Following Our Courageous Shepherd Joshua 1:9; John 10:14; 1 Peter 2:19-25

Grace, mercy and peace be with you, from God, our Father, and our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, our risen Lord.

Our message is based on Amber’s confirmation verse, Joshua 1:9, “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

And the words of Jesus in our Alleluia Verse and in our Gospel, John 10, verses 4 and 14: I am the Good Shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me… and my sheep follow me.

It’s rather often, it seems, when Confirmation Sunday falls on Good Shepherd Sunday, when our appointed Gospel is always from John 10, the Good Shepherd chapter, and the psalm is Psalm 23, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

This is timely because in our confirmation vows we promise to believe and follow our Lord and our Shepherd, and treasure and obey His Word forever.

Amber’s verse is also timely, because it takes considerable courage to follow our Good Shepherd. 

Thanks be to God, He gives us the courage we need to follow Him all the way through life, and all the way home.

Speaking of courage, there’s a Disney movie my daughters used to like to watch called, “Brave”… 

It’s about a Scottish princess, who gets in an argument with her mother, runs away into the woods, and comes back with a magic cake that she was promised will change her mother. 

She thinks that means it’ll change her mother’s mind to agree with her, but what it actually does is to change her mother into a huge bear… which her father is trying to hunt down, because he thinks the bear ate his wife…

… and then her three little triplet brothers eat some of the cake and they’re turned into cubs... and it just keeps getting worse. 

The way she breaks it is to have the courage to swallow her pride and apologize and reconcile with her mother, and her mother apologizes and reconciles with her, and her mom and little brothers turn back into people, and of course, they all live happily ever after. 

The moral of the story is that courage isn’t always what it seems. Having a courageous heart doesn’t mean selfishly and stubbornly insisting on having your own way; sometimes it means being strong to forgive and reconcile, and compromise, when it’s not God’s Word we’re compromising on.

Sometimes things that may look weak to the world, are courageous in the eyes of God… and things that seem strong to the world, are in truth weak, and will let you down, and fail you in the end.

Our good and risen Shepherd is living proof of that. No one ever looked weaker than He did when He was suffering and dying on the cross, bearing the anguish and punishment for the sins of the world. 

But in truth, it was the strongest thing anyone had ever done, the greatest act of courage ever, and it won our life and salvation, and all our blessings. We would have none of them, had Christ not died and rose for us.

Our Epistle teaches us that, in following our Good Shepherd, we too, will sometimes suffer and be wrongly accused, and ridiculed, and persecuted. 

Sadly that’s the way it sometimes is in this corrupt and fallen world that can’t bear to see people following and becoming like Christ.

Peter says, 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 

We’ve been baptized and called to follow our good and courageous Shepherd. It isn’t always easy, but it’s the right way to walk and live.

It’s no easy walk in the park, but in the end, it leads us to the right place… 

And the good news is that, when we walk by faith in our Good Shepherd, we never have to walk alone. 

As the Lord told Joshua, when he was about to lead the Children of Israel  into the Promised Land, to claim it as their inheritance from God, that rich and fertile land which was already occupied by armies far greater, and warriors far better trained and equipped than the humble Bedouin shepherds that the Israelites were, God assured them they had nothing to fear, because He would go with them, and fight for them.

 Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

And Deuteronomy 3:2, “Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God will fight for you.”

God is with us, defending us, sending us His angels to guard and keep us.

And He gives us a spiritual family to support us.    

Alone we’re weak and afraid and an easy target for the devil, and the fallen world, and the sinful culture, and our own sinful nature. 

They try to single us out, take us away from the fellowship and power of the Word, because the devil knows full well that we’re better and stronger together, in the communion of the Church, where we can uplift and encourage and support and pray and care for each other. 

So, opportunist he is, the devil tries to get us to isolate and alienate ourselves from the fellowship, so that we’re weaker and more vulnerable to his tricks and temptations. 

The devil would have us to disengage from God’s Word, and from His Sacraments, and from worship and prayer, so that we become easy pickings. 

Thanks be to God, our good and loving Shepherd who died to forgive us, is risen to walk with us, to help and guide us through all our doubts, troubles and temptations.

We need not foolishly try to face them alone, for, as God promised the children of Israel, and promises all His baptized children, and promises you Amber, and promises little Toni: the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” 

Amber, wherever you go in life, wherever you find yourself, at college maybe, at work, in your career, in your family life, wherever you are, the key is to be there with God, and with His family. 

We have a God who gives us a family to belong to, the family in our home and the family in our church, both are the family in our heart, with Christ at the center.

Live with the Gospel at your center, in your heart, and the Holy Spirit in your soul, and God’s Word in your mind.

Thanks be to God, by our baptismal faith, we have a mighty spirit within, the Holy Spirit given to us, who dwells in us… and so the apostle Paul reminded young Timothy, and reminds us, God did not give you a spirit of fear, but of courage and love and self-control… 

All that the fallen world tempts you to do, you need not do it. You have nothing to prove to the world, just the love of and truth of Christ to show and share.

Amber, may God be with you, with His Spirit and His Gospel and His gifts, to empower and encourage you, that you might always walk with your dear Shepherd and Savior, and keep in step with Him, becoming more and more like Him, because that’s the best, most courageous, and most loving way to be.

Toni is just beginning this walk with Christ; she’ll be walking before you know it, and then she’ll be hard to keep up with.

Mark and Bobbi, raise your dear baby, whom you love so dearly that you would give your life for her, raise her in the love of the One who did give His life for her, and rose for her… raise her in His forgiveness and grace, in His Commandments of love, in the whole truth of His Word, in the sure and certain hope of the glorious resurrection, and in the promise of life and joy everlasting. 

By the grace of God may we all walk and rejoice with our risen Savior always, and may His peace, which passes understanding, forever guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our dear and faithful Shepherd. Amen.