Hired Hands

Acts 4:8-12; 1 John 3:18-24; John 10:11-18

Last year, at a conference of the Episcopal Church of the Michigan area a vote was taken concerning an important theological issue. The vote was on whether the Episcopal Churches of Michigan would believe in Acts 4:12, the last verse of our first scripture lesson for this morning. The verse reads: "Salvation is found in no one else than Jesus Christ, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." How did the vote turn out? Well, sadly to say, the Episcopal Church voted against believing in that scripture. In other words, the Episcopal Churches of Michigan now believe that it is possible that Salvation can come about in some other way than through belief in Jesus Christ. And all of this has come about in spite of what the Bible says, in spite of the teachings of the Church down through the ages. And I believe that because of this, unless some drastic changes are made within the Episcopal Church, soon, we will see that once great denomination die out within the state of Michigan, and perhaps across the United States.

Jesus made it very clear that he was the only Savior of humanity. He made it very clear in our gospel lesson for today when he described himself as being the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. When Jesus said that the hired hand runs away because he cares nothing for the sheep, he was referring to the false prophets which have come along over the centuries. Over and over again, these false saviors have been lifted up by multitudes of people and recognized as being their hope for salvation. But, Jesus exposed them for what they were: only self serving opportunists who weren't really motivated by love, at all.

For instance, I continue to be amazed at the amount of religious squalor which dominates the so called religious television channels. Much of what I see is based upon a very loose use of scripture, exceedingly poor theology, and a distressing lack of historical knowledge. Many religious television personalities come on as though they were God's special messengers. And what is sad is how much support they are actually getting from common people like you and me all over the country. Yet, many of them are no more than entertainers in religious clothing. And I fear that many well meaning Christians in America are being led astray. Although most of them would insist that they are leading people to Christ, what most of them are really trying to do is fill their pockets with cash at the expense of the local churches across the land. In the 20th century, I believe that these pseudo-religious leaders represent a bit of what Jesus was talking about when he said, "The hired man runs away because he cares nothing for the sheep." They only do it for the pay.

Christ, and those who are his true disciples, do not run away when the going gets rough. In fact, Christ and those who serve him are accessible to the flock. You don't have to call an 800 number to get in touch with Jesus. You don't have to send your cards and letters in to get in touch with God. You don't have to send money to pay your vow to get the help of the Savior. You only have to do those things with those who are in it for the money -- for those who are the hired hands. Jesus, on the other hand, is a lot closer at hand than many of us may think. He's only a prayer away. For the believer, he's as close as the heart.

A couple of Wednesdays ago, during our Resurrection Bible Study, we were looking at several examples of resurrections that took place in the scriptures. And in most of these examples either a prophet, Christ, or a disciple prayed a prayer before the person was raised from the dead. In fact, in several of these cases, the prayer had only three or four words. And yet, in spite of the brevity of those words, powerful things took place.

I believe that this points to the fact that God is much closer to us than we may think. God is much more ready to respond than we may know. God is much more ready to hear our prayers than we can imagine. We don't need Robert Tilman or Norman Vincent Peale or Robert Schuller to have success. We don't need Oral Roberts to be healed. We don't need Jimmy Swiggart or any other of those shouting, sweating T.V. preachers to get in touch with God. All we need is Jesus. And Jesus, my friends, is here.

In our Epistle lesson for today we are also encouraged to believe in Jesus Christ as the only Savior of humanity. The writer of First John wrote, "And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us."

It is interesting here that John had two requirements for salvation. In fact, he linked them together. First, we are to believe in Jesus Christ, and then we are also to love one another.	Historically speaking, the Church has spent most of its time trying to meet these two requirements for salvation. In meeting the requirement for believing in Jesus Christ, the Church has been involved with evangelism--with spreading the good news about Jesus Christ. And, so, in worship services, in sunday schools, in prayer meetings, teachers and preachers have tried to make the news of Christ's coming into the world very clear to the hearts and minds of people.

And, at the same time, the Church has also spent a great deal of time trying to obey Christ's command to love one another. This is what has been known as social action. In an attempt to love, if the Church has seen instances in the world where persons are hurting, it has strived to bring about healing. If the Church has seen where there is hostility, then the church has strived to bring about peace. If the Church has seen people without food, then it has strived to feed them. And, just as Christ was oftentimes controversial in the ways he loved persons, so is the church, very often controversial in the way it may strive to love persons, today.

Someone once said that there is no recipe book for love. And this reminds me of something that happens around our home, now and then. It seems that everyone in of our family like cookies. And, so, sometimes one of us, either me, or Linda, or Heather, or even Nathan will take some time and make some cookies, usually Tollhouse Cookies. And, I don't know why, but it seems that when I make the cookies, some of them get a little burned. OK, sometimes more than a little burned. And when this happens the other members of the family will come in to see what happened. And, they'll look at the burned cookies and make a face. But, then, after a few seconds one of them will say, "It's OK, at least you tried, Dad."

You know, we need to be that way in the church, too. As we strive to love one another, sometimes we may go about it in the wrong way. Sometimes we may make mistakes. Sometimes we may even disagree with each other as to how to go about it. But, what's most important is that no matter what, it's OK, because, at least we're trying to love.

There is a beautiful Hebrew legend of two brothers who lived side by side on adjoining lands. One was the head of a large family, the other lived alone. One night, the former lay awake and thought: "My brother lives alone, he hasn't got the companionship of a wife and children to cheer his heart as I have. While he sleeps, I will carry some of my sheaves into his field."

At the very same hour, the other brother reasoned: "My brother has a large family, and his necessities are greater than mine. As he sleeps, I will put some of my sheaves on his side of the field." Thus the two brothers went out, each carrying out his purposes and each laden with sheaves -- and met at the dividing line. There they embraced.

Indeed, in our attempt to love one another we may often find ourselves bumping into each other in the dark, often in surprising ways. But, as we do this, let us not forget that it is love that motivates us. It is love that helps us carry on in the name of the One who first loved us. Amen.