Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Our texts are the Holy Gospel reading and the Epistle reading, and I also make reference to Psalm 23.

Dear friends in Christ, the Third Sunday of Easter each year is Good Shepherd Sunday. You've probably noticed in our liturgy, readings, and hymns that the Lord as our Shepherd is the theme of the day. We are sheep of the Lord's flock, and Jesus is our Good Shepherd.

Psalm 23 comes to mind, but actually, the theme of the Lord as Shepherd recurs throughout the Bible. Israel was always considered the Lord's flock, as we sing in Matins in the words of Psalm 95: the Lord "is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand."

God chose Israel to be His flock. Israel did not choose the Lord. It's always important to remember that God chooses, and people are chosen. When God is active, we humans are passive. Our lives are not really our own, and we can only be God's sheep if He brings us into His fold.

You probably get tired of me pointing out how sinful and unworthy we all are, but we need to hear that. As sinners, we do not deserve to be in the Lord's flock. This is what St. Peter says to the church in our Epistle: "You were straying like sheep." He echoes Isaiah 53:6, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned-everyone-to his own way." Or in Psalm 119:176, David says, "I have gone astray like a lost sheep." (And David knew something about sheep.)

Our fundamental human situation is to be straying like lost sheep, not following the Good Shepherd, but trying to find our own paths in life. We want to define our own reality rather than have God define how things are with Him and for us. By our sins of thought, word, and deed, we have shut out our Lord's voice and have instead tuned in to the seductive sirens of the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh.

Our straying is not only wrong and worthy of damnation; it is also dumb. We could just as well begin our service by confessing, "I, a stupid, wayward sheep…" instead of "I, a poor, miserable sinner." Those are parallel expressions. It is both sinful and stupid to listen to the thieves and robbers, the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, rather than listen to the Shepherd who would guide us into the paths of righteousness.

Thank God the sermon doesn't stop here. David, Isaiah, and Peter do not stop by saying that we are straying and lost in sin. David prays in Psalm 119, "I have gone astray like a lost sheep; [O Lord,] seek Your servant for I do not forget Your commandments." Isaiah said, "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned-every one-to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." On whom? On Jesus! Jesus, our Good Shepherd, also is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, for Isaiah continued that Jesus "was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth." (Isaiah 53:6-7)

That passage from Isaiah 53 was the sermon text for Philip when he preached the Good News about Jesus to the Ethiopian eunuch (see Acts 8:26-40). And in our Epistle, St. Peter was expounding Isaiah 53 when he wrote that Jesus "committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls." (1 Peter 2:22-25)

A better translation of that last phrase is, "You were straying like sheep, but now you have been returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls." The straying was done by us, but the returning has been done by God. It is true that we have returned to the Good Shepherd, but the question is, "How?" The answer is, "By grace alone." We have not returned to the Shepherd by our own will, but we have been returned by God's mercy. We straying sheep have been rescued from the ravenous lion, Satan; we have been snatched out of the hungry jaws of hell; we have been spared from being devoured by wolves in sheep's clothing, those false prophets who would lead us away from Jesus.

Jesus has done it all for us, as He said in our Gospel, "I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me…and I lay down my life for the sheep." (John 10:14, 15b) In Baptism, you have been identified as one of Jesus' little lambs, so you can be certain that Jesus knows you. He knows that you belong to Him. When He was laying down His life on the cross for the sins of the world, He had you in mind. And He wasn't thinking, "Good grief. If it weren't for so-and-so's sins, I wouldn't be up here on the cross." No, He was thinking, "I am laying down my life to save that little lost sheep."

Jesus was also thinking of you when He rose on Easter. Jesus had the authority to take His life back up again (John 10:18), for He was the Son of God. And that means our Good Shepherd will never die again and has total authority over every inch of this crazily immense universe. So there is nowhere in all the universe beyond the reach of His mercy; even though you have strayed by committing great sins; even though you have been ungrateful for you Good Shepherd's care; there is still mercy for you, for you have been baptized and forgiven all your sins.

And so, "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life" (Psalm 23). Because Jesus has died and risen, we sheep "have life and have it abundantly" (John 10:10). Our abundant eternal life starts here and now, and so together this morning we rejoice in the salvation accomplished for us by the Good Shepherd.

The Good News from the Good Shepherd is just too great to keep just to ourselves, so we have been gathered into a flock around the voice of the Good Shepherd in order to enjoy His care together. Just as in the Old Testament Israel was always a flock-always corporate, always a group-so also under the New Testament, we as the true Israel flock together to receive our Shepherd's gifts and return thanks to Him-with each other.

To stray from this flock would be to reject the Good Shepherd's way of shepherding. To stray would be to say, "I'm going to go off and be just a flock of one. Just me and Jesus. I don't want to be with the other ninety-nine. I want to have the Shepherd all to myself." But how can a flock be just one? Not only does that sound lonely; a flock of one also sounds like a good target for wolves and lions.

The Greek word for "church" simply means "assembly" or "congregation." When we confess the Apostles' Creed and speak of the "holy Christian church" and the "communion of saints," we are talking about a community, a flock of holy sheep who have been gathered to the Shepherd of our souls. So, while it is true that Jesus is with each of us always-every second of every day, caring for us when we are alone, hearing us when we call to Him-it is also true that He wants to gather us together in the church regularly to feed and water us with His grace. Feeding time has to happen, or we don't get fed. Jesus also wants His sheep to love one another and care for each other, as well.

So be on guard against thieves and robbers who would climb over the fence and wreak havoc on the flock by saying, "Come with me out into the wilderness. Go it alone. You don't need that motley flock in the church. They're just a bunch of smelly, sinful sheep. And the food's better out in the wilderness. Your shepherd's water, words, bread, and wine aren't nearly as good as the other fare to be found in the world. Hey, you can even bring your Bible along, and just have church all by yourself."

No, we Christians know where our Lord's voice is heard. As Martin Luther wrote in the Book of Concord, even "A seven-year-old child knows what the Church is, namely, the holy believers and lambs who hear the voice of their Shepherd [John 10:3, 11-16]" (Smalcald Articles). The only voice we Christians need to listen to is the voice of the One who broke the bonds of death and rose from the tomb to declare us righteous. As God the Father said at the Transfiguration, "This is my beloved Son; listen to Him!" Listen to Jesus, the Good Shepherd. There is no other voice of love and authority like Him. He is the Lord, and He says to you, "I am your Shepherd. You shall not want. I anoint you with the life-giving Holy Spirit in Baptism. I prepare a table and overflowing cup in the Lord's Supper, in which I give you the life-giving food and drink of My body and blood. I shower you with goodness and mercy now, and you can look forward to dwelling in heaven in My house forever." May God grant us always to listen to our Good Shepherd and follow. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

And the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.