The Message, April 21, 2024: "Linked by Love," John 10:11-18

Author: Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
April 21, 2024

 

“Linked by Love”
A Message by Rev. Scott W. Cousineau
John 10:11-18

            Have you ever worked with someone that just did not care about the job? They may have been proficient, skilled, and even talented, but at the end of the day, they really did not care about the outcome. They are not invested in it; they do not have any ownership in what they are doing.

            On my long list of jobs that I did before my ministry began, I indicated that I worked for a plastics company. A couple of the projects that I worked on required very precise care and tight tolerances. In one project, we made parts that went into communication satellites. In the other, we made parts that went into Polaroid cameras. Both projects required that the parts we manufactured be perfect. Any imperfections would be catastrophic in the case of the satellites, and unusable in the case of the cameras.

            In both cases, I worked with people that seemingly did not care about what they were doing. They scratched the molds when we were making the satellite parts, which cost the company thousands of dollars to repolish. And in the case of the Polaroid parts, there were air bubbles in the parts.

            Now, it was not my plastics company. My name was not on the shipping label, but I still wanted to produce good, quality parts for the customers. Some of my co-workers just wanted the paycheck … which they lost when they were let go for producing inferior parts.

            The people that Jesus addressed in this passage knew all about good shepherds and those who were not as good.

            Sheep and shepherds were very much a part of their daily lives. The hillsides and pastures that surrounded the towns and villages were often filled with sheep grazing and shepherds watching over them. Children grew up watching their parents tend the flocks and tended the flocks themselves as they grew older. The sheep were considered to be part of the family. They were named by the shepherd and knew the shepherd’s voice.

            The sheep would be brought into the sheepfold at night for their protection. The walls of the sheepfold kept out the predators, and the gatekeeper kept the sheep safe from thieves. Shepherding was a communal activity. The shepherds and gate watchers cared for all of the sheep in the village. In the morning, the shepherds would enter the sheepfold and call their sheep by name, and the sheep would follow them into the fields.

            When Jesus spoke of the “good shepherd” and the “hireling” he was not introducing a new concept. They were familiar, as are we, with the words of the Twenty-third Psalm. The shepherd protects the sheep from all harm. The shepherd brings the sheep into the household and keeps them safe. The sheep will dwell in the shepherd’s house forever.

            We may not be as familiar with the words of the prophet Ezekiel. Six centuries before Jesus was born, God spoke through the prophet and warned the people of those shepherds who did not care about the sheep. God warned of the shepherds that would not care for the sick or the injured sheep. God warned of the shepherds that would allow the sheep to be scattered and lost. God warned of the sheep that would be killed by predators. God warned that the sheep would be scattered over all the earth and that no one would search for them. (Ezekiel 34:1-6)

            And then God spoke to the people and assured them, “You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, and I am your God.” (Ezekiel 34:31)

            God tells the people that the good shepherd cares for the sheep. The good shepherd rescues the sheep from places to which they have scattered. The good shepherd feeds the sheep and tends to the weak and to the injured. The good shepherd searched for the lost.

            The words of the prophet were known by the people when they were defeated by the Babylonians and taken into exile. They were also known when they were redeemed … when they were set free and returned home.

            The words of the prophet were known by the people when Jesus said, “I am the Good Shepherd.”

            “I am the Good Shepherd. I have come to fulfill the work of God’s ‘good shepherd.’ I am the one who will seek out the lost, and feed the hungry, and cure the sick and lame. I am the one who will gather the flock. I am not some hireling that is watching the sheep for a paycheck. I AM the shepherd. This is my life … they sheep are my life. I know them and they know me.”

            I know them and they know me.

            The word for “knowing” that Jesus used in that phrase was not referring to a cognitive activity. Jesus was not speaking of knowing factual data or information about the “sheep,” although it is related. Rather, the word that Jesus used for “knowing” referred to a relationship. Jesus is the Good Shepherd because of his relationship with God and because of this relationship with the sheep. Jesus knows the Children of God. Jesus is in relationship with the Children of God.

            Those same people who were proclaimed as the sheep of God’s pasture, were told by Jesus … assured by Jesus … that he would care for them. Jesus promised that he would attend to their needs because of his love for them.

            You may have surmised that Jesus did not utter these words of assurance in a vacuum. He did not simply blurt them out one day as he and the disciples walked through the countryside. This teaching comes in the midst of a disagreement with the religious authorities. Jesus had given sight to a man born blind, but he had done so on the sabbath. The religious authorities had labelled him a sinner for doing so, but the man testified on Jesus’ behalf. He said, “Nobody has ever heard of opening the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” (John 9:32-33) Then the man told Jesus that he believed that Jesus was indeed the Son of Man and worshipped him.

            And then some of the religious leaders wondered if they might also be blind as well.

            “I am the Good Shepherd. I have come to fulfill the work of God’s ‘good shepherd.’ I am the one who will seek out the lost, and feed the hungry, and cure the sick and lame. I am the one who will gather the flock. I AM the shepherd. This is my life … they sheep are my life. I know you and you know me.”

            We are in a deep and intimate relationship with God and with Jesus Christ. We are linked together by love. It is not a chain that burdens us or imprisons us. It is a chain that connects us and ultimately sets us free.

            He is the Good Shepherd, and we are the sheep of his pasture. He knows us. He loves us. He gathers us in and protects us.

            He is our Shepherd, and we are the sheep of his pasture. May we live lives of gratitude and praise. May we live lives of peace and comfort knowing that we are his and he is ours. Amen.

BACK