Who’s Your Hero?

April 25, 2010     John 10:11-16

I’ve been traveling a lot recently for conferences and meetings. That means when I am home, I spend longer hours in the office and making visits. Arriving back in town after one of those trips and staying up here at church late, I decided to surprise my wife by bringing home dinner. I do that every now and then, and after more than 30 years I have a pretty good idea of what she likes. I know that she needs a regular fix of “pizza” so I went online and ordered one with all the things she likes on it and left off all the things that I like but she can’t or won’t eat.  I got home a little after 7:00 p.m, walked in and set the pizza down on the counter. There was no sign of any activity in the kitchen, which didn’t really surprise me. Like I said, after more than 30 years I know this woman pretty well. I was feeling pretty pleased with myself for bringing home this surprise for her, so I went to find her. She was in the bedroom folding laundry. She greeted me with a hug and a kiss like we normally do, and because I was still feeling pretty pleased with myself, and wanting to get some credit for what I had done, I asked her, “Who’s your hero?” I was smiling when she replied without missing a beat: JESUS!  That was not exactly the answer I was expecting, but she could not have given a better answer. Wouldn’t it be great if we all lived with that answer right there and ready to be spoken, ready to be shown by the way we live our lives: Jesus is our hero!

Today is Good Shepherd Sunday. In the calendar of the church year, the fourth Sunday of Easter always includes a reading from John 10 where Jesus identifies Himself as the Good Shepherd. Earlier we heard from the end of the chapter. Listen now to verses 11-16:

John 10:11–16 ¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns 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. ¹⁶ I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. (NIV)

If you think about it, the Good Shepherd described in this passage is your hero. He lays down His life for you. A Shepherd was the guardian and protector of the flock. His care for his flock was complete. A shepherd was responsible for providing water and food for his flock. He would bind up wounds and scratches, carry the little ones in his arms, and provide safety by watching over them at night. He would often expose himself to danger for the sake of his sheep. And Jesus, your Shepherd, went a step farther. He laid down His life for the sheep. He died so that we might have eternal life. When sin and evil threatened to bring eternal death, our Good Shepherd, our hero, stepped in to provide complete payment for sin and total salvation. He gives perfect security and total care and everything we need. Jesus is our hero!

We are still in the season of celebrating His victory over death. He is Risen!  (He is risen indeed! Alleluia!) We are used to responding like that. But I want you to do something just a little bit different today. Turn to someone around you, maybe even someone you don’t even know, and tell them, “He is risen FOR YOU!”  He truly is your hero. Can you share that message outside these walls?

We know He is our hero. We know He is risen. So what does this mean for the way you live? Are you following the Good Shepherd? Do you live like you know He is your hero? Where are you investing your time and energy and resources?

Fifty years from now, unless our Lord returns first, I’ll be dead. Outside of perhaps a few people in my family, at that time I doubt there will be many folks who remember me. They won’t care where I lived, how big my house was, how much I spent on clothes, or what kind of car I drove. None of those things are really of any lasting significance, nor should they be. The only lasting legacy I can leave is the one that was left to me: the message of Jesus Christ, my Savior and my Hero. I’m not going to share that by putting all my focus on temporal things. If I want to share that message, I need to focus on living as a sheep who knows and listens to the voice of my Shepherd. And so do you.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way. Isaiah 53:6

This is the problem we all have. We get our priorities mixed up and think too much about the here and now. We need to keep eternity in our focus no matter what else is happening in our lives. We can’t get too wrapped up in the things of this world. And as sheep who know the voice of our Good Shepherd, we have this confidence:

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.

He is with us, every step of the way. His presence makes the difference. And in our worship together today you have His real, tangible, living presence as you come to this altar to receive His body and blood in this Sacrament that allows you to share in His death and resurrection and be absolutely convinced that you are forgiven.

But our life as His sheep is about more than us. We need to think about what it means to follow our shepherd, our hero. He wants us to be a part of bringing in those sheep who are still outside the fold.  We do that by living as the righteous people Jesus has made us to be. We have been made righteous, we have been declared not guilty, by what Jesus did for us. Because we know that to be true, we should do the things that righteous people do: Feed the hungry, visit the sick, care for the hurting, share what we have been given by God. These acts do not make us righteous before God -– Jesus already did that. The things I’m talking about here are the evidence of your faith, the resulting obedience of knowing God’s forgiveness and salvation. Jesus, our Good Shepherd, our hero, has provided us with everlasting life by dying to pay for sin and defeating death through His resurrection. So we follow Him. We want to listen to His voice.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1:22)

Sheep following their shepherd, their hero, will do what He says.