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<DIV>Sermons for Easter 4: </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> John 10:22-30 – <B>“So
Who Needs a Shepherd?”</B></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> John 10:22-30 –
<B>“</B><B>The Color Wheel of Blindness”</B> by Leonard Sweet</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">_________________________________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The full text of the following sermon is
available at <A title=http://www.sermons.com/
href="http://www.Sermons.com"><FONT
color=#800080>www.Sermons.com</FONT></A>.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">John 10:22-30, the sermon titled “So Who Needs
a Shepherd?" </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=4
face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">One Sunday morning, following the church
service, a layman accosted the pastor and said, “Tom, this church has been
insulting me for years, and I did not know it until this week.” The stunned
pastor replied, “What on earth do you mean?” “Well,” said the layman, every
Sunday morning the call to worship in this church ends with the words, ‘We are
the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand.’ And I have heard ministers
over the years call the congregation, God’s flock.’ Then this past week I
visited the Chicago stockyards. There I discovered that sheep are just
about the dumbest animals God ever created. Why, they are so stupid that
they even follow one another docilely into the slaughterhouse. Even pigs
are smarter than sheep, and I would certainly be angry if my church called me a
pig’ every Sunday morning. So I’m not at all sure I want to co me to
church and be called a sheep’ any longer...even God’s sheep’.”</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The man had a point. But whether we like
it or not, that is the language of the Bible: both the Hebrew Bible and the
Christian New Testament. We are called “God’s sheep.” The favorite psalm
of many people is the 23rd, and it begins by saying, “The Lord is my
shepherd...” And if “the Lord is my shepherd,” then I am one of the Lord’s
sheep. Centuries before Christ, the prophet Isaiah said to his people:
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the
Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53:6) From the Bible, we
have taken this pastoral imagery over into the Church. One of the symbols
of the office of bishop across the centuries has been the shepherd’s crook, that
long staff with a hook on the end. And ministers are often called
“pastors.” In the dictionary, one of the meanings of “past or” is “shepherd,”
coming from a Latin word which means “feeder.” At the end of the Fourth Gospel
we have that final resurrection appearance of the Lord by the Sea of Galilee
when He asked Peter three times whether he loved Him, and Peter answered three
times that he did. And Jesus said to Peter, “Feed my sheep.”</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The word “pastor” is a common one used to refer
to an ordained person who is in charge of a congregation. Sometimes I
wonder whether it is not a bit anachronistic, coming as it does from a rural,
pastoral metaphor which seems rather out of date in our busy, urban,
industrialized society…</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">1. Pastoral Language in a Modern World</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">2. The Messianic Claim of the Good
Shepherd</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">3. Who Needs a Shepherd? We Do!</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The rest of this sermon following the outline
above can be obtained by joining <A title=blocked::www.eSermons.com
href="http://mail.churchmail.com/lists/admin/FCKeditor/editor/dialog/www.eSermons.com">www.eSermons.com</A>.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">_______________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The full text of the following sermon is
available at <A title=http://www.sermons.com/
href="http://www.sermons.com/"><FONT
color=#800080>www.Sermons.com</FONT></A>.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">John 10, the sermon titled “The Color Wheel of
Blindness” </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=4
face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">When anxious teenagers finally go to get that
sovereign rite of passage into adulthood called the “driver’s license,” they
have to pass a tricky written test and a nerve-racking driving test. But there
is a third test they must pass as well: A vision test.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">It is one of the odder quirks of the DMV
(Division of Motor Vehicles) that the eye exam is often given last — suggesting
that knowing the rules and operating a vehicle are more important than being
sure you can see where you are going!</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">For most drivers, the eye exam is nothing,
takes virtually no time, and hardly registers as a “test.” That is, until you
reach a certain age. For older drivers the one exam they cannot study for, the
one skill they cannot improve with practice, the one exam over which they have
the least control, becomes the biggest obstacle to renewing their license.
Degenerating eyesight, either because of cataracts, glaucoma, astigmatisms, or
just increasing near- or far-sightedness, ends the driving careers of many older
adults.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">In driving, there comes a time when experience
and insight don’t help. What is required is eyesight.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The problem with the old adage “what you see is
what you get” is that vision is surprisingly subjective. Ask any police officer
trying to get eyewitness reports at the scene of an accident and they will
confirm that ten witnesses will give ten very different versions of the event.
They eye might be an amazing piece of biological equipment. The eye might be a
remarkable camera. The eye might be a feat of unparalleled divine imagination.
But the information behind the images the eye spies is processed by our whole
being. Every “picture” our eyes take is colored, clouded, focused, and framed,
by a lifetime of experiences and expectations.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">As Jesus strolled around the temple during the
festival of Dedication, his image was at odds with the picture of a Messiah that
the Jewish people had come to expect. The Festival of Dedication commemorated a
military-religious triumph. Under the leadership of Judas Maccabee (aka “Judah
the Hammer”), the Syrians were sent packing. The so-called “desolating
sacrilege” (1 Maccabee 1:59) of a pagan altar constructed within the temple was
torn down. A new altar was constructed and sanctified. The Jewish victors
celebrated, confident that God’s presence had once again been established and
ensconced within the temple.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Jesus did not look like any “Judas the Hammer”
or talk like one either. Jesus did not speak of running the Romans out of town
on a rail. Jesus talked about being a “Good Shepherd.” Jesus spoke of
self-sacrifice. Jesus likened the faithful to “sheep,” not mighty warriors.
Jesus offered protection and presence, not triumph and glory.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">To “the Jews” who questioned his identity and
challenged him to tell them “plainly” if he were the Messiah, Jesus just didn’t
look right or sound right. His words and images were not what they
expected.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">How could suffering bring salvation?</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">How could weakness bring strength?</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">How could a shepherd stand up against a
soldier?</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">How could the presence of Almighty God reside
in such a humble spirit as this Jesus?</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">These Jews failed their vision test...</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The rest of Leonard Sweet's sermon can be
obtained by joining <A title=http://www.sermons.com/
href="http://www.sermons.com/"><FONT
color=#800080>www.Sermons.com</FONT></A></DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">______________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=4
face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Humor: The Trouble with Self-atonement</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">I share one of my favorite stories that I once
clipped from the Readers' Digest. A gentleman wrote in and told of this real
life encounter. "While I was sitting in my parked car on the street one day, a
young woman in the car ahead came over and asked me if I had a hammer that she
could borrow. When I said no, she got one from the man in the car in front of
hers. She then proceeded to smash out the vent pane on the side of her car.
After returning the hammer, she opened her door, took out the keys and waved
them at us with a triumphant grin. As she drove away, the fellow who lent her
the hammer came over to me and said, ''If only she had told me what she wanted
the hammer for I think I could have helped her. I am a locksmith.''"</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Oh, the brokenness we bring into our lives when
we try to do a self-atonement job and fix our fallen nature. <BR> <BR>Eric
S. Ritz,
www.Sermons.com <BR>____________________________________<BR> <BR>Confirming
the Testimony</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Some time ago I came across this short story
called, "Whom Should You Ask?"</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">An Amish man was once asked by an enthusiastic
young evangelist whether he had been saved, and whether he had accepted Jesus
Christ as his Lord and Savior?</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">The gentleman replied, "Why do you ask me such
a thing? I could tell you anything. Here are the names of my banker, my grocer,
and my farm hands. Ask them if I've been saved."</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">There is a sense that one cannot testify to
one's self. When Mohammed Ali testified, "I am the greatest," that meant nothing
until his works testified to that fact. In a sense, someone claiming, "I am a
Christian" is invalid until there is someone or something else that confirms
that testimony.</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">Brian Stoffregen, Exegetical Notes</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt">____________________________________</DIV>
<DIV style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"> </DIV></BODY></HTML>