have the Fuehrshein is assumed to have STOLEN the car. 

When the policemen finished looking into our car, they asked us a few questions.  “You just came from Holland, yes?”       “Yes we did!”  I answered quickly and rather nervously.        
“This is your car, yes?”       “Yes it is.”  I said in repeating rapid-fire action, hoping he would not ask for my registration card.   By this time the officer caught my southern North American accent.  
       “You are Americans, yes?”   “Yes, we are working and living here in Germany, I answered.  
“O.K., everything is in order.  Sorry that we had to stop you,” he said, “but there are two thieves who have stolen several famous paintings from the Amsterdam Museum headed this way driving a silver, Volkswagen Passat, just like this one.”          

That’s about AS CLOSE I’VE EVER come ANYWHERE to being involved in a major robbery, except for the picture in today’s Bible text.  Normally, we overlook this part of the text and we focus on the tender picture of Jesus holding tender little lambs. A shepherd caring for his sheep, counting them one by one as they go through the gate— well, all that SOUNDS WARM, fuzzy and wonderful. 

It is wonderful EXCEPT FOR ONE THING: it’s not how this text begins.  It begins in an alarming, DISTURBING TONE: “I assure you,” Jesus says, “anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief an robber!”  R-O-B-B-E-R, Exclamation point!    In the text Jesus spends an ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF TIME telling us robbers who steal sheep. Actually, this passage is Jesus’ own STUDY OF CONTRASTS.  He contrasts those sheep who hear and recognize the voice of their Shepherd and will not follow a stranger (10: 4,5), with the those SHEEP SUSCEPTIBLE to following the robbers who come with only one INTENT; to steal, TO KILL AND TO DESTROY.  Comparing himself and his own ministry with sheep steelers, JESUS SHARES HIS INTENT to be the Good Shepherd, “It is my purpose to give (my sheep) life in all its fulness.”  I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays his life down for his sheep.”  (John 10:10,11).



CAN WE TRULY HEAR WHAT THIS PASSAGE MEANS for our world?    Two things make it somewhat difficult for us.  One is the LACK OF VISIBLE, CONSTANT THREAT OF THEFT around us here in our “relatively safe” pastoral surroundings.  I became aware of a more dangerous world out-there when Teresa and I went on a MISSION TRIP to Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1987.  Brazil is one of those countries where there is a great gulf between the few who have some money and the most without.   The few with money must PROTECT THEIR PROPERTY with walls and high fences.  In order to keep thieves from climbing over, they PROTRUDE SHARP GLASS pieces upward from the tops of the walls.   Will we someday see the need to protect our own property in similar fashion as the gap between rich and poor widens?  We’ve already COME A LONG WAYS from the old south, when we all could keep our doors unlocked with fear.

When I lived in Eastern Europe, I observed how GROWING WEALTH began to DRIVE A WEDGE between the east Germans and certain Polish folks across the river.  As wealth came quicker to one side of the river, THEFT BECAME A CONSTANT.  This new reality was overwhelming to people, who had not been accustomed to any theft during the communist GDR.  Besides, they HAD nothing to THING TO STEAL EITHER.   Think about owning something for the first time in your life and waking up the next morning to find it stolen.   On one night, 6 cars were stolen from our apartment parking lot.  Such a threat of theft was constant .  Once we heard of a thief who was so desperate for cash that he STOLE A LIVE KIDNEY from a shopper standing in line at a popular polish flea market.

Most of us are UNABLE TO UNDERSTAND the SENSE OF LOSS AND VULNERABILITY that theft or robbery can bring to a society.  We are NOT YET AGAIN IN THAT KIND OF WORLD where everything has to be double locked behind thick castle or glass laden walls, or where constant threats of robbery constantly threaten our livelihood.  But that’s HOW IT WAS FOR SHEPHERDS AND FARMERS in Jesus’ day.  Everything A FARMER OR SHEPHERD OWNED COULD BE STOLEN or SUDDENLY DESTROYED. The image of thieves and robbers would AROUSE AND PROVOKE UNSETTLING FEAR in the hearts of the original listeners. 

JUST AS POWERFUL to this passage is the contrasting PLEASANT AND PASTORAL IMAGERY of sheep being cared for by a shepherd.  This too is STRANGE to us.  DONE ANY SHEEP HERDING LATELY?  Are we able to understand this either?   Maybe another story will help.   One thing great about our six years of living in Europe was that often TWO WORLDS MET: the old and the new.  Once we traveled to visit one of the first shopping malls in our area.  After finishing our visit, we proceeded to get on the four lane highway that would take us to the autobahn homeward.  WHAT DID WE MEET at the intersection but over a 1,000 head of sheep coming down the road.  We had to remain stopped as these 4 Shepherds and their sheep dogs to lead this AMAZING MULTITUDE OF HUNGRY SHEEP through the traffic intersection.   Think about having to sit confined in your car as an unending sea of  white chomping creatures bounce you for some 10 to 15 minutes?  Unforgettable.        

A couple of years later, I GOT TO KNOW A REAL LIVE SHEPHERD and was able to visit his farm.  On one occasion I asked him how it would have been possible for different Shepherds to KEEP UP WITH THEIR OWN SHEEP in such a modern, urban setting.    The modern shepherd answered: “Of course, it’s NOT EASY TO CARE FOR SHEEP in a world where there are fewer and FEWER GREENER PASTURES.”  The preacher in me PERKED UP at that moment.   I knew that this was going to be vintage stuff.   He continued: “In the old world there were also constant threats, wolves and thieves. Today the threats to the lives of our sheep are DIFFERENT, BUT NO LESS DANGEROUS.  The shepherd went on, describing his work in ways I could not help but remember:


“The way we protect our sheep today, is not much different than it has been through all the centuries.  The sheep still have to know how to recognize their own shepherd’s voice.  Their very LIVES DEPEND UPON KNOWING WHOSE VOICE they should listen to and follow. They must learn not to trust or follow any other voice than the Shepherd’s.”  

HOW ARE SHEEP TRAINED TO LISTEN TO THE SHEPHERD’S VOICE?   At the end of the day, the modern shepherd, like ancient Shepherds for centuries, GATHER THE SHEEP, CALLING THEM together.  Then he will find and make a narrow passage, a corral, or you might call it a narrow door.  He calls each Sheep by name AS THEY NEAR THE DOOR and then he checks them from head to hoof for injury or disease.  If need be, he treats them on the spot and gives them a cure.  This daily ritual, hearing their Shepherd’s voice and passing through the door, SAVES A LOT OF SHEEP. 

Whether we are speaking of sheep in the farming world or speaking spiritually of our human lives as the sheep of God’s own pasture, OUR VERY LIVES DEPENDS ON WHICH VOICE WE LEARN LISTEN TO.  I wonder WHOSE VOICE those young trenched-coat boys in Colorado where listening too as they gunned down their class mates at Columbine School?   I wonder WHOSE VOICE THOSE TEASERS that made fun of them at a party where listening to when they made bad jokes about them not being very athletic?  I wonder whose voice the PARENTS WHERE LISTENING TO as they did not even know what was going on in the minds of their own children?  I wonder WHOSE VOICE OUR SOCIETY IS LISTENING to as we watch all these terrors happening to America’s children, stealing their own childhood away from them.  I don’t know WHOSE VOICE is heard, but I can tell you WHOSE VOICE IS NOT BEING LISTENED TO in our world.  Fewer and Fewer people are trying to listen to Voice of the great Shepherd.

Whether it is the ancient world or modern world, SHEEP STILL NEED TO HEAR AND RECOGNIZE their Shepherd’s voice.    There are CONSTANT THREATS TO OUR OWN LIVES and the lives of all God’s little lambs.  It’s getting harder to care for sheep in a world where there are FEWER AND FEWER GREENER PASTURES— fewer and fewer places where children, families, any of us,  can feel safe.   There are MANY THREATS THAT JEOPARDIZE our chances of having life to its fullest.   There are loud VOICES that are not his.  There are ROBBERS OF LIFE all around us.  Life has become TOO NOISY AND TO BUSY to listen to the shepherd who can lead us where the wrong voices cannot steal life AWAY FROM US?   

We “all, like sheep have gone astray, the prophet Isaiah has said.  We’ve ALL LISTENED to the wrong voices from time to time.  Other times WE’VE BEEN the wrong voice for others, even our own children.   Perhaps WE’VE RECOGNIZED the voice of the good shepherd calling us home so we can regain our lives, but WE REMAINED SO STUBBORN, so stupid, and so dumb, that even the ANIMALS LOOK GOOD COMPARED TO US; “The ox knows it’s master and the ass knows it’s master’s crib, but my people, Israel, don’t know or consider me”  (Isa. 1:3). 

WHAT IS THAT IS STEALING AWAY OUR LIVES right now?  You recall the movie “Body Snatchers”!   Well, how can I best paint for you the image that WE ALL HAVE “LIFE SNATCHERS” threatening our lives, if we follow the wrong voice.  Many are asking: What CAUSED ALL THOSE VIOLENT KIDS, those parents or our society to follow the wrong voices so that the precious lives of so many are snatched away?  Is it violent video games or movies that’s stealing the innocence of our children?  IS IT THE NOISE OF OUR WORLD that drowns out the voice of the Shepherd, or is it THE WILLFUL TURNING OF OUR OWN DEAF EARS that silences him within us?  WHEN PEOPLE FOLLOW THE WRONG VOICES, they think they are going after life, but WHAT they end up following the biggest robbers of all: Satan, hell, death and destruction.

JESUS KNEW ALL ABOUT THESE LIFE SNATCHERS who steal life away.   He knew about them, because they were HOT ON HIS TRAIL too.   At the very moment the words of our text were spoken, thieves and ROBBERS WERE LYING IN WAIT TO ENTRAP HIM and take his life.   But Jesus wouldn’t let them take him on their terms.  He says, they WILL NOT TAKE MY LIFE— they will not take my life BECAUSE I’M THE GOOD SHEPHERD who “lays down his own life for the sheep”“No one,” says Jesus, “can take my life from me.  I lay down my life voluntarily...” (10:15-18). 

Even WITH HIS TWO HANDS TIED behind his back and finally NAILED TO A CROSS, Jesus was able to keep the “life snatchers” from taking his life.   He gave his life, and WOULD NOT LET HELL HAVE IT.  And in this way, JESUS EARNED THE RIGHT TO BE THE VOICE OF LIFE IN OUR own EARS and in our own lives.  He knows how to live and to die, even to world where there are fewer and fewer green pastures.

Maybe you’ve got a “life snatcher” hot on your trail today?  Maybe you’ve been mislead by the wrong voice and find yourself living in a spiritual desert.   WHAT WE MUST KNOW is that in this world of ours, with “life snatchers” all around, WE DON’T HAVE TO ALLOW OURSELVES TO BE STOLEN away by the deceptive voices intent on stealing us away from God’s purposes and plans for us.   WE DON’T HAVE TO WATCH OUR SOCIETY nor ourselves SLOWLY DIE.  We don’t to be sheep daily led to the slaughter without hope.  WE CAN STOP THE STEALING OF OUR LIVES, the killing of our little lambs, even when we cannot stop all the threats to our lives.  Sheep survive, not because all the evils are taken away, but THEY SURVIVE BECAUSE THEY KNOW WHICH VOICE TO LISTEN TO and WHICH VOICES TO REJECT.  They gain life, when they listen and follow the voice of the one and only one who is the Good Shepherd. 

JESUS HAS THE ULTIMATE POWER OF LIFE in our noisy culture of death.  This is what he means when he says, “ I HAVE THE RIGHT TO LAY IT DOWN when I want to and also THE POWER TO TAKE IT AGAIN...” (John 10:17).  Afro-American slaves recognized this power over life which belongs to good Shepherd alone.  When it seemed that white European robbers and thieves had stolen their lives away-- THEY KNEW WHO REALLY HELD THE KEYS TO LIFE and death.  They resolved to listen the shepherd’s voice amidst all the other voices of death around them.  They sang a song our culture needs to sing again: “Steal away, steal away, steal away to Jesus. 
Steal away, steal away home. 
I ain’t got long to stay here. 
My Lord, he calls me, he calls me by the thunder....
Green trees are bending, the sinner stands a trembling.
...My Lord, he calls me, he calls me by the Lightning.  
The trumpet sounds within my soul;  I ain’t got long to stay here.”1



Of course people THOUGHT THOSE SLAVES WERE CRAZY to sing such nonsense.  “Steal away to Jesus”, What can that mean anyhow?   But PEOPLE THOUGHT JESUS WAS CRAZY TOO, especially when he said that no one took life from him.  PEOPLE STILL WONDER, don’t they?  “What can this gospel of Christ do for our high technological world?”   But in a world where there where people feel less and less at home in their own skin, in their own families and in their own communities; even “lost in the cosmos”, We’d BETTER RENEW OURSELVES TO THE TRUTH THAT only JESUS, the good shepherd, has the life-giving power we all need: ONLY HIS VOICE CAN SAVE US from our own destructiveness and lead us to life in abundance.  

WILL WE LISTEN TO HIS VOICE AND STEAL AWAY to him, instead of letting any more lives be stolen by the forces that threaten to rob life from us all?  “My Lord, he calls me, he calls me in the thunder....
green trees are bending...
sinners stand trembling....
the trumpets resound without our soul.... 
We ain’t got long to stay here.”  
Let us hear his voice and find our lives, now, before we’ve been lead astray!  Let’s “steal away” to Jesus and find rest for our souls, now and forever.  AMEN.

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