THE MASTERS VOICE
Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>
August 29, 2004
Text: John 10:1-21
Most of us here this morning can probably recall some very well-known
product trademarks that are used to connect a graphic with a product. For
example, the picture of a boy in a sailor suit with his dog beside him
might remind you of
[Cracker Jack]. Thats right. The graphic and a box
of Cracker Jack just naturally go together.
What about a dog sitting with its ear cocked toward an old gramophone
(thats a record player for you younger folks)? Radio Corporation of
America - RCA? Well, yes and no. Yes, the popular RCA ads featured the
dog named Nipper, part Bull Terrier and part Fox Terrier. But RCA was not
the first or only company to use the trademark. Nipper happened to be
painted by Francis Barraud of Bristol, England. Barraud painted a picture
of the Nipper listening to a phonograph, ear cocked attentively. He then
marketed the painting and eventually sold it to the Gramophone Company of
London - after painting in the company's disc gramophone in place of the
cylinder version originally depicted. The painting, named His Master's
Voice, graced the walls of the Gramophone Company and became their
trademark. Later, Emile Berliner, inventor of the disc gramophone, gained
the rights to use it in the United States and Canada, and the image
became the trademark of the Victor Talking Machine Company, which
eventually became RCA Victor. (ask.yahoo.com/ask/20030616.html,
searched 8/27/2004)
The reason that Barrauds painting became attractive to gramophone
producers is because it represents the technology that they were making.
Nipper recognizes his masters voice coming from a recorded device. Of
course, sound reproduction has come a long way since those days.
What is significant for us is the awareness that an animal can recognize
the particular voice of a human master. Jesus was aware of this fact of
creation and, although he did not use Nipper or any other dog, he did use
this common knowledge about animals to illustrate his particular
relationship with believers. The animal Jesus used was, of course, the
sheep, and he identified himself as the shepherd. I am the good
shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just as the Father knows
me and I know the Father - and I lay down my life for the sheep.
In Jesus day, sheep were the staple livestock of the culture and were as
common around town as dogs are around the family home today. Most people
today have never seen a shepherd, except in photographs and Christmas
pageants. Most people today have never seen a really good-sized flock of
sheep, and if they have, a fence was probably managing the sheep rather
than a shepherd. Certainly most people have never seen a flock of sheep
in a state of panic as wolves move among them, seeking the choice lambs
of the flock.
This would have been the scene in the culture of Jesus day. Although
they were not considered to be very high on the social scale, shepherds
were experts at taking care of their flocks, especially when they were
also the owners of the flock. Shepherds clearly understood the language
and the nature of the herd, and the sheep, in turn, knew very well their
masters voice.
In order to understand these and other shepherd teachings of the Bible in
general and of Jesus in particular, it helps to understand something
about flocks of sheep. Sheep are gregarious. In other words, sheep band
together and pretty much stay together when grazing or moving around.
It's not because they like each other, although they are social animals,
but because they find security in numbers. "Get one to go and they'll all
go" is a principle that all shepherds know and follow.
In the sheep herd, separation from the flock causes extreme stress. Sheep
communicate that through high-pitched bleating. In humans it's
communicated through the high-pitched cries of loneliness, addiction, and
depression. Jesus' miracles and works of healing were evidence that he
was bringing all the lost and hurting sheep under his care. As he spoke
in John 10, I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must
bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one
flock and one shepherd.
In a culture like ours where rugged individualism is a high value, the
idea of "flocking" or being "herded" isn't too appealing. Granted, some
of us are more social than others, but in our culture we prefer to see
ourselves as individuals of worth. We dont necessarily value as much our
connection to a community. Still, it is closer to the truth to understand
that, like sheep, we have been created to be our best when our need to
gather and belong is fulfilled. Christians are warned, after all, to not
neglect meeting together, as in Hebrews 10:25. Let us not give up
meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage
one another
We can't make it on our own as well as we can make it when we're aligned
with a flock of others to provide comfort and security with a Shepherd to
watch over our well-being. We need others and we need Christ. That's the
whole reason for the church. This is our a real expression of what it
means to be connected and protected in Christ.
A second known fact about sheep surprises us. Sheep are intelligent. This
is contrary to what we often hear about sheep. In some respects, sheep do
exhibit quite idiotic behavior. They eat too much, right down to the
root. They'll drink contaminated water. When they fall, they often can't
get up without some shepherd assistance. And the herding thing - they
tend to follow aimlessly and blindly and with no apparent destination in
mind. Sheep do need a shepherd.
But this is only part of the story. A study at the Babraham Institute in
Cambridge, England, showed that sheep have remarkable memories, being
able to pick out a particular face in a line of pictures, if that face is
associated with a food reward. Some of the sheep in the study could
remember up to 50 images for as long as two years.
Sheep also have keen hearing, which makes it possible for them to discern
the voice of their shepherd from among many others, and they will always
move toward the person they perceive to be a friend, particularly if that
friend feeds the sheep. (NPR.org, November 7, 2001) So we understand the
particular appeal of the imagery that Jesus used with his people. The
watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He
calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out
all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because
they know his voice. As in any age, there were people longing for a
spiritual shepherd. Those that heard the voice of this Master received
comfort beyond words. They received salvation. They knew that their
Shepherd was tending to them.
Sheep do have a dumb side, too. Dr. Keith Kendrick, one of the authors of
the Cambridge study, believes that the sheep's reputation for stupidity
comes from the fact that sheep are afraid of just about everything. He
says, "Any animal, including humans, once they are scared, they don't
tend to show signs of intelligent behavior." Fear causes a flock to
disintegrate, and when sheep are driven apart they are most vulnerable to
predators. (NPR.org, November 7, 2001) A lone, frightened sheep is a
picture of cluelessness, which is why sheep without a shepherd was a
common metaphor for helplessness in the Scriptures.
When Jesus calls for us to follow him, it is his literal way of leading
us out of danger. Jesus understood that it was his voice to which his
"sheep" would come running, no matter how far they had strayed. He tells
his hearers in verse 27 that My sheep listen to my voice; I know them,
and they follow me.
Our Shepherd understands and speaks the language of the flock. It is the
sheep - us - who need to know the voice of the Shepherd. To use the other
animal imagery, we need to be little Nippers sitting with our ear
cocked because we recognize the Masters voice. The people who responded
to his message and witnessed his miracles of healing, love, and grace
knew that it was only through Jesus that they would be spiritually fed
and their lives be made at peace, both in the present age and in the one
to come. It was his voice that promised in verse 28, "I give them eternal
life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my
hand."
But no matter how well we recognize the voice, it does us no good if we
do not listen and respond. We have no problem listening when the voice of
the Shepherd is offering comfort and reassurance. That, we can listen to.
But when the Shepherd calls us to follow him, sometimes through the
valley of the shadow of death, or self-denial, or obedience, or
self-sacrifice, or unconditional love - then the sheep don't hear so
well. Like scared sheep, we do dumb things. We take a wrong turn; we make
poor decisions; we become self-destructive. We allow satan, a wolf in
sheeps clothing to be sure, to get in and scatter the flock.
In a world that's increasingly more scattered and scared, our task is to
remain steady as we hear the voice of the Shepherd. The Masters voice
leads us to his people and his Church. As the Church, we also have a
unique responsibility that real sheep do not have. It is up to us,
Christs sheep, to constantly and compassionately translate and transmit
the voice of the Good Shepherd to all those who are lost, hurting, and
alone. We are to follow Jesus' example and welcome his sheep into the
fold. Even we sheep should be able to understand that.
Rev. Charles A. Layne, pastor, First Baptist Church, Bunker Hill, IN
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