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I read a story recently about an old time butcher who, on one afternoon, had sold all of his poultry except one hen. 

'What's Good About the Good Shepherd? May 2, 2009, Cicero United Methodist Church

            Text: John 10: 11-18    The Fourth Sunday of Easter     Jack Keating

    I read a story recently about an old time butcher who, on one afternoon, had sold all of his poultry except one hen.

    A woman came in and asked him for a hen. The butcher weighed his one chicken and said

it would be $1.85. "Do you have a larger one?", she asked. Thinking quickly the butcher took the chicken back to the ice barrel, stirred it for a bit, and came up again with the same hen. Weighing it he announced that this bird would be $2.00.

    "I'll take both of them!", the woman replied.

    Our lesson this morning from John's gospel concerns this same idea of integrity. The butcher in the story probably turned many different shades of red when the lady asked him for both hens since he had only one. He wasn't being too honest with her, he certainly wasn't being nice and now he was caught in his lack of honesty. Well Jesus is not talking about butchers this morning, but he is telling the people a parable about a good shepherd, a shepherd who was honest, caring, compassionate, and willing to die to take care of his sheep. Jesus is telling us something about himself, as he is the good shepherd for our lives.

    He is telling us, through this parable, three things about himself as the good shepherd.

    I think Jesus uses this parable about shepherds because the people in his day knew the kind of life that a shepherd lived; it was a difficult life, a hard life. A shepherd felt he had a calling at a young age to tend sheep, so he spent his whole young life learning how to care for the sheep, then the rest of his adult life tending the sheep, fighting off the animals that would attack and eat the sheep and sometimes fighting off robbers who would steal the sheep.

    It was a lonely life, a difficult life, but if the shepherd did his job well everyone would know that he was a good shepherd. So Jesus uses what people would understand .... A parable about shepherds to tell us something about himself, that he is the good shepherd of our lives.

    But before we look at what is good about the good shepherd it might help us to better understand the word good in the Greek language, the native tongue in which the New Testament was written.

    There are two words that can be translated into our English word GOOD. The first, agathose implies a moral and efficient quality about a person. A person is good because they can perform their assigned task well.

    But there is also another word that also means GOOD and it is kolos. This word not only means what the other did .... But it adds the quality of loveliness or attractiveness to it. This is the type of goodness that makes us feel wanted and secure.

    Jesus as the good shepherd or as one translation puts it .... The model shepherd .... who brings to the job not only the strength and courage of an earthly shepherd, but also the qualities of beauty and kindness which help us call him friend.

    So, now that we have laid the foundation for Jesus being the Good Shepherd of our lives, the model shepherd, we can see what is so good about him and why he is the "model shepherd."

    First Jesus says, that the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He wasn't in it for the money, or the glory, and Jesus would not flee when the trouble came. Instead he was willing to lay down his life, to sacrifice his life for us so that we might gain favor with the Father in heaven.

    I read about a pastor once who was visiting a sheep ranch and saw a very strange sight. It looked to him as though one of the sheep had 2 heads and 8 feet! Now, knowing that he was a "tea-totaler", he asked the rancher about it. The rancher explained that one of their sheep had a baby but then the mother died. They tried to give the orphan sheep to another mother sheep, but when she smelled it she rejected it. Then they skinned the dead sheep and put the skin on the live lamb. And now the mother sheep accepted the lamb as her own and cared for it.

    In a like manner, Jesus as the Good Shepherd died for us as the Lamb of God, and God accepts us because we too are clothed with the Lamb's robe of righteousness. Jesus was willing to lay down his life for us, so that we might have life, life with the Father and life for all eternity.                                                             The Good Shepherd, who is Jesus, is willing to die for his sheep, so that the sheep might live. Jesus died for us freely so that we might have life.

    Now notice please that Jesus says he laid down his life freely, no one takes his life, but he was willing to give it up for us. Jesus loves US enough, cares for us enough, to die for us. He could certainly have used his power to get out of dying for us, but he chose instead to struggle, to die, so that we might live. Boy, now that's a powerful statement of the love, the mercy, the compassion, and the caring that Jesus our Savior has for each of us.

    One of the most compelling stories of World War II that seeped out of killing places like Auschwitz is the story of the Polish priest, Maximillian Kolbe. Kolbe was an activist priest, and he opposed the Nazis in any way he could. He was eventually arrested and sentenced to Auschwitz. There he kept up his pastoral duties and cared for the people imprisoned with him.

     The S.S. guards and commandant hated him because he continued to minister to those in need in that awful place. He was a shepherd to those people, as Jesus is the good shepherd to us all.

    And this is the story that came out of Auschwitz ..... The men of Block 14 were digging gravel outside of the Auschwitz concentration camp in July of 1941. Suddenly the sirens began to shriek. There'd been an escape. That evening their fears were confirmed: the escaped man was from their block. The next day, the block's 600 men were forced to stand on the parade ground under the broiling sun. At the day's end, the commandant arrived in his crisply pressed uniform and shiny jackboots to announce the fate of the terrified men, in the dirty striped prison uniforms. "Since the fugitive hasn't been found," barked the commandant, "Ten of you will die of starvation in reprisal for your comrade's escape."

     The men were selected entirely at random and one of them, a polish army sergeant, began sobbing, "My wife and my children." Suddenly the Polish priest moved to the front as the guard trained their weapons on his chest. "Herr Commandant." He said, "A request." "What do you want?" barked the commandant. "I want to die in place of this prisoner" said the priest. There was a stunned silence, and then a "Request granted!" Maximilian Kolbe was put into the starvation cell with nine other men. Day after day, Kolbe prayed for the men and comforted them, until he himself became so weak that he was able only to whisper his prayers. One by one, the men starved to death until at last only Father Kolbe remained alive. The Nazis, impatient at him taking so long to die, finally executed him by having acid injected into his arm.

     Father Kolbe was a good shepherd. He modeled himself after Jesus, the good shepherd who laid down his life, willingly, for the flock he loved.

    Next Jesus says that the good shepherd knows his sheep. And he knows them by name. A young lady came into her pastor's office because she wanted help with a perplexing problem. -How can I believe that God is interested in what happens to me? How can Jesus know and be interested in me, personally?" she asked.

     The pastor replied, "Well, take a look at your fingers. You know there are billions of finger tips in the world, but there are no others just like yours. Even your finger prints have had special attention from God."

     And yes, folks, we are special. God does indeed care for every one of us. In a few minutes, when you come to the table, you are invited to eat and drink. And you will come because you have received a special invitation from God to partake in this meal. In a personal and individual way you will come into the very presence of the good shepherd through the loaf and the cup.

    And God knows that we do need this special time, this physical relationship with him to reassure us, to remind us, that he does love us, that he does care for us, that he is interested in us as individual people.

    Collectively we are God's children, we are collectively the sheep of Jesus' fold, but individually we are also God's children and individually we are the sheep of Jesus' fold. And as individuals, he is concerned about us, he cares about us, he reaches his hand of grace individually into each of our lives.

    Each is us are unique people, and we are special to God. We are special, not because we are good or righteous, or have somehow pleased God, but because God loves us as we are or maybe in spite of what we are! He showed us that by the sacrifice he had his son make on the cross for us. God is concerned about us from the hairs on our heads to the blisters on our toes. God, through his good shepherd Jesus Christ, loves us, cares about us, and wants his gracious will of love to be done I each of our lives.

    Finally, as the good shepherd, Jesus tells us he gathers together his sheep into a fold.

Jesus is telling us through his spirit that he gathers us who belong to him. It is the work of the spirit to gather us together as the members of the body of Christ. It is the work of the spirit, to gather the body once a week to worship and praise God.

    Jesus knows that this time we spend together once a week is very important to our spiritual lives. It's during this time that we hear again the promises that God has made for us, it is here that we relive the life that Jesus lived on this earth. It is here that we encounter again and again the great love that God has for us. It is important that we come here to be refreshed, to be renewed, to hear again about our God and the great love he has for us.

     As the good shepherd, Jesus says that it is important for his to gather the sheep together in a fold, but notice that he doesn't stop with just the sheep that are immediately at hand. He says that other sheep must be brought into this fold as well. The fold of sheep, the church, is always changing, growing, adding and losing members of the flock. The fold is not a constant place, but it is an alive place, a place where things happen, where changes are made, where people grow in their faith, where people meet new people of faith, who help us understand further God's love.

The fold, or the church, is an ever changing, alive, growing place. It is the place where Jesus, through his spirit, is alive. It is the place where we can encounter God ..... because he promises to be here with us as we gather in his name. God is here with us this morning, his spirit is here leading us in our worship of him.

    And as we leave to go back out to the world, God's spirit will go with us, helping US with life, giving us direction, giving us courage, giving us his peace .... to cope with all the brokenness of life. Yes, the good shepherd gathers his sheep together in a fold, in the church, because here we are cared for, here we are fed, here we can learn from each other about the faith, here we can help one another as we face the difficulties of life.

    Being in the fold, the church, is important for its members.

    Now notice, if you would, one more thing that Jesus says about being in the fold. He says that he calls his sheep to the fold and they will heed his voice.

    They will listen to him. When we come to the fold, we come to listen to the voice of Jesus. We come to hear him, to encounter him. We do not come to hear Pastor Nancy or Pastor Jack or any other voice. We come to hear Jesus. And Jesus says that those of the fold will heed his voice. They will listen to him. Jesus is surely saying something about responsibility here ..... about our job as members of the church. We are to listen to him. To obey what he says.

    Yes, Jesus is the good shepherd of our lives. He laid down his life freely for us, he knows each of us personally because we are important to him, and he gathers us together in his fold, the church, so that we might listen to him.

   Jesus, as the good shepherd is the one who leads us down the pathway of life. He is our guide, he is our companion, he is the one who will take care of us. Jesus is our good shepherd; he is the one who loves us.

            Will you join me in prayer?        AMEN.