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Can I be honest with you? I’ve preached a version of this sermon before. It was at a point in my life where I wasn’t sure what I was doing or where I was going. I wasn’t sure of my identity. I wasn’t sure who I really truly was. And this text from John 10 was a huge comfort for me.
Read through it if you have the chance. Jesus’ identity is there. He says: “I AM.” I am the Good Shepherd. Did you catch your own identity there? If Jesus is the Good Shepherd, then you are the sheep.
And there’s so much in that metaphor. I could talk about how sheep are wanderers, they’re followers, and they put themselves willingly in dangerous situations. There’s a lot of truth in that for us isn’t there? But as a sheep who has Jesus as your shepherd- what else is true? You have one who lays down his life for you. And you have one who leaves the 99 to come after you. And you have one who will not leave you when things get tough, but will protect you in every situation.
There’s rest in that identity. There’s rest from the stress of needing to give ourselves identity on our own. There’s rest in knowing that the big question of our lives is not “Who are you?” It’s “Whose Are You.”
John 10:1-15
“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. 7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 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. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.
