Posted on 04/19/2024 4:46:41 AM PDT by Charles Henrickson
“The Good Shepherd Gives Life to His Undershepherd” (Revelation 7:9-17; Ephesians 2:1-10; John 10:11-18)
Dear Miriam, Matthew, Anne Marie, family, and friends of our brother Leonard: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
When we lose a loved one--whether that’s a husband, father, grandfather, friend, fellow church member--we can experience a range of emotions. Certainly there’s a sense of loss, grief, in knowing that we will not see that person again in this life. But for the Christian, when we lose a brother or sister in Christ, there’s also a peace and a joy, knowing that this person is now with the Lord, resting from their labors, delivered from sickness and sadness and sorrow, and that we will see them again in a joyful reunion in heaven. It is in this hope that we can celebrate the life that the Lord has given to us and to our loved one.
And so it is that today we celebrate the life that our Lord gave--and still gives--to our brother, Pastor Leonard Neumann. I find it appropriate that we do this especially at this time of year. Every year at this time during the Easter season, churches celebrate what we call “Good Shepherd Sunday.” The readings and the hymns all revolve around the biblical image of Christ as the Good Shepherd of his flock, the church. And so it’s fitting that in this service today we’re saying goodbye to a pastor. Because the word “pastor” literally means “shepherd.” A pastor’s calling is to be the shepherd of the flock to which Christ has called him. Christ himself is the Chief Shepherd, and the pastor acts as his undershepherd, serving the flock on his behalf. That is the ministry that Pastor Neumann carried out so faithfully for lo these many years. Now Pastor Neumann’s ministry is over, but not his life. For today we celebrate how “The Good Shepherd Gives Life to His Undershepherd.”
What was the life that the Lord gave to his undershepherd, Pastor Neumann? Well, he gave Leonard natural talents and abilities, which Leonard developed. Leonard received theological training, and he was ordained and served as a pastor for almost 60 years. Now God has called him home, and the Lord can say to Leonard: “Well done, good and faithful servant!” Yes, the Lord’s promise is true and trustworthy: “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
But on what basis has Leonard received the crown of life? Was it because he was such a good and faithful pastor? Was it because he was such a loving father and grandfather? No, those things may have been true of Leonard, that he was a faithful pastor and a loving family member. But that is not the reason God has awarded him the crown of life. And Pastor Neumann would be the first one to tell you that. Leonard would gladly tell you that any good works he did in his life were the fruit of faith in Christ.
You see, it’s all by grace, God’s free grace in Christ Jesus our Savior. We don’t earn it. We don’t deserve it. But God gives it. God freely gives us his gifts, apart from any works we do. As you heard in Ephesians: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
And because salvation is by grace, pure gift--God’s doing and not our own--this is why we can be sure of our salvation. It’s not boasting or bragging on our part. It’s simply bragging on Jesus. By relying on Christ’s works and not on our own, God wants us to know that we are saved. As it says in 1 John: “And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.”
How can this be? Because God sent his Son to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. Christ came as the Good Shepherd to lay down his life for us straying sheep. He died on the cross, shedding his holy precious blood as the sacrifice for our sins. “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” In this way, Jesus rescues us from the death and damnation we would otherwise deserve. In place of death, our Good Shepherd gives us life, his life, eternal life, as evidenced by our Lord’s resurrection on Easter Day.
This is the resurrection life that Leonard Neumann received when he was baptized into Christ. This is the life and the faith that the Holy Spirit sustained throughout Leonard’s life by the means of grace, Word and Sacrament. This is the gospel, the good news, that Pastor Neumann loved to preach throughout his ministry. And this is the good news and the life that God has for you, dear friends, for you to believe and receive.
Today we take comfort in the fact that the Good Shepherd does indeed give life, eternal life, to his undershepherd, Leonard--and to all of us who trust in Christ, whatever our calling. It’s all by grace, it’s God’s doing, and therefore we can be sure of it. We get a picture of this life in our reading from Revelation. There we see the white-robed multitude waving their palm branches in praise of their Savior. And we see how they received those spotless white robes: “They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Friends, that’s the only thing that will get the stain of sin out: Christ’s holy blood, shed on your behalf.
Trusting in Christ, we too will enjoy the life, the eternal future, that lies in store for Leonard and for all of God’s people: “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Ping.
Thank you for posting - it was a timely post.
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