The Abundant Lie
Sermon Audio
Sermon Notes
When it comes to life, both skeptics and believers want to live an abundantly joyful life. There isn’t a single person in here who wants to live a miserable life, we want to live an abundantly joyful life. But the problem is there’s an abundant lie that keeps robbing us of joy. Its the lie that we can find lasting joy in temporary things. It’s why companies invest so heavily in marketing during the Christmas season. It’s why they have things like Cyber Mondays, Black Friday sales that start a week earlier, and give you Kohl’s cash to keep you coming back. They do all this to capitalize on our pursuit of joy in temporary things. Now I’m not getting all scrooged on you, because I like my Kohl’s cash too. I’m just saying during the Christmas season companies capitalize on our pursuit of joy in consumerism, in things that’ll bring us joy for a little while, only to have that consumeristic high fade a few weeks later.
But our pursuit to find lasting joy in temporary things goes beyond Christmas consumerism, it’s at the very core of our nation’s belief system! I mean our own Declaration of Independence is about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness...Notice it says you have to pursue happiness. They’re like “Life we’ll help you with. Liberty we’ll help you with. But happiness, good luck! You need to pursue that one,” and it’s exactly what many of us are doing. Our pursuit of happiness, our pursuit of joy sometimes feels like you’re pealing an onion. You peal layer after layer only to end up in tears when you’re done. You keep telling yourself “If I had a spouse. If I had a new spouse. If I had kids. If my kids would listen and stop squirming in their seats. If I had a new job, more money, a new home, a new car, a nice vacation, then my life would be so much happier, so much more joyful.” It’s layer after layer, tear after tear, none of it bringing you the lasting joy you thought it would. The abundant lie is we think we can find lasting joy in temporary things, but it’s a joy that never lasts. The good news of Christmas, the good news of the incarnational birth of Jesus, is that he came to give us not an abundant lie, but an abundant life. He came to give us the abundantly joyful life both skeptics and believers are seeking. So let’s turn to John 10:1-10 and get into it. Title of today’s message is The Abundant Lie, and here’s the big idea. Jesus came to give us an abundant life...Jesus came to give us an abundant life, but we trade that in for an abundant lie. We think we can find lasting joy in other things, rather than Jesus.
Context:
Here’s your context. In ch. 9, John the author of this book of the bible, records a time when Jesus claims to be the light of the world. It’s why Christians often talk about Jesus being the light of the world during the Christmas season. It’s because Jesus says it in ch. 9, and then he affirms his claim by healing a blind man, a guy who’s seen darkness his entire life. Well there’s some Jewish religious leaders called the Pharisees who get upset over this, because they don’t like Jesus, they keep trying to persecute him, and so Jesus makes a much stronger claim in ch 10. He claims to be God, to be the Messianic Shepherd of Israel, who’s come to gather his sheep, to gather his people. He’s come to give them an abundantly joyful life in him. Let’s check it out.
The Word:
John 10:1-10 states, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.” Jesus is making a contrast between him and the Pharisees. He’s saying he’s the true Shepherd of Israel, and the Pharisees are thieves and robbers trying to steal their joy, trying lead them away from Jesus. The imagery of a shepherd and sheep was well known back then. In fact shepherd is used over 100 times in the Bible, sheep is used over 200 times, and lamb is used 198 times. The image of a sheep is used more than any other animal in the bible, and it’s often used to describe God’s people. I’d prefer something that makes more of a statement like a powerful bear or a lion. If you’re starting a football team you don’t call it the little lambs. It’s because lambs are wimpy! They’re defenseless, directionless animals dependent on the guidance and protection of their shepherd. But that’s exactly the point! The point is we need the guidance and protection of the shepherd, we need the guidance and protection of Jesus. That doesn’t mean you can’t be an intellectual like a scholar, or tough like an MMA fighter. It’s just your intelligence and strength will eventually fail you in life, and you’ll need the guidance and protection of the Shepherd. Part of the abundant lie is thinking we don’t need the guidance and protection of Jesus, but Jesus is saying we do. He’s saying we do need his guidance and protection, especially when it comes to things that’re trying to steal our joy like Satan, sin, and false shepherds like the Pharisees. Jesus wants to guide us and protect us from things trying to steal our joy, but we need to listen to his voice and follow it, which is what he says next.
Vs. 3, “To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” In ancient Israel several families usually shared a large sheep pen together. There was only one small door that was the entrance and exit to the pen, and they often hired a gatekeeper to watch over the sheep at night. In the morning the gatekeeper would open the gate for the different shepherds to call their sheep, the sheep would hear the voice of the shepherds, and run to their unique shepherd’s voice. Some of you wish your dog and kids did that...But they have selective hearing and the selection isn’t your voice...Well these sheep would select which shepherd to follow based on the unique sound of their shepherd’s voice. It’s a personal relationship between the shepherd and his sheep. The shepherd knows his sheep, and the sheep know him. The sheep know and trust their shepherd so they follow him. It’s a great picture of what it means to be a disciple, to be a follower of Jesus. When we hear the voice of Jesus we’re to trust and follow his voice. If we trust and follow his voice, it’ll lead us deeper into joy. If we ignore and don’t follow his voice, it’ll rob us of joy. We need to trust and follow the voice of our Shepherd, because he’ll always lead us deeper into joy.
Vs. 6, “This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.” They didn’t understand because they weren’t his sheep. The Pharisees weren’t his sheep, they weren’t a part of his flock, so they couldn’t hear and understand his voice.
Vs. 7, “So Jesus again said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.” Notice Jesus now said he’s also “the door.” The imagery here is that of a shepherd who’s taken his sheep out of the sheep pen to a nice green pasture. In that situation the shepherd corrals the sheep into a closed area where the only way in and out is through him, he’s literally the door. The implication Jesus is making is there’s only one way to become a part of his flock, only one way to get to heaven, and it’s through faith in him. It’s through hearing his voice, believing his voice, and following him. Now this is where some people say Christianity’s exclusive, but isn’t every faith exclusive? Isn’t every faith exclusive to a certain degree? I mean if you believe Jesus isn’t God, then you’re being exclusive to Christians, you’re saying they’re wrong for believing he is God. If you believe there’s more than one way to get to heaven, then you’re being exclusive to Jesus, you’re saying he’s wrong for claiming the only way to get to heaven is through him...
So don’t you see? Every faith is exclusive to a certain degree, and since they mutually exclude each other, it means they can’t all be true. So the question you need to ask yourself is are the things you believe in true? In this case are the things you believe in about Jesus true? Do you believe he truly is the Shepherd, the door to salvation, the door to an abundantly joyful life in heaven?...Look this is one of the things that makes Christianity so unique compared to all other faiths in the world. It’s one of the things that makes the Christmas season and the incarnational birth of Jesus so uniquely special. It’s that Jesus is the only God who came to us, instead of us having to earn our way to God. All other faiths teach we have to earn our way to God through good works and good deeds. Their shepherds aren’t willing to enter the sheep pen and lay their life down for their sheep. Jesus is the only one who’s willing to enter the sheep pen and lay his life down for his sheep. He’s the only God who’s willing to come and die for our sins. If we hear his voice and believe what he’s saying is true, then listen to what he promises us.
Vs. 8, “All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Jesus promises those who hear his voice and follow him as their shepherd, they’ll receive salvation, an eternal pasture, and not just life but life abundantly. They’ll receive an abundantly joyful life with him. Now that doesn’t mean you won’t ever face hardships or face moments where life doesn’t feel joyful. Some of you are gonna feel that tonight when you hang with your in-laws...Some of you have in-laws that feel like outlaws. They suck the joy right out of you...So not every moment in life’s gonna feel joyful. I mean in John 11:35 Jesus wept when his friend Lazarus died, and it certainly didn’t feel joyful when he was suffering on the cross. But shortly after he raises Lazarus from the dead, and shortly after the cross he raised himself from the dead showing not even the sting of death can stop the abundant joy he promises. So abundant joy doesn’t mean you won’t ever weep, it means there’s still hope even as you weep. It means like a Good Shepherd his voice will guide you through the hardships of life, to a more abundantly joyful life with him. So weep like Jesus, but trust like a sheep...Weep like Jesus, but trust like a sheep...Your joy will never be sustained by emotions you feel, it’ll be sustained by trusting Jesus’ promises despite how you feel. Your emotions will change, but Jesus’ promises won’t ever change. We don’t feel our way to joy, we trust our way to joy...We don’t feel our way to joy, we faith our way to joy...We declare “Life’s hard, it doesn’t always feel like the abundant life Jesus promised. But I know Jesus promised it, so I trust him as my good Shepherd. I trust he’s guiding me to a much greater pasture, than the one my eyes are currently fixed on.”
Look what Jesus is inviting us into is a personal relationship with him as our Lord, our Savior, our Shepherd. He wants to speak to us like a trusted shepherd speaks to his sheep. He wants to guide us into greater pastures than the ones we’ve been currently grazing and gazing at. He wants to guide us into a deeper abundant life with him. So like sheep we should trust and follow our Shepherd’s voice in all things, because we know his voice is leading us into a deeper abundantly joyful life with him. Vs 10 is such a great Christmas verse because Jesus is telling us exactly why he came. He’s telling us the reason for his incarnational birth wasn’t to steal, kill, and destroy. It was to give us a full life, an overflowing life, an abundantly joyful life filled with so much meaning and purpose. It’s to give us a deep soul satisfying life in him. It’s the kind of soul satisfying life all of us want, and all of us were meant to live, before we were tempted by Satan, infected by sin, and lured away by the abundant lie. So what’s robbing you of that life?... What are some of the things, the thieves that are robbing you of joy?...Is it your job situation, your financial situation, constantly comparing yourself to others?...Is it a voice telling you God could never love you because of a sin you’ve committed?...Whatever those things are don’t listen to those thieves, instead listen to the voice of Jesus. Listen to the voice of our good Shepherd, and learn from the voices of history that’ve driven down Pleasant Street. The voices of history that’ve been to the end of the rainbow, and realized it wasn’t a pot of gold.
Jim Carey once said, “I wish everyone could get rich, famous, and have everything they ever dreamed of, so they can see it isn’t the answer.”
John Mayer once said, “I have friends? Check. Money? Check. A Microphone? Check. A Guitar? Check. I have messages waiting on me when I get home? Check. But something’s still missing, and I don’t know how to fix it. Something’s still missing, and I don’t know what it is.”
C.S. Lewis said, “If I find in myself a desire which nothing in this world can satisfy, the best argument is that I was created for another world.” If you find in yourself a desire nothing in this world can ever satisfy, then it means you were created for another world. You were created by God and for God. You were created not to live in the emptiness of the abundant lie, but in the fullness of an abundantly joyful life with Jesus. He came to live, die, rise again for the forgiveness of our sins. He came as our good shepherd to lay his life down for his sheep. He came to abandon his life, so we can have an abundantly joyful life with him. If you want to have that life then trust the Shepherd’s voice, believe in Jesus, believe that he died for your sins on the cross. Then join a local flock, a local church to continue growing in your relationship with Jesus, and so you’re not living in isolation fighting Satan, sin, thieves of joy, and even the struggles of life on your own. We invite all of you to come back to this flock, to City Awakening in 2020 for our Grow series. In that series we’ll be studying a text where Jesus tells us some specific things we can be doing to grow in the fullness of joy. He literally says “I’m telling you these things so you’re joy will be full!” It’ll be a great series on learning how to abide in Jesus, grow deeper in your walk with Jesus, so you can keep growing in the fullness of joy he’s promised.
The Big Idea:
Look the big idea is that Jesus came to give us an abundant life...Jesus came to give us an abundant life...The Christmas message, the incarnational birth of Jesus is a message of hope. It’s a message of hope for both skeptics and believers, because all of us want to live an abundantly joyful life. Jesus is the one who can give you that life...Jesus is the one who promises to give you that life. So don’t leave this Christmas Eve ignoring the Shepherd’s voice, wandering outside the sheep pen in 2020. Instead let’s trust and follow his voice into 2020, and walk together in our pursuit not of the abundant lie, but of a deeper walk in our abundantly joyful life with Jesus.
...Possible Transitional Prayer Here...
At this time I want to invite you to head outside to the front patio, and on your way out you’ll receive a candle. As you light your candle make sure the candle that’s lit is the one that’s upright, so you don’t drip wax on anyone. But let’s head to the outside front patio, light our candles as a symbol of Jesus being our light in this dark world, and then let’s sing a couple of songs to worship him for the abundant life he’s given us...Let’s head outside and worship.