LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE.
The Good Shepherd truly speaks to you all today saying,
A shepherd smells like the sheep.
Able was called from the fields in order to go to church, to
offer a sacrifice to God. Cain thought, what good is he? He does no real work
and he smells like the sheep.
Moses was called from the pastures of Midian to stand, not
just before Pharaoh and Egypt ,
but also in front of his own people. All of them, Pharaoh and Israel , looked
at Moses and declared, “Why should we listen? He smells like the sheep.”
David was not invited to church when Samuel came to give
communion. He was the forgotten son. His father said, “There is yet the
youngest”, but he smells like the sheep.
Ben was sent to Rensselaer
to stand in front of this community and his flock at St. Luke. They look at
him; they listen to him and they conclude: “Isn’t he just one of us? He smells
like the sheep.”
The vocation of shepherd is not on any top 10, or even top
500, of the most desired/well paid career lists. The hours are never ending,
the pay is bunk, and the flock is stubborn and ungrateful and after a while,
they pass their scent on to the shepherd. Though it does not change their disposition,
they finally admit, “Huh. He smells just like us.”
Though he doesn’t look or act like a sheep, they can at
least distinguish between him and the wolf or the hireling, if only by scent.
And what is that scent? Wool. Sweat. Slobber. Feces. Field and barn.
Therefore Jesus says to all of you, “I AM the Good Shepherd”
and He has always been here. Since the beginning, Jesus has literally been
among His created sheep, both those that follow and those that turn away, even
those who turn violently away, as in the case of Cain and Egypt and all the enemies of Israel .
In this way, Jesus is the most sheep-like, because, not only
is He covered with all of the sheep-smells of His people, mentioned before, but
He is also covered in their blood when it was taken, justly or unjustly.
But this smell is not just physical. It is also the smell of
action and behavior, for sin, death, and the devil also have their own distinct
stench that lies on the sheep. Thus, when Jesus presents Himself in sheep’s
clothing, in the flesh, to stand in front of His own flock, they proclaim,
“Don’t we know His mother? And His sisters and brothers are among us as well.
He smells like the sheep.”
These are the very accusations we level at Jesus: that He is
a sinner. That He is a sheep and no shepherd. That He is a wolf in sheep’s
clothing. He eats and drinks with them. He consorts with them. He has a devil
and speaks crazy things, claiming to be God!
Therefore He must also smell of death. He eats, drinks, and
sleeps. He gets tired. He shows emotion. This must mean that He can bleed and
die just like us.
Repent! What we accuse Jesus of, is that very thing that
condemns us. We are the ones who smell of rot and sin. We are the ones who
betray and slander each other. We are the hypocrites. We are the ones who die.
Yes, He comes as a sheep. He is born of a virgin and made
man. He takes on the sin of the world and acquires its hellish stink. He is
tempted by the damning lies of the devil, and He dies a guilty death, just like
ours.
Dear Christians, rejoice that your Lord smells just like
you, else how would you know it was He? If He was not like you in every way,
you would cast Him out like a foreigner. You would ridicule and not believe.
You would revile and crucify. And this you did, because He claimed to also be
God.
And this you did according to God’s plan for your life: that
the Shepherd would lay down His life for His sheep, in order that they would
now begin to smell like Him.
“I know my own and my own know me.” You thought this was
just a relationship thing, where Jesus talks to you and you talk back to Him.
You learn about Him, He learns about you?
Stay close to me, Jesus says, not just in lip-service, but
in heart, mind, soul, and body. Cling to His scarred and risen Body. Do this,
and you will acquire a new smell. Draw near to Jesus in order that you not only
share His mind-set and clothing, but that you also are so close that you share
His Blood.
We are starting to get a better idea of what this sheepfold
really is, where Jesus keeps His sheep. It is not just a club of like-minded
hypocrites, good at hiding their sins from the world, but a sanctuary. Not just
any sanctuary; not one made with hands or stone, but one made of Body and
Blood.
So, now there is a new smell. One which only the Shepherd
has, which the wolf and hireling will never possess. That is the stink of
resurrection, of life, of forgiveness. The Good Shepherd has rolled around in
death and has come out with only life. Jesus has plumbed the depths of sin,
death, and the devil, scraped up the last of their odor, and left them all in
hell.
In the Resurrection, only one of the false accusations
thrown at Jesus is proved false: the one that said He wasn’t God, for He has
died to sin, once for all, never to die again. The smell of life is the smell
of God.
Now remember how He said to you, “that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in
his name to all nations.” (Lk. 24:47)
So now, the smell of God is the smell of forgiveness. The
Good Shepherd is distinguished from all others, by His reeking of and giving of
forgiveness. Anything else that is preached, in His Name or not, is not from
the Good Shepherd. It may even be direct quotes from Him, in His holy
Scriptures, but it is not from Him.
If the forgiveness of sins does not have top priority and is
not the main point in a sermon, article, whatever, then that is a big red flag
for you to say, “That doesn’t smell like the sheep.”
For now, the Good Shepherd not only talks to and herds His
sheep, but He gives them new lives that smell like Him; that is forgiveness.
They say you are what you eat and what you eat affects how you smell, so what
are you going to ingest to begin and continue to smell like your Good Shepherd?
Jesus doesn’t leave behind tunic or cologne for us to splash
on. His words and mimicking His actions only take us so far. Much more than
those things, a fundamental change must take place in us. Our very constitution
must be remade in order to be like Jesus; not only of the mind, but body and
soul.
The Sacraments do this great work and those whom Jesus sends
points out this great work to the sheep in order that they would come to know
their Good Shepherd and not only have to trust their hearts. For Jesus gives us
His Word AND Signs: Word and water; Word and bread and wine.
Abel, Moses, Thomas, and the rest sent by Jesus are like the
Shepherd because they offer and give the forgiveness of sins. They preached the
promise of new life found only in the promise of God’s Messiah. And today,
nothing has changed. The same life Abel offered and was offered is offered to
you.
The Shepherd elevates His sheep from death to life and you
grab hold of this promise, because now you find that you are a sheep baptized
into the Shepherd. You are a sheep spoken to and speaking the words of the
Shepherd. You are a sheep that feasts on the Shepherd, Himself.
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