Expanding the Flock

Happy Easter!

Easter isn’t a day; Easter is a season. We have several more weeks of Easter Season to celebrate the Risen Christ.

He is Risen. He is Risen. He is Risen Indeed!

Brian Scalabrine – “Scal” to his friends, is a television analyst for the Boston Celtics. He is 43 years old, 6’9”, and bit pudgy at 250 lbs. But he played for the Celtics and the Bulls for 12 years, from 2000 to 2012, retiring 9 years ago. He wasn’t much of a star – he was a benchwarmer who averaged 3.1 points per game, knowing that every game might be his last game because he was so poor a player.

When he came back to Boston a few years ago, as a promotional stunt for his television show, he challenged the top players in the Boston area to send in try-out videos. The top four players were selected to go one-on-one against him. He won 11-3, 11-0, 11-0, and 11-3. Then, he played against a group of three commentator from the Sportshub – beating them 11-1.

How did he do this? After all, he was one of the weakest long-term NBA players, and he was over-the-hill.

He pointed out that for 12 years, he was one of the top 500 basketball players in the world, frightened every game that if he missed his assignment, he would lose his job. He even told himself – “If I miss this shot, I’ll lose my job and my kids will die.” It motivated him – and he survived 12 years in the game.

Other professional and former professional players often get challenged in pickup games or in summer camps. Professional women’s players get challenged by random men. The results are almost always the same. The professional or ex-professional always wins. It’s like the end of a martial arts movie when the old white-haired master walks onto the scene. He may be 70 years old, but he has moves that the young student has never seen.

We often forget that even the worst professional athlete has something that the best amateurs don’t have. It’s like they have an extra gear or something. And someone like Scalabrine who survived being cut for 12 years definitely has something that makes them valuable at the end of the game. As Scalabrine’s friend put it, “Scal, you look like you suck, but you don’t suck.” Scalabrine wasn’t Larry Bird, but he played for the Celtics, and that meant he was special.

I’d like you to keep that difference between the professional and the amateur in the back of your mind while we work through today’s scripture lessons, lessons about sheep, a good shepherd, Jesus Christ, and what it means to be a Christian.

Let’s start with this short video I came across that shows the relationship between a young shepherd and his sheep.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DZNMgiqFYE

Does this remind you of anyone you know? Have you been rescued by Jesus from a dark place, have you run free, and jumped right back into that same dark place? Is it any wonder that sheep have a reputation for being stupid animals?

Have you ever wondered why most of the world prefer raising sheep and goats, while Americans prefer raising cattle? After all, one cow probably weighs 1400 pounds, while a sheep may weigh 80 pounds or so. So sheep are a lot more work. But both cattle and sheep can provide milk.

But here’s the advantages of sheep. Sheep can be handled by women and teenagers – unlike cattle who are dangerous to even big, strong men. Sheep can provide both meat and wool. You don’t need as much land to support a sheep – about a tenth that of cattle, which is important if you only have an acre or two of ground. Sheep eat many plants that aren’t grass – in fact, the extension services out west have now decided that ranches can add a sheep for every cow and it won’t hurt, but will actually help the pasture because the sheep will eat the weeds the cattle won’t touch.

Finally, when you live in a land without refrigeration, it is much more efficient to butcher an 80 pound sheep or a 30 pound lamb than a 1400 pound cow. After all, how are you going to eat all that beef before it goes bad without refrigeration? Yet, the sheep or lamb is about right for a couple of families. Furthermore, the amount of milk a sheep provides, about a half-gallon, is much more practical for a family than the 7 to 15 gallons a day of a modern dairy cow. And that’s why the rest of the world prefers raising sheep and goats over cattle. For many families, most of their wealth lies in their flock. Lose the flock – and the family enters poverty. But having a large flock means wealth, sheep are four-legged coins walking around.

But sheep are not able to defend themselves well against predators such as wolves, wild dogs, and such. And so, for centuries, sheep have been tended by shepherds, often the teenagers of the family – or hired hands who will work for a bit of mutton, some milk, and some wool. The shepherd’s responsibility was to protect the sheep, to lead the sheep to good pasture, to keep them away from fast-moving streams where they might get sweep away. The sheep come to know the voice of the shepherd and follow the shepherd, trusting the shepherd’s rod and staff to protect them even in the scariest places.

Anointing? Sheep can be tormented by insects. A bit of olive oil poured on the sheep will become a sticky trap for those biting insects. So the shepherd would anoint the sheep by putting just a drop or two of olive oil onto the sheep.

And so, in the Middle East – and most of the rest of the world, even America up until World War II, sheep raising culture was widespread. Everyone understood the role of the shepherd – and the importance and value of a flock of sheep. And so David talked about being a sheep in the 23rd Psalm that we began with today, and Jesus referred back to that Psalm when He spoke of being the good shepherd. He said in John Chapter 10:

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep."

There is a real difference between the shepherd who owns the sheep – and the hired hand to whom the sheep is just a job, a meal ticket. Ben Franklin talked of being “born to the printing business”, how being raised in a printer’s family gave him insight into the business than no one who bought his way into a printer’s shop could ever have. Jesus continued:

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.”

Jesus is referring to his listeners as his sheep. And he is telling us that he will sacrifice his life to protect his sheep, something that would happen in just a few months when Jesus went to the cross. And many of his listeners understood this, because they owned sheep or grew up in a sheep-owning family – and they may have lost sheep when they hired an amateur for cheap pay.

Jesus was speaking that day to the people of Jerusalem. He was speaking to a crowd which was probably completely composed of Jews. But then he expanded his talk and began to speak of non-Jews, people like us, people who lived in other countries.

"I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd."

Jesus came to the Jews and spoke almost entirely to the Jews. But Jesus understood his mission was to the entire world – Europeans, Asians, Africans, Americans, Australians. Sheep of other sheep pens which would be brought together as one flock.

And then Jesus spoke of why His Father had entrusted Him to take care of Father’s sheep:

“The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life” Jesus was willing to die for the sheep.

But because Jesus was actually God on earth, God the Son, Jesus had an ability and an authority from the Father to go even further.

“The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

Jesus understood that He had to ability from God the Father - indeed the command from God the Father – to lay down his life – and then take it up again. Jesus had been given the ability to die – and to live again, at His choice, His “own accord”.

And a few months later, Jesus would use that ability as He died on the cross so His sheep would not need to die – and then He came back from death so that the world would respect Him for who He was and is – God the Son.

For this was the key difference that made Jesus divine, God in the flesh, a step above ordinary men and women. This ability to rise from the dead, like the “extra gear” that professional athletes have, is why Jesus could never be just an ordinary man. The ability to defeat Death is the difference between a human and God, for God created Death just as God created Life, and so God can defeat Death, just as God can destroy Life. We puny humans can only tinker around the edges, postponing Death for a few years at best, never defeating it – while we are very good at destroying Life.

And yet… Our shepherd has told us that if we follow Him, if we follow Jesus, He will defeat Death for each of us. We must follow the Shepherd, though, not merely believe that there is a great Shepherd somewhere. We must come back from the thorn bushes of life, we must walk away from the cliff edges, we must listen for the voice of the Shepherd and return to following that Shepherd.

But, you know, there is a way that we are like professional athletes. For there is a real difference between the worst Christians and the best of those who do not believe. There are extra gears that all Christians have – some don’t ever use it, but it is there, while unbelievers don’t even have access to it as long as they insist on doing their own thing and not following Jesus. There are abilities promised to all Christians which is not promised or even given to those who choose their own path.

Those extra gears are the facts that the worst Christian is promised life eternal, the worst Christian is given access to the Holy Spirit’s guidance, the most terrible Christian in the world has had their sins forgiven by God when they asked.

For God protects His sheep, and when we choose to follow Jesus Christ, admitting that He is far wiser and more powerful than we can ever hope to be, when we bow down and admit that there are simply some things Jesus can do for us that we cannot do for ourselves, when we stand back up and say, “Please guide me, Jesus! I will follow You!” That is when we become His sheep and He protects and guides us. It is a choice that we each must make once in our lives, and you can make that choice today. Look to the Good Shepherd and admit your weakness, but also admit that you are worthy enough to be led by the Prince of the Universe, because you are a human, and that is enough, just as a shepherd will accept into the flock any sheep that chooses to join that flock. Join this flock and be led by the Good Shepherd.

“I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen.”

Our shepherd has asked us to look for lost sheep. Each one of us has been given a command to find other sheep and bring them into the flock. And how shall we do this?

We should take advantage of our abilities and powers given to us as Christian believers. We each received the Holy Spirit at baptism, and that means we have access to the right words to say, the right actions to take, the best methods to encourage lost sheep to join our flock. We simply need to ask the Holy Spirit and then listen as the Spirit tells us who, when, and how to speak to our friends, neighbors, and family members. The Spirit will even guide us to speak to strangers about Christ – if we listen to the Spirit’s voice deep in our minds.

And we mustn’t get caught up in fear. It is not our job to decide who joins the flock – the Spirit will decide that. It is our job to be pleasant, attractive people who speak praises of Jesus and God the Father, and who are bold in explaining what Jesus has done for us.

I know a woman who has led many people to Christ. Her secrets?

First, she assumes that God wants everyone to follow His Son – and so she assumes that all people are welcome in God’s flock and need to understand Jesus. She has made dozens of friends in that way at the supermarket, the park, various meetings, and at work.

Second, she has learned that God will protect her from angry people – and she has heard God clearly say “Don’t bother” when speaking to certain people, just a handful over the years.

Third, she relies upon the Holy Spirit to give her the words to say – and she understands the Spirit will also tell her when to be quiet and let the other person talk or think.

And finally, she has learned that sometimes, her role is to simply speak truth in a pleasant manner, like telling someone that to get to Morgantown from Parkersburg, you first have to travel East on Rt 50, not West – and someone else will eventually lead the person to Christ, just as there are signposts in Clarksburg that point north to Morgantown.

For my friend, who, as you may have guessed, is my wife. She considers that it is her life mission to lead people to Christ. Mine, too. And it can become your life mission also.

I know of a man who was diagnosed with leukemia several decades ago – a fast-moving leukemia. This was in the days when there was a ward in the hospital where the patients stayed. When he was diagnosed, he chose that time to turn his life over to Christ and to bring sheep into the flock. And so he talked with other patients in the hospital, listened to them, and prayed with them. His pastor visited him when time was running out after about six months. “Well, I found fourteen sheep,” he said. “I’m so sorry I didn’t start earlier, because I really wish I’d been able to find more sheep.” He had led fourteen people to Jesus over the previous six months.

There are professional athletes who seem to have an extra gear over the amateur athletes. Can you imagine what would happen to this church, this county, this nation if we would each choose to become professionals at leading people to Christ? What would happen if each of us led, not fourteen people, but 6 people to Christ this year? Even one or 2 people?

According to Brian Scalabrine, his extra gear came into play when he told himself, “If I miss this shot, I’ll lose my job and my kids will die.”

As Christians, if we pass up the opportunity to speak with someone about Jesus and God, they may end up dying the real death. But if we speak to them, we may find we’ve been part of leading them to eternal life. If we speak to them, we will make a real difference in this world forever. If we speak to them about the love of Christ, one day they may greet us under the Tree of Life in New Jerusalem and say, “Thank you for having that talk with me that led me to be here, today.” Speaking to another may be eternally important for them.

But we need to understand the basics ideas of our faith.

And so, as we will continue throughout the Easter season, let us remind each other of the core parts of our faith that we have kept over the centuries:

Let us join together in reciting what we believe, as expressed in the ancient Apostles Creed (UMH #881)

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;*
the third day he rose from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic** church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.