Christ Church Sermon, Game On: Simon Says Listening to the Right Voice, July 5 2026

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>> Please be seated.

Today's scripture reading is from the

New Testament, the Gospel of John,

John 10:27

chapter 10, verse 27.

This short verse is part of the famous

passage which is verses 27 through30

where Jesus declares his divine identity

and guarantees the eternal security of

his followers. Hear now this reading

from the gospel of John.

My sheep listen to my voice. I know them

and they follow me.

The word of God for the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

I never liked to play the game Simon

Says as a kid. It was an easy game to

play and lots of people can participate

and it's one that I remember playing

often. And if you recall, Simon says has

one leader. I'm talking about the old

school Simon says, by the way, not the

Simon game, the electronic game where

you press the colors. Somebody was very

confused about that last night. So, let

me clarify now. Um, so there is one

person who is Simon and who is giving

out leaders and then there's a whole

group of people who are listening to

Simon talk. And as long as Simon

prefaces what he says with Simon says,

they're supposed to do whatever he says.

And if he doesn't say Simon says before

whatever command it is and they do it,

they are out of the game. And so the

winner is the person who can continue to

follow the commands but never doing the

ones that don't have Simon says before

them. I was going to make you try, but I

got a little too giddy at 9:00 when I

made them do it. So, we're going to pass

them that, but you can all play

privately in your own homes later. It's

okay. Did you know that there is a

theory out there that the Simon of Simon

says is named for Jesus's disciple,

Simon Peter? I learned this this week.

Although he is usually known by Peter

through most of the Gospels, his actual

first name is, of course, Simon. And if

you remember, it's Simon Peter that

denied Jesus three times before he was

crucified. But after that resurrection,

Jesus appears to Simon Peter. And three

times Jesus asks him if he loves Jesus.

And each time the response is a yes. And

it's in answering affirmatively to

Jesus's questions that Simon Peter

becomes one of Jesus's greatest

followers and preachers of the gospel.

And so the correlation is that by

following what Simon says, it will lead

you to good things. And if you don't

follow those things, it leads you

astray. And that correlation is made by

saying, well, if Simon is such a good

follower of Jesus, then doing what Simon

says is sort of like doing what Jesus

says. This is a theory I found on

YouTube, so take it with a grain of

salt. I thought it was interesting. So,

fast forward from Simon Peter 2,000

years to a backyard in Upper St. Clair

where we find a young girl who

frequently played Simon says with her

siblings and her neighbors, but who

hated every second of it. And that is

because I have always been just a teensy

bit competitive. And I remember rarely

winning this game. And the reason that I

rarely won it was for one very simple

reason. I would act faster than I would

listen.

Simon says requires us to listen before

we act. We have to listen for that Simon

says command.

And much like we learned about in Gaga

Ball last week, we also have to stay

alert no matter how long the game goes

on. If we can't do those things, if we

can't listen and we can't stay alert, we

eventually end up following the wrong

command and we're out of the game. The

parallel from that game to our spiritual

lives is a pretty obvious one. I think

if we read in the Bible of a command

that Jesus gives, go and make disciples

for example, or we hear Jesus speaking

to us directly and nudging us to do

something, then we are to follow that

command. If we don't know for sure that

it's Jesus who gives the command, then

we don't follow it.

Today's scripture, as Mark just read for

us, is short and sweet, but it also

holds the key for teaching us how we can

hear Jesus's voice and why it's so

important to our faith to always not

only be listening for it, but to follow

it. The first thing the verse says is,

"My sheep listen to my voice."

Sheep don't have the best reputation in

the animal world. They're kind of

smelly. Their wool is a little bit

dirty. They don't always seem like the

smartest animal in the pen if we're

being honest, but scientists who have

made a career out of studying sheep have

found that sheep actually have some

pretty amazing qualities and habits. For

instance, did you know that sheep can

recognize, differentiate, and remember

both sheep and human faces? And not just

one or two. It's been proven that an

individual sheep can remember 50

different sheep faces and 10 different

human faces over the course of two

years. I thought that was pretty

remarkable. Sheep experience the same

emotions that we humans do. As crazy as

it sounds, scientists have documented

that sheep feel things like fear and

rage and anger and despair and boredom

and disgust and happiness, just to name

a few.

A flock of sheep can also differentiate

the sound of their shepherd's voice from

a stranger's voice. And we've talked

about that from this pulpit before.

Those sheep listen to their shepherd and

they learn to hear different inonations

that are unique to that voice. And once

they have that memory of the voice they

know, it can help to keep them calm.

They'll follow commands given by their

shepherd. But if they hear a different

voice that's trying to guide them, the

sheep will become agitated and stressed.

As Christians, it's necessary that we

learn to listen for Jesus's voice. But

how do you know when it's Jesus talking

to you? I get asked that question a lot

because there are some really loud

voices in the world that are competing

with Jesus for our attention. There are

the voices of our friends and family who

want to give us advice.

There are the voices of social media

that are telling us what to believe. The

voices of advertisers that tell us what

we need to possess in order to be happy.

The voices of movies and TV and music

that seem to be constantly in the

background no matter where we go and

often succeed in drowning out everything

else that's in our heads.

So, how in the world do we learn to

listen for Jesus's voice over all those

other voices?

One way is to read the Bible, to study

the words in red, the ones that Jesus

said.

Learn what he said and what he didn't

say to the crowds and to the disciples

when he was preaching and teaching. In

three of the four gospels, Jesus says to

the crowds who have gathered to hear him

speak, "Whoever has ears, let him hear."

He says that to stress the importance of

what he was saying and to encourage the

crowd to ponder it deeply so that they

would come to know and understand his

words.

When we know the character of Jesus,

when we know what he taught and we know

who he is, it becomes easier to know

which voice is Jesus because that voice

will align with what we know of Jesus's

character.

We can also seek out a trusted praying

friend's advice. Like sheep, we humans

tend to hang out together. We trust the

people who are in our flock. And so, if

you aren't sure that what you're hearing

is Jesus speaking to you or a different

influence, tell a friend what you're

hearing. Talk to that trusted friend and

ask them to pray for you and for your

situation and see if that friend hears

the same thing that you are hearing. If

they do, it can be an affirmation that

Jesus is speaking.

Finally, it's important to understand

that we cannot learn to discern the

voice of Jesus if we don't even give

Jesus space to speak. If we don't stop

talking long enough to let Jesus talk,

we make it very difficult to cons to

discern his voice. If we do not ever

listen for it in silence, even for just

a few minutes. And so if that's not a

part of your regular prayer time, I

encourage you to make it part of your

regular prayer time.

The thing about listening for the voice

of Jesus though is that sometimes Jesus

doesn't speak right away and sometimes

Jesus doesn't answer prayers right away.

And let's be honest, that drives most of

us insane.

It's no surprise then that we turn

elsewhere for answers.

We are quick to listen to the voices of

the world because we often see quick

results when we do. Listening for Jesus

requires patience and faith and trust.

It requires holding out hope in the

waiting because it may be a while before

we hear Jesus speaking, before we get

that answer we want. And waiting is

hard. But I encourage you to keep doing

it. Keep praying and keep listening

because Jesus will never not speak.

Sometimes we just have to give him a

little bit of extra time.

The third part of this verse is my sheep

follow me.

Sheep learn to listen to their

shepherd's voice, the one they know, the

one that gives them peace and comfort.

And then a remarkable thing happens.

They will follow that shepherd wherever

the shepherd goes. They move together in

flocks. They stick together. They

collectively follow that shepherd. And

they trust that leader so much that if

that shepherd would guide them off the

edge of the cliff, the sheep would

follow the shepherd.

Thankfully, when we follow our shepherd,

Jesus, we are following someone who will

never lead us into harm's way. How do we

know that? The Bible tells us so.

The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not

want.

This is of course the beginning of the

beloved 23rd Psalm which lays out for us

what happens when we follow our

shepherd. And this first line sets the

tone for what is to come. In following

the Lord, we will never want for

anything. He will supply everything we

need. Not always what we want, but

everything that we need to make it

through every experience we have in

life.

The simplicity of that first line should

be enough.

But then King David, who wrote this

psalm, continues on, and he painted a

picture, a beautiful one, of what it

looks like to follow our shepherd.

He maketh me to lie down in green

pastures. He leadeth me beside the still

waters. He restoreth my soul. In other

words, he gives us rest and peace.

He leadth me in the paths of

righteousness for his name's sake. Our

shepherd will not lead us anywhere that

is not pleasing to him.

Yay, though I walk through the valley of

the shadow of death, I will fear no

evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and

thy staff, they comfort me.

Even in the darkest days of our lives

where we have lost someone we love

dearly, our shepherd is with us. Our

shepherd comforts and protects us.

Thou preparest a table before me in the

presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest

my head with oil. My cup runth over.

Even as our enemies surround us, our

shepherd makes sure that we are well

cared for and protects our hearts. He

anoints with oil the wounds that the

world gives and provides abundant water

for our thirst.

But I want you to listen especially to

the last line of this psalm.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow

me all the days of my life and I will

dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

When we are following the shepherd,

what's following us?

God's goodness and God's mercy. And as

long as we follow the shepherd, we will

always be in the presence of God.

Sheep trust and they follow their

shepherd, not knowing where the

shepherd's going to take them. But when

we trust Jesus, when we know his voice

and we choose to follow it, we may not

always know where he is leading us.

That's not what this says. But we know

without a doubt that he will never lead

us astray.

So we like sheep listen to Jesus's voice

and we like sheep follow him.

But the second part of today's

scripture, the piece that is in between

those two parts may be the most

important part I think of this

scripture. And it says this, I know my

sheep.

We learned that the sheep recognize the

face and the voice of their shepherd, so

they know who to follow. But did you

know that the shepherd knows their sheep

just as well as the sheep know the

shepherd? A flock of sheep may all look

the same to us, but shepherds can

identify the sheep in their flock by

their facial features and by their

bleets, the noises that they make, and

by their different mannerisms.

I'm not sure how much comfort that gives

a sheep, but when I correlate that to we

as sheep who are learning to listen for

Jesus's voice and learning to follow

him, here's what I do know. When you

follow Jesus, you are following someone

who knows all about you, can pick you

out of a crowd, knows all of your

particular idiosyncrasies, and still

wants you in his flock.

Pastor Elizabeth Johnson once said this

about our relationship with Jesus as our

shepherd. She said, "The good shepherd

tells us, everything depends on

belonging to him.

Never does our status before God depend

on how we feel, on having the right

experience, on being free of doubt, or

on what we accomplish. It depends on one

thing, that we are known by the

shepherd.

There is so much security and serenity

in being known by Jesus and resting in

the comfort that someone knows all about

you, loves you anyway, and wants to be

in relationship with you.

And once we learn to follow that one

voice, the voice of the shepherd who

died so that we could be in his flock

and dwell in his house forever,

the challenge is to keep listening.

Galatians 4:9 says, "But now that you

Galatians 4:9

know God, or rather are known by God,

how is it that you are turning back to

these weak and miserable forces? Do you

wish to be enslaved by them all over

again?

And I think I hope that the answer is

no. We don't want to go back to the way

that we were. We want to live in the

light of Jesus. And so don't succumb to

temptation.

Don't become enslaved by the voices of

the world just because they promise

instant gratification

and just because you have to wait a

little bit longer to hear the voice of

Jesus speak.

This weekend we celebrate the 250th

anniversary of the start of an

experiment in democracy that has stood

the test of time. Our amazing and

wonderful and occasionally flawed and

incredibly unique United States of

America.

The founding fathers worked together to

create to create a country where

everyone had a chance at life, liberty,

and the pursuit of happiness.

away from the tyranny of England. And

while England may not be a threat to us

anymore, there is always someone who

wants to challenge our freedom and our

independence, our radical way of living

that is so very different from so many

other parts in the world.

The voices of this world will tell us

that we need to put our faith in our

government and in our political leaders

to trust their guidance.

Christianity,

the practice of course of following

Jesus is really not much different when

it comes to the radical way of living.

There are always going to be voices that

challenge our faith. Much like those

that are challenging democracy, there

are always going to be voices that make

us question our belief, question how we

can live so different than the rest of

the world.

But here's what Christians know that

sets us apart.

Real life,

real liberty, and real happiness can

only be found when we follow Jesus.

When we listen to his voice, we will

experience says it in the Bible,

abundant life, liberation from our sins

and happiness and joy that is far beyond

anything our great country and our world

can offer us.

Playing Simon says

is simple.

And so at the very heart of it is

following Jesus. If Simon tells you to

do it, you don't do it. If Jesus doesn't

tell you to do it, you don't do it.

But by the same token, if the voice of

Jesus tells you to do something, go

allin.

Don't hesitate.

Because when you follow Jesus, you are

following the voice of a shepherd who

knows you and who loves you and who has

amazing things in store for you always.

Let us pray.

God, we thank you that we live in a

country where we can worship you openly,

where we can praise you without threat

of violence, and we are grateful for the

ways that you move in and through our

community and through this country

today. We pray that you would speak

clearly to our hearts.

That you would make it known that it is

your voice that is calling us to do

something or to say something. And then

we pray that we might have the strength

and the courage to be able to follow

those things, to be able to do what it

is that you want us to do so that we are

able to be more faithful followers of

yours. And so this world will know why

we live the way that we do and who it is

that we serve.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen.