Bible Leads is a rendering of my sermon preparation: researching facts & cross-references, drawing up connections through personal experiences, art and music and discerning the essence of the text.
TEXT
‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The 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. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I 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. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No 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.’
References
>The Good Shepherd (Psalm 23)
>On worthless shepherds (Zechariah 11:4-17)
>Video of sheep responding to their shepherd’s voice
>Read about a wolf named Journey here.
Reflection Questions
- Who are sheep today? What does it mean that God loves them?
- Who are wolves today? What does it mean that God loves them, too?
- In what ways ought the church, as the visible Body of Christ, be laying down its life for the sheep?
- For clergy or other church leaders, in what ways do you resist becoming like a “hired hand”?
- In what ways ought Christians move toward other ‘folds’ of sheep that we may all become one flock?
Image
Soundtrack
- The Wolves by Bon Iver
- A Wolf at the Door by Radiohead
- I Don’t Know by Nick Hakim
- Mind Over Matter by Young the Giant
- Calling Cards by Neko Case
Haiku
Hearing the voices / dangerous snarling ahead / Son of Man stands up
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