Date : Confirmation, April 25, 2010

Text : John 10:22-30

Title : Unsnatchable

Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. ... and no one can snatch them out of my hand." Christ is risen! . . . Alleluia! . . .

Just about everything we buy comes with some sort of a guarantee. Guarantees give us confidence: if it doesn’t fit, I can take it back; if my wife gives me the evil eye for having so frivolously spent our money, I can save my hide.

Well, dear children of God, does your Savior, Jesus, ever have a guarantee for you! In today’s Gospel, Jesus was in Jerusalem, and news of his miracles had spread like mayonnaise. Word of His sermons made many ears itch. He was under the hot lights of questioning: "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."

It was a fair request, except that Jesus had already come clean about His being the Christ, the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, and God in the flesh. Yet, they want to know when Jesus is going to stop keeping them in suspense? Had they not been listening to Jesus?

The answer, of course, is, no, they had not been listening to Jesus. Oh, they had heard Jesus. They heard Him just fine, thank you. But, they were so offended by everything Jesus said, they didn’t really listen to Him. They didn’t go back and search the Scriptures to see if Jesus could be telling the truth; if He could, indeed, be the Messiah.

Jesus tells them as much. He says, "I told you, and you do not believe." Why didn’t they believe? Here comes the shocker. The Jews thought they were God’s Chosen People. They thought they had God’s Lifetime Guarantee, and they could not lose their inheritance of the Promised Land. They were sadly mistaken. Because they had not listened to the voice of God, but followed other gods, they lost God’s guarantee; they walked away from it.

Here’s what the Lord says about God’s children, whom He likens to sheep: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me."

Friends, God has called you, by the Gospel to be sheep of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ. God has washed you in the Baptism of Jesus’ death for your sins and His resurrection for the guarantee of your own resurrection. God has invited you to the Supper of Jesus’ body and blood, which is the veritable green pastures of the Twenty-Third Psalm, and its cup running over with God’s goodness and mercy.

But, wait. You’re no different than were the children of Israel. God provided His goodness and mercy to them. In fact, God had King David write the Twenty-Third Psalm back in the heyday of Israel—back in the day when they were still listening to the voice of their Good Shepherd. What happened? The children of Israel conformed to the world. They listened to other religions. They thought their ideas were better than God’s. They wanted to do their own thing.

What happens to you and your fellow Christians so that you stop hearing the voice of your Good Shepherd? You conform to the world. You listen to other religions. You think your ideas are better than God’s. You like doing your own thing.

I haven’t yet gotten to Jesus’ guarantee. But, as I now do, remember what happened to Israel. God had given them a Lifetime Guarantee. It was clear and straightforward. Israel didn’t give a hoot about it and lost it all—they lost the land, and they lost their eternal lives.

Here is Jesus’ promise to you, whom He has gathered into His sheepfold: "I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand." And, as if that guarantee were not enough, the Lord intensifies it: "My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one."

No one can snatch you out of God’s hand. Now, that’s some guarantee! More than a Lifetime Guarantee, Jesus gives you an Eternal Lifetime Guarantee.

Well, then, what’s the worry? If God has such a guarantee for you, why do you even need to be in church? Why sit through the same old sermons, week after month after year? Why bother with Communion? Why the instruction that these confirmands received? Why not just take God’s guarantee and enjoy life?

Remember Israel. God gave them the same guarantee. What happened? Did anyone snatch their salvation from their hands? Nope. Then, what happened? They let go of it. They took God’s guarantee and enjoyed life . . . as they saw fit. They left God; God didn’t leave them. The devil didn’t snatch them. No one snatched them. They left God. They had no one to blame, but themselves.

This is the perfect set-up for talking to our confirmands. As I speak to them, every word I say applies to every one of you. Since we are talking about God’s Eternal Lifetime Guarantee, John 3:16 is a great place to begin, so that takes me to you, Rachel Kessel.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Rachel, my favorite word in your verse is whoever. Whoever means it always includes you. You never have to question if God wants you to have eternal life. Through Jesus, your heavenly Father has given you His Eternal Lifetime Guarantee. Enjoy it, Rachel. But, most of all, live it. Listen to the voice of Jesus so that you never listen to another voice and walk away from God’s gift of salvation, so that you always anticipate with joy the wonderful reunion that you will have in heaven.

Niki Osentoski, you chose 2 Corinthians 5:21, one of my favorite verses: "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Here, God teaches you how Jesus took all your sins into His body so that He could give you all of Jesus’ holiness for your body. Niki, you are holy. You are a child of God. He called you by the Gospel to know the voice of the Savior, Jesus. You have Jesus’ Eternal Lifetime Guarantee, Niki. Doesn’t that feel good? You bet, it does. So, Niki, live it. Live it with all your heart.

Anthony Reinke, to the first two confirmands, I have told to live this Christian faith. Your verse, Romans 10:10, says a lot about how we live it: "For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." Anthony, we can’t see your heart or read your mind. We know what you love and think by what comes out of your mouth. Use your mouth to worship the Lord. Then, every day, show who you are by how you use your mouth. Live your faith, Anthony. Show us that you love Jesus’ Eternal Lifetime Guarantee. Enjoy that you are a sheep of the Good Shepherd.

Otyllia Abraham, you chose Psalm 37:23-24: "If the Lord delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand." Otyllia, even though you are a young lady who tries hard to do everything right and well, you will stumble, because of that pesky sinful nature. We all stumble. But, when you trust in Jesus’ Eternal Lifetime Guarantee, listening to His voice, confessing your sins, He will always make your steps firm; He will always forgive you and He will always uphold you. You have His promise.

Corey Finkel: The Hunter! Corey, as you enjoy this great life that God has made for you, you can apply your verse just as you go about your beloved hunting. You chose 1 Peter 5:8: "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for some to devour." To be a good hunter, you have to be self-controlled and alert. Well, Corey, to be a child of God, it’s the same thing. The devil is hunting you, Corey. He wants your head mounted above his mantel. So that you never lose the Big-Game Prize of Jesus’ Eternal Lifetime Guarantee, live your faith, and remember Cory Johnson’s verse.

Cory, you chose James 4:7: "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." Cory, how shall you and the other Corey submit yourselves to God so that the devil, who is always on the prowl for you, will flee from you? You know the answer, because I’ve been shooting you with it all your days in the church school. Worship the Lord. Hear His Word. Confess your sins. Live the Golden Rule. It’s really quite simple, Cory, but it doesn’t happen on its own. God gave you a brain, and God gave you faith, and He expects you to use it. Live it, Cory, so that always know that you possess God’s Eternal Lifetime Guarantee.

Eric Verellen, when we talk about the devil, and everything else in life that can happen to us that is evil and harmful, a person can get scared. Your verse, Joshua 1:9, addresses that: "Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Eric, the Lord Jesus isn’t just another guy, tagging along in your life. He is God, your Creator and Savior. He is your constant companion and friend. He laid down His life so that you could take yours for eternal life, and He has given you His Eternal Lifetime Guarantee. You can live your faith in confidence, Eric.

Finally, we come to Cody Koglin. Cody, I saved you for last because your verse takes us back to where we started. You had me choose your verse. I chose it when I saw what I would be preaching today. It is John 10:27-28, where Jesus says, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand." This is good, Cody, that Jesus knows you, because the devil knows you, too. As Corey Finkel’s verse reminds you, the devil wants to kill and devour you. Only Jesus gives you eternal life. There is only one way to keep His Eternal Lifetime Guarantee, Cody: worship the Lord, confess your sins, enjoy the three pastas—fettuccini, linguini, and spaghetti: forgiveness, life, and salvation.

Friends, having examined these marvelous verses, do you see why your pastor, at times, almost drives you nuts with the preaching of faithfulness to worship and hearing the Word of God? Jesus says, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me."

If you aren’t following Jesus’ voice, whose voice are you following? If you are following Jesus’ voice only once in awhile, you’re following other voices the rest of the time.

Are you keeping your little sheep self safely in Jesus’ green pastures where He can shepherd you, or are you out wandering around where it is possible for you to get lost and never find your way back?

We have a whole lot of members who need to stop taking God’s Lifetime Guarantee so lightly. A whole lot of you are awfully cocky, living life how you want, treating worship as if it’s no more important than changing the oil in your car, living life according to your own list of commandments.

The good news is: God is faithful. You have His guarantee. But, He will never force you to belong to Him. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, calls you, feeds you, tends to you. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, does not scream at you, force you to do anything, or tie you down.

God is faithful. You have His guarantee written in the blood of His Son, spoken to you in the Gospel, poured out upon you in Baptism, and fed to you in Jesus’ Holy Communion.

Out there in the world, outside of Jesus’ sheepfold, there are no guarantees past this life. Only Jesus has and gives the Eternal Lifetime Guarantee—and it’s all because of the Easter good news: Christ is risen! . . . Alleluia! . . . Amen.