Sermon Tone Analysis

*INTRODUCTION:*

1.      ((illus)) Most of us are familiar with the now syndicated TV program called *Candid Camera*.

Perhaps you remember the “Candid Camera” TV program that took place at an *exclusive prep school* where all of the students were well above average.

The “Candid Camera” people *posed as career consultants* who were going to advise these brilliant young men concerning the careers that would be best suited to them, on the basis of “tests” and “interviews” that seemed (to the students) quite authentic.

*One young man eagerly awaited* *the “counselor’s” verdict*.

Surely the adviser would tell the boy to be a college president or a bank president, or perhaps a research scientist.

But, no, the “counselor” had other ideas.

You should have *seen the look on the boy’s face* when the “counselor” said: *“Son, after evaluating your tests and interview, I’ve decided that the best job for you is—a shepherd.”

*

 

The student did not know whether *to laugh or cry*.

After all, who in his right mind would want to be a shepherd to a bunch of dumb sheep?

2.

As we continue looking at the life of the *Intimate Jesus*, our text is *John 10 which focuses on the image of sheep*, sheepfolds (sheep pens), and shepherds.

* *

a.    *Included* in this text is one of the *most striking features* of John's gospel  - the presence of what are known as the *"I AM sayings" of Jesus.*

b.

In the gospel of John, Jesus defines himself with such famous statements as:

i)        "I am the bread of life....

ii)      I am the light of the world....

iii)    I am the resurrection and the life....

iv)    I am the way, the truth and the life....

v)      I am the true vine…."

c.

And in the portion of the  10th chapter of John this morning, *we find two of the I AM sayings.

*

i)        A third is in :36

ii)      "I am the gate (door) of the sheep..." and

iii)    "I am the good shepherd..."

3.      Here’s the problem with this text:

a.    *((illus)) *Imagine yourself in the year 4,000 A.D. You are on an archeological dig, and you uncover a document that appears to be very old, 2,000 years old to be exact.

It’s a remarkable find.

As you examine the document, you are able to read its contents.

It says, *"Yesterday, after a round* of Ultimate Frisbee, we drank a Coke while watching Jeopardy on the TV in our split-level home.

Pop drive some of the dudes home in our minivan, while the rest stayed to play Mother-May-I."

b.

Now being two-millennia in the future, do you think you would have any clue as to what this letter was referring to?

c.    Worse yet, imagine the pastor of your church taking these unfamiliar terms and then using them to convey important spiritual truths!

d.

But *believe when I say* that this rural Middleeastern image *has a great deal to do with us today*, even in our urban industrialized world.

4.      The truths that cluster around the *image of the shepherd and the sheep are found throughout the Bible.*

a.    God uses these images for Himself - Psalm 23, etc.

b.    OT kings and prophets were sometimes spoken of  as “shepherds.”

c.    Paul used this image when admonishing the spiritual leaders in the church at Ephesus (Acts 20:28ff).

d.

The title “Pastor” literally means “shepherd.”

*5.      *The symbols that Jesus used *HELP US UNDERSTAND WHO HE IS AND WHAT HE WANTS TO DO FOR US.*

*6.      *But as much as we may treasure this image of Jesus as our shepherd, the *downside of the metaphor* is that it *makes all of us sheep.

*

a.    *((illus))* I recently read about a man who grew up in Montana, where, he claims, they have so many sheep that he pronounces the state's name *"Mont-aaaa-na."*

b.

One of this man’s topics was *the stupidity of sheep*.

i)        He said that on *a cold night*, sheep will pile on top of one another to stay warm; the sheep at the bottom of the heap often suffocate.

ii)      Unless prevented, a sheep *will eat until* it becomes bloated, falls over and dies, a victim of its instinctive *"slop 'til you drop"* mentality.

iii)    *When he transported* his horses and cattle, they always leaned in the proper direction when his truck went around a corner.

In contrast, sheep often leaned in the wrong direction, fell over and could not get back up.

c.

A *frightened sheep* will sometimes walk right off the edge of a cliff.

d.

And so *my dear Grace Community Church flock*, as we look at this morning's scripture*, we must acknowledge our massive, one-way dependency on our shepherd Jesus Christ*.

7.      Let's read John 10, verses 7-18 (page)

 

*/7 so he explained it to them.

“I assure you, I am the gate for the sheep,” he said.

/*

*/8 “All others who came before me were thieves and robbers.

But the true sheep did not listen to them.

/*

*/9 Yes, I am the gate.

Those who come in through me will be saved.

Wherever they go, they will find green pastures.

/*

*/10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy.

My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.

/*

*/11 “I am the good shepherd.

The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

/*

*/12 A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming.

He will leave the sheep because they aren’t his and he isn’t their shepherd.

And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock.

/*

*/13 The hired hand runs away because he is merely hired and has no real concern for the sheep.

/*

*/14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, /*

*/15 just as my Father knows me and I know the Father.

And I lay down my life for the sheep.

/*

*/16 I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold.

I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice; and there will be one flock with one shepherd.

/*

*/17 “The Father loves me because I lay down my life that I may have it back again.

/*

*/18 No one can take my life from me.

I lay down my life voluntarily.

For I have the right to lay it down when I want to and also the power to take it again.

For my Father has given me this command.”/*

*8.

**PRAYER*

 

Lord, we are gathered before you this morning in our great sheep pen.

Sheepishly aware of our weakness, we wait to hear our shepherd's voice.

We are eager to feed on your Word.

Come to your flock now, Lord, and fill this room with your mighty shepherding presence.

Lead us into the ways of life and truth.

Guide us along the paths you wish us to take.

In Jesus' name.

Amen

9.      *((illus))* A famous novelist *Frederick Forsythe* tells a story about *Christmas Eve 1957*.

A *young Royal Air Force pilot* is stationed at a base in Germany.

As Christmas approaches, he yearns to visit home, but his hopes are dashed when his commanding officer tells him that he has to stand duty on Christmas day.

He resigns himself to the prospect of a lonely holiday, when suddenly *late on Christmas Eve*, the word comes: he is released from duty and can fly home to England.

At ten o'clock on Christmas Eve, the young aviator climbs into the cockpit of his single-seater Vampire fighter jet and takes off under a moonless sky for the *400-mile flight home to Kent, England.

*

But just *ten minutes out over the North Sea,* there's a short in the jet's electrical system.

His instrument panel goes dark, and both the compass and the standby compass fail.

Fighting a rising sense of panic, the pilot realizes he only has *80 minutes worth of fuel* for the flight home.

Recalling what he has been taught to do in such an emergency, he descends in altitude, slows his airspeed and flies in an emergency triangular pattern in order to be picked up on radar.

He wonders: Will anyone see me?

Will help come in time?