Red Letter | Who Cares About Me?

Message by Tim Foot. 

https://lbcc.org

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Well, good morning, friends. Welcome to Life Bridge. I am excited to continue this message series this morning, but I know I'm not. I'm using a play on words there from author Louis Giglio in his book, I'm not, but I know I am, to put it simply. I am excited to talk about I am this morning, but I know I'm not. I am. Are you confused? Well, in order to not be, we need to go back to near the start of the Bible, the second book, Exodus chapter 3. Matt talked about it a few weeks ago, where God is talking to Moses and he's telling Moses to do what Moses doesn't want to do. And that's to go tell Pharaoh to stop doing what he wants to do, which won't be what he wants to do. And so Moses says to God, Well, who am I going to even say say sent me? Who am I going to say sent me? And that's when God gives us arguably his greatest name, when he says to Moses, Tell them, I am has sent you. God is essentially saying, I am all-knowing, I am all-powerful, I am all-loving, I am all of everything. And this is a concept that kind of bookends the Bible here near the beginning, and also in the book of Revelation, which is the last book of the Bible, when the Lord repeatedly refers to Himself as I am the beginning and the end. I am the first and the last. So I am excited to talk about I am this morning, but I know I'm not. I am. Jesus gave us a little bit more context to this in John's gospel. More context to this big statement from God about who he is, and the I am statements of Jesus became some of the most powerful red letters in your Bible. And what do we mean? What do we mean by red letters? A red letter Bible is where all the direct quotes from the Lord are in red. I remember my first red letter Bible when I was much younger, and it was like the words of Jesus just jumped right off the page. None more so than the I am statements. Because the I am statements of Jesus answer some of life's biggest questions. We've been talking about that the last three weeks of this series when we've been in John 6, John 8, John 10, answering questions like, Well, which way are you going? What are you hungry for? Who's got my back? Well, today we are going to address probably one of the biggest questions in humanity. We all ask it at some point or another, whether conscious or subconsciously, as soon as we're old enough to think and feel, we're asking this question are you ready for it? Well, I'm going to read the text first. We're going to hear this I am statement first, and then we'll jump into the question. We're picking it up in John chapter 10. We're picking it up where Daniel threw it down last week. He dropped off in verse 10. We're picking it up in verse 11, going to verse 15, where Jesus says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. The hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He'll 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. The hired hand runs away because he's working only for the money and doesn't really care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own sheep and they know me. Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, so I sacrifice my life for the sheep. Now, in order to unpack the text today and this I am statement, I need to take you to a breakfast diner in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, where I ate recently with a couple of friends and colleagues. One of the friends knew the area better than the other two of us, and so I texted him, I said, Where do you want to meet? He said, Well, we've got two options. We could go to Ellen's, which is where the old folk gather, so it's probably good, comfort, hearty breakfast food. Or we could go to the vicious biscuit where the young people hang. I texted back and I said, Well, which would you prefer? He said, Well, I prefer to play down a division. So let's meet at the vicious biscuit. So it lived up to its name. I had the most vicious, delicious, calorie-packed eggs, Benedict I have ever eaten in my life. Think of two eggs over easy. Thick Canadian bacon. A big southern biscuit smothered in Hollandaise sauce. Anyone hungry for brunch? And at a table right nearby, it was full of young, active military men and women in uniform, one of whom I encountered at the soda drink fountain. I let him go first and I said, Thank you for your service. Expecting the obligatory you're welcome, he stopped me in my tracks when he looked me in the eye and he said, You're worth it. You're worth it. Some people spend their whole lives wondering if that's actually true. Whether they're actually worth it. Which leads us to our primal question this morning that we all ask at some point or another, and that question is a form of, am I worth it? It's this. Who cares about me?

SPEAKER_00 5:56

Who cares about me?

SPEAKER_01 5:57

Not what I do, not what I bring, not what I can provide, but who cares about me? Well, I believe Jesus answers this primal question comprehensively and completely with our text today and his I am statement by presenting to us some different realities here in the text that I'm going to suggest to you this morning. Not necessarily in order of the text, just in the order that they hit me. These realities I believe Jesus gives us here in answer to our question, who cares about me? And the first reality he's offering us, I believe, is this. Many of those kings in the Old Testament were called out as bad shepherds, only thinking of themselves and neglecting their flock. Daniel talked about that last week. Became such a problem in the Old Testament that God declares in Ezekiel 34, verse 11, I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. So when Jesus says, I am the good shepherd, he's essentially saying, I am the good shepherd you've been waiting for. Or more powerful, he's really saying, I am, I am. And then it gets even more personal when in verse 14 he says, I know my own sheep, and they know me. The word know becomes relational here. Because you think about modern-day shepherds, we don't call them that today, do we? We call them sheep farmers or ranchers, think Yellowstone, although I think that was cattle. I think of a sheep station in Australia, massive. They're caring for thousands of sheep. But back in Jesus' day, a shepherd had a small flock of sheep. And a good shepherd knew those sheep individually because he did life with them, he walked with them, he talked to them, he laid down on the ground and slept by them to protect them. He was the gate. Remember, Daniel unpacked that for us last week. A good shepherd in those days, the sheep to him weren't inventory, they were individually known. And then Jesus takes it an even step further in verse 15 when he says, Just as my father knows me, and I know the father. And so here he's essentially saying, if you follow me and you're my sheep, you're not just known, you're known as intimately as the Trinity is known, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It doesn't get more known than that. I could try and explain the Trinity to you this morning, but that would take a whole other message series, and then we still probably wouldn't quite understand it, because it's mysterious, it's truly awesome and intimately relational. Trying to explain the Trinity to you is like trying to explain a cassette tape to a 10-year-old. I found this real on my social media feed memories just recently. I handed him that. He did not know what to do with that thing, couldn't even open it. Look, he's gonna snap it in half. But hey, don't you don't you remember the cassette tape days? Remember the mix tape if you're my age? They were great days. But he yeah, he's not he's he's struggling with that thing. Look, I think he's gonna give it back to me in a minute. Yep, you do it. You do it, dad. And look, I I do it one-handedly. Yeah, we remember. We remember. You could do that driving the car, click the click the cassette open. Yeah, you you can't hear this, but at the end I say, what do you think? And he looks at me and goes, boring. When I first came to Life Bridge a long time ago, we had a tape ministry, and we would record the messages and then we'd race the tape up to the control room and we'd put it in a high-speed dubbing machine, and we'd dub off six or seven tapes at a time for those who wanted a copy of the message. And then we graduated to the CD ministry, and we would burn CDs. What are we doing today, folks? We're live streaming right now. If you're watching online, post a little wave emoji in the chat. Special welcome to those watching from Australia. You have insomnia. Or a special shout out to my friend Gigi in Ginger, Uganda. She watches most weeks and is in ministry there. Keep up the great work, Glennis. Lots of people watching online. Glad you're here in the room. Imagine explaining live streaming back in the cassette tape days. The methods of mass production may have changed, but the message of grace, hope, love, and care is exactly the same. Powerful. Just like the Trinity is the same yesterday, today, and forever. You give a tape to a 10-year-old, and it's boring. It seems antiquated, it seems dysfunctional. Don't our lives feel like that some days? Worn, complicated, broken. But the good shepherd knows us. He knows how we're spliced together using cassette tape language. He knows how we're wired. In fact, the psalmist says in Psalm 139 that he knit us together in the womb. He knew each of our days before they came to be. They can never live up to our expectations truly. Only one person can. And the good shepherd stays. And it all comes down to ownership, right? The good shepherd loves us, cares for us. He's not a hired hand. And the hired hand bolts and runs when the going gets tough, when the going gets rough, the hired hand gets going in the other direction, but the good shepherd stays. Jesus is never more than an arm's length away because we're the only ones that can push him. James chapter 1, verse 17 says, There is no turning with him. He will not turn away. Hebrews 13, verse 5 reminds us that God won't fail us or abandon us. The psalmist writes in Psalm 46 that he is our ever-present help in times of trouble. The power is in his presence, and our spiritual and emotional well-being is directly related to our proximity to the shepherd. We release the power of his presence when we talk to him, when we pray. Praying is as simple as talking to a good friend. Jesus said in Revelation chapter 3, Behold, I stand at the door and knock, and when we pray, when we talk to him, we open that door and release the power of his presence. And when we talk to him regularly, we realize Jesus isn't going anywhere. Because the truth is, the good shepherd stays. The next reality I want to offer up this morning is Jesus answers this question, who cares about me? Am I worth it? Is a monumental one. So we're going to camp here for a little longer, and it's this the good shepherd sacrifices. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for his sheep, it says in verse 11. The high at hand risks nothing. The good shepherd gives everything. Now, right here in verse 11, Jesus isn't predicting some unfortunate accident. He's actually naming and declaring his mission. A thing he did multiple times throughout the Gospels, but so often his followers missed it. That's why Jesus would often say, Whoever has eyes to see will see, whoever has ears to hear will hear. In fact, on the night before Jesus went to the cross in John 15, he says to his disciples, Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. And still I think his followers missed it. Then later in chapter 10, verses 37 to 38, when people are looking for reasons to kill Jesus and not to believe in him, he says, Don't believe me unless I carry out my father's work. But if I do his work, believe in the evidence of the miraculous works I have done. Even if you don't believe me. Then you'll know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father. The cross wasn't plan B. The cross was always the plan. The cross defines who Jesus is, the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep, his friends for each one of us, giving us an unmistakable message that he would rather die than spend eternity without us. And so when we receive that gift of grace given to us on the cross, we receive salvation and we truly understand amazing grace. Something we could never earn, something we don't deserve. But when we choose it, it changes everything. So Mandy and I have two boys. They're actually young men now, about to turn 19 and 17, and they grew up playing flag football. We'd love that season of life. Seemed like it was gonna last forever. It went by so quick, we wouldn't miss a game. And just as fun as watching our boys excel at their sport was almost as fun as that was watching how passionate the parents would get about flag football. It was kids flag football, and it was often the parents that were acting more like kids. Fights would sometimes break out. Parents would get banned from watching their kids play, from coming to the field because of how they acted. Time or two the cops showed up. I mean, honestly, it was better than reality TV. And now, in a wonderful twist of fate, our boys are referees in the league they grew up playing in. And so the fun times just continue as we hear about what went on at the flag football fields. Well, recently Jacob uh came home and he said, Dad, a big fight broke out today. Well, I grabbed the popcorn as he told me all about it. And he finishes by saying, the woman walked away from the other woman, and as she's walking away, she looks back and she says, I hope you get the day you deserve. Interesting statement, don't you think? Now, if you're here this morning and that was you, I just want to thank you for giving me a great sermon illustration. Because as believers, the response is simple. Well, by God's grace, I'm grateful that's not gonna happen. Because that's the gospel. Jesus took the day that we deserved because the wolf came. The wolf came. The wolf always comes for the sheep. The wolf is coming for each one of us, also known as death. But Jesus intercepted the wolf and he took on death and defeated death. Jesus took on the day we deserved to give us an eternity of days we don't deserve. Salvation, his spirit within us, an eternity of undeserved days, because the good shepherd sacrifices. That leads me to the final reality I want to suggest to you this morning that Jesus is giving us from this text in answer to our question, who cares about me? Am I worth it? And it's our call to action today. And it's this the good shepherd invites trust. The good shepherd invites trust. Because if Jesus knows us fully and loves us fully, if Jesus the Good Shepherd is with us and will never leave us, if Jesus the Good Shepherd laid down his life for us, then why wouldn't we trust him? It's the second greatest invitation of all. The greatest invitation, of course, is to believe and to follow. And have you responded, have you responded to that invitation yet? If not, why not? Because to not respond is to respond. It's a yes or no. Answer. Or it could be two words. It could be I believe. Do you believe that Jesus, the Son of God, died for your sins, your personal savior? I believe, or yes. If your response sounds like, well, I kind of already did that, if kinda is in the response, then you kind of haven't done it. Or if it's I'm gonna I'm gonna get to it, Jesus was pretty clear about not waiting. If you're unsure that whether or not you have responded to that greatest invitation, come talk to us. Come talk to us about what might be holding you back. Let's work through it and talk about the greatest decision you will ever make and what it means to be baptized into an eternity of undeserved days. Because when you respond to that greatest invitation of all, then you have the second greatest invitation of all, and that is to trust him, and that's a daily decision, a daily response. I gotta tell you, it's probably the most consistent message I get from God in my daily walk with him when the worry and the fear and the anxiety creeps in, which it always does. It's the human condition, and it's the enemy, Satan's way of distracting us. When those emotions crowd my thoughts, often I'll hear that voice breaking through saying, Just trust me. Just trust. Jesus says it clearly in John 14, verse 1, when he says, Don't let your hearts be troubled. Don't live with worry, fear, and anxiety. Trust in God, trust also in me. He says of multiple ways in the Gospels, inviting us to trust him. Will you trust him afresh today? Will you trust him with that hard thing? Will you trust him with that bitterness or that resentment or that unforgiveness you have been holding on to? Will you lay down that strength that you've been relying too much on and trust him? Lay down that crown. Will you exercise that trust muscle? Because when we continue to trust him, that muscle becomes toned and trust becomes a natural response. And that's when we grow to be more like Jesus when we continue to choose to trust him today and again tomorrow and again tomorrow. Maybe you're in a season right now that makes no sense. That's incredibly challenging. It feels like it'll never end. Can you keep trusting him? Can you keep trusting his biggest story, trusting his hand? The great prophet spoke of our Lord in Isaiah 26, 3, when he said, You keep in perfect peace those who place their trust in you and keep their thoughts fixed on you. We're not just invited to believe, we're invited to trust. And when we do, we get what the world can never give. And that is peace that leads to freedom. That's the pathway to wisdom. Arguably the wisest guy that ever lived, Solomon wrote in Proverbs chapter 3, verses 5 and 6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Don't lean on your own understanding of what's going on around you, what's occurring. But in all your ways, acknowledge him, trust him, and he will show you the way to go. He will make you pass straight. One step at a time, he will lead you forward ultimately to eternity. That's what David says in perhaps his most well-known Psalm, Psalm 23, which is all about the good shepherd, right? Providing all that we need. He says, Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. Jesus hadn't even been to the cross when David wrote that. We know he's defeated death. He defeated the wolf. And then David goes on to write the end of Psalm 23. Surely I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Can you trust afresh this morning? Can you listen to his voice? You may say to me, Tim, I don't hear God's voice. To which I would say, Well, are you reading his word daily? Because that's the primary way God speaks to us. And when we read the Bible, we realize it's one long story of restoration between Father God and his children, and the overarching message of the Bible is the good shepherd cares about you, and it's personal. You can say, Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Or as my uniformed friend at the vicious biscuit reminded me, I'm worth it. The gospel message is far more powerful. You are worth dying for. Not because of your intrinsic value, and you are indeed priceless to God, but because you are loved by the good shepherd who says, I know you, I'm with you, I died for you, I am the good shepherd. So I want to leave you with three questions as we close out of time today. The first question is this Are you letting the shepherd know you? Are you letting the shepherd know you? Because remember, Jesus said in Revelation 3, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. Are you opening the door? Have you opened it for the first time by responding to that greatest invitation? Are you opening it each day as you continue to affirm your trust in him and keep talking to him and walking with him? The second question I want to leave with you is Are you listening to the shepherd's voice? Again, you might say, Tim, I don't hear God's voice. If you want to come and say that to me in the lobby afterwards, be ready for these follow-up questions. The first is, are you reading his word daily? Are you talking to him like you do a good friend of your praying? Are you engaging in community and growing with other believers? Are you serving? And are you taking next steps of generosity in your life? Because if you do those things, I can guarantee you're going to hear the voice of the shepherd. And the final question is what area of your life do you need to trust the shepherd with today? Where do you need to let go and let God? Is there a heaviness in this season of life for you? Are you worn out, feeling weighed down? That's usually a good invitation that you've picked up and are carrying around things you were never meant to carry. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 11, verse 28, Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. And he goes on to write about a new way of living that's lighter and easier. His way, the way of trust. This is the way. He is the way. This is the pathway. You are known, but never alone. Sacrifice for. And invited to trust. That's a primal question all of us ask, consciously or unconsciously, at some point in life. Maybe you asked it this past week, when the diagnosis was way worse than you'd hoped. When the marriage got hard. Again. When the kids drifted. Or when the phone just didn't ring. Or when the grief felt overwhelming. Or you simply felt forgotten. Jesus answers the question with five powerful words. I am the good shepherd. Not I was. How do we know? Because he took on the day we deserved. The wolf was coming and he intercepted it before we even knew we needed saving. He took on the wolf and defeated death. And on the cross, he sends each of us this morning a very personal message. Are you ready to hear it? It's this. You're worth it. You're worth it. The bread represents his broken body for us because we're worth it. The cup represents his shed blood for us because we're worth it. Yes, go ahead and reach for those cups, but hold them. We'll take communion in just a moment. Perhaps that's what you need to hear today. Not that Jesus knows about you, but Jesus knows you. Not that Jesus loves people, but Jesus loves you. Not so much that God so loved the world, but Jesus died for you. He took on the day we deserved, so that we could have an eternity of undeserved days. So if you're ready, go ahead and take communion with a heart of gratitude for just how loved you are. And if you're not ready to do that today or don't quite understand it, just reflect on this fact. You are known, you are loved, you're invited to follow and to trust. Maybe it's time to decide. Just take a moment and then I'll pray.

SPEAKER_00 33:16

That you are the good shepherd.

SPEAKER_01 33:20

And that means that we are fully known, fully known and unconditionally loved. That you are with us right now. You were with us last week during that hard thing and that thing we're dreading coming up this week. You are with us. And you are and you are never gone from us. We are never alone. Thank you, Lord, that you went to the cross so that no matter how challenging things can get, we will always have this hope, this living hope that reminds us that we have an eternal future.

SPEAKER_00 34:08

Thank you, Lord. We worship you in your name. Amen.