“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.” (John 10:11-18 NRSV)

Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.

And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us. (1 John 3:18-24 NRSV)

***

The Gospel message is clear,
it is true,
it is welcome.

Jesus said: “I am the good shepherd.”
“For this reason, the Father loves me, because I lay down my life.”

Christ is our Good Shepherd.
Jesus, as we saw in his death and resurrection, loves and cares for us;
Death did not frighten him away.
Hatred,
fear,
oppression ...
The Good Shepherd is not chased off by the powers and forces of darkness.

Jesus lived the life of love,
loving us so much that he laid down his life so that we might live, eternally, in him.
Christ is our Good Shepherd.
We shall not want for another.

Glory to God in the highest,
for the glorious gift of Christ's love and peace,
here, now, and forever.

Would you pray with me?

Lord God, our heavenly Father, move among us so that we, Thy people, may always feel and sense Thy divine power and presence; for we need to know that we are never alone. And speak to each and every one of us in such a way that we may hear, understand, and remember, give us words by which to mold and shape our living; for we confess to You that we need such words by which to live. For we pray in Thy Holy and Gracious Name. Amen.

The first letter of St. John is a most fascinating document.
The apostle wrote it for the early church as an aid,
as a commentary,
for reading his Gospel.
Sometime, when you have time,
I suggest that you compare the first eight verses of the John’s Gospel
with the first few verses of this letter.
The letter should help you to understand the Gospel just a little bit better.

This is certainly true with this morning’s reading from both the Gospel
and the letter of St. John.
In the letter, the apostle writes:

“Little Children, let us not love in word or speech but in deed and in truth. By this we shall know that we are of the truth,
and reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.”

“God is greater than our hearts.”

The God who fashioned the world,
The God who brought the universe into being, The God who made you and me,
and sent His only begotten Son to be one of us,
This God is, surely, greater than us,
He is greater than our hearts,
He knows everything.
There is nothing that you or I can tell God that would surprise Him.
He knows you,
He knows me,
better than we know ourselves.
We may be a mystery to each other,
and often to ourselves,
but we are not a mystery to God.

God knows everything.
He knows what you believe,
and whom you love.

St. John wrote to his churches, saying:

“Little children, let us not love in word or speech
but in deed and in truth.”

Now, I ask you a question--
Whose love has been manifest in deed and in truth
before our very eyes?
Whose love is without question,
without boundary,
without end?
Whose love is beyond purchase,
beyond capture
beyond loss?

Of course...
It’s the love of our Good Shepherd -- Jesus Christ, our Lord.
St. John the Evangelist tells us to let our love be in deed and in truth.
This is the Commandment of God: that
“We should believe in the Name of his Son Jesus Christ
and love one another, just as he has commanded us."
We should believe in the Good Shepherd, our true love.

Christ showed us what true love is.
True love is love exercised rather than love which is just spoken.
It is one thing for love to be a matter of words,
and yet quite another thing for it to show itself in action.

How many times do you hear “I love you”
and then fail to see that love?
How many times do you say "I love you"?
and, while meaning it, you fear showing it?
How often do you live your love?

Christ's love was lived in and through His death and resurrection.
We, too, could be called to live our love in just such an extreme way...
If so called, could we?
I am persuaded that we can ... but only by faith.

Some might argue: “But we are not Christ.”
“We are not the Son of God, called to save the world.”
“If we were to die, it wouldn't atone for our sins.”
“Only Christ!”

We are not Christ.
If I had died on the Cross, instead of Christ Jesus,
nothing would have happened.

But Christ did die on that cross,
and in and through our Baptisms our sinful lives died with him.
We are called to live a life of faith,
a life of faith-empowered love which is filled
by the very presence of Christ.

Christ’s life of faith, trusting in the promise of the Father,
Christ's life of love,
within us and around us,
has also taught us, through the pen of St. John,
That it is active faith in the love of God
and, hence, active love for God and our neighbor,
which is our sole basis for Assurance.

Active faith.
Trust in the Father.
Living faith and trust in the sacrifice of the Son of God,
Jesus Christ our Lord,
is expressed through Love.

This was true for Jesus.
Christ actually lived his love,
the love of the Father for a fallen world,
and we are called to live ours.
It is only through such a life that we may know Christ,
know God,
and be assured of life eternal.
Christian assurance is active love,
it is lived love,
it is Christ's love in us,
and our love expressed to others.

Christ's active love
is expressed each day when we turn to our brothers and sisters in the Faith
and proclaim His name, His grace and peace.
If Christ is in us,
and we are in him,
How can we do otherwise?

Christ is our Good Shepherd.
Christ came to find his lost sheep -- and He has found them.
Once we were lost, but now we have been found.
Christ not only finds his lost sheep -- you and me --
but he also calls us to become active in finding the rest of His lost fold.
You see, we are not just sheep.
We are also shepherds.....
Shepherds who are sheep of the Good Shepherd, our true love, Jesus Christ.
With the Lord Jesus as our Shepherd
We shall never want for another.

And, since the Lord has found us, we are called to go and find our fellow sheep.
We are called to let our love show forth to others in deed and in truth.
We are called to express the love which we have received from Jesus Christ,
to all those lost sheep whom God wants to find.
He has already found us.
We know our Shepherd.
We know our true love.
We must not stop now.
“Little Children, let us not love in word or in speech but in deed and in truth.”

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
--Amen