The God Who Knows Your Name John 10:3 Easter 4 4/13/08 Rev. Michael A. Trask “He Calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”
Your name. You’ve heard it spoken for as long as you can remember; from the time you lay in your crib and your mother greeted you at the dawning of your new life, to just yesterday, when someone spoke it loudly to get your attention. Your name. It’s the first thing you learned to write in school; it’s what you looked for on the bulletin board outside the locker room to see if you made varsity, or perhaps it was a role in the school play; you might have also looked for it when the B and A Honor Rolls were posted outside the principle’s office or perhaps it was the Dean’s list. Your name. It is spoken at every important moment in your life. It was spoken for all to hear on the day you were baptized. It was spoken, when you donned the cap and gown and ascended to the dais to become a graduate; spoken again when you were married; spoken when you were publicly recognized for your achievements, and it will be spoken once more in public and perhaps even etched in stone when you die. Your name. Have you googled it? Most people have. If we’re honest, we like to think that our names are known. For if your name is known than YOU are known; you have made a mark on the world; left an impression, your life has meant something to others. Knowing that your name is known seems to validate your existence. And when your name is known by more people or by people whom you see as more important than yourself, well that’s even better. In the opening of his discussion of the good shepherd, In John chapter 10, our Lord Jesus says something that is at once astonishing and thrilling! He says that the good shepherd, which, of course, is Jesus himself “....calls his own sheep by name.”..... How’s that for validating your existence? The one who called this world, this universe and everything in it into existence also calls your name! He knows your name! That’s what Jesus is telling us. But perhaps this is just a figure of speech! Perhaps it’s just part of the story of the good shepherd he’s telling us. Well, let’s go to other scripture which is what you do when you want to make sure of something. Consider John 1:40-42. Andrew is introduced to Jesus by John the Baptist, Andrew runs to get his brother Simon. The two of them hurry back to Jesus, Jesus having never met or heard of him before says “You are Simon Son of John, from now On you will be called Peter” He knew his name! And then there’s the time Jesus meets Nathanael for the first time (John 1:45-49). Before Nathanael even spoke Jesus said “ah, now here is a true israelite who has no time for falsehood.” Nathaniel is flabbergasted! “How do you know me?” Or how about the time Jesus walked into Jericho, stopped, looked up into a tree, and then says “Zacchaeus, come down immediately, I’m going to your house.” He knew his name! This is what the Lord Jesus is trying to tell us when he says “the good shepherd calls his own sheep by name” He not only knew the names of Simon and Zacchaeus, he knows your name! He not only knows the personality of Nathaniel, he knows your personality. Your name is on his lips! Isaiah tells you that it is even etched in God’s hand. “See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” says he. (Isaiah 49:16) And this is not merely the B honor roll! This is not even the A honor Roll! This is the Lord of the universe that were talking about here! He knows you. Your name is spoken in his counsels; it engraved upon his hand. When you and I look at a flock of sheep, we see the flock and not the individual sheep. All the sheep look alike to us. But our Lord, the good shepherd is different. He knows the sheep as individuals; each with their own names and ways. Look at the picture on the front of the bulletin for today! This is taken from our Sunday School Pictures! (I’m so glad to see the return of real life pictures). Look at the eyes of the shepherd! See the concern and the love. Look at his hands, outstretched as they are. He is focused on that little lamb that somehow got stuck up on the rock. Now look behind him under his right arm. That’s the rest of the flock. I believe that this is a depiction of the shepherd leaving the 99 to find the lost one. What does this tell us? It tells us that Jesus deals with us individually, personally, specifically. Every one of us matters. Every one of us is significant. Every one of us is valuable to him. I can think of another picture similar to this one, where a newborn lamb is in the arms of the shepherd...and he with the same love and concern and personal interest takes hold of it and smile. This is what happens when we baptize our children. Today We said, “Lord this is Jordan Isaac”, his name echoed in the counsels of heaven. We applied the water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and God said “Welcome little one, you are now mine and part of my eternal family” The Lord gives his name to us in Baptism. The Lord knows your name, but he also wants you to know his name, the name into which you were baptized. It is so very important that you do know him. For as the scripture says “there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12). Very pointedly, Jesus explains that others will come, false shepherds who will seek to lead us away from him. How shall we discern the difference between false shepherds and the one true shepherd? Our discernment grows as we hear his voice. This is why Sunday school and Bible class is so very important. In baptism we receive the name of our shepherd, In Sunday school and bible class we spend time with him and learn to know him even as he knows us! And where exactly does our shepherd lead us? The 23rd psalm explains the lifelong journey of the sheep with the shepherd and then at the very end, the sheep says “and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” Or as Jesus said in the text “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” To have life to the full, doesn’t mean that you’ll have your own personal jet and do everything that you ever wanted. To have life to the full means mostly that you won’t run out of it. You’ll live forever; that Christ has now made you an eternal person. Did you know that there is one place your name appears that cannot be googled or found by any other search engine. There is mention in both the Old (Ps. 69:28) and New Testaments (Rev. 21:27) of a Book....its God’s book actually, and this book is referred to as “The Book of Life” . It’s a ledger really, a living record of all the names of those who have been and will be saved. And all have one thing in come have one thing in common: Christ Jesus, the Lord is their shepherd; their shepherd who became a lamb so that he could shed his blood for theirs sins That book will be opened on the last day and your shepherd will call call your name. He will say “come you who are blessed by my father.” Your name is known. It is known by the most important person in the universe. AMEN |
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