Manuscript for the 3rd Sunday of Easter

489 HAIL THEE, FESTIVAL DAY

ref Hail thee, festival day!
Blest day to be hallowed forever;
Day when our Lord was raised,
Breaking the kingdom of death.

1  All the fair beauty of earth
From the death of the winter arising!
Ev’ry good gift of the year
Now with its master returns: Refrain

2     Rise from the grave now, O Lord,
The author of life and creation.
Treading the pathway of death,
New life You give to us all: Refrain

3 God the Almighty, the Lord,
The ruler of earth and the heavens,
Guard us from harm without;
Cleanse us from evil within: Refrain

4 Jesus, the health of the world,
Creator of all and redeemer,
Son of the Father supreme,
Only-begotten of God: Refrain

6 Praise to the giver of good!
O Lover and Author of concord,
Pour out Your balm on our days;
Order our ways in Your peace: Refrain

Text: © 1978 Lutheran Book of Worship. Used by permission: CPH Limited Promotional License no. 119000000

L O Lord, open my lips,

C and my mouth will declare Your praise.

L Make haste, O God, to deliver me;

C make haste to help me, O Lord.

C Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit;

as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Praise to You, O Christ. Alleluia.

Psalm 23 ;

¹The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
²He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
³He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

⁴Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

⁵You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
⁶Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

John 10:11–16

¹¹[Jesus said:] “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹²He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. ¹⁴I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”

RESPONSORY LSB 221

L Forever, O Lord, Your Word is firmly set in the heavens.

C Lord, I love the habitation of Your house and the place where Your glory dwells.

L Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it.

C Lord, I love the habitation of Your house and the place where Your glory dwells.

L Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

C Lord, I love the habitation of Your house and the place where Your glory dwells.

SERMON

Our Shepherd Knows, Loves and Calls Us

John 10:14-16

In our Gospel reading for this morning, Jesus says,   "I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” (John 10:14 16) This is our text.

Three things to hear in this Gospel reading are:

1. Our Shepherd knows us.

2. Our Shepherd loves us. And

3. Our Shepherd calls us.

I. Jesus, the Good Shepherd Knows us His sheep.

He says, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.”

Jesus contrasts the Good Shepherd with a hired man who cares nothing about the sheep.  The hired man has a job to do and the sheep are it.  He doesn’t care about them anymore than the money he is to earn by tending them.  The Good Shepherd knows them.

Jesus said earlier that the Good Shepherd “calls his own sheep by name.”  A shepherd who cares about his sheep probably has some pet names for them.  

Psalms 50:10 11  for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.  I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine.  That verse has always been a special one for me.  It shows the wisdom, the omniscience of God.  Think of all these cattle: dots on one hill after another.  How can anyone know each of them?  Some of us who can’t appreciate the finer points of animal husbandry, might ask “Why would anyone want to know each of them?  You seen one cow you seen ‘em all.  Seen one sheep you’ve seen ‘em all.”

But God knows each beast, each bird. So God knows each human.  God knows each one of us.  He knows us by name.  As God told Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.”  God knows you.

There are 7.8 billion people in the world.  That’s not an easy number to grasp.  You are just one out of 7.8 Billion.  But God is big enough and wise enough and knowing enough to know you, to know you by name.  He is loving enough to notice you.  He loves you so much that He can pick you out of the crowd.  He loves you so much that if you were the only one, he still would have sent His Son to the cross to redeem you.

Which brings us to the second point,

2. Our Shepherd loves us.

Jesus, the Good Shepherd “lays down His life for His sheep.” With these words, Jesus defines what it means to be the Good Shepherd.  He said: Greater love has no man than this that He lay down His life for His friends.  

Love for Jesus means this sacrificial, self-giving love.  It’s a love that seems foolish to our foolish minds.  Imagine how foolish that a shepherd would be so attached to His sheep that He would risk His own life to save them from the bear or the wolf or the cliff.  But this is what the Good Shepherd does.

 Imagine the Son of God, who with His Father and the Holy Spirit, creates a world and fills it with people, and they like sheep, go astray, turning against Him despising Him and His designs. They work against His plans.  They disobey His commands.  And He in turn gives up His life for them.  

Seems foolish doesn’t it.  But nevertheless it is the wisdom of God. The true glory of God is in the cross and sacrificial death of Jesus the Good Shepherd of the sheep.  

3. Our Good Shepherd calls us.

Can you picture the scene of the Shepherd out in the field with His sheep. Calling them with familiar voice to a better pasture, a smoother flowing stream. The Shepherd calls the sheep to guide them out of trouble, out of harm’s way,  to guide them to the safety of the sheepfold.  

So Jesus, the Good Shepherd, calls His chosen ones out of the world, into His flock.  Out of the great mass of humanity the voice of the Good Shepherd calls the ones He chooses by name, they hear His voice and they come in His direction.  

Thank God that He doesn’t just say, “Seen one sheep, seen ‘em all.”  He knows each sheep.  He knows you.  

Your Shepherd calls for you. He calls and says, “I am your Good Shepherd.  You have nothing else to want. I am leading you to pleasant pastures and clear waters. I am restoring your soul. When you must walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will be with you, to protect you and guide you with my goodness and mercy and I will have you dwell with me in my house forever. Amen.

+ PRAYER +

KYRIE LSB 227

C Lord, have mercy;

Christ, have mercy;

Lord, have mercy.

LORD’S PRAYER

C Our Father who art in heaven,

     hallowed be Thy name,

     Thy kingdom come,

     Thy will be done on earth

          as it is in heaven;

     give us this day our daily bread;

     and forgive us our trespasses

          as we forgive those

          who trespass against us;

     and lead us not into temptation,

     but deliver us from evil.

For Thine is the kingdom

     and the power and the glory

     forever and ever. Amen.

COLLECTS

L O Lord, hear my prayer.

C And let my cry come to You.

COLLECT OF THE DAY

O God, through the humiliation of Your Son You raised up the fallen world. Grant to Your faithful people, rescued from the peril of everlasting death, perpetual gladness and eternal joys; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.

COLLECT IN TIME OF PESTILENCE

O God, You desire not the death of sinners, but rather that we turn from our wickedness and live. Graciously behold Your people who plead to You, and spare us. Withdraw the scourge of Your wrath and be moved in mercy to turn away this pestilence from us; for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen.

COLLECT FOR GRACE

O Lord, our heavenly Father, almighty and everlasting God, You have safely brought us to the beginning of this day. Defend us in the same with Your mighty power and grant that this day we fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger, but that all our doings, being ordered by Your governance, may be righteous in Your sight; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

BENEDICAMUS LSB 228

L Let us bless the Lord.

C Thanks be to God.

BENEDICTION LSB 228

P The grace of our Lord T Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

C Amen.

710 THE LORD’S MY SHEPHERD, I’LL NOT WANT

1 The Lord’s my shepherd, I’ll not want;

    He makes me down to lie
In pastures green; He leadeth me
    The quiet waters by.

2 My soul He doth restore again
    And me to walk doth make
Within the paths of righteousness,
    E’en for His own name’s sake.

3 Yea, though I walk in death’s dark vale,
    Yet will I fear no ill;
For Thou art with me, and Thy rod
    And staff me comfort still.

4 My table Thou hast furnishèd
    In presence of my foes;
My head Thou dost with oil anoint,
    And my cup overflows.

5 Goodness and mercy all my life
    Shall surely follow me;
And in God’s house forevermore
    My dwelling place shall be.

Text: Public domain

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Matins from Lutheran Service Book

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV^® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2018 Concordia Publishing House.