John 10:11-16
Easter 2
April 6, 2008
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “There will be one flock and one shepherd.” Our Christian faith is founded not on seeing, but on hearing. Remember what Jesus told Thomas last week: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (Jn. 20:29). We also remember what St. Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome: “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17). Why is that so? Because our faith receives and holds on to things that are eternal. And it is written, “The things that are seen are temporary, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18). We walk by faith in that which is unseen rather than by sight in what passes away. That’s how it goes with all the articles of the Christian Creed.
No one could use their normal, physical sight to see that the Son of Mary was also the Eternal Son of God, begotten of His Father from eternity. Rather, we learn and believe that Jesus is the Son of God by hearing His Word. No one could use their normal, physical sight to see that the Man hanging dead on the cross under ancient Rome’s harsh system of execution was also the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Instead, we learn and believe what Jesus has done, not by sight, but by hearing His Word.
And it’s no different when we come to the Third Article of the Creed. Here we confess: “I believe in one, holy, Christian, apostolic Church.” Notice that we do not say, “I see one, holy, Christian, apostolic Church.” We can not use our normal, physical sight to see the Church. Even the Church is something we must believe in by hearing the word of Christ.
For if you rely on your eyes, your normal, physical sight to see the Church as she appears today, you will be sorely disappointed. What you see will be a bit of a train-wreck: a church that doesn’t look like the one flock Jesus spoke of, but one that is fractured in the name of hundreds of competing denominations; a church tainted and sullied by the sins of her priests and pastors, as we have seen so painfully and so often in recent years; a church that too often seems to resemble a loose lady of the night rather than the pure, virgin Bride of Christ, because she lusts for the approval of men rather than the approval of God; a church where preachers tell the people what they want to hear–how to be a better you and live your best life now; a church body even like our own Missouri Synod, where we sometimes bow down to the false god of missions at the expense of remaining faithful to the Word of Christ in that task, where the synod has just cancelled one of the most popularly supported and solidly Lutheran forms of media outreach that we have in the Issues Etc. radio program–all under the false premise of supposed financial concerns. I could go on, but I think you get the point. If we go first and foremost by what we see, then we can only see a Church that doesn’t look the one flock under the one shepherd, Jesus.
And don’t be fooled into thinking that there was ever some past golden age in which this wasn’t how things were. That’s the appeal some offer to try to get Lutherans to convert to Roman Catholicism, where everyone can be unified under the ancient office of the papacy, or to Eastern Orthodoxy, which claims to be the true church with true bishops in an unbroken chain going back to the days of the New Testament. That, they say, is where we can find our unity and our holiness. But even in the days of the apostles, the church looked a lot like it does today. There were disputes over doctrine, whether or not a person had to be circumcised and keep the Old Testament Law in order to be a true Christian. There were congregations where racial segregation along the lines of Jew and Gentile was going on, where a man sleeping with his father’s second wife was tolerated, where some were getting drunk at the Lord’s Supper while others were going without it altogether, where factions were developing around the personalities of Peter or Paul or Apollos. No, a church made up of those who are at the same time saints and sinners will always reflect that dual character.
So again, remember what Jesus said last week: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Remember what He tells us today: “[My sheep] will hear My voice. And there will be one flock and one Shepherd.” Believe what you cannot yet see.
Sheep are often described as being stupid; but that’s not really the case. As I understand it, it’s just that they cannot see well. Sheep are so short-sighted that they mostly look down to the ground or to the sheep in front of them so that they know which way to go. Sheep must rely on their hearing more than on their sight as they follow their shepherd.
The same holds true for the flock of God called the Church. We can use our eyes only to a certain extent, but we are very short-sighted. And so we rely on our ears first and foremost to know our Shepherd and to discern His flock and to recognize the unity of Jesus’ Church. As the Gospel says, “They will hear My voice [the voice of My Word and teaching]. And there will be one flock and one Shepherd.”
Martin Luther expressed this in a document called the Smalcald Articles. The Lutheran Church recognizes this as more than Luther’s private opinion; it is our confession of faith too. In the Smalcald Articles Luther addressed the claim of the Roman Church that it and it alone was THE one, holy, true Church. Here’s what Luther wrote and what Lutherans after him have confessed:
“We do not agree with them that they are the Church. They are not the Church. Nor will we listen to those things that, under the name of Church, they command or forbid. Thank God, today a seven-year-old child knows what the Church is, namely, the holy believers and lambs who hear the voice of their Shepherd. For the children pray, “I believe in one holy Christian Church.” This holiness does not come from albs, tonsures, long gowns, and other ceremonies they made up without Holy Scripture, but from God’s Word and true faith” (SA III:XII:1-3).
The church is not a bureaucratic institution, be it Roman Catholic, Lutheran, or otherwise. And we’ve never claimed that only Lutherans go to heaven. God forbid! Rather, we are Lutherans precisely because the Word and teaching of Christ leads us to believe the truth we confess. The one true church consists of all the sheep who hear and follow the voice of their Good Shepherd and believe in His Word. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less.
And this voice of our Good Shepherd is an absolutely unique
one. There are lots of other religious and spiritual voices out there
calling to us, trying to lead us this way and that. But only one
voice has the sound of Christ’s Gospel–undeserved mercy, unmerited love.
You can hear the difference. Christ’s sheep follow the voice that
says to them: “I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His
life for the sheep.” Jesus laid down His life for you. He got
in between you and the predators of sin and death and the devil and took
the ravaging in your place so that you would be spared. He became
the sacrificial Lamb so that the flock would be sheltered and saved.
The voice of Jesus says to you, “I laid down My life for you
so that you would be My own. I washed you from your sin in the still
waters of the font. I lead you to the green pastures of My words,
where you can lie down and rest in My tender mercy. I spread a Table
before you in the presence of your enemies. Here at My supper, the
cup of goodness and mercy overflows for you, so that you will dwell in
My house forever.” That’s the voice we know and follow.
The only place, then, where you will find the oneness and the holiness of the Church is in Jesus Himself. The flock is one and holy because we are baptized into Christ who has cleansed us from our sin. The flock is one and holy because it clings to the Gospel of the One Shepherd who freely absolves us through the cross and frees us from judgment. The flock is one and holy because we partake of one holy food, His body and blood which sanctify us and unite us with Himself.
So, don’t look to the stuff you can see to find the one true Church—things like how pastors dress to conduct the Divine Service, or how successful the Church seems to be, or how well the sheep behave. As good as all of that can be, that’s not the main thing. And by the same token, don’t look at the stuff you can see in yourself to find certainty as to whether or not you’re truly a Christian. If you see lots of good works, that’s good–God grant that in even greater measure. But an honest look will also reveal that you are full of sin and pride. No, close your eyes and open your ears to what the Good Shepherd says. Hear His voice in the preaching of the Gospel and the Sacraments. That’s where His church is at. Regardless of what you see, He declares that you are righteous and forgiven for the sake of His mercy. He gives you eternal life, and He says very clearly that nothing can snatch you out of His hand. He is holding onto you tenderly and firmly, and He won’t let you go. And when you are tempted to be discouraged about the Church in general, or even our congregation in particular, just close your eyes and open your ears. Or as Luther once put it, take out your eyeballs and put them in your ears! For Jesus declares that His church is without blemish in Himself, a truth that will be revealed for all to see on the Last Day. It is written, “There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Eph. 4:4-6).
There is only one Good Shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep to redeem us, and though we are short-sighted sinners, by listening to the voice of Jesus and trusting in Him, we are the one, holy, Christian, apostolic Church. Jesus said, “My sheep will hear My voice. And there will be one flock and one shepherd.”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit
(With thanks to my colleagues William Weedon and Randy Asburry for much of the above.)