Those of us in Castle Rock have once again experienced a fickle spring in Colorado. That foot or more of heavy April snow put the damper on lots of things, even damaging some trees. Yes, the snow is mostly gone, and yes, the tree branches will spring back, and yes, the warm weather has returned. But it created rivers of living water, some of which would have been in our basements were it not for sump pumps. The newspapers said, as we all knew they would, "We always need rain in Colorado, but don't think the drought is over." Just once I wish those weather people would be wrong about a storm and the press less predictable in its aftermath.

Think of what happened this past week: Sunday was gorgeous, warm and sunny, as we love it. Monday was dreary, almost like October, and then Tuesday poured forth rain in abundance, most of it cold and white. Wednesday brought back the sun, and on Thursday the temps shot up and by this weekend the snow is gone and it's gorgeous, warm and sunny. All four seasons in just one week! "TC" we say, "That's Colorado!" It was almost a cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Oh well - TC!         

         This weekend is Confirmation. We welcome into communicant membership eleven fine, young people, a minor multitude dressed in the white robes of Revelation 7, a great white host who've felt like martyrs more than once during their years of instructional tribulation. We are glad to have eleven of them this year, as more and more Lutheran churches, even some larger ones, are having fewer confirmands, two, three or four.

         That's because people are believing the secular propaganda about having smaller families. God's command to "Be fruitful and multiply" is environmental heresy today. But those who want fewer children may forget that young people are needed to fund our old age programs. And smaller families means we need immigrants to fill the age gap. Rather than being concerned about all the people coming to America, we should be grateful! And yet we trust we're importing people who create solutions, not trouble.

         When we think we know more than God, we do pay a penalty. But people coming to America shouldn't be a problem for the Church, for it means more sheep for God's fold. The challenge will be if the Christian church will welcome these folks into the sheepfold to hear the Gospel. Jesus is the Good Shepherd of all people. The " other sheep" Jesus wants to bring into the fold include people of all tribes and races, so the church must open its doors to all. But that will mean churches must be open to change, and churches are not always noted for that. We ask, "How many Lutherans does it take to change a light bulb?" And we answer, "Who says it needs changing!"

         In today's text, Jesus says, "I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen." That means He has sheep among all the nations, not just Germans and Scandinavians. Jesus began His ministry by gathering from the lost sheep from among the Jews, but His sheep are everywhere. He says, "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." He was saying it's time to bring in the sheep.

         Today, God's chosen people come from everywhere. The fastest growing group of Christians today come from Africa. The refugees from persecuted nations are coming to America and forming churches. Our Lutheran church today plants most of its new churches among Sudanese and Ethiopians and Koreans. And more nations are on the way. Take care that we welcome them, no matter who comes in our doors.

         Jesus also calls us, and we should follow. John 10:27-28 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." That's why sheep come to Christ. He is calling us, and we know His voice, because we belong to Him.

         Did you recognize the voice of the Good Shepherd when He called you? He calls us through the Gospel which we hear in worship, and He calls us through His Holy Word, the Bible. You and I are the people of His pasture. God wants all His people to follow Him, to hear His voice and go where He leads us. Take care not to follow the voices of the world, for they rarely have our welfare at heart.

         In today's Bible text, Jesus tells us, "I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also." The trouble with sheep is that they don't like getting into the fold. A good sheep dog can direct them, but often as not they will run away, and for no good reason. I'm not sure what it is about sheep, but they will leave the best thing that's come along, just to be out on their own, just be able to make their own mistakes. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? God gives us wonderful people, great things, good job - and rather than thank Him, we walk away from Him. It's the attraction of greener pastures. We don't want to miss what might be over the next hill.

         In the Highlands of Scotland, I am told sheep will often wander off into the rocks and get into places that they can't get out of. The grass on these mountain sides is sweet and sheep like it, and so they'll jump down 10-12 feet to get it, and then they can't get back up again. It may be there for days, until it has eaten all the grass, and then it'll start to bleat for help. But the shepherd won't go immediately to get it. He will wait until it is so faint it can barely stand, and then he will lower a rope around it and pull the sheep out. If asked, "Why don't you go down when the sheep first gets there?" a Scottish shepherd would say, "Sheep are so stupid they would jump off the cliff if I tried that." And that is the way with most people. We won't go to God when we like where we are, no matter how bad it might be for us. We usually have to wait until we have no friends and have lost everything, like the Prodigal Son. If you are a wandering all over, and I tell you that the Good Shepherd will bring you back, you won't come right to Jesus. You'll probably run farther away. That's what sin makes us do. It convinces we have all the answers. But if we are ready for help, if we've tried other ways and failed, then maybe we will listen to the Gospel, and turn to God. And He will be right there, ready to rescue us.

         In today's Bible text, Jesus continues, "[The sheep] too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd." We don't always hear His voice. The voices of the world drown God out. We must seek to hear God's voice, and follow His leading.

         In my early days of ministry in North Dakota, I went out into the fields with one of my members to feed his livestock. Art Dockter was a crusty old German Russian farmer whose home was always open to us. His children loved our two boys and still today I get Christmas letters from them. One Sunday afternoon we were visiting and Art said, "Let's go feed the cattle." He and I got into his old rickety truck that he had already filled with hay bales, and drove down the road a few miles to a pasture where he said his cows were. When we entered the gate, there were no cows to be seen. I closed the wire gate behind the truck, and we drove about a quarter mile into the middle of a pasture, and unloaded the hay. When I mentioned there was not a single cow to be seen, Art said, "Oh, they're out there - watch them come running," and he started to honk the horn. Just a few times he tooted that weak old horn, and here they came! Out of the ravines and from behind low hills the cattle came running. They knew where the food was. They heard the sound of their master's voice, and it was the horn of a rusty old Ford truck.

         Jesus said, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow me." Our Good Shepherd Jesus wants to bring in His sheep, all of them, and He wants us in His flock. He has something to feed us that is everlasting. God's food lasts forever. He gives us to drink from rivers of living water that will never fade away. The experts say one day we'll run out of water in heavily populated areas. But with Jesus, we have Living Water that never stops and food that is always good. When you have faith in Jesus, the well never runs dry.

         To all here today, and especially our youth, I have a few more things to say. Be careful what voices you listen to. Listen to the voice of God in His Word, and not the voices that sound pretty. Some will lure you right off a cliff, and others will be so noisy you can't hear God - or your loved ones. Don't get stuck on stupid; listen to good things. Trash music helps no one. Get that stuff out of your heads, because you become what you listen to. Never have your iPod so loud you can't hear those who love you.

         And don't miss church so much. Skiing and game sports may be good, but God is far, far better. You won't find greener pastures on snowy ski slopes. Give God at least half your Sundays, and you can't do that without being in church! Seek Him first, and He'll see you get all the other stuff, too. I leave you all with a memory verse from Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all your understanding, and don't depend on what you think you know. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths." Amen

         And don't miss church so much. Skiing and game sports may be good, but God is far, far better. You won't find greener pastures on snowy ski slopes. Give God at least half your Sundays, and you can't do that without being in church! Seek Him first, and He'll see you get all the other stuff, too. I leave you all with a memory verse from Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Amen

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  Epiphany logo designed and provided by Dale Bargmann at daleb@ecentral.com