1 John 3: John 10:11-18

Transcription

1 1 John 3: We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us-and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. 17How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? 18Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. 19And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him 20whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; 22and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him. 23And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us. John 10: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away-and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. 18No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father." 1

2 Penguins and Sheep Rev. Julie Jensen July 8, 2018 First Presbyterian Church, Fernandina Beach, FL This week I learned that that if you share your sermon title on the Phone Tree and tell people it's about penguins you find out on Saturday at the Farmer s Market just how many people listened to the message. They come up to you and say Penguins? Really? And as I said there, yes, penguins, Today s reading reminds me of the movie, The March of the Penguins. The subjects of the documentary are the Emperor Penguins who live in Antarctica. It chronicles a year in the life of a breeding colony. The emperor penguins are the only penguins that breed during the Antarctic winter. At the beginning of winter the female penguin lays her one egg and passes it off to the male for safekeeping. She then makes the long journey to the sea to eat, leaving the male to care for and protect the egg through the worst of the winter. When she returns, she finds her mate and child, feeds the chick and then the male breaks his 9 week fast and goes to hunt for 2

3 himself 1. What I find most appropriate about the penguins for this Sunday is the penguins use of vocalization. You see, the penguins do not have a fixed nest that their partners can use as a landmark to come back to after eating. The Emperor penguin must rely on voices and vocal cues for identification of mates and offspring. The chicks have a unique call, and the parents do as well. It is through calling out to each other that partners can find each other, and parents can find offspring. 2 Picture it - - you are at a crowded event with someone - -perhaps Shrimpfest or a baseball game. Maybe you are with a child, maybe with a friend. But there are 2 of you and you are walking to your seats or to look at the art and find food when suddenly you look around and the other person is not there. What do you do? Do you stop walking and look around, hoping to catch a glimpse of a baseball cap or ponytail that you can hurry and catch up to? If you don t see the person you are separated from, then what? Our next response is to call out the name of the other person. Have you ever been in the mall and heard a small voice call out Emperor Penguins 3

4 Mom? Dad? Where are you? Once, I was at the grocery store and saw just such a thing. A preschool boy had turned left when his mother had turned right and he lost sight of her. He was standing by the cash registers calling out mom? in a very small voice. A passing cashier went to page her the boy knew his mom s name and we stayed put. He still called out Mom Mom. His voice growing stronger each time he said it. Now, lest you cast the mom in a bad light, this whole series of events took maybe 15 seconds before her name was paged over the loudspeaker, she was at his side. As his voice got louder, she came down the aisle, calling his name. When he heard his name, from his mother, he turned and ran to her. When she heard her name she was visibly relieved. It was the calling out to each other that enabled them to find each other. She knew his voice, and he knew hers. If I had called out her first name, she would have responded - -we have all had it happen to us - -but not with the emotion of a parent finding a lost child. And what I find so interesting about the penguins, what I witnessed that day in the grocery store, is what Jesus illustrates in today s reading. And, today s reading is part of a larger story. To get the full effect, we go back to the 9 th chapter 4

5 of John and read through chapter 10. The condensed version is this: There was a beggar who was blind. The disciples following Jesus asked why the man was blind - -what sins his parents had committed. Jesus said it was not the sins of his parents that caused the blindness, and knelt in the mud and made a paste with his spit and rubbed it on the eyes of the beggar. He then sent the man to go wash the mud off of his eyes. When he did, his sight was restored. Upon returning to the place where he had been, the neighbors kept asking - -is he the one who was blind? I don t know, do you? The beggar kept saying it was me!. The neighbors kept asking where is the one who healed you? The beggar had no idea. He didn t know what Jesus looked like he had never seen him. It s comical really. But then the Pharisees, the legalistic rulers who opposed Jesus, got involved and investigated the matter the healing had happened on the Sabbath. Jesus eventually found the blind man and the man recognized him by his voice and his deeds. Which leads into the parable for today. Jesus begins describing the thieves and the wolves who want to hurt the sheep in the first 10 verses of chapter 10. He is still speaking to the Pahrisees as he continues with todays reading. He says that he is the shepherd and he knows his sheep and his sheep know him. 5

6 Jesus knows us - -the sheep of his flock. He knows what we sound like, what we do and he guides us along the way. Shepherds do not lead the sheep in the same way cattle are led. Sheep are led from behind, guided by the voice of their shepherds. They hear his encouragement that moves them through rocky places to the nourishing grass. They know that while he is behind them, he knows the way. Sheep know their shepherd is tending the sick and the lame, all the wile directing them where they need to go. They listen for his voice, and they trust him. They listen for his voice. Think about that for a minute. The emperor penguins can call out all they want for their mate, but if the mate is not listening for their voice, the two will not be reunited. When we are separated from our companions, we listen for their voices even though we cannot see them in the crowd. The mother and son at the grocery store were listening for each other even as they were calling out. Before we can recognize and respond to a sound, we must first listen. Susan Hedahl, Professor of Homiletics at Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg, PA talks about 5 different kinds of listening in her commentary on this text. Each of the 5 are interrelated but they all begin with 6

7 the ability of an individual to hear sounds and move to different levels of analysis, critique, concern and appreciation. To hear sounds, understand them, and respond to them. Here is an example of the difference between hearing and listening. One of the cable news channels had a panel discussion about a political event. There were commentators from varying political perspectives and the host of the show asked a question. Each commentator then told what he or she thought about the question. Then they began the debate portion of the segment, and it became quite apparent that each of them was not listening to the others. They were so worried about what he or she would say next, that while they recognized the sounds they heard were of someone talking, they did not actually process what was being said, pay it attention, or respond to what was actually said. They heard a pause in the conversation and jumped in to say what was on their mind. There was no true listening, no true processing of the sounds he or she heard and giving it consideration. How often are we guilty of this? When our spouses speak to us and we are 7

8 distracted by other things and simply respond with a uh huh. When our children tell us about the really cool movie they saw for the hundredth time and we hear the words, and maybe even think we are listening and realize we have no idea what they just said. Maybe you are sitting here now, hearing the sermon and thinking of how you want to respond, what you might say or add or delete. Or you are making a grocery list or thinking about lunch plans. Have you ever spent time with a friend or family member in crisis and instead of really listening to what they are telling you, you are preparing your response and finding a solution to their problem? I think sheep hear a lot of things - -they hear the sounds of the birds, the sounds of traffic if their pastures are next to highways. They hear the sounds of animals and farm equipment, the wind in the trees, the chewing of grass and falling rain. They listen for the voice of the one who guides them, the one who leads them and claims them as his own. They listen for and respond to the voice of the shepherd. 8

9 Here s a true story. 3 There was a man who was a farmer and shepherd. One summer, he went to the county fair and ran into someone he knew from town. They had a conversation that left the farmer feeling uneasy. Upon his arrival at home, he noticed the tire tracks in the dust and the sheep pen open. Sure enough, all the sheep were gone. I don t know the specifics of the conversation the two had at the fair that day, but it was just odd enough that the farmer suspected the man he had spoken with had stolen his sheep. Two weeks later, there was another fair and the farmer went. Sure enough, his neighbor was there with new sheep - -his sheep that had been retagged. The farmer knew the sheep by sight. He entered the pen, and the sheep could smell him even with all the other smells in the barn, the sheep knew their shepherd. When he began to whistle, when he began to call them, they knew his voice and they followed him. The sheep knew that shepherd and the shepherd knew him. This is not an occurrence that happens overnight. A relationship and trust are built between the 2 parties. The sheep learn to listen for the shepherd, to hear his or her voice and to trust where it leads them. They learn to listen for the shepherd s voice and follow 3 Brainwave 056: texts for May 3,

10 it. How do we listen for the voice of our shepherd? In all the noise that we hear in a given day the TV on as we get ready in the morning, the radio and voices in the grocery store, the continual hum of noise that surrounds us. All those things we hear and do not pay attention to, as they are just noise. There are a lot of them. It can be hard to find time to really listen - -to listen to those we have relationships with, to listen to those we are building relationships with. It takes time and energy to truly listen to each other. And to listen for the voice of our Shepherd, to listen for the voice of God can take even more. I wonder if often we just assume it is there in part of the din of the world. We talk when we pray either in our heads or out loud, but how well do we listen to what Jesus is saying to us? When is the last time you listened deeply to the voice of your shepherd? How was prayer involved in your last major (or minor) decision? Have you asked for help and heard an answer? It may have come later or not been what you wanted to hear. Did you get ready to jump to your response to God when you should have been listening instead? And how do you respond once you listen? 10

11 Like the child looking for a parent, do you cry out when you hear you name? Like the penguins, do you go running towards the sound of the voice you know as the one calling you? Did you listen to our first reading this morning? Listen to the beginning again: 1 John 3:16We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us-and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. 17How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Christ sacrificially gave his life for us, and he calls us to sacrificially give our lives to one another. Have you considered how you may have to sacrificially listen in order to love? Maybe that means turning off the radio in the car when your spouse or children are talking to you. Maybe that means sitting at a table with someone at First Café you don t know well and listening to their story even if it makes you uncomfortable. Maybe it means you need to spend some time with Jesus. To read scripture or a devotional and pray. To be silent and listen to what he brings to mind. To be able to listen to what Jesus is saying it requires patience. The shepherd had to teach the sheep to know his voice. We too, have to learn how to listen to Jesus. We study scripture, we come to worship and Sunday School, we 11

12 pray, we sing, all in an effort to listen to what our shepherd wants us to do. Last night I saw the documentary about the life of Presbyterian Minister Fred Rogers. You know him as Mr. Rogers from Mr. Rogers Neighborhood on PBS. One of the things I noticed as I watched was how intently he listened. Did you know he worked with the psychology department at a University in Pittsburgh working to understand child psychology? He also met children at events once his show became well known. If you watch closely, or not so closely, you notice an intensity with which he listened. Nothing else mattered besides the person he was speaking to be it those children or adults he was talking to on his show. In that moment, the person before him was the most important person in the whole world. Nothing else mattered. His focus was only on them. He listened to their voices and was better able to advocate for their needs as a result. By listening he knew that children needed to hear the words I like you just the way you are over and over again. That s the intensity with which God listens to us, and the intensity we strive for when we listen to God. That complete focus on what is before us. That ability to hear the voice of the on calling for us through the din and the noise. The baby 12

13 penguins listen intently for the cries of their mammas when they come back. The sheep listen intently for the cries of their shepherd. And we listen intently for the voice of the shepherd who listens for us. Thanks be to God for that voice that calls us, claims us, and rises above all the other noises of the world. Amen. 13