Dear Christian friends:

Perhaps the words of Psalm 23:1, "The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want," are the most precious words of the Bible to many people. Also the words of Jesus in our text in John 10:11, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." are very precious to many people.

Why? Because these words are very beautiful and clearly show how we are related to God: He is our good Shepherd and we are His sheep. This is very much comfort for us. God forgives our sins and accepts us as His people again and again and promises to be our God and Keeper now and forever.

In the last verse of our text Jesus also shows how we, the sheep are related to one another. He says, "there shall be one flock and one shepherd." There is much misunderstanding and confusion about this, so let us on this Good Shepherd Sunday consider Jesus' words:


What does this mean? It means there is really only one Christian Church. Jews and Gentiles alike. It doesn't mean all denominations or church groups as some wrongly think, but only those who "listen" to the Good Shepherds voice.

That Jesus is the Lord of Psalm 23, "The Lord (God) is My Shepherd." He is not a man, "hired man" He is the Owner of heaven and earth and the owner of the sheep. Creator of John and sent by God. (John 1:6) He is also the Son of God who became the Son of Man to suffer and die for us, the straying sheep. The good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep. (John 10:11)

During this Lent Easter season we have again seen how beautifully Jesus gave His life for us and then arose from the dead.

Those people who humbly confess their sins and believe in Jesus belong to His one flock or church, no matter whether they are Lutheran or Methodist or some other church name. And if a person does not believe in Jesus, then he is not a member of Jesus' flock or one church, not matter if he has the name Lutheran or some other church name.

Does this mean we should be careless or indifferent about church names? No! We should always try to learn God's Word and teach God's Word as the Bible teaches, and join that group which follows the Bible exactly.

But also we should not think other Christian church groups are our enemies. We should think of them as our Christian friends, also, and pray for them and their work, too. We should think of the other Lutherans and Christian churches as Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian and others who believe in the Triune God as our Christian brothers and sisters.

I do not say that all teach the same. There are still some important differences in teachings. But even if one church teaches differently about some things we should not think it our enemy. We should be friendly with them and meet with them to discuss our different teachings and ideas and try to help them see God's Word as we see it. Or if we are wrong about some things we should let them show us and correct us with God's Word.

By such meetings and discussions with other church groups we may become more united and in agreement with what God's Word teaches. During the past year some of the leaders of our Missouri Synod have been meeting with leaders of A.L.C. to discuss our difference with God's Word and judge to see if we can make unity and agreement.

Surely Jesus our Good Shepherd who says, "There shall be one flock and one Shepherd," wants us to follow His Word exactly and then try to unite with all churches and Christians who hear His voice and follow Him.

Perhaps we will never have one large, perfect Christian church with one name and organization while we are on earth, because of sin and Satan's work. But we should try to show the world that really before God there is only one flock and one Shepherd, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

When we go to heaven we shall see how true that is, and we shall be very, very happy because we no longer have many different church names and disagreements and confusion. But one perfect, peaceful large, happy, victorious and glorious Church. Also when we go to heaven we will see Jesus the Good Shepherd and we shall be very satisfied.

So let us all listen to the voice, (words) of Jesus our Good Shepherd and humbly follow Him like sheep through the troubles, and temptations of this world unto glory everlasting in heaven.

Let us also work with Jesus to help find the straying and lost sheep and lead them back to Him and His one true flock.

Amen.