Good morning!

Good morning and welcome to Future City Church. I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving. It really is a terrific Holiday to just stop and look around and see what you have been given. And it’s a great way to start the Christmas season. Because Christmas and Thanksgiving can feel like complete opposite Holidays. Thanksgiving is about what you’ve been given. Christmas is about what you gotta go and get!

Oversimplifying

Now I know I am simplifying things a bit. But here's a bit of invitation for us all this Christmas season: Remember to remember Jesus throughout the month of December. Don’t make getting things the main goal. Make receiving things the main goal. And what things may that be? Peace with God through Jesus Christ, an unbreakable future, pleasures forever more with God in glory. That is what Christmas is all about. Linus got it right when he read Luke 2: receive the tidings of great joy!

Thanks for being here

If it’s your first time with us, thanks for being here! I know it can be intimidating or uncomfortable visiting a new church. That’s why we want to create a relaxed environment where you can rest, reflect and engage with God and people. There is simply no substitute for gathering together with other people to form relationships. So thank you for being here today.

Gals’ connection

In 2 days, on Tuesday, the 28th to be exact, the gals will be getting together at Washington Square Bar and grill at 6:30. This will be an informal time to connect, talk about life and get to know other women in a relaxed environment. Please come on out and take advantage of a “church sanctioned” opportunity to get out on the town!

Let’s sing

Let’s stand and we’ll spend some time singing together. By the way if you do not think you sign very well, it’s okay! The Bible says to sing with joy not sing with perfect pitch. So feel free to sing away, sing loudly, sing quietly! Just sing.

With that said, I asked ______ to come and read Psalm 96:1-4.

Songs:

Says who

Thanks Elizabeth! Kids ages 2-7 are free to go to the kids’ devotional. After the sermon is over, they will be welcomed back into the service for the closing song. For the rest of us, today will be the last sermon in a mini-series called, “Says who.” We have been looking at the most influential voices in your life: the voice of others, the voice of you, the voice of your adversary the devil. And finally, today we will look at the voice of God. How do you hear His voice and follow His voice.

The Voice

For many years now, NBC has had a show called “The voice.” And the way it starts is these contestants have to sing to the judges. And the judges have their backs turned. And while the singers perform, the judges decide whether or not to hit the button and turn their chairs around. So they are listening for quality, depth, range, good pitch, good breathing, an interesting tone and sound that people will want to listen to. And it’s not about what a person looks like. It’s about their voice.

Honing our skills

This series is meant to help us hone our skills of listening. Who do we turn our chair for so to speak? How do you recognize quality and truth? Who is worth listening to and following? The passage we will look at is John 10:22-30. I’ll read it, “At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me,[a] is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”

Flyover

Let’s do a quick flyover of the scene here. Jesus among other things was a communicator. He spoke allot. He taught allot. He was not a man of few words. However, He was not chatty. He was not verbose. He said allot but He never said too much or too little. He in the words of the Vertical Horizon song said, “All the right things at exactly the right time.”

Words and deeds

And His words and deeds were one in the same. So His actions were in agreement with His Words and His Words were in agreement with his actions. So he said, I am the Physician and then he healed. And He said, I am the bread of heaven and then He fed people. And He said, I am a forgiver of sins and then He forgave people. So His words and his actions were always working in lock step with each other.

One conclusion

And all that Jesus did and said led to one conclusion. He claimed to be the Christ, the anointed One, God Himself. He was the One the Old Testament prophets wrote about, the serpent crushing Warrior, the sacrificial Lamb that the thousands of animal sacrifices pointed to. He was the One that Israel had waited for. But when He came, he got mixed reviews. He did not come like anyone really expected. They thought He would come as a military warrior; that He would overthrow the Roman occupation. That He would bring Israel back to the glory days.

What He came to do

And Jesus came to take on evil, yes. He came to reclaim and redeem things. But not on a national level like people thought. He came to reclaim people. To overthrow the enemy occupying your heart. He came to establish His kingdom in you and in me and to then spread that kingdom from person to person, family to family, nation to nation. And this is not what most people wanted. A political Jesus, great! A king who whoops up on the enemy out there, yes! A Jesus who starts busting out walls renovating old ways of thinking overthrowing idols in my own heart? Um, no thanks, said most people.

Jesus was cornered

So this is the scene here. Jesus was walking in the Colonnade during the feast of Dedication, and the Jews, presumably Jewish leaders cornered Him. They circled Him. The very description of gathering around Him, pointed to what they were trying to do to Him: trap Him, sum Him up, control Him. So they ask Him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” As of now, we don’t know their motive. Was it genuine curiosity or was it a trap? Jesus answers that question in verse 25, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me…”

His works told the story

So Jesus is saying, “I told you who I am by what I have done. My works are telling you who I am.” So if you are a dad with kids in your home, you don’t need to walk around your home declaring, “I’m the Dad. I’m Dad. Call me Dad. See I even have a shirt that says, ‘best dad in the world’.” If you are a dad it's almost completely unnecessary to say it. Because you are proving it every day. You are encouraging and providing and listening and working and leading and simply being present. If you are doing all the things that a dad does or should do, saying, “I’m dad” would be stating the obvious. The same could be said for a mom or a coach or a manager.

What Jesus had been doing

So what has Jesus been doing to prove that He is the Christ: he has been teaching, healing, loving, providing, listening, challenging, forgiving, encouraging, rebuking and soon he will be crucified, dead and buried and on I could go on. The point He is making is this: you know who I am but you refuse to believe it or accept. You’ve seen it but you’ve chosen to reject it. Why? Jesus says the reason they don’t believe here in verse 26. You do not believe because you are not among my sheep. In other words, you have not chosen me because I have not chosen you.

The debate

Now this throws us into an ancient debate over God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. And we won’t get into that right now. But we do know that the very fact that Jesus debates them shows us His heart toward them. He is inviting them into relationship. In fact, later in verse 38 He says, “even though you do not believe me, believe the works so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” People may be hard hearted toward Jesus but Jesus is never hard hearted toward them. He speaks to them whether they turn their chair to believe in Him or not.

My sheep

In contrast to these critics, Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me.” Now see how intensely personal this. A sheep does not go to Jesus for a conversion moment and then got on with his or her life. A sheep does not compartmentalize her faith to Sunday morning or Wednesday night or awhile back, the Sunday night service. A sheep is within the care of the shepherd constantly. And the leading role in that relationship is not the sheep. It’s the shepherd.

Who runs the relationship

For example, the shepherd watches over the sheep in the night. The shepherd leads the sheep to pasture and water. The shepherd protects the sheep from the attack of the wolf, the fox and the bear. If you have ever had a goat or a sheep, you never went to sleep at night re-assuring your kids not to worry, the sheep will look after us. Not at all. The sheep needs you. The relationship is one of Protector and protected. Guardian and guarded. Rescuer and rescued. Feeder and fed.

The voice of a person

So when we think of the voice of God, we are not just thinking a booming voice coming from the clouds. We are talking about a person super close to us, a voice that doesn’t just tell us things. A voice of a Person we trust and follow. That is what it means to hear God’s voice and follow Him. It is intensely personal. It is you hearing the voice of your shepherd.

Bigness of God

Now when I was in college, I learned allot about the bigness of God. And I came to the realization that my view of Him was quite small. In some ways, I could only really see God within the lens of my own experience and perspective. So this time in my life was extremely stretching for me. And I read a book called the Transformation of American religion by Alan Wolfe. And he really challenged the notion of having your own personal Jesus or turning God into an image of yourself. And I started to get a bit critical of getting too mushy, gushy with Jesus.

Still sheep

It’s pretty normal to go through a phase of questioning things and getting a broader vision of Who God is. But I think I forgot passages like John 10. Yes, God is super big. And yes, we should not make him into our image or shrink Him down. But at the end of the day, we are sheep that hear the voice of Jesus and follow it. Is this flattering description for us? Not necessarily. But is it totally appropriate? Yes. Because it gives us a picture of what our role should be within this relationship. It is one of subordination and freedom. We flourish when we know our role in the relationship.

Harley

We have a 10-month black lab named Harley. And there are some things we say about him to complement Him. We say, “He’s a smart dog. He’s super intelligent.” Now, this does not mean that he can do Algebra 2 or articulate complex thoughts. I have never stumbled onto Him organizing the closet or cutting our boys’ hair. So when I say he’s a smart dog, what I mean is he listens well. He follows basic instructions. He senses when we are happy with him and when we are not. And probably most importantly he hears our voice and responds.

A good boy

We also say, He is a good boy. This does not mean that he donates his time to charity or writes kind notes to his friends. To be good means he doesn’t bite people, chew up expensive things, growl at the mailman. Now I don’t want to push the metaphor of the sheep and the shepherd too far. We are created in God’s image with tremendous value and intelligence and abilities. But I do want to try to make a point:

That we are best at living out our role in the world when we are following the shepherd, doing what He says, doing what He did. We are not wise because we can solve complex problems. We are wise when we fear the Lord and honor Him. We are not good when we donate our time to charity. We are good when we obey the good voice of God.

Isaiah

And I think this is super helpful. Because if you feel the weight of being super smart or super good, just take a deep breath. You don’t have to be. Here is what God says in Isaiah. This is what the Lord says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be?2 Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?” declares the Lord. “These are the ones I look on with favor: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word. 3 But whoever sacrifices a bull is like one who kills a person, and whoever offers a lamb is like one who breaks a dog’s neck; whoever makes a grain offering is like one who presents pig’s blood, and whoever burns memorial incense is like one who worships an idol. They have chosen their own ways, and they delight in their abominations; 4 so I also will choose harsh treatment for them and will bring on them what they dread. For when I called, no one answered, when I spoke, no one listened. They did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me.”

Paying your dues

Did you hear that last part? When God called, no one answered. They are doing things. But they are all the wrong things done for the wrong reason. This is religion. Paying your dues to God so that you can get on with your life. And that is the opposite of what Jesus is saying about Himself here in John 10. My sheep don’t come to me with their sacrifices. And then get on with their life. They come to me with nothing and I give them eternal life. This is verse 28, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.”

Religion is replaced

So religion is replaced with relationship. The gospel is not what you give to Jesus. It’s what Jesus gives to you. The good news is not about the good you have done for God. It’s the good news of what Jesus has done for you. It is not a to do list. It is a done list. Your salvation has been secured through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And now the hand of the Father and the Son come around you to seal up your eternal life in His presence.

More than endless

This eternal life is not just life that doesn’t end. It is also points to the quality of life. It is life with no presence of death or decay. It maintains its newness, its vibrancy. Just like God does not get old. We also will not age. We will be as the song goes forever young and eternally alive. That ain’t a bad inheritance for some sheep is it? And if you can humble yourself and receive it, this glory filled future can be yours.

Where it starts

Where does this start? By hearing the voice of Jesus and following it. There is a big difference between hearing words as information and hearing words as an invitation. The critics here in John 10 heard the words of Jesus as information, not invitation. They glossed over words like, “come to me” and “learn from me” and “Receive me.” Instead they just heard the content without the intent behind the content. That is all of us to a degree.

But right now, here’s an opportunity. Receive the invitation of Jesus within the information about Jesus. Receive Him as your Shepherd. At any age, at any phase of life. It’s not too late or too early. It’s just the right time.

The not so good alternative

There is of course an alternative. You could follow the hired hand, the fake shepherd, the one who takes life from you instead of gives life to you. Because we are like sheep, we have a leadership void in our hearts. So we try to pump that leadership void full with various leaders: career pursuits, money, relationships, recognition. But these don’t lead us to vibrant life. They lead to dead ends or worse.

The sheep

Let me read the story of an event that happened in Istanbul back in 2005. “Hundreds of sheep followed their leader off a cliff in eastern Turkey, plunging to their deaths while shepherds looked on in dismay. Four hundred sheep fell 50 feet to their deaths in a ravine in Van province near Iran. Thankfully these sheep broke the fall of another 1,100 animals who survived by landing on the bodies beneath them. Shepherds from Ikizler village neglected the flock while eating breakfast, leaving the sheep to roam free. The loss to local farmers was estimated at $74,000.”

This can happen

It doesn’t take a deep dive into human history or into your own life to see this happening to us. Nazi Germany was a lesson in the horrors of following a bad shepherd. And we have all had times of following the wrong person, going with the flow, neglecting the voice of Jesus. But don’t beat yourself up about it. Jesus is here. He is speaking right now through His Word. And it is not just information. It is an invitation to again follow the Good Shepherd, the One Who can not only find you but also lead you to an eternally young and ageless life.

In distress

D.L. Moody recounts how a doctor described the rescue of sheep. In the Highlands of Scotland, a sheep would often wander off into the rocks and get into places that they couldn't get out of. The grass on these mountains was very sweet and the sheep like it, and they will jump down ten or twelve feet, and then they can't jump back again, and the shepherd hears them bleating in distress. They may be there for days, until they have eaten all the grass. The shepherd will wait until they are so faint they cannot stand, and then they will put a rope around him, and he will go over and pull that sheep up out of the jaws of death.

Why he waited

"Why don't they go down there when the sheep first gets there?" Moody asked. "Ah!" The doctor said, "they are so very foolish they would dash right over the precipice and be killed if they did!" If you are a wanderer I tell you that the Good Shepherd will bring you back the moment you have given up trying to save yourself and are willing to let Him save you His own way.”

The lost need a leader

And so D.L. Moody got it right. Those who are well don’t need a doctor. Those who are found do not need a leader. But the people who have run out of awesome sauce and maybe even food; Those who are stuck. These are terrific candidates for a new Lord to take over. So receive the invitation of Jesus: “My sheep hear my voice among the other voices. They follow me. And no one will take them out of my hand.” Says who? Says God Almighty. Let’s pray.

Song:

Thanks for coming everyone. Please feel “invited” to mingle as long as you like. Also the gals will be getting together this Tuesday at 6:30 at Washington Square Bar and Grill. We will be back here again in approximately 168 hours. Don’t forget to spend some of that time listening to the voice of God through His Word, His Spirit and His people. Go in peace. See you next Sunday!