Monday, April 22, 2024

Sermon - Easter 4 - John 10:11-18

 


I Am Jesus’ Little Lamb

Today is known as “Good Shepherd Sunday”.  As the 4th Sunday in the Easter Season, each year, our lectionary directs us to readings which draw us into one of the grand metaphors that run throughout Scripture – that Christ is our Shepherd, and we the people are his sheep, his flock. 

This is a picture that begins with the first shepherd, Abel.  It is seen in the lives of the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  God leads his people Israel, his flock, through the wilderness to the green pastures of the Promised Land.  The kings of Israel are called “shepherds”, though they were often wicked.  And of course, David, the most famous of these, was himself, literally, a shepherd from boyhood.  And of course David wrote our beloved Psalm 23, “The Lord Is My Shepherd”. 

Jesus, the Son of David, is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep, but also takes that life up again in resurrection, also for the benefit of his sheep.  In John’s Gospel, especially, we see this picture of Jesus, the gate for the sheep, the good shepherd, the one who knows his sheep and the sheep know his voice.

Today, I’d like to preach less on any one particular passage, but on the whole of this biblical theology of sheep and shepherd – and to do it through the framework of one of our beloved hymns on the topic.

Our Lutheran Hymnody is rich and robust, and many of our hymns are as much a sermon in and of themselves.  They are time-tested and well-worn.  As old as some of them are, they have a timeless quality, and many of them are also accessible even to children. 

Today I want to look closer at the hymn, “I am Jesus’ Little Lamb” Written in the 1700s and appearing in most of the hymnals that you and I have known in our lifetimes, this is certainly a well-loved treatment of Jesus as our Good Shepherd.  Its simple words and melody also lend itself as a beloved hymn for children.

When I grew up at St. James Lutheran Church in Baltimore, our local tradition was to sing this hymn every time we had a baptism.  The children of the congregation were also invited forward for a close-up view of the baptism (usually of a baby, of course).  I’m sure it was a bit of a chaotic scene as skads of us kids crowded around the font, jockeying for a better view of the baby, and of this special thing called “baptism”.  Yet thinking back, what a wonderful way to teach little ones that Holy Baptism is precisely how God makes us one of his little lambs, and welcomes us into his loving arms.

The hymn begins, “I am Jesus’ little lamb.”  And therein is already a profound confession.  We are little.  We are helpless little lambs.  We aren’t Jesus’ fierce lions or mighty predators.  We are sheep, and baby sheep at that.  Defenseless, practically helpless, in need of protection and guidance.  That little phrase “Like a lamb led to the slaughter” reminds us how vulnerable lambs are, and of course, that ultimately refers to Jesus’ own sacrifice as the Lamb of God for the sins of the world.  We are little lambs, vulnerable to all the evil and sin of this miserable world – not the least of which comes from our own fallen nature.  With all these dangers around us, and even within us, yet we are still not without hope.  For I am Jesus’ little lamb.  I belong to him.  And that changes everything.

“Ever glad at heart I am – For my shepherd gently guides me, knows my need and well provides me”  Yes, Jesus, to whom I belong, is my shepherd.  And he is a gentle shepherd.  He doesn’t beat the sheep into submission with his rod or staff.  That would be the power of the law, which always accuses, and always kills.  No, he gently guides me with he loving voice of his gospel.  And the sheep know that voice.  It’s a voice of grace, mercy and peace.  It’s a voice that offers free forgiveness.  And it’s the only guidance that brings about any good from me – for the law can’t force good works but the gospel coaxes them out of us.  A joyful response to the grace of God in Christ.

He knows my need – my greatest need – for forgiveness.  And well does he provide it.  Not just by his once and for all death on the cross, but also repeatedly in the means of grace – through his word and in his sacraments he well provides me – forgiveness, life and salvation. 

Yes, he also gives even more – all the physical blessings of this life, and promises of future blessings in a life of the world to come.  “Well provides me” kind of understates the case, doesn’t it?

He “loves me every day the same”.  His love is not fickle or fleeting, but it is constant and sure.  His love doesn’t depend on me, or how naughty or nice I’ve been that day.  But each and every day his unchanging love for me in Christ is just as certain and unwavering.

He “even calls me by my name” – again, in holy baptism each of us is called by name and given God’s gift of forgiveness in such a particular way.  His love is for everyone.  But his love is also very much for you.

“Day by day, at home, away, Jesus is my staff and stay”  Our good shepherd watches over us wherever we go.  There is nowhere we can go that he can’t see us, or won’t watch over us.  Even when we think he’s forgotten us or it seems he’s abandoned us, he hasn’t.  He won’t.  He knows just what his sheep need.

“When I hunger, Jesus feeds me” Yes, daily bread, but also his body and blood in the sacrament.  Jesus feeds me, his little lamb, even in the presence of the enemies.  “into pleasant pastures leads me.  When I thirst he bids me go where the quiet waters flow.”  The pleasant pastures here in this life are where his sheep can find rest, sustenance and water to quench their thirst.  And that can only be the green pastures of his holy church, where our Good Shepherd distributes the goods to his sheep.  But we also have greener pastures ahead of us, in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

“Who so happy as I am?  Even now the shepherd’s lamb” The Christian’s joy runs deeper than anything the world can offer.  For we belong to the good shepherd now, and forever.  “and when my short life is ended by his angel host attended, he shall fold me to his breast, there within his arms to rest”

It’s true.  Life is short.  What do we have, 80 years, 100 at the high end?  The older we get, shorter it seems.  And while this life is a great gift, it isn’t the best of it – we have something even greater waiting beyond.  So when God at last sends his holy angels to carry us to his side, when we are finally with Jesus in paradise, he welcomes us into his loving arms like a shepherd picking up a dear little lamb.  That’s the picture.  But it’s just an earthly picture.  The reality is so much greater, and indescribable, of the joy that we will have in that day, and even more, in the resurrection and life everlasting. 

So on this Good Shepherd Sunday, rejoice in Jesus Christ, you his little lambs.  Your shepherd loves you, cares for you, and will bring you home to himself at the last.  There within his arms to rest.

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