2. Safe from danger

Life in the risen Christ

25 April 2010

John 10:22-30

Between Easter and Pentecost, we closely examine living in the power of the Risen Christ. It may, therefore, seem a little strange that we are looking at the gospel prior to the account of the death and resurrection of Jesus. But:-

The Gospels are written in a resurrection community.
Reflecting on the ministry of Jesus is helpful.
The issues of this day are not unrelated.

John shows there was a great deal of ambiguity about Jesus’ identity. He is asked to declare himself. ‘If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.’ (10:24) The response of Jesus is that he has told them… that what he does (his works) witness to who he is. They do not believe because they are not one of his sheep. The heart of the message is captured by the thought that Jesus’ sheep know him and follow him and to these he will grant eternal life.

The theme of the Good Shepherd dominates the whole chapter (10:1-42) and the role of a shepherd, at least in part, is to provide safety for the sheep. The biblical context is a significantly lengthy section which runs from Chapter 5 to the close of Chapter 10. It was ‘The feast of Dedication at Jerusalem’… and it was ‘winter’.

Many of the feasts go back deep into Jewish history, but this does not actually do so. It features near to Christmas in the northern hemisphere and is referred to as Hanukkah.

It recalls the Maccabean success over the Syrians.
It resulted in the recovery of the Temple.
It was a joyous celebration of restored freedom.

It was a celebration in Jewish life that made people ask questions in a spirit of expectation. Will God send a deliverer? Is Jesus that deliverer? Are we now ready for liberation?

Jesus caused great disturbance in the minds of the religious leaders and they were about to stone him. He crossed the Jordan, where many believed in him.

In the twenty-first century, talk of Christian discipleship for some brings real pressure… and, for many, Christian witness is rewarded by persecution and rejection.

How do Christians survive when under such pressure? The situation can bring….

Fear, which is a reaction to the unknown.
Concern raised by the confrontation with evil.
Despair when it appears all is against us.

Jesus moved to the East side of the Temple – to Solomon’s Porch. The winter winds would drive against the West of the Temple, and it may well help us to understand that as these words are written, the early Christian community is facing the chill winds of opposition.

Believing and living out the Christian life means:-

There is security through our being known in Christ (v.27)

Merrill C Tenney sees ‘The sheep that belong to the Lord’s flock are characterised by obedience, recognition of the shepherd and allegiance to him.’ This provides the guarantee of eternal life and a sense of God’s protection. Belonging is seen in terms of reaching out in the potentially dangerous context of discipleship in the world. All the resources of God are lavished upon a people prepared to take the risk of reaching beyond their safety zones.

You cannot watch Australian commercial television without being reminded of life insurance. Of course it is sensible and mature to consider such things, but we cannot cover off every aspect of life and remove all uncertainty.

Our lives are filled with numbers:-

A tax file number, without which we can do little.
A driving licence number, essential to travel by car.
A bank account number is important.

Government offices know us by our numbers and our banks require us to be identified by numbers. Sometimes you might wonder if anybody knows us without a number!

The gospel points out that God in Christ knows us completely. This is different from a cosseted security. Germaine Greer criticises such security:-
‘Security is when everything is settled.
When nothing can happen to you.
Security is the denial of life.’

However, the security of God does enable us to adventure with confidence… this is what calling is all about.

Calling infers belief and belonging

The call of Christ brings people into a new relationship with God – ‘I know them’ is in complete harmony with what has gone earlier in the chapter.

In the middle-east, sheep were not herded from behind by people or dogs … but led by a shepherd. Each sheep was known by the shepherd – and the sheep recognised the voice of the shepherd. Not only does God know the sheep, but we also know that ‘they follow’. After the resurrection, the Christian community would face some real challenges in relation to calling.

The great New York preacher and writer, Harry Emerson Fosdick, told of a teenage girl stricken with polio. She told him about a conversation she’d had with one of her friends, who told her, ‘Affliction does so colour life.’ To which this courageous young girl agreed, but said that she would choose which colour. At her young age she had already discovered: It’s not what happens to you that matters as much as what happens in you. Faith in God does not shield us from danger and death; it gives us the power to overcome it.

Calling is a costly form of belonging

The reinstatement of Peter is an excellent example of this. The final chapter in John emphasises the pastoral care of all sheep, but says so much more. The test of love – a threefold test – sits alongside following Jesus ‘all the way’.

We read in John 21 that Jesus repeats his words to Peter… ‘Follow me.’ (21:19) Joseph Mayfield helpfully points out, ‘The fact that this command is in the present tense in the Greek indicates action that is to be continued, habitual, customary. There are to be no more denials.’

The cost of discipleship is a great Markan theme; one to which we frequently return if we are serious about following.

Jim Packer wrote: ‘Christ had no interest in gathering vast crowds of professed adherents who would melt away as soon as they found out what following him actually demanded of them… therefore, we need to lay a similar stress on the cost of following Christ… In common honesty, we must not conceal the fact that free forgiveness in one sense will cost everything.’

When Dietrich Bonhoeffer learned he was to be executed for plotting to kill Hitler, he said, ‘You must never doubt that I’m travelling with gratitude and cheerfulness along the road where I’m being led. My past life is brim full of God’s goodness, and my sins are covered by the forgiving love of Christ crucified.’

Calling will always have consequences

Belonging to Jesus Christ always involves consequences. There is no more a ‘cocooned’ living as there is a ‘secret’ discipleship. To talk about ‘safety from danger’ is not to be set free from complexity and tough questions. We remind ourselves that we are called.

Martin Luther King Jr had a high view of calling and an advanced sense of human dignity. He wrote, ‘If a man is called to be a street-sweeper, he should sweep the streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven played music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street-sweeper who did his job well.’

One of the last pieces of work John Wesley ever completed was to pen a letter to William Wilberforce, who was engaged in the titanic struggle for justice in relation to slavery. He instructed him, ‘Unless God has raised you up for this very thing [abolishing slave trade trading] you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be with you who can be against you.’

There is stability because we have received eternal life (v.28)

Belonging to Jesus Christ means we have received the grace of God. There is a permanency about our identity in Christ which nothing and no-one can disturb or uproot.

In the specific context of the Good Shepherd, it should not surprise us that we are re-introduced to the wolf. This has already been referred to (v.v. 11-13), but here it is implied in the words ‘snatched them out of my hand’ (v.28). Jesus may have viewed ‘wolves’ as those who were pushing him rather unreasonably to declare who he was.

If we grew up in a relatively happy home, we might feel safe and secure, but so many of the young people we deal with at Wesley Mission do not have that luxury. We provide programs to mentor such young people, offering them a better way which has a sense of security. The need for stability is so important. Stability holds a person fast and secure, no matter what the storms may bring.

As Jesus’ death approached, he knew where the dangers lay

Jesus was well aware of where the dangers lay. The reality was that Judas was among the band of disciples. Soon enough these same close followers would be scattered into the darkness and Peter would deny him.

These dangers not only applied to Jesus, but also his ministry as it carried on in the early disciples. There were many dangers in the early context of this developing church.

There was opposition and persecution by authorities.
There was internal division when pressure came.
There were attractive alternatives to discipleship.

Jesus was prepared to face the cross and all its implications. This becomes the pattern and stability of all Christian living.

The adequate promise of God is … there is nothing outside a person that can destroy a genuine follower of Jesus. We cannot be protected against ourselves, but certainly against ‘wolves’. The remarkable pen of C S Lewis gave us, ‘Once a person is united to God, how could we not live forever?’

We too have to face similar challenges

At Wesley Mission, we speak for a large number of people, especially young people who are too easily drawn into the web of danger characterised by crime, particularly drugs. The terminology of ‘wolf’ is strong, but it feels as applicable today as in the days of the gospel writer.

Wolves have always had a stormy relationship with humans. In recent years, there has been a reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park in North America. This came after decades of extinction. Surrounding ranchers were most concerned. If humans encroach on the turf of wolves, they make prey of our food supply. Ranchers were concerned about their own sheep and cattle.

We have a responsibility to the issue in many areas:-

Those vulnerable to drugs, including alcohol.
Those who find gambling irresistible.
Those who struggle to control their financial affairs.
Those whose family life has fallen apart.

Living close to Jesus Christ is the way of stability

Because we live close to Jesus Christ, we will not let the wolves cause us concern. The good news is that we are known by God and he will not abandon us. In spite of all senseless violence that mars our world, the pain of the innocent and the frequent encounters with suffering, God wants us to know he cares about us.

This is precisely the promise that God makes to us… from the beginning of time to the end… ‘I know my own and my own know me.’ We are far more than one of those numbers!

Lee Griess wrote, ‘In the midst of an uncertain world, faced with unknown dangers and threatened by unpredictable events of evil and violence around us, we are known by God and loved by God.’

William Temple wrote, ‘If we are truly committed to Christ, no assault can tear us from him.’

This is the same thought with which the Apostle Paul concludes his monumental Romans 8: ‘Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ (Romans 8:35-39)

Our safety comes about as we are aligned to God's purposes (v.29)

We are the possession of Christ and he has given himself to us. Nothing is more secure than a life which is hidden in Jesus Christ.

Safety is traced back to God. Barnabas Lindars helpfully writes, ‘… the eternal safety of the sheep is ensured, because Jesus displays the two special characteristics of the ideal shepherd, his sacrifice for them and his intimate knowledge of them.’

Believing and belonging are intertwined in the New Testament. Earlier in verse 26 we see the negative take – ‘… but you do not believe, because you are not my sheep.’

We tend to distrust those who seem strange or alien to us, but have confidence in those with whom we have an existing relationship. What Jesus suggests is that belief may follow belonging – which is why Christian community matters so much.

Safety takes us back to our life in God

We must rediscover a balanced Christian experience. Some expressions of Christianity are so emotional as to be unhelpful. But our safety in Christ is far more than an intellectual conclusion – it is gathered up in our faith as:-

A conviction that the grace of God is sufficient for us.
A contention that such life will always grow within us.
A conclusion that this life is sustained day-by-day.

We will nurture our life in Christ because…

Jesus Christ is the giver of eternal life.
This is the grounds for our ultimate certainty.
Such a promise opens on a joyful Christian life.

Christian assurance has sustained Christians in the most difficult of contexts

It is true that we may maintain our faith in ways that are poor and weak, but the sheep of Christ need never perish. We often place great emphasis upon salvation, but there is more to say about our present experience.

Salvation is consummated in the future, but we have assurance in the ‘now’ through the Holy Spirit.

Michael Faraday, the eighteenth century chemist and physicist, contributed greatly in the field of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. Albert Einstein even kept a photograph of Faraday on his study wall alongside Isaac Newton. When he died, this man of great enquiry left us these final words, ‘Speculations I have none, I’m resting on certainties. “For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”’

We can maintain such faith today

It is wonderful to be assured and confident in faith – yet it doesn’t demand that we:-

suspend the brain in life’s perplexities.
ignore the great dilemmas which emerge for us.
settle all matters in relation to our lives.

It does, however, give us confidence that we can get on with living our lives in the service of Jesus Christ and the compassionate care of others.

We are reminded that time wears out everything:-

Time crumbles the mountains and dims the sunshine.
Time wears out all that we make and develop.
Time impacts upon our bodies.

You and I may well be lame and timid sheep… but we were redeemed through the death and resurrection of the Good Shepherd and he will deliver us.

Our chief concern should not be the proof of immortality or, for that matter, the intricate details of how Jesus Christ was raised from the dead … but rather what difference does all this make to our daily living.

Our confidence is that whatever happens in life, we can never be snatched from his hand by others, by circumstances thrown upon us… and we will live out our life by holding firm to that truth.

Christian Life