Shepherding and Dad!
Jim O’Neal, Senior Pastor
Father’s Day
Message
Saturday,
June 20, 2009 & Sunday, June 21, 2009
John 10:1-18 NRSV
1“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the
sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. 2The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his
voice. He calls his own sheep by name
and leads them out. 4When he has brought out
all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know
his voice. 5They will not follow a
stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6Jesus used this figure of speech
with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
7So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell
you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8All
who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to
them. 9I am the gate. Whoever
enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10The
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. 12The hired hand, who is not
the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the
sheep and runs away — and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care
for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows
me and I know the Father. And I lay down
my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep that do
not belong to this fold. I must bring
them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my
life in order to take it up again. 18No one takes it from me,
but I lay it down of my own accord. I
have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”
A. Introduction
1.
Dog or Daddy?
a. It’s not easy to be a parent. This is especially true when your children
ask for something they may not be ready yet to take care of. Three young children decided they wanted a
puppy dog. Mother was not so sure,
because she figured she would end up having to take care of the dog. “Oh no,” the children said, “we’ll feed it, and take it for walks, and clean up after
it.” Mother finally agreed, but only
with the kids’ solemn promises that they would take care of the pooch. So a puppy was purchased and brought
home. The kids called him Danny and took
diligent care of him for about one month.
After that all the work fell to mom.
Mother became angry because now she was the one responsible for all the
care and cleaning of the dog. Saturday
morning the children were all watching cartoons on TV. So mother made her speech: “Danny is too much work for one person and
since I’m the one who has to do all the work, I say he goes.” The three children looked up. The daughter said, “If he wouldn’t eat so much
and wasn’t so messy could we keep him?”
Mom held her ground. “No!” she
firmly stated. “Well, OK,” the three
children replied as they turned back to watch TV. Mom picked up the dog and came back into the
Family Room. “Well,” she said, “it’s
time for me to find a new home for Danny.”
With one tearful voice the children screamed, ”No,
not Danny!!! We thought you said Daddy!”
b. It’s not easy being a parent. Today we recognize that it is not easy being
a father. And we acknowledge that we
need to give dad and other significant males the respect and thanks they
deserve!
2.
Today’s Scripture: The Good
Shepherd Image
a. The figure of the Good Shepherd is in
both the Old Testament and the New Testament, and is used to refer to God’s
care for His people. Jesus used this
image in Today’s Scripture referring to Himself, as a symbol of His great love
for each of us. Jesus in Luke 15, also, links
the figure of the Good Shepherd with that of the Good Father in the Parable of
the Prodigal Son. In that parable God is
shown in the image of a Good Parent.
b. Good Shepherding and Good Parenting go
together. We are called to be like Jesus
the Good Shepherd. Mothers and fathers
are the best parents possible when they emulate Jesus. Today, I suggest three ways for the good
father to follow the Good Shepherd:
B. Like the Good Shepherd the good father is a
protector.
1.
Dad “babysitting”
a. On one of his rare evenings home, Sam
an insurance salesman volunteered to give his wife a night out while he watched
the kids. At 8:00 p.m. sharp he sent the
children up stairs to go to bed. He then
settled into his favorite easy chair to read a good book. Like a yo-yo one of the kids kept bouncing
down to the bottom of the stairs. Dad,
however, immediately chased him back upstairs.
At 9:30 p.m. the neighbor came over and asked if her son was still
there. Sam promptly informed her,
“No.” Over the banner popped a little
head and a voice shouted, “I’m here mom, but he won’t let me go home!”
b. This dad was in trouble! But his intentions were good. He was just trying to keep his children safe
at home. That’s what dad’s do.
2.
Today’s Scripture: The Good
Shepherd
a. Jesus describes the good shepherd as
one who is a protector. The good
shepherd fights to defend his sheep from thieves and wolves. The good shepherd placed himself in the
doorway at night. It is only over his
body that someone may enter the sheepfold.
The shepherd will even give his life to try and save the sheep.
b. And the sheep know this. They will follow the good shepherd. Sheep are fearful creatures, but they will
lie down when the shepherd is near, because they trust him to protect them. Like the Good Shepherd the good father and
the good grandfather are protectors.
C. Like the Good Shepherd the good father has
moral integrity.
1. No
Natural Births!
a. Todd asked his mother, “Where do
babies come from?” She said, “Little
boys should ask the men folk such questions.”
Todd went to his father. Dad told
his son about going out to a special garden at midnight with the lad’s mother,
opening up a cabbage plant and finding baby Todd inside. Next Todd went to his Grandfather. Granddad told Todd about the baby machine at
every hospital. Great-grandfather told
him that the stork brought babies.
Mother later asked Todd what he had learned. Todd replied, “Well, there hasn’t been a
normal birth in our family for three generations!”
b. One of dad’s and granddad’s most
important jobs is teaching values. Men
need to teach not only about the birds and the bees, we need to teach boys to
treat women with dignity and respect. We
need to teach and live the values contained in the Ten Commandments.
2.
Today’s Scripture: The Good
Shepherd
a. Jesus spoke of the hired man who ran
away when there was danger. He spoke of
the Good Shepherd who remained and was faithful through good and difficult
times.
b. Children today desperately need
positive adult male role models. For
instance, a recent study shows that if both mom and dad take a child to Church
72% of the children remain faithful to Church.
If just mom takes the child to Church only 15% of the children remain
faithful to Church. Dad’s have an
important role to play, and so to granddads!
We men just need to be there for the kids. Our positive moral example is important. Spend time with those grandkids, share your
wisdom, and lift up the strength and joy you have found in following Jesus.
D. Like the Good Shepherd the good father has
compassion!
1.
Cub Scout Outing
a. “Can we go? Can we go?” Young Richard was excited as he
told his dad about a Cub Scout “Father-Son Camp-Out.” Richard, Sr. thought about all the other
times he had told his son “No.” Far too often he reflected “I offered some lame
excuse instead of shooting baskets with Ricky, watching one of his plays, or
just sitting and talking.” Richard had
promised himself that he would do the next thing his son asked him to do. “You bet I’ll go!” he told his son. Inside he thought: “Oh no, not camping. I’ve never been any good at that!”
b. Finally the day came and off they
drove to the camp. There were 23 cubs,
one gung-ho leader and a motley crew of dads.
The first afternoon was spent trying to put up their tent. “I taught Ricky everything I knew in the
first twenty minutes or so,” Richard, Sr. remembers. “We spent the rest of the time learning
together.” It was a great weekend. Dad and son hiked and fished together. Late Saturday Ricky commented about a boy
named Jeff. Jeff’s dad was not on the
camp-out, and for that matter was not in Jeff’s life. The leader had agreed to be a sort of “big
brother” for Jeff that weekend. However,
demands kept pulling the leader away, and the boy was often sitting by himself. Ricky said, “Dad let’s invite Jeff to roast
marshmallows with us.” “Are you sure?”
dad replied. “I came to spend time with
you.” ”I know,” Ricky said, “But I don’t
like to see him by himself.” So they
took Jeff under wing. Ricky encouraged
his dad to show the other boy what he knew about camping. “So once again I shared everything I knew in
twenty minutes!” Richard recalls with a smile.
It was a great weekend. Dad
showed love to his son. And together
they showed love to another boy.
Afterwards Richard says he felt a deep sense of satisfaction. He felt God’s gentle embracing Spirit and
remembers uttering a simple prayer:
“Thank you, God.” Fathers first
of all need to show love and compassion within the home. Next they need to show that love to others
and to encourage their children to be kind to other people.
2.
Today’s Scripture: The Good
Shepherd
a. Jesus spoke of the love and the
compassion of the shepherd for his sheep.
James K. Wallace in his book, “The Basque Sheepherder and the Shepherd
Psalm” tells of the shepherd’s compassion.
At each sheepfold there is an earthen bowl of olive oil and a large
stone jar of water. As the sheep come in
for the night they enter through a narrow gate into the sheepfold. The shepherd sits on one post with his rod
across to the other post. As each sheep
enters the gate it will pause and the shepherd will examine the animal. He looks for briars in the ears, weeping from
the eyes, cuts and other conditions.
When such problems are found the shepherd drops the rod across the
sheep’s back and it steps out of line.
The shepherd then cleans each wound carefully. Then he dips his hand in the olive oil and
anoints the injury.
b. Such is the care the good shepherd has
for his sheep. Such is the care the good
father and the good grandfather should have for his family.
E. Conclusion
1.
The Good Shepherd
a. The next time you say the 23rd
Psalm think about these words: “The Lord
is my shepherd…”
b. If Jesus IS your Shepherd, then strive
to be like the Good Shepherd in these three ways:
2.
Recap
a. Like the Good Shepherd the good father
is a protector.
b. Like the Good Shepherd the good father
has moral integrity.
c. Like the Good Shepherd the good father
has compassion!
Shepherding
and Dad!
1. Like the Good Shepherd
the good father is a protector.
2. Like the Good Shepherd
the good father has moral integrity.
3. Like the Good Shepherd
the good father has compassion!
John 10:1-18 NRSV
1“Very truly, I tell you,
anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another
way is a thief and a bandit. 2The one who enters by the
gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3The gatekeeper opens the
gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them
out. 4When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead
of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him
because they do not know the voice of strangers.” 6Jesus
used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was
saying to them.
7So again Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the
gate for the sheep. 8All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep
did not listen to them. 9I am the gate. Whoever
enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10The
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. 12The hired hand, who is not
the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the
sheep and runs away — and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care
for the sheep. 14I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15just as the Father knows
me and I know the Father. And I lay down
my life for the sheep. 16I have other sheep that do
not belong to this fold. I must bring
them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my
life in order to take it up again. 18No one takes it from me,
but I lay it down of my own accord. I
have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”