[00:00:00] You're listening to a live recording from Westside Church in Bend, Oregon. Thanks for joining us.
[00:00:06] Good morning, everybody. I'm Ben Fleming, one of the senior pastors here, and congratulations to all of us, because Olney Avenue is open.
[00:00:14] Yeah. Some of you didn't even know. Yeah, yeah, it's open now. I still haven't driven on it, but I am. It's funny. I go through the intersection. I go. I really want to drive on that new pavement.
[00:00:26] I don't know what that is inside of me. Maybe it's just me. I do want to bring one more thing to your attention. And the information for this is going to be
[email protected] events.
[00:00:35] Some of you know that I went on a sabbatical a few years ago, and part of my sabbatical was to walk this pilgrimage called St. Cuthbert's Way in Scotland.
[00:00:44] I am now inviting you to come along on that same trip.
[00:00:48] So many things are happening in terms of discipleship and missions work, and we're trying to be a bit more immersive in a lot of the things that we do around here. So whether it's outreach and global outreach and going and traveling to places like Turkey, into Africa, and also these really deep discipleship journeys that we'd like to make together, and this is kind of the beginning of that. So myself and Pastor Brandt are going to lead a group on St Cuthbert's Way through Scotland at the very end of August into September. If you're interested in going on this or even taking part in the class that's going to happen the three weeks beforehand on Celtic spirituality, I would love for you to go to westsidechurch.org events and fill out the interest form. It's not registration, it's not signing away your life or a blood oath or anything like that that comes later.
[00:01:32] It's just an interest. We want to know who is interested and how many. And then maybe this won't be even the last time we do it. It might be a part of our. Our regular calendar going forward.
[00:01:42] John, chapter 10. We are going all the way through the Gospel of John. Ever since Christmas. We started immediately going slowly through the Book of John, all the way through easter and chapter 10 now, where Jesus describes himself as a good shepherd and in doing so shares a metaphor that I think is difficult for us to understand. We're going to do our best to understand it a bit more today.
[00:02:05] One of the most compelling things about the idea of a shepherd is the importance of a shepherd's voice that the sheep hear. His voice. And we'll read this in just a moment.
[00:02:13] And we must always be constantly reminded about the amount of voices that we're hearing and experiencing in our lives every single day, the amount of news and influence and even the voices that are coming from our own heads, sharing from our own traumas and experiences. It can create a bit of a loud environment, and sometimes it's just about the speed and the pace of those voices. I am a big Seahawks fan. I am a Super bowl champion. And yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Go me. Go Niners. Right? Like somebody said last week, jokers.
[00:02:46] And what I was. I was watching some of the coverage immediately after they have the team, like, at Disneyland or a few of the guys at Disneyland. And on the set at Disneyland, are these ESPN pundits going, all right, but who's going to go number one in the draft this next year? And who's going to be the top team? What are the top five quarterbacks? And I'm like, oh, my gosh, I just want to enjoy this for a second. Just give me a moment. But we are compelled. And of course, not just in the sports world. In all of our own worlds, every success or victory or loss is immediately followed up by, but what now? What now? What are we going to do next? What now? What now? And I believe that Jesus is inviting us through this metaphor that he uses of the good shepherd to slow down and to listen to the one voice that matters. All right, so let's go ahead, and I'm gonna invite you to stand to read with me these 10 verses, and then we'll continue on.
[00:03:34] I'll tell you the truth. Jesus says, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold rather than going through the gate must surely be a thief and a robber. But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
[00:03:45] The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. And he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And after he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice.
[00:03:58] They won't follow a stranger. They will run from him because they don't know his voice. And those who heard Jesus use this illustration did not understand what he meant. And so he explained it to them. I tell you the truth. I am the gate for the sheep.
[00:04:10] All who came before me were thieves and robbers, but the true sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I'm the gate. And those who come through me will be saved. And they will Come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief's purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
[00:04:27] This is the word of the Lord. Lord Jesus, give us your guidance as our good shepherd. Today we want to hear from you. In your name we pray. Amen. You can be seated.
[00:04:39] So Jesus starts out with this image that is probably a little bit more unfamiliar to us today, but certainly familiar to the folks listening to him in this context. Talks about sheepfolds and gates and shepherds and thieves, which leads us, if you pay attention to the metaphor of Jesus being the shepherd, that actually indicates who we are meant to be and that is the sheep of his pasture.
[00:05:04] Now, I was getting ready for this message for the last couple weeks and so thinking a lot about shepherds and sheep in my spare time, as one does often.
[00:05:12] And it really was through, I believe it was one of the Seahawks social media posts. One of them, after winning the game, said this quote that I've become familiar with this.
[00:05:23] Lions are not concerned with the opinions of the sheep or a lion does not concern itself with the opinions the sheep. And I understand what it means in the context. This is idea of those who are strong are not concerned with the voices and the opinions of so many, especially when their opinions simply do not matter. So I understand it in the context, but I began to think that just sounds like an inspirational poster, you know. So I found some inspirational posters featuring lions.
[00:05:53] And of course the first one to pop up was this one. Lion does not concern itself with the opinion of the sheep. Look how like strong and regal this lion is. Amazing. And then there were a bunch of, there were tons, tons of lion motivational poster things. Tough situations build strong people.
[00:06:10] And then I began to think, okay, well, I'm not talking about lions this week though, talking about sheep. I wonder if there's any inspirational posters about sheep.
[00:06:19] This was the first one.
[00:06:22] Yeah, yeah.
[00:06:24] Believe it or not, really hard to find inspirational posts about sheep.
[00:06:29] You get the paper airplane, never stop dreaming sheep, which I don't. I just don't get it.
[00:06:36] And then you, when you look on Google, when you look for inspirational posters of sheep, you just get the lion one that's dunking on sheep. You know, that's what you get.
[00:06:46] And this reminded me that sheep has even been used as kind of a derogatory. I've seen it in political spaces and even outside of political space, people call people sheeple or, you know, you're just a sheep, which is the idea of you're Just following blindly after whatever ideology or whatever people would say to you. And the idea is that you must become independent because a sheep would be a derogatory thing.
[00:07:07] And even in the middle of a lot of political discourse, when I've heard this thrown out there, I've even heard it thrown out there by Christians like, oh, you're just a bunch of sheeple. I'm like, I mean, that's us.
[00:07:18] That is supposed to be our thing. You know, we're sheep. And Jesus uses it in this metaphor. And I know I want to be a lion. It sounds great.
[00:07:27] Jesus gets the lion title all the time. And I guess that makes sense, you know, lion and the shepherd, and we're just, you know, we're sheep.
[00:07:36] Nobody wants to be stupid sheep.
[00:07:40] And so I kept going down. I was just kind of talking with the Google AI thing, and I literally came to a point where I asked Google, I said, are sheep dumb?
[00:07:49] Because I was like, there must be something I'm missing about sheep. There must be. They've lasted this long. There must be some kind of redeeming quality. And Google literally said back to me in its AI, it said, well, they're not dumb.
[00:08:01] And then it said, they lack direction without guidance. Sheep are prone to wandering away from the flock and are notoriously poor at finding their way back to familiar ground.
[00:08:10] It's good.
[00:08:13] Told me they had limited discernment and vision. Sheep have poor depth perception and limited vision. Directly in front of their noses causes them to panic or fail to recognize dangers such as steep cliffs or even uneven terrain until it's too late.
[00:08:30] They have a strong following instinct. They're hardwired to follow. They have a dependence on familiarity. They do have great auditory sensitivity. Sensitivity. Sheep have excellent hearing and will often respond to a familiar shepherd's voice, relying on this over visual navigation.
[00:08:45] So Google told me that sheep aren't dumb. And I'm like, I think sheep are dumb.
[00:08:49] That's my conclusion.
[00:08:52] And this is us in this metaphor. It's uncomfortable for me. It's not great.
[00:08:59] Especially I want to think about myself as this really strong leadership kind of person. And I have these visions of how I view myself. And sheep is not usually high on the list.
[00:09:10] But he's speaking to these people who probably have a very specific connection with scripture. Right. Psalm 23 especially, which says this. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
[00:09:21] He leads me to lie down in green pastures, and he leads me beside still waters.
[00:09:26] He restores my soul, and he leads me in the paths of righteousness. For his namesake. And yea, 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. And you prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. And you anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over.
[00:09:46] Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
[00:09:54] It's a great scripture. That's often. I've done a bunch of memorial services, and I don't think I've done a single one without reading this scripture.
[00:10:01] And there's a lot of teaching that we do or comforting that we do in those moments.
[00:10:07] And this particular chapter of the Bible will make everyone in the room weep immediately after reading it every single time.
[00:10:17] Because I think this idea lands with something that's a little bit deeper in our soul that maybe is.
[00:10:22] It's a little bit more awake when we're walking through something like grief or processing the death of a loved one.
[00:10:28] And so it addresses this longing that we have that we want to be led by God to beautiful places and comfort and peace.
[00:10:37] And there's this kind of disarming, I think, that grief does for us in those moments that finally leads us to this place of vulnerability, to realize again that I need to be led by someone to these places because I've tried so hard.
[00:10:50] I've given everything that I have.
[00:10:52] I've loved and presented effort in so many of these different ways. And I have been let down, or at least not completely fulfilled in all of these ways.
[00:11:02] I've looked all these places for longing to fulfill my longing, and it just hasn't quite worked out.
[00:11:09] And so what does it mean for us to treat him as a shepherd again? If he's the shepherd, we're the sheep. What do we have to give him?
[00:11:17] And Jesus tells us he's the good shepherd. He's telling us that he has to be everything for us.
[00:11:23] Because these sheep don't simply survive by letting them out the door and allowing them to become wild. Right? We already established all these things. There's so many animals that if you let loose, it's like they want to sing at the top of their lungs that I'm born free, Free as the wind blows.
[00:11:40] And the sheep are like, I think I'll stay here if you're gonna feed me some more. Like, that'd be great.
[00:11:49] The problem that we as humanity have is that usually we basically believe that we're doing okay and we're a Bit smarter than most.
[00:11:57] And we love to glorify ourselves as an independent kind of people.
[00:12:02] Jesus is asking us to do something else. He's asking us to obey him in what I would say are three different ways. He's asking us to obey him comprehensively. Or are we willing to ask, am I willing to obey him in every area of my life, comprehensively, all of it, Every single bit of it?
[00:12:20] Are we willing to obey him existentially? Am I willing to obey him with the deepest part of my soul, the greatest longing of my soul?
[00:12:29] Then am I willing to obey him joyfully, with gladness and gratitude?
[00:12:35] That's what he's indicating to us inside of this metaphor. It creates this idea of total reliance on Jesus, which, again, I think in writing, we're up for that idea. And then in practice, we like to be our own independent selves.
[00:12:51] I drove Uber here in town about eight or nine years ago on weekends to make a little bit of extra cash.
[00:12:59] And, boy, do I have some stories for you.
[00:13:02] Maybe some of you were in them, actually, you might not remember.
[00:13:06] And this one particular day, I clocked. It was like about 5 o' clock in the afternoon or something like that. And there was somebody new to town. I was driving them down to the box factory. They were gonna go to one of the food trucks to meet somebody for dinner. And so I drove down there and I parked. And the whole way, they were asking me a lot of these questions about bend and directionally. Right? Okay, which way is bachelor? And, okay, this is over here. And I guess this is the east side, this is the west side. And I got down there, and then they wanted. Even after they got out of the car, they knocked on the window and were like, okay, the truck that I'm looking for is right back here. And I go into the back and then to the right, it's the podski. That's where I'm going. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is how you get there. And this person who was completely new felt like they were completely dependent on me for a ride and also for some directions. And then later that night, I met someone who was a local, who I was, let's say, was introduced to me by their friends who had called the Uber, who are no longer interested in having their friend be a part of their gathering that evening.
[00:14:03] I pull up to a pub, and there's two friends with their friend in the middle of them. You know, they're kind of helping them along.
[00:14:08] And this is one of the worst nightmares as an Uber driver is that somebody pulls up. And they're like, hey, he needs help. There you go. We'll see you later. I'll leave you a great tip. Two bucks at least, you know?
[00:14:19] And I went, how long do I have to drive with this guy? Literally one night, somebody did this.
[00:14:24] The person was going to Madras. I drove them to Madras. And I didn't know until they got in my car. Fantastic. They slept. It. It worked out.
[00:14:33] But this particular person gets into my car. They're heavily inebriated. I pull up to their house, right? They're a local. It's their house. I pull up to the sidewalk and they get out, and they immediately start walking the wrong direction from the address that I've been given. And I'm probably doing too much as an Uber driver, but I get out and I go, hey, I think you're going that way.
[00:14:53] The guy looks at me and he goes, I don't need your help.
[00:14:58] And I go, I think you do.
[00:15:02] I know you know your way around here. I know you've got a home, you're familiar with the neighborhood. But this kind of arrogance based on your state has led me to believe that you actually don't have an idea of where you're going. There's the new person, right? And then there's the familiar person. Maybe too familiar person. They're different in that the one knows that they need to be completely and fully dependent in a territory in a place that they don't know. And the other believes that they have it all together because of their experience.
[00:15:28] Jesus is calling us into this relationship where we become fully dependent on him. Those who are fully dependent on Jesus find themselves never, ever lost. Those who find themselves completely reliant on their own idea of direction find themselves lost regularly.
[00:15:47] Now, in the middle of all this, this is what I love about Jesus, is that he knows that he's not wanting to dominate the sheep, but instead he understands, even in his teaching to these people, that the sheep come when they recognize the voice of the good Shepherd.
[00:16:04] And so sheep aren't driven from behind, they're drawn from the front. And trust is built through presence and consistency and real deep care.
[00:16:13] This is what Christianity is all about, by the way. It's not about living under some threat of abiding by a moral rule. Instead, it's about this relationship and closeness and proximity with Jesus that changes everything.
[00:16:26] That's the kind of faith that we're after. And Eugene Peterson says it this way. He reminds us often that discipleship isn't some kind of information transfer, but it's relational familiarity.
[00:16:36] You don't follow Jesus because you've mastered doctrine. That's a pretty shallow and difficult way to try to follow after Jesus. But we follow after Jesus because we've learned his voice and we've understood over time that his voice leads us in this direction that leads to this abundant life that Jesus is referencing for us.
[00:16:57] And so I wonder, if someone listened to the patterns of your life, what would they say? Would they say that this person knows the voice of Jesus? Or would they say this person really understands how to speak in the language of religious noise?
[00:17:11] And then Jesus shifts the metaphor shortly after that.
[00:17:14] He wants you to know that he doesn't just guide the sheep, but becomes the way in and out for them. I'm the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved. They'll come in and out, and they'll find pasture.
[00:17:25] And so it's not this, like, narrow, fearful kind of image that Jesus is creating, but it is a protective one. The gate keeps danger out. The gate gives freedom within that, when the sheep are following after the Savior or the shepherd in this context, the sheep then live with freedom and comfort inside the structure. The gate defines where life actually flourishes for the sheep.
[00:17:49] And then Jesus names the alternative for them. The thief then comes only to steal, kill, and destroy.
[00:17:56] And this is to be our reminder that not every single voice that comes down the pike, even though it might sound encouraging and promising, not all of them lead to life.
[00:18:05] Many voices are after your peace.
[00:18:08] They're trying to steal and kill your joy.
[00:18:11] And some slowly destroy your soul while promising this fulfillment of your soul.
[00:18:20] The late, great pastor Tim Keller often said that idols don't announce themselves as enemies, but they present themselves as saviors.
[00:18:28] Jesus alone then has the courage to say, I didn't come to take these things away from you. I came that you might have life and actually have it abundantly.
[00:18:36] Something that can get so easily lost within the context of being a disciple and trying to follow after Jesus.
[00:18:43] So much of the idea of what we have in Christianity or in faith communities is I've got to show up, and then I simply have to suffer my way through into living this righteous life. But Jesus is saying that myself is the good shepherd, the protection and the care that I offer, and leads you to an abundant life, a great life, a life bursting at the seams in joy. And Even as Psalm 23 says, it describes all these different environments that we can walk through with Jesus and still find that purpose. It's in beautiful and green pastures by streams, and it's also in the valley of the shadow of death that the good shepherd is asking to give us comfort.
[00:19:22] And so abundant life doesn't present itself as ease all the time, but instead it presents itself and offers us real, true wholeness. And Jesus, it's a life that fits the human soul just as it was created.
[00:19:36] And then the story goes on. In John 10, in verse 11, it says, I'm the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming, and he will abandon the sheep because they don't belong to him and he isn't their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock.
[00:19:54] The hired hand runs away because he's working only for the money and doesn't really care about the sheep.
[00:20:02] I'm the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and they know me, just as my father knows me. And I know the Father. And so I sacrifice my life for the sheep. I have other sheep too, that are not in this sheepfold, and I must bring them also. And they will listen to my voice. And there will be one flock with one shepherd.
[00:20:17] The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so that I may take it back again.
[00:20:23] No one can take my life from me, and I sacrifice it voluntarily, for I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.
[00:20:33] And when he said these things, the people were again divided in their opinions about him. And some said he's demon possessed and out of his mind. Why listen to a man like that? And others said, this doesn't sound like a man possessed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?
[00:20:50] Now, what's interesting about this particular piece of scripture is that Jesus describes himself as the good shepherd and one to lead you into great things. And then he goes on to say, and I am the good shepherd that lays his life down in the middle of danger for the sheep.
[00:21:05] Now, here is where, you know, we talk a lot about how Jesus speaks in metaphors so that they would be relatable to the people that are around him. That's why I talk about the Seahawks so much. It's super relatable.
[00:21:15] Everyone loves them.
[00:21:18] But what Jesus is doing at this part of the metaphor actually throws everything off, because even at this time, there is no great shepherd that is out there with his sheep and surrounded by wolves. And he goes, you know what? Take me instead.
[00:21:31] Remember these ridiculous sheep. There's no way. There's no shepherd that's throwing themselves in front of the wolves so that the sheep might live. The shepherd is probably like, look, I'm going to cut my losses. Maybe I'll pick one up and carry it with me, but you can have the rest of the flock if I'm completely outnumbered.
[00:21:46] And what he's doing here, again, is not really specifically trying to be relatable, but he's actually trying to help the people understand that I am a shepherd like you have actually never seen before.
[00:21:55] And so many of the things that you are hoping that you get from me, you'll get. You'll get this life, you'll get this purpose, you'll get this comfort and contentment that you find in all of these different places. But now I will also then give my life on behalf of you.
[00:22:11] I will go even beyond that. I will go the extra mile. I will do some things and be someone that can do things that you have never possibly imagined before. And so this hired hand that he describes is all of the things that come into our life and offer this real relief and this real purpose. And then Jesus says, I will go the step beyond, and I will offer to give up my life so that you might have it.
[00:22:34] And so Jesus isn't this detached rabbi or spiritual guide. He's not a tour guide. He's not a life coach. He's not this inspirational figure offering tips for better living, which is another temptation that Christians often fall into.
[00:22:49] But instead, he's this shepherd who steps between the wolf and the flock.
[00:22:55] And Jesus just does this because he wants to.
[00:23:01] The author, Dallas Willard, says it like this. That grace that we find in Jesus, this grace that sometimes will lead us into this place of, you know what? I can just do whatever I want because the grace of God is greater, and the grace of God is greater than all of that. But I want you to know that grace isn't opposed to effort, but it is opposed to earning.
[00:23:23] Jesus doesn't save us because we deserve it and we've earned it. There is nothing that the sheep God can do for the shepherd in order for the shepherd to continue to tend for the sheep.
[00:23:34] Can you imagine a sheep striving and looking at the shepherd being like, look at me, I'm grazing so well today.
[00:23:43] Fantastic. And Jesus the good shepherd would go, wow, now that's a sheep right there.
[00:23:49] In all my years of guiding this flock, this one right here, gifted.
[00:23:57] It doesn't happen.
[00:24:00] And we can fall into this trap, right? No, I could do it. I could earn it. I can make Jesus Love me and give me attention, and I can find my way, this beautiful purpose in life simply through sheer effort.
[00:24:11] And Dallas Willard would say, he doesn't save you because you deserve it. He saves you because he loves you.
[00:24:17] That's it.
[00:24:21] He goes on to say, I lay down my own life and no one takes it from me. Which tells us that the cross is not some tragic accident, but it is the shepherd choosing loss so that the sheep might live, even those who are undeserving.
[00:24:37] And so this knowing is not.
[00:24:40] It's not informational, it's covenant.
[00:24:44] And Jesus makes this covenant despite knowing several things about us. He knows our deepest fears.
[00:24:51] He knows your failures.
[00:24:54] He knows your self deceptions.
[00:24:58] He knows your longing for safety and meaning.
[00:25:02] Jesus at all times can peel back all of the layers, all the things that we try to hide all the time. Our fears, our failures, our deceptions, our desire for safety and meaning. He peels all these things back, moment after moment.
[00:25:15] And even in the middle of all of them, he says, you're mine.
[00:25:22] The author, Rich Velodas, often emphasizes that spiritual formation begins not with striving, but simply coming to grips with being known and being loved.
[00:25:34] Though some of you in here today, you're exhausted because you're trying to earn this belonging that Jesus has already freely given.
[00:25:43] But the Good shepherd thankfully does not shame us as wandering sheep, but instead he goes after us.
[00:25:54] And so, as this chapter comes to a conclusion, some say he's crazy and he's out of his mind. And others say, but can a demon open the eyes of the blind? And I believe that that tension still remains in our souls today.
[00:26:07] Jesus doesn't leave this room for what many of the world, this relationship that many of the world have with him. It's this like, mild and admiration.
[00:26:16] We like the Jesus with the quotes that can fit on the inspirational posters with the lions.
[00:26:22] That's what we like.
[00:26:25] But instead, if he's the Good shepherd, if we believe him and we take him at his word, we either trust him fully, completely, existentially, joyfully, or we resist his claim on our lives.
[00:26:39] Because I'd rather not be the sheep. I would rather try to be the lion myself.
[00:26:45] He doesn't leave a whole lot of neutral ground in this moment.
[00:26:53] And so I want to ask you now, just as I asked at the beginning, who is shaping this direction, all these voices in this noise? What voices are we listening to that are shaping the direction of our lives?
[00:27:06] Because the Good shepherd still speaks and still leads, still lays down his life, he invites us into this real abundant life that comes in through community. It comes in through prayer and humility, comes in through compassion for the world around us.
[00:27:22] And so my invitation to you is again, not to simply just try harder to earn your way into the flock or into time with the shepherd, but instead my encouragement and invitation to you is to listen more deeply.
[00:27:36] My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me.
[00:27:42] In a moment, we're gonna take communion and I'm gonna have the ushers come around. And if you want the elements brought to you, they're gonna go ahead and bring them around right now. You can raise your hand, bring those to you.
[00:28:02] And as they do so, I just want to. I want to ask if that's you, I want to ask if that's you that's striving. Now, what does somebody that's overtly striving to earn this grace that's freely given look like? It looks like somebody that has a great difficulty with resting.
[00:28:17] I mean, you could even ask yourself some really practical questions. When was the last time you took a day off?
[00:28:22] Then the next question. When was the last time you took a day off and you weren't worried about taking a day off?
[00:28:31] Are you sleeping all right?
[00:28:34] Are you anxious?
[00:28:38] Are you living primarily in secret? Are you hiding things?
[00:28:45] Afraid that if the people around you might know the real you, then maybe you'll find yourself abandoned and left alone? These are real, legitimate fears.
[00:28:54] And so oftentimes, through secrecy or hiding things, or through simply just working our way as hard as we can through every single issue, we are telling ourselves, whether we're willing to hear it or not, that we have no interest in simply being a sheep that is guided by the shepherd, but instead are design to be the shepherd ourselves. And we would be a poor one, one that would find ourselves drunk on the sidewalk, walking in the wrong direction, away from the home that we're trying to get to.
[00:29:24] And so I want to invite you into something that is so anti Western culture. I want to invite you into dependence and not independence.
[00:29:32] I want to invite you into vulnerability and not invulnerability.
[00:29:39] I want to invite you into listening, hearing the voice of the good shepherd and not simply shouting into the void, trying to make yourself heard.
[00:29:50] As difficult as it sounds and as rough as the metaphor is on us, I'm inviting us, just as Jesus is, to be the sheep of his pasture, that we might lean completely and solely on him in Jesus name.
