Readings for the Day:
Sermon:
If you're like me, there are many wonderful children's resources out there that
give you joy. And one of these for me is the VeggiTales series. The first VeggiTales
film I ever saw was Larry-Boy and the Fib from Outer Space. In it, Junior
Asparagus has a friend over, and while she is there, he breaks a very valuable
collector's plate his dad owns.
Junior Asparagus, like many of us, is afraid of what is going to happen. Of what his father's reaction will be. He's not sure what to do or which direction he should turn to.
And then, with almost perfect timing, Fib comes out. And he has a proposal. Junior should just lie about what happened. After all, a little white lie never hurt anyone.
But the thing is, someone had to break that plate. And the more and more people ask Junior what happened, the more he gets other people in trouble. And as he lies and lies, Fib grows and grows until he goes from being a tiny space rock to a giant King Kong sized monster.
Fib's intention was never to help Junior. It was alway about growing so that Fib could eventually devour everything in his path, including Junior, who he owed his growth to.
But there are some who do want what is best for Junior. Larry the Cucumber in his secret identity as the superhero Larry-Boy and his trusty butler Alfred. The two of them try to help save Junior and the city from Fib. Larry-Boy even almost sacrifices his life to do so.
And then Alfred yells to Larry-Boy that there is one thing that can stop Fib. It's Junior. And in hearing that, Junior knows what to do.
"I did it!" He yells. "I broke the plate."
And Fib gets smaller and smaller until poof! He's gone.
In the digital age of Twitter and 24 hour news cycles, we, like Junior, hear a lot of voices telling us what we should do. But, like Fib, not all of these voices have our interests at heart.
Thankfully, we do have someone we can turn to. Someone who is calling out to those of us who will listen. Someone that doesn't want to see us go down the path of destruction, but instead, like Larry-boy, put Himself on the line so that we could live.
Junior Asparagus, like many of us, is afraid of what is going to happen. Of what his father's reaction will be. He's not sure what to do or which direction he should turn to.
And then, with almost perfect timing, Fib comes out. And he has a proposal. Junior should just lie about what happened. After all, a little white lie never hurt anyone.
But the thing is, someone had to break that plate. And the more and more people ask Junior what happened, the more he gets other people in trouble. And as he lies and lies, Fib grows and grows until he goes from being a tiny space rock to a giant King Kong sized monster.
Fib's intention was never to help Junior. It was alway about growing so that Fib could eventually devour everything in his path, including Junior, who he owed his growth to.
But there are some who do want what is best for Junior. Larry the Cucumber in his secret identity as the superhero Larry-Boy and his trusty butler Alfred. The two of them try to help save Junior and the city from Fib. Larry-Boy even almost sacrifices his life to do so.
And then Alfred yells to Larry-Boy that there is one thing that can stop Fib. It's Junior. And in hearing that, Junior knows what to do.
"I did it!" He yells. "I broke the plate."
And Fib gets smaller and smaller until poof! He's gone.
In the digital age of Twitter and 24 hour news cycles, we, like Junior, hear a lot of voices telling us what we should do. But, like Fib, not all of these voices have our interests at heart.
Thankfully, we do have someone we can turn to. Someone who is calling out to those of us who will listen. Someone that doesn't want to see us go down the path of destruction, but instead, like Larry-boy, put Himself on the line so that we could live.
That person is the Great Shepherd, who celebrate with our readings this morning.
That person is the victor over sin and death who we celebrate this Easter season.
That person, is Jesus.
And we are told in the Gospel this morning that his sheep listen to His voice. And why is it that we should listen to Jesus? Why is it that we listen to His voice? Because it is the voice of the shepherd who wishes to guide us. It's the voice of one who wants what is best for us. It's the voice of one who wants to lead us to life, and an abundant life at that.
Jesus is the shepherd who is with us as we walk through the ways of darkness and fear all around us. He's the one that even though we walk through the "valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil. Because He's with us. His rod and His staff are there to comfort us," as we hear in the Psalm.
And as we hear in 1 Peter, Jesus is the shepherd who laid Himself on the line for us. Who suffered for us to keep us safe. Who even when He was struck down and afflicted, made sure that we were healed, even through the saving power of His own blood.
Jesus, as the Gospel tells us, is the shepherd, the gate, the way, the path, the light for us who came and that we might "have life" And He came not only so that we would have life, but so that we could "have it abundantly."
Jesus is the voice we seek to recognize because we know that if we hear that voice, then He will be with us in our darkest moments. If we listen to that voice, we know that we will be lead away from those things that wish to entrap and ensnare us toward His life giving Grace. We know that if we follow His voice, then everything will be alright. That in all manner of things, all will be well.
There are a lot of voices out there, like Fib's, that wish us to forge the path to our destruction. But Jesus is there to guide us away from those. Just as 1 Peter says, when we are going astray, Jesus is there to shepherd us back so that we can live in the way we were truly meant to. So that can live not for ourselves, but for the God who loves us and died for us. So that instead of following our own wants and needs, we can move forward to live in right relationship with both God and with each other. So that we, as we hear in the Two Great Commandments, can love God with the very core of our being, and love our neighbors as ourselves.
And we are told in the Gospel this morning that his sheep listen to His voice. And why is it that we should listen to Jesus? Why is it that we listen to His voice? Because it is the voice of the shepherd who wishes to guide us. It's the voice of one who wants what is best for us. It's the voice of one who wants to lead us to life, and an abundant life at that.
Jesus is the shepherd who is with us as we walk through the ways of darkness and fear all around us. He's the one that even though we walk through the "valley of the shadow of death, we will fear no evil. Because He's with us. His rod and His staff are there to comfort us," as we hear in the Psalm.
And as we hear in 1 Peter, Jesus is the shepherd who laid Himself on the line for us. Who suffered for us to keep us safe. Who even when He was struck down and afflicted, made sure that we were healed, even through the saving power of His own blood.
Jesus, as the Gospel tells us, is the shepherd, the gate, the way, the path, the light for us who came and that we might "have life" And He came not only so that we would have life, but so that we could "have it abundantly."
Jesus is the voice we seek to recognize because we know that if we hear that voice, then He will be with us in our darkest moments. If we listen to that voice, we know that we will be lead away from those things that wish to entrap and ensnare us toward His life giving Grace. We know that if we follow His voice, then everything will be alright. That in all manner of things, all will be well.
There are a lot of voices out there, like Fib's, that wish us to forge the path to our destruction. But Jesus is there to guide us away from those. Just as 1 Peter says, when we are going astray, Jesus is there to shepherd us back so that we can live in the way we were truly meant to. So that can live not for ourselves, but for the God who loves us and died for us. So that instead of following our own wants and needs, we can move forward to live in right relationship with both God and with each other. So that we, as we hear in the Two Great Commandments, can love God with the very core of our being, and love our neighbors as ourselves.
In Lent, we strived to listen more deeply to the voice of the Good Shepherd so that we could prepare ourselves to be guided back from the ways of sin and death. Now that we are in Easter, we have the chance to listen to Him still. We have the chance to let Jesus continue to guide us as we follow Him through the gate to the path of life abundant. So let us go and listen so that we can continue to move forward and strive to follow Him more deeply.