Harassed? Feeling Helpless? You need a Shepherd!

Jesus’ words I read from John 10 this morning are much needed in my life right now.  “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." (John 10:11, NIV)  Within my sphere of responsibility, there are multiple challenges that are in need of answers. Will I try to be God, forcing solutions into place, or will I let the Shepherd lead, as I trust Him? As I mused on that passage, my mind went back a half-century to a sweet memory and a lesson.

When I was a little boy, my dad took me with him to Wyoming, to a remote area, where we visited shepherds tending huge flocks of sheep! Prior to entering vocational ministry, Dad was a livestock dealer and traded mostly in sheep. In the mountains around Buffalo, WY, I met rough-looking men who were dedicated to the care of their sheep 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They lived alone in little mobile houses for months on end, putting the sheep first, over their own needs. These men, helped by their amazing dogs, made certain that their flocks were safe and provided with pasture. 

Their constant presence caused those sheep to respond even to their voice! I watched as a single shepherd called his flock, sent his dog to round up stragglers, and moved hundreds of sheep from place to place in open range. Unlike cattle which can exist with only minimal attending, sheep without a shepherd will inevitably die! They are defenseless when attacked by predators. They will over-grazing the land exhausting their food supply.  Sheep must have a shepherd!

God calls us the ‘flock of His pasture.’ He knows that we are in need of Shepherding. Without care, we die. Even if we have all we need right now, without guidance we will get stuck and fail to move ahead in life. Jesus saw the need of the people that he lived with observed, "they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." (Matthew 9:36, NIV) 

Our world is full of people who would ‘shepherd’ us. They call to us, inviting us to follow them. Some are earnest, some in it only for themselves. Jesus warns "A hired man is not a real shepherd. The sheep mean nothing to him. He sees a wolf come and runs for it, leaving the sheep to be ravaged and scattered by the wolf. He’s only in it for the money. The sheep don’t matter to him." (John 10:12-13, The Message)

Jesus promises care that leads to our wholeness and safety.  "I am the Gate for the sheep. ... Anyone who goes through me will be cared for-will freely go in and out, and find pasture. ... I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd puts the sheep before himself, sacrifices himself if necessary." (John 10:7-11, The Message) Go back and read that passage again.

Are you head-strong, running off on your own, ignoring the Shepherd? We do so at our own peril.  Savor the promise of His care. Listen and learn to hear His voice. "After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice." (John 10:4, NLT)

Here’s a familiar word from the Word. Don’t rush through it even though it is one of the most familiar passages in the Scripture.

  

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,

he leads me beside quiet waters,

he restores my soul.

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil, for you are with me;

your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."
(Psalm 23, NIV)

_____________________

Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us

(Enjoy a mellow presentation at this link)

Savior, like a Shepherd lead us;

Much we need Thy tender care.

In Thy pleasant pastures feed us;

For our use Thy folds prepare.

Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus!

Thou hast bought us; Thine we are.

Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus!

Thou hast bought us, Thine we are.

We are Thine; do Thou befriend us;

Be the Guardian of our way.

Keep Thy flock; from sin defend us;

Seek us when we go astray.

Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus!

Hear thy children when they pray;

Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus!

Hear Thy children when they pray.

Savior Like A Shepherd Lead Us

Thrupp, Dorothy A. / Bradbury, William B.

© Public Domain

You're worthless, beyond hope!

Here comes the judge!

Elise Ryan got a critical note from an anonymous neighbor about the unkempt state of her house and yard. “Show some pride in your property and the property of your neighbors,” she read. It was part of a judgmental move by a neighbor who had nothing close to the whole story. Turns out that Ms. Ryan’s grandson has cancer and that she spends her days caring for him, which led to the poor condition of her yard.  When the note went public, her other neighbors did something amazing. They organized a day to help her get the grass mowed, the bushes trimmed, the leaves raked up.

Whether you will admit to it or not, you judge people. We all do.  The moment we are introduced we form an opinion about the other person.  In less than a second (really!)  we evaluate “like” or “dislike” based on age, appearance, gender, race, dress, facial expression.  Shocking to you?  Those first impressions tend to stick. It can difficult for a person to change our opinion unless we consciously choose to know and understand them.

Jesus tells us - "Judge not, that you be not judged." (Matthew 7:1, NKJV)  Does that mean we sin when we form first impressions?  Is evaluation of the merits of another’s choices something we cannot do?  The word “judge” is about dividing, condemning, and dismissing!  We need to be able to discern and make wise choices, but we must not do so in a way that communicates to another that they are worthless. Christian, we need to hear and obey His word.

There are too many in real spiritual need who will not go near a Christian or darken a church’s door because they have heard rhetoric that communicates – “You are not us and therefore not a person of worth.” Whole groups of people have been swept away by thoughtless, judging words.  Jesus modeled an amazing grace that challenged people who were sinning to change but that did not condemn and dismiss them.   

Zaccheaus, a tax collector, a collaborator with Rome who lined his own pockets with wealth, met the Lord on the roadway.  Jesus invited himself over to dinner (a shocking thing to do in that culture because it showed acceptance of the person) and in a conversation lost to history brought light to Zack’s darkened heart and the man was transformed.  The sinless Man somehow found Himself welcomed by the ‘sinners’ that lived around Him and His presence caused them to desire the living God!

Many is the person who has been hurt, sometimes terribly, by judgments proclaimed by self-righteous critics within the church. A gracelessness is often in evidence that fails to appreciate the process of justice, preferring instead to hand down a quick verdict and move on, no matter the consequences for some.  Jesus forbids this ‘judgment’ among us!  Oh, yes, we need to understand right and wrong, but in a word picture that must have provoked laughter in his audience, Jesus tells to deal with our own sin first, suggesting it may be worse than that of the person we are juding!  "Why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye?" (Matthew 7:3-4, NLT)    When we wag our heads in disgust and repeat a juicy morsel of unsubstantiated gossip,  we place ourselves in the seat of the judge, but our judgment is flawed, hindered by our own lack of clear vision!  

Are you critical of others?

Are you pointing the finger of accusation at this one or that one?

Are you deciding whose 'in' and whose 'out' based on your own personal preferences?

Stop, in the name of Love!  (Sorry, Diana Ross, just had to use that line.)  To the extent that we are secure in God’s love we are able to love others, even those who are in great need or open disobedience.

Abandon quick decisions about the worth of ‘the other person!’  Pray much, listen lots. Like Jesus you can then become a force for good, an ambassador of the Gospel.

Here is a word from the Word.

"It is written: "‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.’

" So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another.

Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way." (Romans 14:11-13, NIV)

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Reckless Love

(worship with this song about His love)

Before I spoke a word You were singing over me

You have been so so good to me

Before I took a breath You breathed Your life in me

You have been so so kind to me

 (And) O the overwhelming never-ending reckless

Love of God

O it chases me down fights 'til I'm found

Leaves the ninety-nine

I couldn't earn it I don't deserve

Still You give Yourself away

O the overwhelming never-ending reckless

Love of God

When I was Your foe still Your love fought for me

You have been so so good to me

When I felt no worth You paid it all for me

You have been so so kind to me

There's no shadow You won't light up

Mountain You won't climb up

Coming after me

There's no wall You won't kick down

Lie You won't tear down

Coming after me

Caleb Culver | Cory Asbury | Ran Jackson

© Watershed Publishing Group (Admin. by Watershed Music Group)

Bethel Music Publishing

Richmond Park Publishing

CCLI License # 810055

All those old people!

When I look into the mirror I am sometimes oddly surprised by the older man looking back at me. How did this happen?  The gray hair, what little I have, the lines in my face, are time’s mark. Mostly I am at peace with the fact of ‘age,’ but there are moments when I wish I had the stamina of my youth, the strength of my 30’s! Then, too, I exist in a culture which assigns no value to growing old. Billions of dollars and millions of hours are spent to hang onto a firm body, to reclaim the beauty of youth. And, why not, when we see the elderly left alone, sometimes warehoused in nursing homes by families with no time for Mom’s stories, Dad’s rambling, or the time it takes to get around at 80?  Then, too, it is hard to see any glory in an Alzheimer’s ward, isn’t it?

But, does our fixation on eternal youth and virility keep us from finding a greater grace?

Mark Galli writes in the May, 2018 issue of Christianity Today about aging. He asserts that “we are in our physical and mental prime from our late teens to our early 20’s. … But from that point on, we slowly but surely become unable. We’re not as quick on the field, childbearing takes something out of else that never comes back … a knee goes out, vision clouds …   Whether gradually or quickly, we move to that state where our entire being is ‘disabled;’  we die.”  He goes to say that while this may be heartbreaking it is not tragedy.

Before you dismiss him (or me) would you listen to the Word of God? "Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." (2 Corinthians 4:16-17, NKJV)  It can be hard to grasp that there is a glory unfolding inside even as there is loss on the outside.  It requires faith. In the last decade, I have lived up close and personal with loss, with sickness, with death. I won’t insult your intelligence by putting a nice spin on it, tying it up with a neat bow of platitudes.

Watching my Dad die a hard death with wasting disease over 14 months was an agony. Yet, tempering the pain, there were moments of amazing grace. I’ll never forget cradling his head in my lap at 2 am on a Monday morning, singing softly to him of God’s faithfulness and feeling the Spirit minister to both of us. Our stormy relationship found healing in the long nights of shared pain; his physical, mine emotional. As I watched death stalk him,  vision developed that allows me to see into eternity with more clarity.  

 2 years later one of my more crushing memories is coming home from vacation that Summer and having to make the trip to tell my Mom that her doctors had found advanced lung cancer in her body.  That little woman of 73 years bent herself in half sobbing. But, then she composed herself and her final days were a demonstration of the depth of her faith as life was slowly ending. She moved into our home and in her company I found sweet loving peace. I can still see her lying in the bed where she would die, holding frail hands heavenward, caught up in prayer. Faith grew!

Three years later, my own Bev was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer and we began a 20 month journey of grief, resolution, and love; accompanied by our 4 adult children who spent themselves to come and stand alongside of us.  It was ugly to live with the almost weekly losses of that last year. In all the sorrow and pain of loss, we found the deepest love we had ever known. I am shocked today when I look at the pictures of her in advanced stages of her cancer.  She looks terrible, but then I saw only the woman I loved.  The promise of the Resurrection is no longer just words! It is my hope.

No, I am not suggesting that the only way to find love, grace, or faith is to get terminal illness. But, I will boldly suggest that the things of God become dearer and nearer when and if we accept the inevitable decline of the body and increasingly turn our gaze to spiritual things. One of the tragedies of our culture is the failure of my generation to let go of the obvious benefits of their youth to claim the prize that is found in loving deeper, serving faithfully, and becoming wise.  These are to be the glory of our later years. They can make us beautiful even as bodies grow wrinkled and weak! We don’t have to turn into bitter old people, railing at ‘those terrible kids’ who live around us. We can be sweet with the love of Jesus, capable of spending more time with Him, loving the beauty of life around us, even those we see it through clouded eyes.

Galli writes “There is something about our inability that reveals the heart of the Gospel. We’re not sure what Paul’s ‘thorn in the flesh’ was, but it is not a reach to see it as a physical disability.”  How did the Lord explain that to the preacher?  Here is what Paul tells us - "even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me." (2 Corinthians 12:7-9, NLT)

Have you bought the myth of a fountain of youth?

Are you captivated by the superficiality of maintaining the illusion of agelessness?

Living a healthful life is good. Making choices that allow a good and long life are admirable, but …

No one stops time. Make the choice to grow beautiful in soul, filled with the glory of God.

Here is a word from the Word. "Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.” Remember him before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is dim to your old eyes, and rain clouds continually darken your sky. …  my child, let me give you some further advice: Be careful, for writing books is endless, and much study wears you out. That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad." (Ecclesiastes 12:1-2,12-14, NLT)

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Pastor Jerry Scott

FAITH DISCOVERY CHURCH

www.FaithDiscovery.com