a leader who gives life

Series: Conversations with Jesus
John 10:1-10
“A Leader Who Brings Life”
Here we have Jesus’ conversation with the Jewish leaders who were not leading their people in the right way. Today I have two key roles for leaders to
have, each one of you are leaders. Leaders are called to be gates for
those around them. John 10:1-10 the challenge of this passage was two-fold:
• Be the gate that protects the lives of those around you from predators and attacks.
• Be the gate that opens to new opportunities for all those who pass through it, not limiting but expanding options and skills, hopes and dreams
INTRO
After last weekend at Mandate I thought it might be good to describe the State of the British Man—according to a survey conducted by Beta Research and reported in an edition of Esquire magazine
- the average male is BROKE-but then we already know this
- men over 25 carry an average credit card debt of nearly 3300 dollars
- those under 25—carry a debt closer to 33 million
- men worry more about gaining weight than losing their career (which means there must be huge anxieties out there)
- a high percentage believe in God (78%)—this is the good news!
- but most (64%) never go to church—or go only on holidays—and that’s the tragic news
- 85% would rather be a CEO than a winner of the x factor
- most would rather be short, boring, rich—than tall, charismatic, and poor
- and most men—if they could have any guest at a party, would invite the following
four— Jesus, Bono, Bill Clinton and Ghandi
- but let me share a story with you of Mr Merv Grazinski, Mr Grazinski purchased a large Winnebago motor home, on his first trip home, having driven onto the freeway, he set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver’s seat to go into the back and make himself a cup of coffee. Not surprisingly, he vehicle left the road, crashed and overturned. Mr Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising him in the owner’s manual that he couldn’t actually do this. The jury awarded him just under 2 million dollars, plus a new motor home, the company actually changed their manuals on the basis of this suit, just in case there were other complete morons buying their recreation vehicles, sometimes men are idiots.
In John 10—Jesus had His own conversation with men
- those who were the leaders of His day
- the religious leaders of Israel to be precise - (John 10:1-10)
The first thing we notice is that He began the conversation in the abstract
- there is something cryptic going on
- such that John tells us those He conversed with had no idea what all of this had to do with anything
- they did not know, realize what He was saying—who He was saying it to
But then these words may be even more foreign to us
- we have not grown up with shepherds and sheep and pens and pastures and gates
a. our images of leadership are CEO’s running big corporations, presidents running banks, coaches leading teams
b. our images of gates are firewalls keeping viruses out, gates serving as security check points for those getting on a plane
c. our images of caring for animals are dogs and cats and pet lizards-not goat herds or flocks of sheep
But there is some common ground
- everything I have read about sheep suggests they are singularly unintelligent
- dense, stupid, dim, brainless
- prone to wander, get lost
- unable to find a sheep pen, even when it is within sight
- which sounds a lot like the long list of animals I have lived with
- especially our most recent dog Ruff—who has the IQ well below that of a flea
- and would not find our house if he was in the front garden
- who gives his best intellectual efforts to eating his own tail, Skip is another quality altogether, he could escape from Colditz if there was a biscuit on the other side of the wall.
What these leaders in John 10 missed was this
- Jesus was talking about them
- using the cryptic language of gates and watchmen and shepherds—
- Jesus was making this singular point—
THEY FAILED THEIR CALL TO BE LEADERS
- they missed this—that in pastoral terms—
LEADERS ARE CALLED TO BE GATES (verses 7-10)
- and gates do two things
A. GATES MUST PROTECT
- for gates are placed at the most vulnerable part of an enclosure
- the break in the wall
- those who are leaders position themselves at the entrance
- where there are gaps-where things are exposed
- standing, laying across the entry way if necessary
- positioning himself as protector-stopping sheep from getting out and predators from getting in
1. Jesus as the consummate leader identified Himself this way—I AM THE GATE
(verse 7)
- the sentry who positions his life between the flock and danger
2. in contrast—Jesus indicted Israel’s leaders for this—they were not gates
- rather the metaphors that applied to them were thieves, robbers- verse 8
- instead of serving as protectors—they were predators
- rather than preservers—they were pretenders
But leadership involves something else
- the other purpose gates serve
B. GATES MUST PROVIDE ENTRY INTO OPPORTUNITY
- it’s one thing to be a gate of protection—providing a secure pen
- but pens do not enable sheep to grow
- gates must swing the other direction—opening the sheep to the wild open fields
This is other side of leadership—leaders enable people to enter into the world
- they set free people to find pasture, luxurious forage, refreshment, satisfaction, freedom of movement
- “Effective leaders allow great people to do the work they were born to”
1. this is how Jesus described His purpose for coming
- to be the gate through which followers find pasture (a.k.a) life itself-vs 10b
- this theme is found everywhere in John
- 1:4-in Him was life-and this life was the light of men
- 5:40-come to Me and have life
- 6:48-I am the bread of life
- 7:38-whoever follows Me-streams of living water will flow from within
- here-He expands on the idea-life “to the full”
- life in all its fatness—life at its scarcely imagined best
- life that transcends time—that is everlasting—that does not have an expiry
date
- life that has eternal significance
- life that transcends our personal purposes
- life that takes on God like proportions
- life that “presses all the way in and all the way up to the ultimate purpose of
God—and joins Him in it”
2. Unfortunately—the leaders of Israel did just the opposite
- they were thieves who came to steal and kill and destroy-10a
- steal away peoples’ resources
- kill the spirit—kill passion and desire
- destroy life—the kind God intended
- rather than serve as gates that opened into pastures
- they constricted Israel to a pen of obligations
- they confined them to a maze of rules and regulations from which they could not find their way out
- created a religious establishment that drained the very life out of souls
In all of this—we hear a conversation that echoes one God had with leaders in the OT
- who failed their calling to be Israel’s watchmen
- who too were nothing less than frauds
- Isa 56:9-12-Israel’s watchmen are blind—they love to sleep—have all turned to their own way
- -Jer 23:1-4-woe to the shepherds who destroy the sheep
- -Ezekiel 34-woe to Israel’s leaders-who take care of only themselves—and scatter the sheep, leaving them to be plundered by the wild
APPLICATION
Jesus’ words in John 10 certainly have application to us
- male, female—young, old—called to this task of leadership—called to be gates
- outside of advancing God’s kingdom-nowhere is leadership more important than providing leadership to the next generation
- called to create “SPIRITUAL CHAMPIONS”
Unfortunately—we are not doing so well
We are all leaders, but a key to leadership is sacrifice, as Christians we lead the way God wants, people look to us to be light and salt in the world, from the leader of a nation to the parents of a family, the tribe is not there for the benefit of the chief, the chief is there to serve the tribe. God has given us authority, to devote our lives to leading well, Jesus sacrificed his life for you, and you have to sacrifice for others. You also have to listen, and be faithful and serve, even when it hurts. We always have the example of Jesus before us, when we follow his example when we turn to him, when we experience the life he has for us, others will see it and want him too, that is the core of what we are about. To follow Jesus and to lead others to be followers too.
A. BE THE GATE THAT PROTECTS
- the firewall of sorts
- for what has not changed from first century to 21st century
- is that our world is still filled with predators
- only they are much more subtle—they get past locked doors and closed windows
- thieves that aim to destroy our spirit
- robbers that want to steal our purity
- websites that want to corrupt our virtues
- pop culture that wants to coarsen souls
- cynicism that wants to deprive hope
- it’s critical to position ourselves at the gate
- not that we should be insulators—over-protection has its price
- but neither should we treat the world as if there is no evil, no threats
- to lay our lives down for others so that they may live.
B. BE THE GATE THAT LEADS TO OPPORTUNITIES
- that points the way, leads to wide open spaces
- introduces life
- for at the deepest level—people want to live—we all do
- many are bored—but few are content to merely exist, drift, take up space, fell they are just using up oxygen
- deeper than our instinct to live is our longing to be alive
- and it seems Christians are called, to point this way to life
- to ask—what makes you come alive?
- and help them get there--what one is destined for, created for
- In other words like the words of a Boy’s brigade camp grace “dear Lord do not make us like porridge which is difficult to stir and slow to serve. But more like corn flakes, crisp and fresh and ready to serve” Be the watchmen and the shepherds that God has called you to be, protect and serve, love and enable, love as Jesus has loved you.