Sun Kwak, “God Consecrates Us”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuG5TF6Xn-A

TEXT: John 10:1-18

[1] “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. [2] But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. [3] To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. [4] When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. [5] A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” [6] This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

[7] So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. [8] All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. [9] I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. [10] The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. [11] I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. [12] He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. [13] He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. [14] I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, [15] just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. [16] And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. [17] For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. [18] No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

SERMON: “God Consecrates Us”

There’s this YouTube video. And I know that just really buys me credibility — to begin with an example from a YouTubevideo. But this video was taken to test how sheep recognize the voice of the shepherd — one shepherd. And so, in this video, three random people consecutively call out to this herd of sheep. They make noises and gestures, but they are not only unsuccessful. But the sheep act as if they heard absolutely nothing, just going about their business. But then, the actual shepherd comes and says something — nothing dramatic. But he just calls out to the sheep. And these sheep, as they’re eating, they stop what they’re doing — and they all look up. And then, they all proceed to come to the shepherd. Because they all recognized the shepherd’s voice. And it drives home something that Jesus says here in our passage when tells us — I know my own, and my own know me. And how? Because we listen to his voice.

So, when Jesus says here that he is the good shepherd here in our passage, it’s because there are other competing voices that want to lure us away and call us toward them. And in our passage, Jesus refers to them as thieves and hired hands. Those that take from us and who are only there for their benefit and not ours. But with the true shepherd, the good shepherd, his voice is different, because he is ultimately different. Because if there’s something that Jesus wants you to remember about his voice, about what he says, about how his sheep recognize him. What we get here in our passage. Not once, not twice, not three times, not four times but five times here in these verses, Jesus emphasizes how he, as the door, as the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. Other false shepherds want to take from and extract from you. But in Jesus is the only shepherd who engages not for his benefit but for ours. Who draws near not because we were safe but knowing full well that it would cost him his life.

And I don’t know what you think the Word of God is trying to emphasize to you. And none of us have it all together, which is why we come to get reoriented. But maybe you don’t know much about the Bible, which is why you’re here — to learn about it. And we’re so glad that you are. Or, maybe you grew up in church but in a legalistic setting, where you think that the Bible is all about teaching you rules and ways to live. That the purpose of the Bible is to teach to become a better person. Or, maybe you grew up around the health and wealth prosperity gospel (which is no gospel at all). And you’ve been told that the Bible is ultimately about how God has a good plan for you. That you just need to step out in faith, and he’ll bless you and give you a good life. But think about what Jesus is saying here. What is the take home point with how he is saying he speaks to his people? What is he emphasizing? Again, not just once, not just twice, not three or four times, but five times repeated. It’s that he lays down his life for his sheep. And everything about how we understand the Bible and our relationship to Jesus has to start here. The Bible is centrally about how Jesus lays down his life in order protect this people. And understanding this is how we get to start hearing the shepherd’s voice. Because the Bible is not about you living your best life, it’s not about you making improvements to becoming a better person. The Bible is about the story of how Jesus gave up his life, in order that we might have everlasting life with him.

And during this season of Lent, we’ve been looking at our worship form, our corporate gospel liturgies — looking at the different parts and movements of our worship service. And today, we get to the very middle, at the very heart of our worship service — something that we might call the sermon. But in our liturgy, you might note from the bulletin for how it’s worded that it’s where God consecrates us. And that word consecrates sounds like a fancy religious word. But it just means to set apart, to make holy. And in our liturgy, this is where God consecrates us through the preaching of his Word, through the voice of Jesus, our shepherd who calls out to his sheep. And something about a proper gospel orderhere. We don’t consecrate ourselves, we don’t make ourselves holy and proper. God and his Word does the work — and we receive and are transformed.

When I was a kid growing up in St. Paul/Minneapolis, I went to basketball camps in the summers. And this was the 90’s, so there wasn’t much good happening in Minnesota when it came to professional basketball. But one year, the Timberwolves drafted a rookie by the name of Stephon Marbury. And he was a kind of a big deal. Because things were changing with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The previous year, there was a rookie by the name of Kevin Garnett, who showed a lot of promise. So, the optimism was that this new rookie Stephon Marbury, along with Kevin Garnett, they were supposed to take the Timberwolves to the promised land. Well, back to my basketball camps. In his rookie year, Stephon Marbury showed up to camp, and everybody there knew who he was. And ok the last day, every camp member got their basketball autographed by Mr. Stephon Marbury. It was this cheap Timberwolves decorated rubber basketball. I don’t know if you remember those rubber Baden balls. But that’s the quality of the ball — at best. But once this rubber ball got the autograph put on it, that ball was not just a rubber basketball any longer. It became my holy basketball, my treasured possession. There were other balls that could be used for play, but not this one. This ball remained in my inner chambers, never to be touched, never to be contaminated. And you think about what happened with that basketball. Did it compositionally change? Did it somehow become a better basketball? No, it was the same ball. The only thing that changed was that an autograph was put on it. And because Stephon Marbury’s autograph was put on the ball, it was now holy, set apart, special to me. And I was not going to let anyone hurt that ball. Because it was now my holy possession. When the good shepherd calls you his own, you’re special to him. Not because of anything you’ve done or said or changed. But because he’s put his autograph on you — his sacrificial blood, as he who committed to laying down his life for his sheep. And so, every time that you and I hear his Word, we are being told that we are holy, we are special, we are precious to him and that nothing in this world can separate us from his love, as long as we have his love autographed onto us through the story of the gospel.

And it’s almost like the entire Bible was written by one true author. Because where else do we see a story about doorsand the smearing of blood and protection by way of the sacrifice of a lamb? It brings us back to the Exodus story regarding the event called the Passover. And when Jesus uses not just one but two I AM statements here in this passage, he brings this story in closer view. Because when God initially told his people — I AM who I AM — back in Exodus 3:14. What he was saying was that he was self-defined and wholly other. That nothing in this sin-contaminated world got to define who he was and is and will forever be. And because of this holiness, his sin-contaminated peopleneeded to keep distance. But when Jesus emerges here in the New Testament, and he uses this same construction to say not I AM who I AM but I AM the door, I AM the good shepherd, he’s deliberately choosing not to distance himself but to draw near. To draw near to the filth, to the danger, to the contagion. In order to make his people holy, his special possession. And so, back to the story of The Passover. And I hate to do this, because I actually do like The Prince of Egypt as a movie. But I need to undo some of what it taught us. Because The Passover event was related to the tenth and final plague — the death of the firstborn son. And because of Pharaoh’s offense and defiance against God and his cruelty upon the Israelites, everyone’s firstborn son was set to die on the Passover night in Egypt. But God’s people were given a promise. That in each home, if the blood of a lamb was painted on the doorposts, these homes would be spared. And you probably saw through some Sunday school illustrations or The Prince of Egypt of God in his Spirit passing through each home. And if there was blood on the doorposts, that he would skip over or pass over these homes. And that’s often how we understand the word Passover. That it was when God passed over the homes of those covered by the blood of the lamb. But if you actually look at the passage in Exodus 12:23, we read these interesting words: “For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.” And if you caught the detail, there’s a second character described as the Destroyer who’s a part of this Passover narrative. And it reads in a confusing way, because this Destroyer seems to be simultaneously God along with the one not allowing this Destroyer to enter into these homes. And how do we make sense of that? Well, if we can get the Prince of Egypt images out of our minds, the Hebrew for the word pass over is distinct from the word pass through. And this helps us paint a clearer biblical picture of what was happening here.

The word for Passover comes from the word pesach in the Hebrew. And we find it used in Isaiah 31:5 where we read: “Like birds hovering, so the LORD of hosts will protect Jerusalem; he will protect and deliver it; he will spare and rescue it.” And the word pesach is found here with the word translated for us as protect. And so, the image of God passing over his people is not so much passing by. But the picture we get here is one of a mother hen hovering over and protecting her young from danger. And so, with the doors of the Israelites during the Passover, it’s not that Godwas floating past these homes, checking to see if they did what they were supposed to with the blood of the lamb. But rather, the word pesach shows us that God himself was stationed on top of each home, as it were. That when judgment was poured out on Egypt, for those with the blood of the lamb on their doorposts, they were covered, they were protected, because God himself was stationed on top of the home. Not only covering them from the wrath but taking it upon himself. You see, Jesus is the door, and as our protector, he took the wrath of God deserving for us upon himself. And as both the door and the shepherd, as both the God stationed over each home and the Passover lamb that was slain, he is our protection. For every firstborn son during the time of the Passover would have looked upon the blood of the lamb and say — That lamb died instead of me. And so it is with us who read these words in our time, when Jesustells us that he is the door and the shepherd — the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep, who is also called the Lamb of God. Here, we are reminded of such a remarkable truth — The lamb of God died for me and in my place.

And here’s how this lands for us. Because as the door and as the good shepherd, Jesus is not just the protection for the Israelites but for us who are in his pen and graze in his pasture. Because the first words that we read in our passage today are the words Truly, truly, I say to you. And the word truly is the Greek word αμην. We hear that word, and we might understand it as a sealing to a prayer or hear our brother JR when he’s moved by something in the sermon. But that word αμην was used in legal and judicial settings. It was to confirm another’s testimony, in order to validate the witness in the court of law. And whenever Jesus says αμην, αμην, what he’s saying is that he’s testifying to what he’s said and done. That he alone is responsible for the defense of his guilty people. And what is he testifying? Well, we noted that the central narrative in the whole of the Bible is that the good shepherd laid down his life for his sheep. Because we talked about the shepherd, and we talked about the sheep. But the most overlooked word of importance here might be the word for. And in the Greek, it’s an intentionally used prepositional phrase that can be translated more clearly as on behalf of or in the place of. It’s a clear depiction of substitution. And so, as the door, as the shepherd, as the one protecting us by his blood, what Jesus is telling us is that in the heavenly court of law, where we who are sinners and have offended our God and stand guilty before him, Jesus stands there as the slain lambtestifying to his Father. And he brings attention to his scars and his wounds, his blood testimony, that according to Hebrews 12:24 speaks a better word as our testimony. He says here — Truly, truly, meaning by the power of my testimony. You can’t punish them, because I laid down my life. I died for them, in their place, on their behalf, when I died on that cross. To cover them from all wrath and condemnation. They are mine, my holy people.

Because what we read in Exodus 12:30, when the tenth plague struck in The Passover, those who weren’t protected by the blood of the lamb, experienced the wrath of the death of the firstborn son. We read there that there was a great cry. And where was there another great cry? Where the firstborn son of heaven would die, where the lamb was slain and his blood was smeared yet again on wood for the ultimate protection and cover for his people? We read in Matthew 27:50 that Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit when he died on the cross for the sins of his people. And so, when we hear his voice, we hear this cry, this loud voice. When we read God’s Word, we hear the testimony of Jesus — Truly, truly, I say to you. Our advocate telling his Father and us that our sins have been forgiven. They’ve been paid in full.

And so, here’s how we’ll begin closing our time. The poet and philosopher Jay-Z once wrote in his song titled Song Cry— They say you can't turn a bad girl good / But once a good girl's gone bad, she's gone forever. As an urban sociologist, he observes that there is no reversing the bad. Looking at the landscape of the trajectory of bad influencing good more than good turning the tides of what’s bad. You and I live in a land where evil often overwhelms good and where guilt and shame write our prevailing narratives with our past mistakes. Where do we go to reverse these narratives? Where do we go for grace? Where can we take what bad and evil we’ve done, where it won’t perpetuate into further hurt? But turn us toward hope and forgiveness? Carl Sagan once wrote, from his own hopeless and Godless perspective, “In all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.” But you see, friends, help has come. He has drawn near as the great I AM who has come toward his sin-torn people. And what the world needs to hear is not the competing voices of men, but his voice of sacrifice and commitment. Because the world doesn’t need our opinions. If only we would share the gospel as loudly as we shared our opinions. Be it politics or culture wars or parenting philosophies or even irrelevant theological debates. Don’t be a hired hand or a thief. Because you are one, if you let your voice rise above Christ’s. Tell the world about Jesus. Let them hear his voice— his invitation to come to be forgiven and accepted and embraced and loved. To the only one who would lay down his life for those who had utterly offended and betrayed him. In order to mark us with his blood, his payment, his testimony. May his voice rise above ours, here in our church, in our conversations with one another, in our testimony to our neighbors, and in our hearts when doubts arise and malicious false narratives seek to disqualify us from his love. May his voice, his death, his sacrifice, his continued defense rise above all else. Because God consecrates us by this Story — not because we’ve done anything to deserve it. But because he’s stamped us with his love, because we’re special to him. And nothing we do or say can change that, can contaminate that. Because Jesus has told us and tells us time and again — Truly, truly, I say to you, the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.