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.

Greater Love Hath No Man

I just saw this article online.  The link below is to a story from last night about a 15-year-old boy named Zaevion Dobson who, in the midst of a gang shooting, jumped on top of three little girls to protect them from bullets.  He died from his injuries, and all three girls were saved from harm.  Amazing, selfless love.  I’m praying that God will bless and comfort his family.

Here’s the link: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/crime-courts/Police-investigating-2-shootings-in-7-hours-362913061.html

This is an incredible illustration of Jesus’ words in John 15:13 about the greatest love being shown through laying down one’s life for his friends.  It also would powerfully illustrate many passages about Jesus’ sacrifice for us, like John 10:11, Romans 4:25, Romans 5:8, Ephesians 5:2,  1 Peter 3:18, and many more.

You could also share this illustration with youth who don’t think that they can make a difference before they are adults.  Zaevion Dobson proved that wrong.

 

Tags: Love, Sacrifice, Redemption, Gospel, John 10, John 15, Romans 4, Romans 5, Ephesians 5, 1 Peter 3, Youth

Top 5 Deathbed Regrets

My wife sent me this article today, written by a palliative nurse, who lists the top 5 regrets people have revealed to her on their deathbeds.  She says these are the 5 most common, although it is unclear to me whether she actually tabulated the regrets given to her and came up with this statistical result.  That doesn’t really blunt the power of the article, though.

I think any of the five or perhaps all five could be used as part of any sermon dealing with life and death (Mark 8:36), the brevity of life (James 4:13-17), or having an eternal perspective (Psalm 39).  Below are her five, with other passages that could be used with each one.  I think it would be ok to use just one in a sermon.  You could say something like, “A palliative nurse compiled the 5 most common deathbed regrets, and one of the five dealt with exactly what we’re talking about.  It was ______.”

Here are the five:

1)  I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. [In this case, I’m thinking of it more like: “I wish I had lived a life true to God’s calling, instead of letting peer pressure or the world influence me as much as they did.”  The REAL life lived true to ourselves is the one lived in line with the purpose for which God made us.]

Daniel 3, Acts 5:29

2) I wish I didn’t work so hard.

Matthew 6:19-21, Matthew 6:24-34, Mark 8:36

3) I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

Ephesians 4:15, James 3

4) I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

Proverbs 18:24, Acts 20 (Paul’s closeness with the Ephesian believers), 2 Timothy 4:9-18

5) I wish that I had let myself be happier.

John 10:10, Philippians 4

 

By the way, you could also use this whole article as a contrast between the author’s this-worldly understanding of “happiness” (which seems to end when someone achieves “peace” and then dies) and the Bible’s infinitely deeper, eternal joy in the presence of Christ.  That would work with Matthew 25, Revelation 5, Revelation 21, Revelation 22, and plenty of others.   [I write all these references out so that they will show up when people search on particular texts.  I’m still trying to figure out how to make tag searches work like I want them to.]