Garbage Can Lids and Snarling Wolves

My town recently went to the big, plastic, flip-top garbage cans for the garbage truck with the mechanized arm. This is great for a number of reasons. The cans are larger and sturdier than the ones you can buy at the store. This one will hold a weeks worth of trash plus whatever junk I pull out of the garage. The hinged lid means I don't have to go searching for the lid after every thunderstorm. The truck comes down the road instead of the back alley, so now I don't have to traipse across the back yard in the torrential downpour to take the trash out. Most importantly it frees up the old metal trash cans and allows them to be used in a more vital roll...shields. If you've got a stick and a garbage can lid, you're all set for a fun afternoon. Growing up we had the big, stupid, plastic ones but my grandparents had two metal ones with lids. The best thing was, my grandfather had a cinder block pit where he burned trash so the cans were usually empty and the lids were fair game! Boy did my brother and I stink at blocking with those shields.

Garbage can lids are not very effective shields. For a shield to be effective it has to fit the situation. A small round shield works great for hand to hand combat between two lone fighters, but wouldn't do so good deflecting a flight of arrows. By the same token a larger, knee to shoulder shield works great against arrows but could hinder a fighter in a gladiator bout. Certain shields were designed for certain things and to use them successfully you have to use them the way they were intended to be used. To use them any other way, or to use a garbage can lid instead, can lead to dire consequences. Grab your Bible and turn to John chapter 10.

John 10:10
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

We're picking up where we left off in the last post. Verse 10 sets up the next teaching point. As sheep, we have two choices. We can either follow Jesus, or we can follow something else. Jesus likens himself to a Good Shepherd and everything else as a thief that doesn't offer anything good. It will steal your soul, kill your body and destroy your future. There is no third option here. You either follow Jesus, or you don't. But no matter what you've been told, He is the only one that offers life.  

John 10:11-13
11 "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

This is Jesus' fourth "I am " statment. A shepherd's main job is to protect the sheep. Yes, He guides and helps them, but that is still protection from danger.  He  shields His sheep from danger. Look at the underlined part. It doesn't read, "if he sees'", or "what if." No, Jesus uses the word "when". It is going to happen. At some point in our lives, our mistakes are going to catch up with us. We, as sheep, have left the fold of God and the wolf of sin and death is coming for us. Now look at the bold sections. When the wolf comes, what is the hired hand going to do? He has no love for the sheep, he's in it for the money. He's going to get while the getting is good. But what does the good shepherd do? He lays down his life for the sheep. They are worth the risk to His life because they are His. They are loved.

 John 10:14-16
14 "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father — and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.

The sheep know the voice of the shepherd just like God knows Jesus and Jesus knows God. So, how well do Jesus and God know each other? Skip ahead a little and look at John 10:30.

John 10:30
30 I and the Father are one. 

Jesus and God are one and the same. They share the same mind and heart. The sheep of the good shepherd are of the same mind and heart as the shepherd. We like the things that Christ likes. We do the things that Christ does. We live our lives by His example. Now look at the next part closely. Jesus says, "I lay down my life for the sheep." All through out this passage He has stressed my sheep. Here he says the sheep. Jesus didn't lay His life down only for the ones who would follow Him. He laid his life down to protect all the sheep. Verse 16, I believe, is Jesus poking holes in the Jewish idea that the Messiah was only for the Jewish people. Jesus is saying that it doesn't matter what color or breed of sheep you are, if you follow His voice then you are part of His flock.

John 10:17
17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life — only to take it up again.

I know that the beginning of verse 17 is a little odd sounding. Flip over to Matthew and read the account of Jesus' baptism.

Matthew 3:16-17
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased."


God is like any parent that loves their child. When your child does something good, you don't love them more. Your love for them is brought forward. It is like a fire that is always burning, but grows when new wood is added. God's love for Jesus is fanned into flames because Jesus decided to lay down His life for us. Jesus' baptism was His commitment to the mission God had for Him.

John 10:18
18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."

There is a lot hidden here in verse 18. First, Jesus is doing this of His own free will. It's easy to keep reading the Gospel accounts and believe that Jesus was helpless and killed against His will. The Son of God wasn't, isn't, and never will be helpless. If dying on a cross hadn't been God's plan then the Messiah who stopped the storm wouldn't have died. 

Second, Jesus says that He has the God given authority to lay His life down and take it up again. Remember what Paul wrote in Romans?   

Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

When we choose to go our own route, there is a penalty. Nothing less than death can pay the debt owed. Much like a convicted murderer might be sentenced to death, once he pays the penalty there is nothing more. The penalty for sin is not some mantra, penance, or resolution to do better. The cost of striking out on our own is death. God himself is the only one who has power over life and death. With all that in mind, listen closely to what Jesus is saying. God, who has the power over life and death, has given Jesus the authority to die and come back to life. The word authority can be translated as jurisdiction, liberty, power, or right. Jesus is saying, "God gave this to me. He told me what to do and I speak for Him." God has said that if Jesus sacrificed His life for ours then it would be acceptable as payment for our sins. In His resurrection we are deemed innocent once again. Paul explains it this way;

Romans 4:25
25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

If Jesus had only died for our sins, we would still be guilty of them...He would just have paid the price. His resurrection changes us from guilty to innocent, from stained to clean, from lost to found. His death fixes the problem while His resurrection shields us from it ever becoming a problem again. 
The rest of the chapter 10 in John happened sometime later, but it helps us to wrap all this up.

John 10:22-33
22 Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade. 24 The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."
25 Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. 30 I and the Father are one." 

"Speak plainly! Are you the One we've been waiting for? Stop telling stories and using metaphors. Just tell us!" I've said this before, but it bears repeating. One of the reasons God hides himself is because He wants our love, not just empty rituals. A man with a gun pointed at my head can make me do just about anything but he can never make me love him. Let's say that God showed Himself to the world once a month. He would step out of the clouds, do a big pyrotechnic display, and then go back to Heaven. Just about every sane person would then do whatever God asked. But how many would love Him? Look at the Old Testament. These people saw God's hand do miraculous things, but they didn't get it. They thought that all they needed to do was follow some dietary law and jump through some hoops. When you rely on the rules, you are relying on yourself. You don't trust God to save you...you trust yourself. But if God hides Himself, He makes it easier for us to approach. He calls softly to each of us. He uses His followers to spread the Good News of who He is and what His Son came to do. They start with the message of "God so loved the world..." not a book of rules to follow to please the Supreme Being. A person, not raised in the church, isn't concerned about what rules to follow. They have been told that God loves them and then they learn how to love Him back by following Him. I dare say, that if God was scientifically proven, we would have a lot fewer tru Christians.

Jesus reply in 25 through 26 is a heart breaking one. The miracles He is performing can only be done by one sent from God. The problem is, they are not his sheep. They have this idea of who and what the Messiah should be and though Jesus matches some of it...He doesn't fit the most important parts in their mind. The people who have opened their hearts to God can recognize Jesus for who He is, or are at least willing to see. And when they believe and trust in Him, they are saved. Once they believe, nothing can take them away from the Shepherd.

 Isaiah 53:6
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray ,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

We all have gone astray and there is a wolf waiting to pounce. Picture a little lamb cowering in terror in front of a snarling wolf preparing to spring. The Shepherd races in and struggles with the wolf and then offers Himself to sate the wolfs appetite. When the wolf is full, the dead Shepherd suddenly comes to, springs up, and beckons the wandering lamb back to the safety of the sheep pen. What would you do? You know that the wolf will not stay full for long. If the lamb stays, he will be eaten. The only place of safety is under the protection of the Shepherd.

Whenever sheep and shepherds are mentioned, most people would think of Psalm 23, "The Lord is my shepherd...". But the idea of a shield coupled with God's willingness to redeem and purify us reminds me of a different Psalm.

Psalm 3:1-5O LORD, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
2 Many are saying of me,
"God will not deliver him." 3 But you are a shield around me, O LORD;
you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.
4 To the LORD I cry aloud,
and he answers me from his holy hill. 5 I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.

Many times in life, I've tried to do it myself. I've stood toe to toe with a snarling and ravenous wolf while holding a little stick and a garbage can lid. Each time I've lost. Even as Christians, we can step out of the sheep pen. We will not lose the war for our souls, but we will lose the battle. The only shield that can protect us is Jesus. Who are you following? Who are you standing behind? I say unashamedly..."You are a shield around me, O LORD;
you bestow glory on me and lift up my head."

 All scripture is taken from the New International Version