August 6, 2006

Pentecost 9

            If you have ever considered getting into the shepherd business, there is something you should probably know about sheep.  Sheep do not “just take care of themselves” as some might suppose.  They require, more than any other class of livestock, endless attention and meticulous care.  Being a shepherd is a lot of work!
            It is no accident that God has chosen to call us sheep.  The behavior of sheep and human beings is similar in many ways!  Our mass mind, mob instincts, our fears and timidity, our stubbornness and stupidity, and our perverse habits are all amazing parallels with those of sheep! Imagine sheep having no shepherd at all!  They would be helpless!  Imagine an infant having no parents to feed him and take care of him!  Just as helpless! You and I are even more helpless on our own because of our sin. We are helpless to save ourselves. That is what your Saviour saw when that crowd had gathered before Him.

            What makes your Saviour the “Good” Shepherd?  Why is your Saviour your “Saviour”?  I am going to completely switch the visual image you are seeing from the sheep pen to the Pacific Ocean.  A man decided he would swim from Los Angeles to Hawaii.  He hired the finest swim coach to train him and worked out with Olympic gold-medal winners.  He left no detail of preparation undone.  Finally the big day arrived.  He plunged into the Ocean and began to swim.  Five…ten…fifteen…twenty miles he went.  Now the ocean seemed to be getting more intimidating.  The waves were becoming rather high and the water cold.
1.
            He began to realize that he could never swim to Hawaii; it was just too far.  He tried thinking of an alternative way, but there was none.  Then, as he was gasping for air and about to go down, a motorboat pulled up alongside him.  With his last ounce of energy he called out, “Save me! Please, save me!”  The owner of the motorboat looked down at our drowning swimmer and said, “Friend, you’re in trouble.  What you need is a waterproof edition of my book on swimming to Hawaii.  It will tell you everything you need to know.  Here, catch it!”  And then, vroom, vroom, off he goes in his boat to Hawaii.  Obviously, our swimmer needs more than a book.

            That is one way the world tries to help, isn’t it?  If you are burdened with the guilt of an addiction problem, the world throws you a book and says, “follow these steps!”  If you are looking for direction in life, you are thrown a self-help book, and told how you can make something of your life. YOU can do it! The world will point you to wealth, personal success, fame, achievement, relationships, and security to bring you happiness and fulfillment.  But it has missed one important point:  you are in the middle of the ocean drowning!  You are drowning in your sin, and face eternal separation from God!  Whether you drown knowing how to swim well or not knowing how to swim at all doesn’t matter!  And no matter what you achieve in this lifetime, won’t matter at all if you don’t have a Saviour to take care of your real needs! The need of forgiveness.
2.
            Well, let’s suppose that as our swimmer was gasping for his last breath and the motorboat pulled alongside him and he cried out, “Save me! Please, save me!” the owner said, “Friend, you’re in trouble.  What you need is someone to show you how to swim.  Here, watch me.”  At that, the boater jumps in and says, “The secret is the Australian crawl.  Watch my head.  See,  it’s breathe – blow, breathe – blow.  Now, friend, it won’t be easy, but if you’ll just follow my example, you are sure to make it.”  And then he climbs back into his boat and vroom, vroom, off he goes to Hawaii.  Obviously, our swimmer needs more than an example, a model.

            Many people look at Jesus as a great man.  A great example, or model, to follow.  He lived a perfect life.  “Maybe we can imitate Him, and then when God sees how well we are doing, and how hard we are trying, that will be enough to get us to heaven.”  Do you ever feel that you live a pretty good life?  You come to church.  You help out.  You are kind to people.  You work hard at your job.  You love and take care of your family.  You are on good terms with your community and the government.  It looks good on the outside!  But what about what is inside your heart?  You sleep during church or your attention drifts away.  You have evil, hateful thoughts about those same people you are nice to.  You talk about them at your dinner table!  You have petty jealousies of others in your family.  You get frustrated at times with how much you have to take care of them.  You are often bitter about the government in the land, and the laws of the community, and resent them in your thoughts and words.  And you choose which laws you will obey, and which ones you will overlook whether you wind up in jail or not.  Sorry, but Jesus is not our Saviour because of the perfect model He gave us.  It wouldn’t have helped.
3.
            Well, let’s try again.  This time as our swimmer was gasping for his last breath and the motorboat pulled alongside him and he cried out, “Save me! Please, save me!” suppose that the owner leans over the rail and says, “Friend, you’re in trouble!  Even worse, you’re drowning! Here, let me save you.”  Then the owner reaches over and grabs the drowning swimmer, pulls him into the boat, sets him down in a chair, and gives him something to eat and drink.  After a while, the owner reappears on deck and says to the well-rested swimmer, “You know, I saved you from certain death back there.  I pulled you out of the water and fed you.  Now we are only a few hundred miles from Hawaii, and I think it’s time that you did something.  So, you lazy fellow, get back in the water and swim!”  Obviously, our swimmer is right back where he started, and he surely needs more than an occasional boost or help when things get rough.

            Do you look at church as something that just gives you a little boost?  “Once a week, I’ll go and get a little spiritual boost, and that will help me get through life.”  And then the rest of the week, you go back to relying on yourself!  That isn’t what made your Saviour your Saviour!  He didn’t come to just give you a boost and expect you to continue on your own.  He did more than that for you.  And that means He can’t just come in and out of your life each week.
4.
            Let’s give it one more try.  This time as our swimmer is gasping for his last breath and the motorboat pulls alongside him and he cries out, “Save me! Please, save me!” the owner leans over the rail and says, “Friend, you’re in trouble!  Even worse, you’re drowning! Here, let me save you.”  And the owner reaches over and grabs the drowning swimmer and pulls him into the boat.  He sets him in a chair and gives him something to eat and to drink.  Eventually Hawaii comes into view and the owner heads for the dock.  He ties up his boat, picks up the swimmer, carries him across the dock, and puts him down on the golden sands of Hawaii.

            Now, which of these was truly the savior of our drowning swimmer?  Why, the last one, of course.  He was the only one who rescued the swimmer from certain death and took him to a place where there was no threat of drowning again.  In a similar manner, God did not write the Bible to give you an instruction book on “How to Get to Heaven.”  Nor did Christ come to show you how to live a life that would be acceptable to God.  Nor did Christ come to help you out when you needed a little extra boost, but still expects you to do your part.  No, Christ was like the owner who did it all for the drowning swimmer and so became his savior.

            So Why is your Saviour your Saviour?  Because He is the LORD!  “The LORD is my shepherd…” Psalm 23 says.  The LORD is your Saviour!  And because He is the LORD, that means He is gracious and loving.  He loves you in spite of the fact you don’t deserve it.  It means He has compassion.  He has looked at you and I, sheep without a shepherd, and been filled with such love and compassion for us that He became our shepherd to love and take care of us.  And the love He has for you has moved Him to do everything for you!  Our text says: “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.  So he began teaching them many things.”  He taught them about how He would be their Saviour.  He became your Saviour by giving his life for you, since He loved you so much, so that you would not drown, but swim!  That you would not die eternally, but live!  He brought you to the golden sands of heaven where you will live with Him forever!  Amen.

Back to the Pentecost page
Back to the Pastor's Messages page