The Search is On: Identifying the People Around Us

Pastor Burcham’s Sermon

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Sheep are dumb. I know that’s not startling news to all of you lifelong Iowans but, being a Michigan boy that I am, I don’t have a whole lot of experience with farm animals, not too many cows or pigs up around Detroit. We had plenty of Mustangs, Cougars and the now-extinct Pinto but no cows or pigs. The only farm animal that I had firsthand experience with is sheep and they’re dumb.

Don’t know why but, for some reason, my best friend in high school, his family wanted to raise sheep. And so if Steve and I were going to go out and have a good time on a Friday night, first things first, we had to do chores around the farm, which means that we had to go out and we had to feed the sheep and do all kinds of things to them and they are dumb, irritating, frustrating animals. I concluded that sheep, if left to themselves, will do nothing but get themselves in trouble. Sheep if left to themselves will put themselves into dangerous situations and the astounding fact is they will be oblivious to the fact that they’re in any kind of danger at all.

I have seen sheep find the smallest of cracks in the fence and somehow get their wooly little bodies through it. And if one goes through, the whole flock goes through. And there they are wandering about the road as cars are buzzing by, honking and they’re oblivious to the fact of the danger they’re in. I’m convinced sheep, if left to themselves, will do nothing besides get themselves into trouble and put themselves into harm’s way.

Therefore, when I read when Jesus gets out of the boat and He looks at the crowd and He has compassion on them because they are like sheep without a shepherd, I have a pretty vivid mental image in my mind of how Jesus was seeing the crowd of people. He saw a crowd of people that, if He left them to themselves, they would do nothing besides get into trouble with their lives. If He left them with themselves, they would do nothing besides put themselves into harm’s way and be oblivious to the fact. He saw them as a crowd of people, as sheep without a shepherd, as a group of people who needed someone to come to them, to lead them, to guide them, to protect them, to save them.

And as I read that Jesus looked onto the crowd and saw them as sheep without a shepherd, I have to wonder if Jesus is looking down now at the crowds of people in our world and is He seeing them as sheep without a shepherd? I wonder if He’s looking at America, at Iowa, at our community and is He seeing them as people, as sheep without a shepherd? If you consider that North America is the third largest mission field, that means in North America, we have the third largest population that do not know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, if you consider that in Polk County, over 60% of the people who live here have no affiliation with a church, if you consider that means 60% of our friends, our neighbors, our coworkers have no affiliation with a church and certainly a good percentage of them have no relationship with Jesus as their Savior, I really have to believe that Jesus is looking down on our community and He’s seeing the people around us as sheep without a shepherd. If left to themselves, they’ll just make a mess of their lives. If left to themselves, they’ll get themselves into danger, the danger of losing their very soul, as you see, sheep without a shepherd.

Well, here’s the real astounding news. He wants you to do something about it and He wants me to do something about it. Because Jesus knows they need a shepherd. They need someone to come and to guide them and to lead them and protect them and to love them and to save them. And you and I know Jesus as our shepherd, know Jesus as our Savior. He’s given to us the privilege, the responsibility to lead the other sheep to the shepherd. After all, it was Jesus who said that we are to go and make disciples of all nations. It’s Jesus who said, “You will be my witnesses to the rest of the world.” Jesus is calling upon us to lead the rest of the sheep to the shepherd.

Now I know, I know, I know, that always makes people uncomfortable, always makes people feel rather intimidated, the fact of having to share our faith or to reach out to someone else. I understand that but I want to propose to you this morning if we can do three things, if we can follow three principles, three principles in leading the sheep to the shepherd, I think it will come quite naturally and quite easily to us. We can break it down to these three: belief, attitude and action. If you will, if you’re going to bring the sheep to the shepherd, all you need is B, A, A. Some of you got it.

But I’m serious about it. The first one is belief. That’s where it starts. In fact, belief is what really fuels the other two. And we have to start with our own belief. So I have to ask the question even though you may think I don’t need to, I’m going to ask it. Do you believe that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior? Do you see Jesus as your shepherd, as your Savior? It may seem to you like I’m asking the obvious but it is a critical, crucial question. Do you believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God? Do you believe that He came and He lived among us? Do you believe that He was nailed to a cross and, as He hung there on the cross, He took all of your sins upon Himself and all of the punishment you deserve, He took upon Himself and when He died, the price was paid? Do you believe that because Jesus died on that cross and because He rose again, one day you’ll be in heaven with Him? Do you believe that He has called you to faith and because of that faith, you can never be separated from Him? Do you believe that Jesus is here right now with you, that Jesus walks with you in daily life, that He’s there to strengthen you through the tough times, that Jesus is there beside you to comfort you during the sad times, that Jesus is there to add special joy to your life during those great moments in your life. Do you believe that Jesus is your shepherd? Do you believe He is your Savior?

You see, if you don’t truly believe that, then why would you ever, ever lead anyone else to the shepherd? If you’re not part of the flock, if you don’t look to Jesus to lead you and to guide you and to protect you and to love you and to save you, then why would we ever have any kind of motivation to bring someone else into that relationship? We have to start with what we know and what we believe and a firm conviction of what Jesus Christ has done in our lives and how He’s changed those lives and how He’s changed our eternity.

The second question is do you believe that Jesus Christ is the only hope for mankind? This is critical. Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the only hope for mankind? In other words, Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. There is only one true God and that one true God’s Son is Jesus and that only through faith in Him can one be saved. It’s critical to really ask yourself that question. Scripture teaches it. We all know John 3:16, “God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son.” Go a little bit further from that and Jesus says this, “Whoever believes in Him is not condemned.” Great. “But whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. He who does not believe is condemned.” Do you believe that Jesus is the only hope for mankind?

The apostle Peter did. He stood up in front of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling counsel, when he was being questioned about healing a blind man in the name of Jesus, he made this bold statement to them. “Salvation is found in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given to man by which we must be saved.” There is no other name given to man by which we must be saved. Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation? In today’s world and today’s society, it is a critical question because it is not a popular belief. The popular belief right now is that everyone wants to be spiritual. We all see that side of us but what that means is we all choose our own spirituality and to have the audacity or to have the gall to suggest that there is only one way to salvation is looked upon as being insulting, is looked upon as being judgmental, closed-minded. It looks as being limiting. Ask yourself, have you ever found yourself saying, “Well, you know, as long as the person believes in God, as long as they look to a higher power,” or have you bought into the lie that says, “Well, you know, all paths really eventually lead there, as long as they’re putting their trust and their hope in something outside of them, then they’re probably going to be okay.” Or do you believe there is only one path to heaven, which is Jesus, God’s Son?

If it helps at all, think about it this way. What would happen if, all of a sudden, I had an acute appendicitis attack and I rush off to the emergency room and, while I’m in the emergency room, the doctor walks in and he says, “Yep, your appendix is going to burst,” and I say to him naively, “What’s that going to mean, Doc?” He says, “Well, if it bursts, it’s going to fill your body with poison and you’re going to die.” “Okay, what am I going to do about that? What are my options?” “Well, you don’t really have any options. There’s only one thing to do. We need to remove the appendix.” Now is that judgmental of that doctor to tell me there is only one option? I mean, after all, shouldn’t he say, “Well, in my opinion, I think you should take the appendix out but, you know, maybe we should take the gall bladder out and try that. After all, we’re in the same general area.” I think, I don’t know, Dr. Joe, am I close? Probably not. I don’t know. You get the idea, right? Am I going to accuse him of being judgmental? No. Because if the doctor firmly believes that the only way to save my life is to take the appendix out, he’s going to stand by that belief and say, “The only way you’re going to save your life is to have that appendix taken out.”

If you and I believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation, we will stand by that belief, not because we’re being judgmental, not because we’re being close-minded but because we want to see people saved. We want to see other people in heaven with us. So, all of a sudden, that whole idea of being close-minded and narrow is washed away. If you believe God wants all people to be saved, if you believe Jesus came into the world as the salvation of all people and if you believe that salvation is only found in Jesus Christ, then that simplifies things. But it has to start with the belief because the belief will shape your attitude.

Look at Jesus’ attitude. Jesus steps off of the boat and He sees a crowd of people and it says that He had compassion on them. My friends, that would not have been my first reaction stepping out of the boat. After all, He got in the boat to get away from the crowd. And now He steps off the boat and there’s the crowd. The disciples had just returned from a missionary trip. They’re tired. Jesus is tired. Scripture tells us that none of them have eaten so they’re hungry. So they’re trying to get away for a little bit. Jesus says, “Let’s go to a quiet place. Let’s regroup. Let’s debrief. Let’s get some food and let’s get recharged, re-energized and then go back out and do the ministry.” That’s the whole reason they got in the boat. They get in the boat. They get to the other side. They step out and here’s a crowd of people. My first reaction would have been irritation. It would probably have been a little bit disgusted. “Didn’t you people get the hint? Come back another day. I left you behind.” But Jesus has compassion on them.

It stems from His belief. Jesus believes that He is the only hope for them. Jesus believes that, in just a short while, He is going to lay down His life on a cross for the people in that crowd. Jesus believes there are people who are in trouble. There are sheep who are in danger and they don’t even know it. They’re in danger of losing their very souls and so it shapes His attitude. It changes His attitude. Not irritation. Compassion and love.

Our belief has to shape our attitude because our attitude has to be critical. It’s so easy for us to have a different attitude than compassion. It’s so easy for us to turn a blind eye to the sheep that don’t have a shepherd. Now, thankfully, not in this congregation but in my first congregation, eons ago, I actually had a member come up to me and say, “You know what, Pastor? Every Sunday morning, those church doors are open. Every Sunday morning, all they have to do is walk through them. If they don’t walk through those doors, that’s not my problem, that’s their problem.” Now you may be shocked at his candor, I was, but is there some part of you that agrees? Shouldn’t they have to take responsibility? Shouldn’t they have to make an effort?

Have you caught yourself saying, “Why is it that we have to change? Why is it that things are always happening around here? Why is it that we’re always making adjustments for people who aren’t even members here yet? Why is it that we have to have different worship styles? Why is it that we have to have signs on the lawn? Why is it that we have to have all these programs going on?” It all comes down to an attitude. But you see, if we believe that Jesus is the only way, if we believe there’s a group of people out there who are in danger of losing their souls, that they’re sheep without a shepherd, that changes our attitude. We see things completely different. If we can see people as being in need, even if they don’t know it, see people as being in danger, we’ll react completely different. I think that’s especially true of our state. I see Iowa as one of the most giving, generous states. If you think about it, whenever there is a natural disaster, who is johnny on the spot? Iowans are. Disasters from the past, it’s Iowans who come there because we want to help. We see a need, we see another human being that has something that’s going on, they’re in danger, we want to be there. We want to help. You think about Parkersburg, you think about the earthquakes in China, you think about all the flooding, who’s going to be there on the front lines? We are. That’s what Iowans do. That’s just part of our culture. When we see a need, we meet it. When we see a fellow human being who is in danger, we want to rush in and we want to help.

If we believe that people who do not have a relationship with Jesus are running the risk, the danger if they don’t come to faith, they’re not going to spend eternity in heaven, they are risking their very soul, even if they’re oblivious to the fact, if we believe that, that changes our whole attitude because now we have the attitude of Jesus, one of compassion and love and care.

And let me be candid for a few minutes. This isn’t about seeing how many people we can get on the roster of Gloria Dei. This isn’t seeing how we can pack the pews with bodies. This is about changing lives with the power of the gospel. This is about adding souls to heaven. It’s about having a love and compassion for people because we believe they are lost without Jesus and the shepherd has called us to faith and now He want us to lead others to Him so that His Holy Spirit can work on their hearts, so He can change their lives. The belief changes the attitude.

And the attitude leads to action. That means we do something about it. What did Jesus do? Scripture says He immediately began to teach them many things. He’s tired, He’s hungry, He’s worn out, just had a boat ride. And yet, he musters up the energy and He invests Himself and He invests His energy into those people. He seized the opportunity. He knew that He might not ever see this crowd of people again. He might not ever once again be able to touch them personally with His words and with His caring and with His compassion. So even though He was tired, even though He was hungry, He invested Himself into that crowd so that some could be saved, so He could call them to faith. He was ready to spring into action and He seized the opportunity.

You and I, if we have the belief, if we have the attitude, we’re going to spring into action. We’re going to look for those natural opportunities when people are open to hearing about God’s love and grace for them. Natural opportunities are times of crisis. When a person has lost someone they love, they’re going through a divorce, they have financial problems, they have health issues, they have family issues at home or they’re struggling with their teens or they’re struggling at school. Those are natural times when people are open to hearing about help and encouragement. Times of transition. When the first baby comes home or the last child goes off to college, when they move into an area or when they’re getting ready for retirement or they’re getting ready to begin a career, those times of transition, people are just normally, naturally open to change. They’re open to new relationships. Will we see those opportunities that God puts before us and will we spring into action? Will we go up to them when the opportunity is there? Invite them to a support group, ask them to join our small group, say, “Why don’t you come with me to basketball or to softball league or to worship,” or even just to sit down and pray with them or to tell them that you’re praying for them. Will we seize the opportunities?

My friends, if we have the belief and we have the attitude, you will be amazed at how naturally that will happen in your life. It won’t be something uncomfortable. It won’t be something unnatural. Because when you believe that Jesus is the only way and that they need Him and when you have compassion and love for them and they sense that and they know that you care about them, the most natural thing in the world will be for you to reach out with the love of God, reach out and give the Holy Spirit an opportunity to come into their lives and to change their lives. And to bring them the shepherd.

I’m convinced that Jesus is looking at our world, at America, at Iowa and our community and He sees people who are like sheep without a shepherd. You and I know the shepherd. He leads us, He guides us, He directs us, He protects us, He saves us. Jesus says, “Won’t you lead the others to me,” so they also can look to Him as their shepherd and Savior? I believe we will. Just three things, belief, attitude, action. Amen.

Copyright 2008 Gloria Dei Lutheran Church