John 10:22-30       “God Knows Us By Name”

     Numbers.  Our lives are filled with numbers.  I was reminded of that a couple of weeks ago when I completed my tax return.  Pages and pages of numbers.  When the return was finished it was sent off to the Internal Revenue Service with my Social Security Number on it. 

     Have you ever thought about just how often we’re known by just by a number?  The government knows us by our tax number.  The state knows us by our driver’s license number.  The bank knows us by our account number.  And when we retire, we’ll be remembered by our Social Security number.  And it goes on and on.  In fact, I sometimes wonder if anybody knows us at all without our numbers!

     And that’s why this morning’s Gospel reading is so significant, because it tells us that God knows us.  God knows us not by a number, but he knows us by name.  In fact, he knows us better than we know ourselves.  And that’s so important to remember.  Even though the image of sheep and shepherd may not be the most familiar imagery for us, this image of the Good Shepherd brings a truth to our human hearts that we long to hear.  The Old Testament psalmist, King David, says it so clearly, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want.”  It’s the same blessing Jesus conveys to us when he says, “My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me.  I give them eternal life.”

     A new kind of plane was on its first flight and was full of reporters and journalists.  A little while after takeoff, the captain’s voice was heard over the speakers.  “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m delighted to be your pilot for this plane’s historic first flight.  I can tell you the flight is going well.  Nevertheless, I have to tell you about a minor inconvenience that has occurred.  The passengers on the right side can, if they look out their window, see that the closest engine is slightly vibrating.  That shouldn’t worry you, because this plane is equipped with four engines and we are flying along smoothly at an acceptable altitude.  As long as you are looking out the right side, you might as well look at the other engine on that side.  You will notice that it is glowing, or more precisely one should say, burning.  That shouldn’t worry you either, since this plane is designed to fly with just two engines if necessary, and we are maintaining an acceptable altitude and speed.  As long as we are looking out the plane, those of you on the left side shouldn’t worry if you look out your side of the plane and notice that one engine that is supposed to be there is missing.  It fell off about ten minutes ago.  Let me tell you that we are amazed that the plane is doing so well without it.  However, I will call your attention to something a little more serious.  Along the center aisle all the way down the plane a crack has appeared.  Some of you are, I suppose, able to look through the crack and may even notice the waves of the Atlantic Ocean below.  In fact, those of you with very good eyesight may be able to notice a small lifeboat that was thrown from the plane.  Ladies and gentlemen, your Captain is speaking to you from that lifeboat below.”  

     Now, I realize that there are some situations that we probably shouldn’t joke about, and a plane crash is one of them. But that little story about the plane and its pilot seemed so descriptive of our lives and the world today that I couldn’t help but tell it.  Sometimes we find ourselves in situations very similar to that plane flight.  Everything around us seems to be falling apart and the person in charge seems to be as remote as the captain in the raft on the ocean far below.

     But the good news this morning is that we are known by God and loved by God.  And because God knows us and loves us, God will not abandon us.  In spite of the senseless violence that seems so much a part of our world today, the innocent suffering and death that’s reported on the news, our failures and our encounters with suffering, God wants us to know that he cares about us.  God wants us to know that he loves us with an everlasting love that calls us by name.

     That’s the promise God made with us from the beginning of time and that Jesus makes with us today.  “My sheep hear my voice.  I know them.”  We’re more than just a number.  In the midst of an uncertain world, faced with unknown dangers and threatened by unpredictable events of evil and violence around us, we’re known by God and loved by God.  “Even the hairs of your head are numbered,” Jesus once said.  God is greater than anything that can threaten us in life.  The death and resurrection of Jesus assure us of that, and the words of Jesus remind us of that once again today.

     One of my favorite stories in the New Testament is the time when Jesus and the disciples were caught in a fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee when a storm came up.  Do you remember how the disciples reacted when the waves and wind threatened their boat?  The boat was rocking and it was slowly filling with water.  It was beginning to sink and would soon dump them all into the sea.  Through all this Jesus was asleep in the back of the boat.  Finally the disciples woke the Master and hit him with a harsh question.  “Master,” they said, “Do you not care that we are about to perish?”

     You and I have been with those disciples.  We’ve seen the storm clouds rise and we’ve felt the wind howl and had the waves beat down upon us.  It may be the death of a loved one.  It may be a battle with disease or a fight with cancer.  It could be a broken relationship or any number of worries and anxieties that overwhelm us.  We’ve have all been there and we’ve all shared the disciples’ question, “Master, don't you care?”

     And that’s why the Gospel reading this morning is so important to us.  For Jesus’ own words remind us that he does indeed care.  “I know them.  I give them eternal life.  No one will snatch them out of my hand.”  

     We may not be able to still the storms of life that rage around outside us.  There may be times when the plane seems to be falling apart and the captain far away.  But it’s not so.  The Captain is always closer than we think, and there’s not a power in this world that can snatch us out of God’s hands.  That’s why Jesus says to us today, “My sheep hear my voice.  I know them, and they follow me.”  Listen to the gentle voice of Jesus and be assured that God knows you by name.

                                                AMEN