Saturday, May 30, 2009
My Hometown (episode 1)
On Saturday nights at Desert Cross we have a storytelling sermon. This weekend I told my first story about a fictionalized small town in NW Ohio. The story touches on themes from John 15 & 16.
Click here to download the audio recording of the story.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Evangelism in Acts and John
I am finally able to provide audio for one of my sermons. So, click here and you can listen to the sermon I preached today!
**warning** today's sermon was a "teaching sermon" which means I go verse by verse through both the first lesson and gospel. It's probably different than what you're used to!
**warning** today's sermon was a "teaching sermon" which means I go verse by verse through both the first lesson and gospel. It's probably different than what you're used to!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
The Good Shepherd (John 10:11-18)
In one of my first preaching courses I had a teaching assistant from Africa; his name was Moses. One of the unique things about Moses was that he was a shepherd. While living in Africa he dedicated himself to the protection of a flock of sheep. He often spoke about the pain, the smells, the frustrations, the joys and the dangers of shepherding. What I thought was pretty cool was that he had a scar on his forearm. The original wound came years ago; courtesy of an animal that had attacked the flock in the middle of the night. Any guesses what animal from the African Savannah it was?
It was a TIGER!!! How’s that for a conversation starter?
“Hey man, what’s the story with your arm?” “
Oh that? That’s from when I battled a tiger. You wanna hear the story?”
Now, it is possible that Moses was pulling our legs. Maybe the scar had a more mundane origin. But I believe him. After all, shepherding is dangerous work. It is a career that asks you to risk your personal safety for a bunch of animals; which, actually sounds kind of absurd. Many people have careers that put themselves in harms way, such as police officers, firefighters, and the military; but with these careers the danger comes as a consequence of protecting people, not animals.
In fact, I cannot think of too many positive aspects of being a shepherd. Being a shepherd is dangerous, lonely, dirty, smelly, exhausting, and generally not a highly esteemed profession.
Curious then, why Jesus would choose to speak of himself as a shepherd. Given that he was going up against the power and influence of the religious establishment, as well as the Roman Empire; one might assume that he would speak of himself as being on that level: a king, a Caesar, a high priest. But no, he’s a shepherd – a lonely, dirty, smelly, exhausted, and generally disliked shepherd. He is a shepherd who will willingly face danger at every turn in order to protect a smelly, dirty, and directionally challenged flock.
Jesus’ use of the shepherd image is very intentional. The Old Testament is full of shepherding references. Some of the more familiar ones include King David, who started out as a shepherd. And God is described as a shepherd in Psalm 23 (“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…”). But here’s what’s interesting about Jesus’ use of the shepherd image: It is the only text in either testament which characterizes the shepherd as one who will sacrifice himself for the flock to the point of death.
Laying down your life for the flock is not included in the job description of any shepherd from any part of the world, from any point in history. Shepherds are never called to lay down their lives for the flock. The sheep are just not that important; certainly not worth the ultimate sacrifice of one’s life. Yes, a shepherd willingly faces many dangers; but it is not expected that they would voluntarily give their lives for the animals. No one becomes a shepherd and says, “I will die for these animals.”
And this is exactly why this text is so important for our lives today: Jesus goes above and beyond what is required of him because he knows us; he loves us, and thinks that we are worth dying for.
As the text says, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me; just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.”
Jesus knows us intimately, just as how God knows Jesus intimately.
Whoever you are, know that Jesus knows you, he knows who you are and who you will become; he knows your gifts and your faults; he knows you like he knows himself. And you know what? Jesus loves the heck out of you.
And how can we be so bold as to proclaim the depth of God’s love to people whom we don’t know? Or better yet, to people whom we know are obviously not worthy of God’s love? Because Jesus says his love cannot be contained to one flock. Jesus has chosen to love all people and Jesus has chosen to invite all people to experience his love.
This is the Good News. This is what we as Christians are called to proclaim. “Jesus knows you and because of that, Jesus loves the heck out of you.”
Amen.
It was a TIGER!!! How’s that for a conversation starter?
“Hey man, what’s the story with your arm?” “
Oh that? That’s from when I battled a tiger. You wanna hear the story?”
Now, it is possible that Moses was pulling our legs. Maybe the scar had a more mundane origin. But I believe him. After all, shepherding is dangerous work. It is a career that asks you to risk your personal safety for a bunch of animals; which, actually sounds kind of absurd. Many people have careers that put themselves in harms way, such as police officers, firefighters, and the military; but with these careers the danger comes as a consequence of protecting people, not animals.
In fact, I cannot think of too many positive aspects of being a shepherd. Being a shepherd is dangerous, lonely, dirty, smelly, exhausting, and generally not a highly esteemed profession.
Curious then, why Jesus would choose to speak of himself as a shepherd. Given that he was going up against the power and influence of the religious establishment, as well as the Roman Empire; one might assume that he would speak of himself as being on that level: a king, a Caesar, a high priest. But no, he’s a shepherd – a lonely, dirty, smelly, exhausted, and generally disliked shepherd. He is a shepherd who will willingly face danger at every turn in order to protect a smelly, dirty, and directionally challenged flock.
Jesus’ use of the shepherd image is very intentional. The Old Testament is full of shepherding references. Some of the more familiar ones include King David, who started out as a shepherd. And God is described as a shepherd in Psalm 23 (“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…”). But here’s what’s interesting about Jesus’ use of the shepherd image: It is the only text in either testament which characterizes the shepherd as one who will sacrifice himself for the flock to the point of death.
Laying down your life for the flock is not included in the job description of any shepherd from any part of the world, from any point in history. Shepherds are never called to lay down their lives for the flock. The sheep are just not that important; certainly not worth the ultimate sacrifice of one’s life. Yes, a shepherd willingly faces many dangers; but it is not expected that they would voluntarily give their lives for the animals. No one becomes a shepherd and says, “I will die for these animals.”
And this is exactly why this text is so important for our lives today: Jesus goes above and beyond what is required of him because he knows us; he loves us, and thinks that we are worth dying for.
As the text says, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me; just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.”
Jesus knows us intimately, just as how God knows Jesus intimately.
Whoever you are, know that Jesus knows you, he knows who you are and who you will become; he knows your gifts and your faults; he knows you like he knows himself. And you know what? Jesus loves the heck out of you.
And how can we be so bold as to proclaim the depth of God’s love to people whom we don’t know? Or better yet, to people whom we know are obviously not worthy of God’s love? Because Jesus says his love cannot be contained to one flock. Jesus has chosen to love all people and Jesus has chosen to invite all people to experience his love.
This is the Good News. This is what we as Christians are called to proclaim. “Jesus knows you and because of that, Jesus loves the heck out of you.”
Amen.
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