John 10:22-30<\/p>\n\n\n\n
May 13, 2001<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can still hear my mother\u2019s voice calling me, \u201cAh Men.\u201d In her Sze-yep, she would ask if I had eaten, how \u201cAh Joy\u201d was and what were the kids doing. In her last years of life, her memory was rapidly slipping away when I noticed that I had to remind her on how old the kids have become. Those phone conversations were for the most part, forgettable. You see, what was most important was that she recognized my voice. And I heard hers. And for the most part, that was more than good enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A doctor was demonstrating to a TV audience, the way that even very young infants quickly become aware of the identity of their parents and can recognize their parents just by the sound of their voices. He took an infant in his arms and asked the audience to watch the infant\u2019s eyes. He spoke to the baby. Then he asked other people to speak. Little recognition from the baby happened. Then the mother of the baby spoke and the baby\u2019s eyes visibly brightened, the infant turned toward the sound of the mother\u2019s voice. It was obvious that the child knew her mother\u2019s voice from all the others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You mothers know what I am talking about. (Some fathers do too.) When you have a bunch of babies or kids in a group and one of them is crying, you can always tell if it\u2019s your child. You recognize and hear his crying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today\u2019s Scripture follows last week\u2019s lesson about the man who was born blind and was healed by Jesus when he made mud with his saliva. The man went to the pool of Siloam and washed his eyes. He was then able to see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of the man\u2019s neighbors and those who saw him everyday of his life as a blind beggar couldn\u2019t believe it. They were saying that he wasn\u2019t the man born blind but was someone like him. But the blind man kept saying to his neighbors, \u201cI\u2019m the man. I\u2019m the man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next they brought the man born blind to the Pharisees. They also began to question him on how he got his sight back. When the man told them what happened, the Pharisees criticized Jesus for healing on the Sabbath and said that he was not from God. They said, how can a sinner perform such miracles? And so they ask the blind man again, \u201cWhat do you say about Jesus?\u201d The Pharisees and the others didn\u2019t want to hear what the man born blind was saying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still not convinced, they called his parents. (I can still remember when my teacher called my parents\u2014it was usually trouble!) They asked his parents, \u201cIs this your son, who you<\/p>\n\n\n\n
say was born blind? How does he now see?\u201d The Pharisees after hearing from the parents that this was really their son still didn\u2019t believe. They didn\u2019t want to hear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So for a second time, the Pharisees called the man who had been blind and asked him, \u201cWhat did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?\u201d And the man answered them, \u201cI have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples?\u201d The Pharisees were stilling asking questions with the hope of getting the answer they wanted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then they got mad at the man who was blind. They reviled him and accused Jesus to be a sinner since he healed on the Sabbath. They argued that they believed in Moses and knew that God at least spoke to Moses and not to this impostor Jesus. Then they said that never since the world began has anyone been healed from blindness when he was born blind. They criticized the man and said that he was born entirely in sins and now has the audacity to try to teach the Pharisees about God. So they threw him out of the Temple. The Pharisees were unable or unwilling to hear about Jesus performing this miracle of healing a man born blind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Jesus asked the man who was blind if he believe in him as the Son of Man who was sent into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind, the Pharisees overheard what Jesus was saying. And they were angry with Jesus because Jesus called them blind and with sins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The critics were attempting to entrap Jesus to be a madman, a blasphemer or an impostor. Jesus has proclaimed to them who he is, but they just don\u2019t get it. They didn\u2019t want to hear. Some have believed. Some have witnessed his work and heard his words and have said, \u201cHere is the long-awaited Christ!\u201d But many didn\u2019t want to listen and couldn\u2019t recognize his voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today\u2019s Scripture speaks of God and Jesus as shepherd and of us as sheep. Most of us get offended when we are called sheep because we think sheep are notoriously dumb and passive. Jesus refers to us as sheep, members of this flock we call the church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But sheep require a shepherd. That may mean, not that they are dumb, but rather smart enough to know that they can\u2019t go it alone. They need someone to lead and guide them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here, in today\u2019s gospel, Jesus says simply that he is the shepherd and that his sheep hear his voice and know him. They believe because they are his sheep. They are his sheep because they believe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus said, \u201cMy sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But why is it so hard to believe in what we hear? The Pharisees and the others heard from the man who was blind and couldn\u2019t believe. The Pharisees overheard what Jesus was saying to the man and became offended. Why is it so hard to believe in what we hear?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have been for some time in the season of Easter. For many people, Easter presents one of the greatest challenges to belief\u2014all this talk about resurrection of the body, life after death, and sweaty feet. After all of the Easter lilies have dried up, the alleluias are sung, and the special choir anthems presented, we find ourselves muttering to ourselves, \u201cI just don\u2019t know. I just can\u2019t be certain. I can hear what Jesus is saying, but I just don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe you are the sort of person who can stand and say with a sure voice, \u201cI believe in God the Father Almighty, and in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord\u2026\u201d Maybe you have never been bedeviled by doubts. Belief comes easily for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But we ought to note that, even with Jesus standing right in front of the man born blind, listening firsthand to his words and witnessing his mighty works, many did not believe. So if you are sitting here today struggling to believe, this Scripture ought to remind you that it has been that way since the very beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus doesn\u2019t say that you are admitted into the flock if you believe or that you are kicked out of the flock if you don\u2019t believe. No, he says that, if you are in the flock, you\u2019re one of his. You hear his voice, and know him and he knows you and he won\u2019t let you go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m looking at a bunch of good-looking sheep right now. You look like you\u2019re in the flock. There you sit, you sheep!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus says that\u2019s good enough for him. You are in the flock so you hear his voice and he knows you and that\u2019s what it takes. You don\u2019t need to be like sheep jumping over the fence when someone can\u2019t fall asleep. He doesn\u2019t raise the bar to test if you make the grade as one of his disciples. In fact, your making the grade, getting up over the fence, doesn\u2019t seem to be the point at all of being one of his disciples. Rather, it\u2019s a simple matter of just hearing his voice and coming forward to follow, of being in the fold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did you know that sheep are not dumb at all. It\u2019s cattle ranchers who are responsible for spreading that rumor, and all because sheep do not behave like cows. Cows are herded from the rear by hooting cowboys with cracking whips, but that will not work with sheep at all. Stand behind them making loud noises and all they will do is run around behind you, because they prefer to be led. You push cows, but you lead sheep, and they will not go anywhere that someone else does not go first\u2014namely their shepherd\u2014who goes ahead of them to show them that everything is all right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sheep tend to grow fond of their shepherds. A shepherd could walk right through a sleeping flock without disturbing a single one of them, while a stranger could not step foot in the fold without causing pandemonium. Sheep seem to consider their shepherds as part of the family, and their relationship grows between them. They develop a language of their own that outsiders are not familiar with. A good shepherd learns to distinguish when a sheep\u2019s sound is in pain from pleasure. The sheep learns that a cluck of the tongue means food, or a two-note song means that it is time to go home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As sheep in God\u2019s flock, members of the body of Christ, we only need to learn to listen to God\u2019s word for us. We follow Jesus and hear his voice and come to believe because we have developed a language that we understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many of us want to have all of our questions answered before we would believe. Some of us want our doubts erased before we feel that we are worthy of the gospel. I bet if I were to say to you, \u201chow many of you believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth,\u201d there will be some of you out there who would say, \u201cWait, I can believe the first part but I have trouble believing the second part–the stuff about creation and all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jesus doesn\u2019t say to you to get out of here because you don\u2019t believe in all of these beliefs. He just says his sheep hear his voice and he knows them and they know him. They\u2019re in the fold just on the basis of hearing his voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No matter what doubts, questions, or reservations you may have about all of the beliefs in the Christian faith, there you sit in the fold. You may not have your head straight on every affirmation of the Baptist church. You may not know what to think about the doctrine of the Trinity. Or about Easter. You thought you were fairly sure a few weeks ago, but today, in the clear light of May, you\u2019re not sure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When we are in the church, we feel the reassurance and conviction rise within us. But then we wander out of here, into the world, away from the fold, and it is more difficult. There are other voices that compete for our attention. There are other voices that are calling us to go this direction or that direction. What once seemed so sure and certain for us begins to fade because we are forgetting what Jesus\u2019 voice was like at Easter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You know, none of this uncertainty is the real point of my sermon or the real point of Jesus. You and your beliefs or doubts are not the point this morning. The point is that you are here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You have heard the voice of Jesus and you have come forth, you have come into the fold. Somehow you have heard something that sounded in some way like the voice of God inviting you to come forth and be part of this gathering, this flock. And that\u2019s enough, says Jesus, for him to keep you, to keep you for good. It\u2019s not a matter of what you can say, but a matter of what Jesus says. It\u2019s his voice that keeps drawing us here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Palestine today, you can still witness a scene that Jesus saw over two thousand years ago. When the shepherds bring their flocks home from various pastures that they have grazed during the day, they often end up at the same watering hole around dusk. Sometimes there would be eight or nine small flocks all mixed up together turning the watering hole into a convention of thirsty sheep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the shepherds are not worry about the mixed up of sheep. When it is time to go home, each one makes his or her own distinctive call\u2014a special trill or whistle, or a particular tune on a particular reed pipe, the shepherd\u2019s sheep leave the crowd to follow the shepherd home. They know whom they belong to; they know their shepherd\u2019s voice, and it is the only voice they will follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If it comes down to making the grade or rights and privileges, we shouldn\u2019t be here. We don\u2019t deserve it if it was up to our faithfulness. We are here because we have heard his voice and have come forward. We know that there are plenty of other leaders out there calling us to follow them. But for you and for me, we have heard the shepherd\u2019s voice and we have come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As members of his flock, Jesus said that he won\u2019t let his sheep go. He will keep us. Believe this if you can\u2019t believe in anything else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Remember what happened at Easter? Jesus came back to his disheartened, half-believing, mostly unbelieving disciples, broke down the doors where they were hiding, and breathed upon them the Holy Spirit. Jesus keeps coming back to us. He keeps on calling us to follow him. And as his sheep, we hear his voice and have come forward. Easter is the promise that the shepherd will not let us go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s a reason why our stained-glass window of Jesus is the Good Shepherd. Our relationship with the shepherd is based upon who the shepherd is rather than who we are or what little we believe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After all these years, I can still hear my mother calling me home from playing outside for dinner. There were other mothers\u2019 voices calling their kids home too. But when it came to my mother, I can always tell it was her voice. And I know that dinner will be good with cold cream corn and chocolate eclairs for dessert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, know that Jesus, the Good Shepherd is calling you home and you can hear his voice. And that is more than sufficient to be a part of his flock. And as his sheep in the fold, he will keep us and nobody and nothing will snatch his sheep out of his hand!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let us pray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
O Lord, you are the Good Shepherd who calls us to follow you. From all of the competing loyalties in the world, all of the allegiances that we belong, all of the doubts that we have and want to become more certain about, lead us to follow just you by earing your voice and know that you love us from the very beginning and at life\u2019s ending. We pray, trusting in you, dear God. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
John 10:22-30 May 13, 2001 Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco. I can still hear my mother\u2019s voice calling me, \u201cAh