The Nature of the Shepherd

Dr. Hershael York, professor at Southern Seminary and senior pastor at Buck Run Baptist Church, was my preaching professor and a member of my dissertation committee.  God has greatly blessed me with his preaching instruction, pastoral counsel, and friendship.  I highly recommend his book on preaching.

Yesterday, Dr. York shared this excellent personal story on Facebook that is not only good counsel for those in Christian ministry, but also a great illustration for the kind of Shepherd Jesus is to His people.  Dr. York connected the story to John 10:1-18.  He writes,

On one of my trips to Israel I once saw a man behind a flock of sheep, driving them down the road by holding out two long sticks, one on either side, in an attempt to force them to stay together in front of him. Puzzled that I had never seen a shepherd lead his sheep like that, I asked my guide, Zvi, “Why is that shepherd driving his sheep that way? I’ve never seen that before.” “Oh,” he answered. “That’s not a shepherd. That’s a butcher. He has bought those sheep and now he has to drive them to the slaughterhouse. They won’t follow him, because they don’t know him. He can’t lead them, so he has to drive them.” 

Shepherds lead from the front. Butchers drive from behind.

 

This story could illustrate sermons from many passages in addition to John 10, including words to pastors like Ephesians 4 and 1 Peter 5 (especially verses 1-4).  It also would fit well with passages that speak of Jesus as the Good Shepherd: Psalm 23, Matthew 2 (verse 6), Matthew 9 (verse 36), Paul’s words to the Ephesians elders in Acts 20, the benediction of Hebrews 13, 1 Peter 2 (verse 25), and Revelation 7 (verse 17).

 

Tags: Jesus, Good Shepherd, Shepherd, Sheep, Psalm 23, Matthew 2, Matthew 9, Mark 6, John 10, Acts 20, Ephesians 4, Hebrews 13, 1 Peter 2, 1 Peter 5, and Revelation 7.

Living Like You’re at War

The twitter account @HistoricalPics posted this a while ago:

Amazing: Temporary rules posted at Britain's Richmond Golf Club after German bombs hit the course in 1940 http://t.co/7iDNBnbDlR—
Historical Pics (@HistoricalPics) February 02, 2014

Of course, this is a phenomenal example of the courage and resolve displayed by countless Brits to try to live normally, avoid panic, and fight on during the war.  It’s the whole “Keep Calm and Carry On” mindset. But even better, it’s a great illustration of Paul’s point in Ephesians 6.

The rules change when you’re living in a war zone.  For the British, it was undeniable: their golf courses were peppered with craters!  We have plenty of evidence of the spiritual war surrounding us, as well, although we are often fooled into ignoring it.  Since we are living in a spiritual war zone, we should live differently, too.  We put on the armor of God.  We pray at all times in the Spirit.  In Christ’s strength, we resist the devil, who is prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5).  In World War II, it was a matter of life-and-death.  In our war, the stakes are far higher.

 

Tags: Romans 7, Romans 13, 1 Corinthians 16,  2 Corinthians 10, Ephesians 6, 2 Timothy 2, 1 Peter 2, 1 Peter 5, Spiritual Warfare

The Presidents Club – LBJ’s Legacy

Here’s how I used a particular story from The Presidents’ Club in today’s sermon on Genesis 3:

President Lyndon Baines Johnson was an outgoing person, and he really enjoyed it when people needed his friendship and influence.  But he had a very tumultuous presidency.  The country, as many of you who lived then remember, was in a great state of upheaval during his administration.  The Vietnam War was incredibly controversial, yet LBJ struggled to find the right way to end the conflict.  Richard Nixon made many shrewd political moves leading up to the 1968 presidential election, and Johnson’s own party began to turn away from him, until Johnson finally withdrew from the race in embarrassment, even though he was eligible for another term.

Once Johnson had left the presidency, he set about shaping and even reforming his legacy.  In Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy’s book The Presidents Club, his obsession about this is described.  Johnson cared a great deal about his own name.  He put all his energy into his presidential library.  He would go to the parking lot of the historical site of his birth and count the states represented by the cars’ license plates, to see how far people had come from.  He wanted to know how many postcards people bought there, hoping that they would outnumber postcards bought at other similar locations.  He even went so far as to get the announcer at the University of Texas football stadium to tell people as they went to the bathroom at halftime that there were extra restrooms nearby at LBJ’s presidential library!

This is a sad thing, isn’t it?  A man who reached the pinnacle of world power and held the office that so many aspire to was brought to this point of caring that much about what people thought of him, struggling with pride to the point of counting and comparing postcard sales.  But the book makes clear that just about every president deals with this same tormenting concern – “How will people perceive me?”  And the reality is, this concern is not foreign to ANY of us.  Pride eats at us.  It is at the root of every sin.  Its temptation worked for Satan against Eve, and it continues to work today.  Watch out for pride.  Humble yourself before the Lord, and submit to His will.  Look for instances of your own pride, and KILL them by giving them up to the Lord and submitting to Him.  God’s Word says that He “resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”  It tells us: “Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”

 

This illustration would work well with texts dealing with pride, like: Genesis 3, 2 Samuel 24, 2 Chronicles 26, 2 Chronicles 32, Proverbs 3:34, Proverbs 16:18, James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5, and 1 John 2:16

It would also work with Scriptural texts about pleasing God rather than men, like: Matthew 10:28, Acts 5:29, Galatians 1:10, and Ephesians 6:6