A new kind of plane was on its first flight. It was full of reporters and journalists. A little while after takeoff, the captain's voice was heard over the speakers. "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm delighted to be your pilot for this plane's historic first flight. I can tell you the flight is going well. Nevertheless, I have to tell you about a minor inconvenience that has occurred. The passengers on the right side can, if they look out their window, see that the closest engine is slightly vibrating. That shouldn't worry you, because this plane is equipped with four engines and we are flying along smoothly at an acceptable altitude. As long as you are looking out the right side, you might as well look at the other engine on that side. You will notice that it is glowing, or more precisely one should say, burning. That shouldn't worry you either, since this plane is designed to fly with just two engines if necessary, and we are maintaining an acceptable altitude and speed. As long as we are looking out the plane, those of you on the left side shouldn't worry if you look out your side of the plane and notice that one engine that is supposed to be there is missing. It fell off about ten minutes ago. Let me tell you that we are amazed that the plane is doing so well without it.

However, I will call your attention to something a little more serious. Along the center aisle all the way down the plane a crack has appeared. Some of you are, I suppose, able to look through the crack, and may even notice the waves of the Atlantic Ocean below. In fact, those of you with very good eyesight may be able to notice a small lifeboat that was thrown from the plane. Well, ladies and gentlemen, you will be happy to know that your captain is keeping an eye on the progress of the plane from that lifeboat below."

Now, I realize that there are some things we shouldn't joke about, and a plane crash is perhaps one of them. But that little story about the plane and its pilot seemed so descriptive of our lives and the world today that I couldn't help but tell it. Sometimes we find ourselves in situations very similar to that plane flight. LIFE has a big IF in it! Everything around us seems to be falling apart and the person in charge seems to be as remote as the captain in the raft on the ocean far below. But the person in charge of our lives is not remote. He is our Shepherd and He is leading the way. Leading us; giving us eternal life; assuring us we will never perish; and, my friends, no one can snatch you out of his hands. Today, I want to demonstrate to you that as our Shepherd, as our Leader, Jesus Gives Us "LIFE" Without the Big "IF" in the Middle!

In our text, Jesus is talking to a group of people that included a bunch of Pharisees, the religious leaders of the day who were leading the people astray by teaching them they could earn their way to heaven. He was talking in parables; earthly stories that teach us spiritual truths. The subject of the day was sheep and their shepherd. Jesus used two analogies, calling Himself both the SHEPHERD and the GATE for the sheepfold.

A sheepfold was a walled enclosure made of stones. Several flocks of sheep were kept in the sheepfold, and when a legitimate shepherd came to get his flock, the doorkeeper or watchman of the fold would let the shepherd pass into the fold. The shepherd would call the sheep, and the sheep, who knew his voice, would come to him, and he would lead his flock out to pasture. When they were away from the sheepfold, the shepherd would stay out all night with his flock, finding some kind of shelter in the pasture area, and he himself would act as the door, so that no wild animal could get by him.

Why all this protection for sheep? Because in the sheep-world, there are dangerous intruders. There are robbers and thieves who try sneaking in by crawling over the wall, and their intent is to harm and destroy. They either want to eat the sheep or sell them for profit - they could care less about the well-being of the sheep. Healthy sheep recognize they are up to no good, not only because they haven't walked through the front door, but also because they do not recognize their voices. And healthy sheep will NOT follow the voice of a stranger.

During World War I, some Turkish soldiers tried to steal a flock of sheep from a hillside near Jerusalem. The shepherd, who had been sleeping, suddenly awakened to see his sheep being driven off on the other side of the ravine. He could not hope to recapture his flock by force single-handedly, but suddenly he had a thought. Standing up on his side of the ravine, he put his hands to his mouth and gave his own peculiar call, which he used each day to gather his sheep to him. The sheep heard the familiar sound. For a moment they listened and then, hearing it again, they turned and rushed down one side of the ravine and up the other toward their shepherd. It was quite impossible for the soldiers to stop the animals. The shepherd was away with them to a place of safety before the soldiers could make up their minds to pursue them - and all because his sheep knew their master's voice.

In our world, being Jesus' sheep, the same thing is true. There are dangerous intruders, whose intent is to harm and destroy, and whose motivation is selfish. Intruders like those Pharisees of long ago who want us to believe that we have to earn our way to heaven rather than trust in Christ for it. Our intruders are the devil, the sinful world that surrounds us, and our own sinful selves! The Devil, working through the world, will try anything to snatch us out of God's hand. He promises all sorts of things and ways of life that are supposed to be better than being God's sheep. Ways of life that are more "fun" and offer more "freedom." Ways of life that would have you rely on yourself instead of someone else. We fall for this so often because we are imperfect sinful sheep. Looking for leadership and guidance in our lives, we often turn to worldly ideas, self-help courses, and selfish ideals. Again and again, we turn to ourselves, trusting and thinking that we can live the sort of life that will save us, the life that God will be pleased with. That is what all of our intruders, whether they are people, events, sinful thoughts, or the Devil himself, want us to believe. That is how they harm us as they steal us away from the comfort of belonging to our Good Shepherd. Don't listen to their voices!

A man traveling in the East heard that there was a shepherd who still kept up the custom of calling his sheep by name. He went to the man, and said: "Let me put on your clothes, and take your crook, and I will call them, and see if they will come to me." And so he did, and he called one sheep, "Mina, Mina," but the whole flock ran away from him. Then he said to the shepherd: "Will none of them follow me when I call them?" The shepherd replied: "Yes, sir, some of them will; the sick sheep will follow anybody."

We have seen it, haven't we? People, young and old, who are "sick." Battered by the storms of life and distracted by voices urging them to go this way and that, they have lost their bearings and they don't know where they are or where they are going. That can be more than a little frightening; it leads to despair, to hopelessness. And when someone is "sick" they will follow anyone who will promise a moment of happiness, a brief feeling of peace or forgetfulness, a sense that they are someone. But the call of Jesus the Good Shepherd is, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." There is no better way, no greater truth, no happier life. Our Lord reaches out to us in love that we might follow him.

Here is why: Jesus is the only door to salvation. Anyone entering through the gate of Jesus will be saved. Jesus came to this world to live the perfect life we couldn't, and also die for our sins. By that work, He opened the way to God for us. Because of that, He promises something you can be sure of, something with no "ifs." He promises you eternal life in heaven. That is God's gift to you. That is what the devil so badly wants to snatch away, but can't, because of the Good Shepherd. That is a gift too wonderful to be deserved by us, but yet is ours anyway! Jesus gives us Eternal LIFE with absolutely no IF in the middle!

That is not the only great thing about Jesus being our Good Shepherd. He also gives us pasture while we are on this earth. He assures us of his daily comforting presence in our lives right now! A man who wanted to teach his nephews and nieces about the reality of the living presence of Christ in our lives asked them, "Where's your mother?" "Upstairs," answered one girl. "How do you know?" "I saw her go," she replied. "You mean you saw her start to go upstairs," corrected the uncle. "Maybe she didn't get there, or perhaps she's not there now." "Oh, I know she's there, because I just called her, and she answered me," said the youngest child. The uncle continued his questioning, "Did you see her?" "No, but she spoke to me and called me by my name. I know her voice, and I know it was Mother!" "You are right," said the uncle. "And in much the same way that you know your mother is upstairs we can know that the Lord is alive and in our lives. He 'speaks' to us and we just know it is His voice."

In the East, shepherds have the custom of naming their sheep. They call them by name. God has also named us as his children and calls us by name. God speaks to us in his Word. Just as shepherds lead their sheep to pasture so they will grow and be healthy, God leads us to the pasture of his Word where we will grow in our faith and be happy in our life right now. From His Word, we will have real life right now - life with no "ifs"! Jesus comes to give life. That is why He laid down his life for us, the sheep, by his perfect life and innocent suffering and death. That is what He guarantees to us through his triumphant resurrection. Through his work He gives us real life which forgives sin, frees us from the guilt that torments us, removes the fears and worries of our everyday life, and ultimately lasts for all eternity in heaven. As Jesus says, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." Jesus gives life that no one or nothing else can give! He gives us an abundance of grace, of joy, and of peace! He also gives us the ability to live for Him, free from our slavery to sin and Satan. Jesus is the life-giver with no "ifs" in every sense of the word!

Numbers. Our lives are filled with numbers. Each year we file our income taxes, and that deadline is coming! Now that's an exercise in numbers to end all numbers games. Pages upon pages of numbers. And when it is finally prepared, we send it off to Revenue Canada with our Social Insurance number on it. And Revenue Canada takes all those numbers and puts them into a computer, along with the numbers of thousands of other people. And to them, we are a number. The government knows us by our tax number. The province knows us by our driver's license number. The bank knows us by our account number. And when we retire, we'll be known by our Social Insurance number. And it goes on and on. In fact, sometimes I wonder if anybody knows us at all without a number! And that's why this morning's Gospel reading is so significant, because it tells us that God knows us. He knows us intimately, in fact, better than we know ourselves. And that's important to remember. Even though the image of sheep and shepherd might be foreign to our experience, the words of the Gospel this morning announce for us a truth that our human hearts long to hear. The Old Testament writer put it clearly when he wrote, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want." Jesus says it this morning, "My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me, and I give them eternal life." Amen.

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