“Safe in the Shepherd’s Hand”

A Sermon on John 10:22-29

Stanley N. Webster, Pastor

Morning Star Presbyterian Parish

Fourth Sunday of Easter

April 29, 2007

At that time the festival of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem . It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly." Jesus answered, "I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name testify to me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father's hand. The Father and I are one."

While reading Raymond Brown’s commentary on this passage Monday, I found myself nodding off, so I took my book down to the Market Street Café to have a cup of coffee. While there I had a good conversation with a Presbyterian couple whose experience growing up in Portsmouth helped me to see the purpose of the passage. In telling about a personal experience, the man mentioned that he and his wife had both grown up in Catholic neighborhoods, and throughout their childhood were told by their friends that they were going to hell! I was astounded. I never heard such a thing said by Catholics. Growing up in the heavily Protestant South, the only people I ever heard say that were Baptists! I say that, of course, with no ill will toward any of our Baptist sisters or brothers in Christ. There are many, many groups that are convinced that Presbyterians are going to hell on a sled!

After that conversation about religious controversy, I returned to my study of John 10 and found these words of Jesus, spoken to his opponents in the temple, jumping off the page: you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. These are words that Jesus wants very much to say in the middle of conflict situations that Presbyterians encounter today.

A couple of Presbyterian friends from Charleston told me about an experience in a community church in Texas. They attended for a while, liked the church, and decided to join. They went to the meeting of the governing board to be received. The board asked them: “When were you saved?” They didn’t know how to answer. They were dedicated Christians whose life of faith began early in childhood. They left the meeting without joining the church.

I encourage you, when asked “Are you saved” to answer with a warm, “Yes, I am saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.” To be saved is to be rescued from eternal separation. To be saved (salvation) is to be preserved for eternal life. Don’t hesitate! Answer that you are saved by grace (that is, by God’s activity) through faith. That’s what saves us! Don’t say, “I don’t know!” Remember the assuring words of Jesus, “ My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.

If someone asks you when, answer, “One thousand nine hundred and seventy years ago. That’s when Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead for my salvation.” If you are confronted with a Christian person who obviously thinks you’re not saved, don’t waste your time in uncertain conjecture about a subject that is really too big for you. Take the matter straight to the top. Jesus says, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.” Don’t worry about falling on the wrong side of the great divide between heaven and hell. Listen to Jesus talk about eternal security and in the peace of that security go back out into the world and set your mind on following him!

Here’s another situation: funerals. I heard about a funeral where the minister was talking about what a great person had died. The eulogy listed virtue after virtue, only to be interrupted by a member of the family asking another, “Am I at the wrong funeral?” The time of a loved ones death is full enough of memories, joys and sorrows. Why burden ourselves at that time of fullness with questions that are greater than our ken? It’s better to lay the whole question of eternal salvation in the hands of the Lord and leave it there. No one has to decide whether the person was saved or not. God is fully capable of deciding that. No need to exercise ourselves setting up a judgment throne for our loved ones. The judgment throne is in heaven. Here’s a good time to recite the words of the Good Shepherd who guides us through our earthly days and into the death of the body and then into eternity: My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.” Friends, we do not need to be anxious about eternity as long as we are following this Good Shepherd!

Some years ago our denomination recommended that we offer a special study series on the issues the denomination faces in the realm of human sexuality. I studied the position papers and the scripture passages and offered the study. Five people came. Among them was a young man we had never met. We were having a lively discussion when he said with some emotion. “I am gay.” You could have heard a pin drop in the room. He went on to speak in warm tones that registered great pain: “I have been from church to church and no one accepts me. Why do people want to separate me from my Jesus?” I waited to hear the group’s response. The group showed him acceptance, and so did the congregation in the following months when he came to church. Our denomination has intense conflicts about sexuality issues; but there is a consensus among Presbyterians: people are welcome at the baptismal fount and the Lord’s Table regardless of sexual orientation. The Good Shepherd attaches no footnote concerning specific sins to his words about who is in and who is out of His church: My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.”

As you pass Lucasville on the way to Columbus there is a billboard: “Don’t call yourself a Christian and vote for someone who. . . .” The billboard goes on to inform me of the vote for a political candidate that would put me outside of the company of the church of Jesus Christ . How interesting! I’m sorry, I read too much Holy Scripture to believe this bill board will tell me who is in and who is out of the church of Jesus Christ . I’ve dealt with too many people who attempt to use religion to control me. I can’t listen to them. So instead of taking this in-your-face billboard to heart, I’ll write my own: Don’t call yourself a Christian and hate your neighbor. Don’t call yourself a Christian and pass judgment on who is going to heaven and who is going to hell. Don’t call yourself a Christian if you’re not going to follow Jesus moment by moment, day by day. Don’t call yourself a Christian if you are not listening intently for the voice of the Good Shepherd to guide you in every decision. Don’t call yourself a Christian if you are immobilized by anxiety about your fate in eternity. Don’t call yourself a Christian and listen to voices that contradict the voice of Jesus who says, “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.”

When I was about 8 years old my uncle (who lived on the property adjoining ours) left the Presbyterian Church that he and my Dad had attended since childhood. He was an active member at the time of separation, serving on the session. The liberal-fundamentalist controversy was rocking our denomination. Some years later, as a teen-ager, I was helping him get up hay and we were riding by the church that he had founded when he left. I asked him about his church. He answered that it was no longer his church. He had disagreed with the people there. He took me by the newer church that he and a small group had founded about 2 miles down the road.

In light of that church division and all the divisions I have learned about in my study of church history I pose the question: “Can we not live together as the flock of Jesus Christ? If we love him and follow him, is that not enough for us to love one another and worship him together? Does everybody really have to agree about everything? Can’t we build a church that lets go of non-essentials and is absolutely absorbed in the essential concerns of Jesus Christ? I believe we have here words that come from the deepest recesses of the heart of the Good Shepherd: My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.”

I have mentioned several situations of controversy and placed the words of Jesus in the middle of them. I hope you will do the same as you go out into this topsy-turvy world of rich religious diversity. As you encounter conflict, you may hear an inner voice that says, “The easiest thing to do is give in and join their particular church. After all, if they are so convinced, they must be right.” Or maybe you will find yourself thinking, “All this disagreement means that none of them are right; best join the ranks of the secular society.” Another voice may say, “I can’t stand discussing this; I’ll retreat into my own world. My faith is a personal thing. It’s Jesus and me. I’ll not talk about it with anyone.”

Here’s a better voice, that of the One who really has authority in these matters: My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.” In all our conflicts concerning questions of salvation, we had best cling to the words of Jesus. He is the gate through which we enter eternal life. He is the Good Shepherd who leads us to green grass and still waters to nourish our souls as we journey into eternity. When it comes to the awesome questions of eternal salvation, his is the voice we need to hear.

Now to God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit be honor and glory now and forever! Amen.