Modeling the Shepherd

Objectives

• Students will see how perfect love models Christ's love for the church as described by Christ in John 10.

Introduction

• We often associate Valentine's day with love and the Bible has a whole lot to say about love. In fact, the word love is used in the Bible over 700 times. Take a second and think about a few such passages. Maybe you are thinking of one of the following passages.
  • Ephesians 4:2-3: “With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."
  • Romans 13:8: “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law."
  • Proverbs 3:3-4: “Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man."
  • John 15:12: “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you."

• And of course, we have to mention 1 Corinthians 13:4-5: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs."

• But consider Ephesians 5:25: “For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her." for a minute. What does the love of Christ for the church look like. Consider John 10:1-30.

Main Body

The Bible references sheep over 500 times. To the audience in which much of the Bible was written they would’ve have either been pastoral people or at least been familiar with the shepherd’s life. Jesus used the example of a shepherd to teach his disciples. I want to look carefully at the Good Shepherd and as we do so I want you to notice what love looks like. We have a culture in which love looks like all sorts of things, but what does true love look like?

John 10:1-30

John 10:1-6

• It’s amazing to watch a shepherd, look up a movie on youtube sometime. When a false shepherd calls the sheep there’s no reaction from the sheep at all. However, immediately, when the real shepherd calls the heads perk up and the sheep come running. Let’s read John 10:3 again, John chapter 10 verse 3…The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. The Greek root word used in John 10:3 for hear is ἀκούω and is often translated as a) listen to b) hear, and c) obey. We have a joke at our house, "are you just hearing what I am saying or are you actually listening to what I’m saying." Love, true love, as modeled by Christ and the church results in not just hearing, but listening. True love listens. Consider what often happens, it's the end of the day you’ve heard mom, mom, mom all day, or you've dealt with an upset customer all day, maybe you were inundated with work, and now you get home and your spouse is sharing all about their day – and you’ve zoned out. Right? I’m sure that’s never happened to any of you. Joking aside, there is a difference between true listening from purely physical hearing. We need to have a love for our spouse, and frankly for each other that involves more than just hearing, but listening.

John 10:7-21

• True love provides protection for the one to which love is shown. John 15:13 states "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends." Love is demonstrated by self-sacrifice. Self-sacrifice is profoundly missing from our culture. We are a culture of convenience. I do what is convenient for me, and if it is not convenient then I won't do it. Modern amenities mean we, as a society, have more free-time then ever before. When was the last time you got out the wash board and scrubbed on a pair of pants for 20 minutes to get the dirt out. How many of you made sure to hitch the horses to the carriage before venturing out tonight. I mean seriously, some of you may have driers that have a wrinkle removing steamer built in so that you don't even have to iron your clothes anymore. We have an abundance of free time, yet we are all too busy, why because we fill our lives with events and then when it comes to laying down something for the love of a brother we hesitate because it is inconvenient. Love is mark by self-sacrifice and fortunately for each of us, Christ set the bar high.

John 10:22-30

• We see that the Shepherd knows his sheep. In education one of the most amazing discoveries is that of subject knowledge for teaching. Research has shown that a good teacher does not so much know content as know their students. A good pastor knows his congregants, and a good spouse knows their mate. One of the key aspects of love is that it involves knowledge. My wife and I always get a kick out of ways in which we know each other and anticipate the other's desire. I can usually tell when my wife is craving Sonic, I know when after a long Sunday serving others the right thing to say right before the evening serve starts is "do you want to stop at Sonic on our way home?" and as trivial as that may sound, it makes her day. But this is a key part of love, knowing the other person. If you are going to know the other person you must spend time together, you must listen to each other. We need to know each other!

Conclusion

• Ephesians 5:25: “For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her." Teaches us that our love here on Earth is a model of Christ's love for the church. The Good Shepherd is a great example of how Christ loves the church so as we work to love each other, and our spouses in particular, ask yourself, how can you better model true love, the love that Christ has for His Church?

== Application:

In application to the church, the next time you ask someone how they are doing, take the time to truly listen to their response. ==