John 10:1-6 Listening for Jesus’ Voice

As you listen to the world around you, whose voices are you hearing, whose voices are the loudest, whose voices are you listening to? We need to pay attention to this because our children and youth are also hearing these voices and they are trying to shape what we and our children and youth should believe. Many of them have strong healthy challenges on different social justice issues such as how to protect the environment, homelessness and poverty. We may not always agree with them, but they are working hard to make our world a better place. Then there are those voices that are more controversial and speaking out on issues such as abortion, euthanasia, and sexual identity issues that have divided many people. Many of the voices in this group often insist that those who believe differently than they do no longer really belong in our society. So how do we listen and respond wisely as followers of Jesus?

The Bible often uses the image of a shepherd to describe leaders. Psalm 23 may be the most recognised passage about shepherd leadership, pointing us straight to the Lord. Shepherds hold a special place in the Old Testament and many leaders were shepherds at one time or another; the patriarch Jacob, Moses, the young King David before he became king, and the prophet Amos to name a few. Now Jesus, in these verses and the ones following them, calls himself the good shepherd in verse 11, an echo back to the prophet Zachariah who accused Israel’s leaders of being false shepherds who only used the people for their own benefit instead of protecting and providing for the sheep. In this short parable, Jesus uses the image of sheep and shepherd to describe his relationship with his sheep, his people. In the Middle East, shepherds lead their sheep and the sheep follow, unlike North America where shepherds herd their sheep.

The shepherd enters in by the gate. By entering in through the gate, the shepherd shows that he is the legitimate shepherd, he has the right to enter in and is in control, having authority over his sheep: the people Jesus claims as his own. Jesus is contrasting himself against the Pharisees who had just kicked out a blind man whom Jesus healed out of their presence because he testified about Jesus being from God, a prophet. His parents are afraid because anyone who claimed Jesus was the Messiah would be kicked out of the synagogue, meaning they would lose their place in Jewish society. Jesus is implying that the Pharisees are the ones who come into the sheep pen by another way, an illegitimate way because they’re not the true shepherds. This echoes back to the prophet Zechariah who accused the leaders at that time of being false shepherds who only cared about the sheep as long as they were able to benefit from them. These are harsh accusations by Jesus, but he cares about his people, he cares about their relationship with God, his Father and he hates that the Pharisees focus on the rules of religion and create fear instead of inviting them to listen to their God who has protected, saved, provided for, and loves his people.

Jesus enters into the sheep pen where a number of flocks of sheep are kept overnight, and as he enters in he begins calling his sheep by name and they recognise his voice and come to him. They know who they belong to, the other sheep simply ignore this shepherd, waiting for their shepherd to come for them. The sheep respond because they trust their shepherd, knowing that they’re safe in his care, that he will provide for them, and will lead them to safe pastures, protecting them from the dangers that lurk around.

We are Jesus followers. As I look at my own life, I can say he has always provided for us, even if it wasn’t always easy. Providing and protecting doesn’t mean easy or not having to sacrifice, sometimes much more than we might want, yet Jesus calls us to trust him, to follow him to listen to his voice. Yet it’s not enough to simply listen for Jesus’ voice, we need to distinguish his voice from all the others that are shouting for our attention, and we need to respond to Jesus’ voice. Jesus has shown us he’s our true shepherd, our good shepherd by coming to take our place on the cross so that we can experience freedom from sin and death and new life. How do you listen and do you listen in order to hear? At home I listen to Joyce and my family, but I will admit that there are times I listen but don’t really hear and it can be the same in our relationship with Jesus. So now we go back to the question at the beginning, whose voices are loudest in your life, whose voices are you listening to the most, are you listening to Jesus’ voice and responding to his nudges, to his leading, to him as your shepherd.

How do you prepare yourself to listen well to Jesus’ voice? For myself, I need quiet times in my day where I talk to Jesus and ask him for wisdom and guidance. I need to take time regularly to get into nature and tell Jesus I’m listening, but I need to do that along with reading the Bible regularly, not for information about God, but to listen to Jesus’ voice and who he’s calling me to be and where he’s leading me as a person, husband, father and grandfather and pastor. I listen to Jesus by listening to people and leaders I know are wise and following Jesus as best they can, trusting that Jesus also speaks through people in my life and in the church. Serving others often helps me listen to and hear Jesus. But it’s not enough to just listen for Jesus’ voice, we’re called to respond and follow him where he leads, not simply where we want to go. Are you trusting him with your life and following him?

Do you respond to the nudges the Holy Spirit often gives us to reach out or bless others? Do you walk through the day asking yourself if what you are doing pleases Jesus? Responding well is doing the work of loving others, caring, and getting involved in helping and blessing people around you. Responding shows you know Jesus. Matthew 25 shows us what listening and responding looks like, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

Jesus has placed shepherds in his church, shepherds who listen to his voice so they can lead his church where he is leading us. This morning we installed an elder as a shepherd under Jesus and next week we will install one more, shepherds of Jesus who are also your shepherds. As we move forward into the months and years ahead, are you willing to listen to their voices as they lead you as they follow their shepherd Jesus? Their prayer is to train you to listen and respond to Jesus’ call on your life, following where Jesus leads us, trusting that he knows what he’s doing and where he’s leading us.

Loving Well 1 John 4:7-21

It’s hard to raise our children or grandchildren today to care deeply and love others well and properly when we hear so much anger and hatred spewed in public today. Our politicians, who should model respect and decency often seem to care only about scoring points against their opponents. There’s racism, hatred and fear directed towards those who are different and it’s played out on social media so our children and youth are saturated in it. Today’s our country’s birthday and there are so many things to celebrate about living in Canada, yet there still seems to be a lack of love for people who are different. Even among churches there can be a lack of love because of differences which comes out in negative, hurtful language. Yet this isn’t anything really new, John is called the apostle of love because he keeps reminding people that the good life is a life of love.

There are a number of words for love in Greek, the word translated as love in this passage is agape. Father John Bakas writes, “The most powerful word in the New Testament is AGAPE...the Greek word for love. It is sacrificial seeking to serve. The word “agape” is rarely found in ancient Greek literature. It only appears in Homer ten times. Three times it appears in Euripides. But it appears 320 times in the New Testament. Agape is sacrificial. It says, I love you when you are not very lovable. Agape is the cross, extending its arms to embrace all humanity. Agape loves when it is not always convenient and when it is not reciprocated. It extends to both the deserving and the undeserving.”

Paul calls us to love one another, to sacrificially love each other, whether the person deserves it or not, even if it’s hard to love or like them. Paul roots this love in God, “everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God because love comes from God.” Love is a verb, a way of being, living and interacting with people. Love is how you live with people, especially people you don’t care for, disagree with, or want to go away. God loves us by sending Jesus, his own son, to be a sacrifice for our sins. This is what agape love looks like. You know the verse, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” God now calls us to live out of gratitude for Jesus’ sacrificial love.

“Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” When I read this and think about it, love is tied to suffering. God’s love took Jesus to the cross. Love’s not all fairy tales and happy ever after, love leads to different kinds of suffering because it calls for sacrifice. Joyce and I celebrated 37 years of marriage this past week and this is something we’ve learned at a deep level in our family. When you love, you offer others a piece of your heart and they won’t always treat it well, gently, or with respect. God knows this suffering that comes from loving us with agape love, it cost him his son, because sin entered into the world through the breaking of relationship by Adam and Eve.

Throughout history, God looks down and has compassion on his people as he sees their suffering and this stirs his love. Over and over again it’s told that Jesus saw the suffering of the people and he’s filled with compassion and love. On the way into Jerusalem just before Jesus is crucified, he weeps for the people because he sees the hurt in their lives, the suffering that’s coming, the reality of how sin has broken so much in the world and is going to continue to bring suffering until he returns to end all suffering.

Love brings suffering and the deeper the love, the greater the suffering. When you’ve been married and intertwined your lives together so that you’re one and the Lord calls one of you home, or when a child you have poured love and hope into is taken home by Jesus, the suffering enters deep into your soul. There’s the brokenness of betrayal from someone you love, whether it’s a spouse or child, the hurt goes deep because you love deeply. The only love that counters hurt this deep is the love of Jesus, a redeeming love that says, “I understand your pain, I was there, and I am with you now.”

In one of her latest blog posts, as she watches her daughter working with her dad in the fields breaking the earth for seed, Ann Voskamp writes, “Relationship is the essence of reality — and to have a relationship, you have to learn how to suffer—and to suffer like Christ, because this is love. Tell that to the newly weds, the new parents, the new graduates, this brave new world. When you are most loving—suffering will most likely result. Doing the right thing may not look like success but like suffering—and that may be the most successful of all. Doing the right thing—may mean suffering through things—because things are broken in this world. But this isn’t the sexy or trendy thing to concede, so nobody’s trying to hawk this on the social media streams or the shelves of Target and my heart kind of breaks. Watching the breaking up of the earth down the expanse of the field, it can come: Is God’s definition of love about breaking our happiness—or breaking us free from the self-love that threatens to imprison us all? This is the question that can reshape our world. God is love—doesn’t translate into: God is about my desires. God is love—doesn’t mean God is about self-fulfillment. God is love—means to deny self. God is love—means God is about suffering. God is about being broken open and poured out. Love doesn’t win if you’re really just loving yourself.”

Paul writes, if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. This is why we’re given the Holy Spirit, to guide us to acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God, and when we do, we know that God lives in us and we live in God. The question then is, do we love each other with an agape love, a love that is sacrificial and focused on being a blessing to others because this is who God is, what Jesus revealed to us in his life and teaching; a love that is about denying ourselves for our brothers and sisters and Jesus. When Paul tells us that God is love, it’s self-sacrificial agape love that’s not afraid to suffer. Jesus knows that love draws people to him, that love saves lives, that love conquers over a host of sins. It shows people who experience this love that they matter, that they are noticed. This kind of love drives away fear because we know that we don’t stand alone, that Jesus stands with us. Are we willing to pay the cost, to put others first, to love and welcome the unlovable, to embrace those who are different and allow them to guide us into knowing Jesus through different eyes, are we willing to sacrifice our dreams and wants so others can come to know Jesus’ love for them?

Love gives us confidence as we journey through life. Children with parents who are serious about their own faith in Jesus and helping their children grow in Jesus, learning to love like Jesus, modelling Jesus love in their own lives, raise children who are able to face life without fear and confidence because they have experienced the blessings seeing the power of agape love lived out. This is why we do mission trips, this is why we are rebooting our youth ministry this fall, but mission trips and youth ministry alone are not enough. As parents you need to place Jesus first and teach your children to put Jesus first. I know you want them to have the things of the world, to fit in and have whatever you feel you missed out on, but if you want children who grow up into adults who know what deep meaningful love is and how to love well, children who can change the world, it begins with teaching them to focus first on Jesus and his love by modelling it yourself.

Grandparents, you also have a role to play, sharing your stories of God’s love, of Jesus’ presence in your life and modelling it in your lives. A grandparent’s influence is powerful, especially when you are working with your children and church family to raise them to be Jesus followers who love as Jesus loves. It all comes down to the fact that we love because God first loved us. Shaping our lives and our church around this will impact your families and the community in powerful ways as we live it out in relationship with all those God has placed in our lives.

Philippians 2:1-18 Making Disciples: Our Character Makes a Difference

One of the things I have learned over the years about inviting people to follow Jesus is that many people judge God and Jesus by the character of the Christians they know, and to a certain extent, I can easily understand that. If they see compassionate, loving, grace-filled, humble followers of Jesus, this is how they first see Jesus; but if they see fighting, proud, isolated, demanding followers of Jesus, then this is how they first see Jesus. So often it’s through who we are and our character that people first meet Jesus. People look to see who we are before they accept what we say.

Character has been defined as who we are when no one is looking. John Wooden put it this way, “Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are. ‘The true test of a person’s character is what they do when no one is watching.” Our character is shaped by how much we allow Jesus into our hearts, minds and souls. If we keep Jesus out of certain places in our lives, it’s not that he rejects us, but we miss out on some amazing joy and being used more deeply by Jesus.

Many of us are older and we’re at a point where we’re looking back more than forward, and yet we desire to leave a legacy, a way of being, some way of being remembered through what we’ve accomplished. How you live and who you are as a person, not what you accomplish, speaks more loudly in your legacy. Making disciples is a living legacy that speaks into lives for more years into the future than we could ever imagine. Our character, who we are as followers of Jesus, is the beginning of making disciples, whether the disciples we make are our children or grandchildren, neighbours, co-workers, fellow students or whomever Jesus brings into our lives.

This letter Paul writes to the church in Philippi has often been called the letter of joy. Paul planted the church here, while church history records that the physician Luke who wrote the Gospel of Luke and Acts was its first pastor. Luke’s compassionate nature rubbed off on the church, as Paul is writing because while in prison in Rome, the church here took up a collection to help Paul’s mission work and to support him. But every church has difficult stuff happen and it seems here that Paul, in a round about way, addresses the feud going on between Euodia and Syntyche that we find out about in chapter 4, by pointing the church back towards Jesus and Jesus’ character, calling them to embrace Jesus’ character to shape their own.

It seems there’s a problem having to do with selfish ambition and vain conceit when we read between the lines here. Paul tells us that if we’re getting anything at all from following Jesus, whether it’s encouragement, comfort, a common sharing in the Holy Spirit, tenderness and compassion, then be like-minded, have the same love, and be of one spirit and mind, oh and by the way, be humble. It hurts Paul to see people that he cares a lot about having feuds between them. It seems he knows something about what’s going on, which is why he calls them to be like-minded, which doesn’t mean we have to all think and believe the exact same things, it means having the same approach and commitment as they follow Jesus.

I’ve served on many boards and organizations and I haven’t always agreed with everyone about everything. I know that might surprise some of you! But I worked hard at remembering the main reason, the main point of what the organization was about and committed myself to putting the organization’s needs first, before how I wanted things to go. This creates unity. This is behind what Paul is getting at here about being like-minded. It rests in humility, “in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” There’s something uniquely character shaping that happens when you practice submissive humility for the goal of like-mindedness. Paul then calls us to have the same mindset or attitude as Jesus.

This passage always reminds me of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane where he cries out to his father for a different way of accomplishing God’s plan. In the Gospel of Mark Jesus tells his disciples, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” Yet in the end, Jesus humbly tells his father, “Not what I will, but what you will.” Because Jesus has the same goal, wanting to save people from sin and Satan, he trusts his father and follows his father’s way. It’s not always easy, yet when we trust Jesus, seek him consistently, open ourselves up to his leading, allowing him to change our minds and hearts; when we shape our lives around obeying Jesus in every part of our life, our character grows more Christ-like and people notice that. One of the big things I’ve noticed in my life and the lives of others who decide to fully trust Jesus and give him the steering wheel in their life journey, is that we become more loving and gracious, more humble and happy as we work at having the same attitude as Jesus. This grabs people’s attention and as they see us change, they’re open to hearing why we’ve changed, giving us opportunities to tell them about how Jesus changed us and how he’s there for them too.

What does it look like to have the same attitude as Jesus? Paul tells us it begins with a serving spirit, a caring for others attitude that is willing to put others first. This is cross attitude. Jesus came to earth as a human because we sinned and this broke our relationship with God. God could have simply started over again, but because of his great love for us, God puts our interests first and so Jesus comes and goes to the cross to take away our sin. Jesus dies and rises again, defeating sin and death and now calls us to live lives of gratitude and humble sacrificial love and lead others to him.

Paul puts some oomph in this when he calls us to “in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests, but each of you to the interests of others.” Paul points us straight to Jesus, “have the same attitude as Christ Jesus: who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his advantage; rather he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself be becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” Valuing others about yourself, so different from what our culture teaches, something so against what we naturally want, and yet in valuing others above yourselves, you are teaching your mind and heart to look for the image of God in each person you encounter. You begin to recognize how deeply Jesus loves them, and our hearts and souls change as Jesus’ love for them shapes us and our love grows deeper. This is character shaping stuff and it develops humility, grace and a deeper obedience to God as we become more and more who God has created us to be. This leads us to worship where we acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Paul brings us to the “why,” “Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.” As we become more like Jesus, shaping our character around who Jesus is, we shine, not just like a candle on a hill, but like stars in the sky. We become more beautiful in the eyes of the community where Jesus has placed us, making it more likely people will listen to our testimony of who Jesus is and how he is the son of God who has come to make all things right again. Our goal is for more people to acknowledge Jesus as their Lord, to the glory of God.