The Basis For Unity
John 10:11-18
by Jim Westmoreland
Have you ever thought of how highly influential images are to our feelings and action? They become emblazoned on the wall of our minds and they evoke a wide range of responses. Millions of people will remember the fireman carrying the baby out of the ruins of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. Neil Armstrong taking that first step on the moon on July 16, 1969, is frozen in many memories, too. If you were old enough to watch and understand television on November 25, l963, you probably remember young John F. Kennedy, Jr., at the casket of his father Jack. Much closer to our own time, many of us will long retain the image of students running out of Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, with their hands over their heads. Some images are immensely powerful and have a tenacity that is tireless and timeless.
If there is one image associated with the Christian faith which, more than any other, has found an enduring place within the collective life of the Christian church, it is the image of Jesus as the good shepherd.(1)
A shepherd was herding his flocks in a remote pasture when suddenly a brand new Jeep Cherokee advanced towards him out of a dust cloud. The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and a Yves Saint Laurent tie, leans out of the window and asks: "If I can tell you exactly how many sheep you have in your flock, will you give me one?"
The shepherd looks at the yuppie, then at his peacefully grazing flock and answers, "Sure!" The yuppie parks the car, whips out his notebook computer, connects it to a cell phone, surfs to a NASA page where he calls up a GPS navigation system, scans the area and opens a database and some 60 spreadsheets with complex formulas. Finally, he prints a 150-page report on a miniature printer, turns to our shepherd and says: "You have exactly 1586 sheep!" "That's correct. As agreed, you can take one of the sheep," says the shepherd. He watches the young man make a selection and bundle it into his Cherokee.
As the car starts to pull away, he calls out: "If I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me my sheep back?" "Okay, why not?" answers the young man, stopping the car. "You are a consultant" says the shepherd. "That's correct," says the yuppie. "How did you guess?"
"Easy," answers the shepherd. "You turn up here without being asked. You want to be paid for information I already have. And you don't know anything about my business because you just took my dog."(2)
When we try to live our life on our own we are much like the yuppie consultant with all the answers. Jesus calls us not to be outside the flock, but within it. He calls us to trust him as the Good Shepherd, to listen and hear his voice. But there are others voices that pull us apart if we let them. They will pull us away from the church and fellowship with other believers. They will cause us to be critical of one another and other churches. In this passage on The Good Shepherd Jesus tells us the basis for unity.
One of the hardest things in the world to unlearn is exclusiveness. William Barclay, the British biblical scholar, wrote, "Once a people, or a section of a people, gets the idea that they are specially privileged, it is very difficult for them to accept that the privileges which they believed belonged only to them and to them only are in fact open to all people." The Jews had trouble with this. They believed that they were God's chosen people and that God had no use for any other nation. But the Abrahamic covenant said that they were to be a blessing to all nations. Isaiah 42, 49 and 56 talk about God giving Israel for a light to the nations. Israel struggled to hear and obey this part of the their covenant with God.
One of the characteristics of sheep that belong to Jesus is their ability to hear and obey his voice. Every person in the audience that day would have known exactly what Jesus was talking about. They would have known that sheep have an uncanny ability to discern the voice of their shepherd. They would have seen flocks merge together along a country lane, a grassy hillside, or in the market square. In the confusion, the untrained eye would not have been able to tell one animal from another. But, when a shepherd decided to separate his animals from the others, he would let out a call and start walking in a specific direction. Each animal would know the tone of his master's voice and would follow that one voice alone.
In v. 16 Jesus says, "I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd." The King James translation continues a faulty translation using the word "fold" instead of "flock." This translation dates back to Jerome and the Latin translation of the bible called the Vulgate. Using the narrower concept of a "fold", many groups through the centuries have concluded that there is only one fold and so there can only be one church, which happens to be their church. Tied to that kind of thinking is the belief that salvation can only be received by being a member of that church.
The translation of the broader concept of "flock" instead of a "fold" is consistent with Jesus' words about having other sheep that are not of this "fold." Here, he says, "this 'fold'" to be more limited in his reference. Then, he expands his application by saying, "I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd." The sheep are in different folds, but Jesus gathers the sheep into one flock.
The basis for unity is because the sheep all hear, answer and obey one shepherd. This is a unity of loyalty to Jesus Christ, not from forcing all the sheep into one fold.
It is only in Christ that we can become one. Barclay tells a story about Egerton Young, the first missionary to the Red Indians in Canada. In Saskatchewan he went out and told them of the love of God. To the Indians it was a new revelation.
When the missionary had told his message, an old chief said, "When you spoke of the Great Spirit just now, did I hear you say, 'Our Father'?" "Yes," said Egerton Young. That is very new and sweet to me, said the chief. "We never thought of the great Spirit as Father. We heard him in the thunder; we saw him in the lightening, the tempest and the blizzard, and we were afraid. So, when you tell us that the great Spirit is our Father, that is very beautiful to us."
The old man paused, and then he went on, "Missionary, did you
say that the great Spirit is your Father?" "Yes," said the
missionary. "And," said the chief, "did you said that he is the
Indians' Father?" "I did," said the missionary. "Then, " said
the old chief, like a man on whom a dawn of joy had burst, "you
and I are brothers!"(3)
Our awareness that we are children of God is the basis for our
unity. The words, "Our Father," begin the Lord's Prayer which
we say each week as we prepare our hearts to come to the Table.
We are family to all who worship Jesus as Savior and Lord.
The only thing that can cross the barriers of race, class and
nationalism is our faith in Jesus Christ. It is our faith in Jesus as
our Savior and Lord that makes us one. Christianity has always
been a missionary religion. There is Good News about God's
love and forgiveness to share. Like Israel, we are called and
commissioned to be a light to the nations. We cannot hide our
light, and we cannot be silent. In our families we limit the
number of heirs, but in God's family there are no limits to the
number of heirs. We participate with God as His children and
as heirs to bring others into the flock. Because of our
relationship as children of God, we are brothers and sisters to
those around us, and God sends us out from here to tell others.
There is one Christ who laid down his life for us, who is the Good Shepherd who knows his own. There is one Lord who says. "my own know me and they will listen to my voice." This is the basis for our unity within this church and with all of our brothers and sisters who follow Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Century Christian Church, May 7, 2006 - Sermon by Jim Westmoreland
www.centurychristian.org
1. Robert A. Noblett, Sermons for Sundays in Lent and Easter, CSS Publishing Company, 2006.
2. Dr. Keith Wagner, "The Nurturing God," May 11, 2003, at Crossroads Presbyterian Church, 1445 Welch Rd, Walled Lake, MI.
3. William Barclay, The Gospel of John, Vol. 2, p. 64.