Birthdays, Fatherhood, and Faithfulness

You know how Facebook will send you memories as the not-so-subtle prod to you to stay active on the site? Sub-text: “Post something for crying out loud!” Well, I got one of those this past week of the day I baptized my youngest daughter. She was just about to turn 1. This week she turns 12! I’m not sure Facebook intends it, but nowadays it basically amounts to just one big reminder that I’m getting old. I don’t spend much time on Facebook any more. But it did get me reflecting on life a bit…and the things that matter.

We were both so young then:)

It made me think of my father actually. He is retired now, and he and my mom live down the street from us. From the world’s point of view my dad was very successful. My dad has actually lived the American Dream really. My dad grew up in a small blue collar town just outside of Erie, Pennsylvania. His dad was a cop and his mom drove a school bus, and after he graduated my dad went to college then graduate school in Pittsburgh. He got a good job in city development and worked his way up, eventually starting and running his own commercial real estate company, which he finally merged with an international firm. He is a success story. A small town, blue collar kid turned into a big city, white collar executive. I once asked him how much he thought he had made over his career…possibly an inappropriate question, but I’ve never been one to worry about being appropriate;). My dad said, “I don’t know Sean. It was a lot, but it’s all gone now.” Context: I am one of 7 kids in my family of origin. Having a lot of kids meant that he had a lot of mouths to feed. He gave us all the amazing gift of paying for our college educations. Starting out life without debt is huge! And 5 of those kids are girls, which meant my parents paid for a lot of weddings too. Hence his hilarious answer to my question: “I don’t know. It was a lot, but it’s all gone now.”

He did not retire a millionaire. He doesn’t live in a huge mansion driving fancy sports cars. But he and my mom are content. They consider themselves blessed, and it’s because of one of the other things he said to me during that same conversation. He said when things got really tight at times, when the unexpected happened like jobs not working out the way he expected, or finding out that one of their daughters had cancer, or when his own kidneys were failing, and more . . . because the truth is life is never simple and is never quite what it seems to be on the surface even when you are living the American Dream . . . no matter how rough it got my dad said the Lord always provided what they needed. He always took care of them, and He always carried them through. The Lord was always faithful to them, to us. That is my father’s witness to me. That is the greatest thing that he has taught me about being a father to my girls . . . dependence on the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus to us.

And this is the Christian picture of life…one of learning more and more of God’s faithfulness to those he loves. It’s exactly the good news that Jesus tells us in our gospel reading from this past week in John 10. That he is the Good Shepherd and he cares for his sheep. Jesus is telling us who he is and what he does for us.

We are certainly in there. We are the sheep after all. But what does that say about us? Well, it says that we’re valuable, that we matter…we’re important to the Shepherd. And at the same time, it is picture of a group that has a lot of needs. This would not have been lost on Jesus’ disciples and audience. They would have had a lot of experience with sheep and what they require. One of my seminary professors was an actual shepherd before becoming a pastor and teacher, and he told us that the main thing about sheep is that they cannot take care of themselves. They need to be cared for. They need protection from predators. Jesus is clear that we sheep live in a dangerous world where there are thieves, robbers, and wolves…and we are unable to defend ourselves against them. Sheep need protection from outside threats, but they also need protection from themselves at times. My professor told us that sheep will even eat themselves to death if they are too hungry or find grass that they really like. They will just keep going and not know when to stop. It’s like me with donuts…I just can’t stop. Sheep also wander off all the time and get lost. They need someone who will go after them and call them home. They are really not that smart. They need a lot of care. That’s us. If you wanna know what we bring to the table in this passage…that’s it…a whole lot of need, nothing else.

Like looking in a mirror

That will sound like bad news to you if you think you are independent, if you think you are winning this game of life. You might balk at Jesus calling you a sheep. But if you have ever experienced life not working out like you expected…if you, like my parents’ story, have gone through or are going through right now a real rough time, then hearing that description of being a sheep is not a surprise. It rings true. You know how needy you really are or at least you’re starting to.

And that’s why it is such good news that Jesus is telling us about himself here, this passage is about HIM, and he makes us promises in this passage that answer our need. He gives us a picture of life in him…it is a picture of safety in the midst of a dangerous world. Jesus first tells us that he calls his sheep by name and leads them out. He knows our tendency to wander off; he knows that we are lost on our own…we’re like a sheep without a shepherd, and he promises us that he calls us…he pursues us and brings us back to safety, brings us back to himself. And he does it in a way that we will hear, that we will respond to…he calls us by name.

And he makes an amazing promise about us. He tells us that: “When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.  A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” He is telling us that when we have been called by him we will follow him, we will know his voice. We will not follow strangers. We will follow his voice because we know we belong to him. He is our safety.

He describes the fact that there are thieves and robbers and wolves that are after us and only seek to steal, kill, and destroy. This is the dangerous world we live in. We all know them. They might be literal thieves and robbers. You might have people in your life that are out to get you or are set against you. At the same time, this also includes the unexpected events of life that cause you fear and anxiety, that discourage you, that rob you of your peace. Maybe it is illness for you or a loved one. Maybe it is addiction. Maybe it is loneliness. Maybe it is a broken relationship. Or missing someone you’ve lost. Whatever it is in your life right now you understand what Jesus means when he talks about the thief. You understand the danger of this world.

And what does Jesus tell us? He tells us that he is stronger than the thief. He is stronger than anything that comes to steal, kill, and destroy. He tells us that he is the door for us and that we are saved through him. In him we will find pasture, in him we will find all that we need. We will be safe. He tells us that he “came that [we] may have life and have it abundantly.” The predators of this world, and the ultimate thief, the Devil, may try to destroy all we have, and there may be times when it even seems like it’s working…when we feel lost, when we feel discouraged, when we feel destroyed. But Jesus promises us that he gives us life and life more abundantly. He says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

He promises to protect you at all costs. Nothing will get to you unless it goes through him first. He promised to sacrifice everything for you, and he did. He laid down his life for you so that you may have life and have it abundantly. That means that even when it seems like the thief is winning, even when life has gotten very rough, you have this promise that Jesus is your protector. Jesus is your defender. Jesus is your Good Shepherd. Just like in my dad’s testimony to me, even in the midst of financial struggles, in the midst of cancer, in the midst of kidney disease Jesus proved faithful to him, and he will to you too. He promises to. You can count on it…you can hold him to it. In your prayers remind him that he promised to be your Good Shepherd. He promised to protect you. He promised to lead you and to give you life and life more abundantly. There’s nothing he likes more than when his children remind him of his promises because that is what he is completely committed to doing…to keep his promises. To prove faithful to you. We know this is true because he laid down his life for his sheep. He laid down his life for you…he made this covenant with you in his own blood…and as he says in verse 18, he took his life up again.

This is the power of Jesus for you…the might of your Good Shepherd. Nothing will stop him from keeping this promise for you even death itself. He will take death, and he will use it to bring you more life. He has already done it. He has risen from the dead for you, so that your sins are forgiven and removed from you for ever…and so that you might have eternal life with him. Even your death, the ultimate weapon of the enemy, is now redeemed by Jesus Christ. It is just the way to new life. This is the Christian life. He will prove faithful to you. He is the Good Shepherd. He is your safety. Enter in through him today and be saved, find that good pasture. Enter in through him today and find peace. Amen.

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