Echo's of a Shepard's Heart - Fum Oduko

Welcome again, everyone, to church.

For those who don't know me, my name is Fum Aduko.

So I'm married to the beautiful Renee over there on the front row, and we just love being part of this church, future church.

Um, I'd love to just start but just by reading the passage, the word of God, if you permit me to today.

I'm just gonna jump straight into it.

So we're gonna read from the book of Matthew, uh, Matthew chapter 9, from verse 35, and should come up on the screen behind me.

Matthew 9 · chapter mention

So here it reads: it says from verse 35, Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness.

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Then he said to the disciples, The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send our workers into his harvest field.

Then verse 10 reads, Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity we get to come around your word today.

We say, Come, Holy Spirit.

We say, Do what only you can do with this message.

Whilst there are many people represented here, we pray that you make a message that is tailored for everyone's individual need and circumstance so they can hear directly from you.

In your precious name.

Amen.

Awesome.

A couple of weeks ago, Renee and I were up here sharing a little bit about our journey, about our story.

And one of the parts of our story is that we've been overseas, we lived in um the UK and the US for about 10 years.

And I remember one of our early journeys, um, we were actually traveling from London back to Brisbane, and then it was via Singapore.

And if you know that trip, it's about 14 hours from London to Singapore.

And I'd worked out, and we booked economy flights, and I'd worked out actually, if you um, there are a few airlines who worked out that if there are some empty seats in business class, they actually upgrade people.

I thought, cool, I'm gonna get an upgrade.

I told her they were gonna get an upgrade.

This is gonna be easy, this is gonna be awesome.

She's like, don't bother for them.

Ye have little faith, right?

So we get we get to the plane and um get to the front and with the stewardess there, and I hand over the ticket, she goes, Yep, you're 65D or whatever you are around the back.

And I said, Excuse me, are there any seats in business class left over?

She goes, I'm not sure yet.

And I said, look, if some come up, let me know.

Come find me.

Renee was super embarrassed, but that was fine.

So we went and sat in our seats in the chair.

It was crazy, the plan was packed, there were so many people coming in, there was some issue over the PA said like some luggage getting delayed.

But I didn't think of all that because I saw the stewardess.

She was walking down the aisle, her eyes locked.

She saw me.

She walked straight up to me and she goes, Mr.

Uduko.

And I said, Yes.

And she goes, Come with me.

And I don't remember this part, but Renee says to me, I said to her, I don't remember, I said to her, see you in Singapore, babe.

And I literally just walked and I kept walking, right?

And I'm thinking, man, I was imagining the 180-degree flatbed.

This is 14-hour flights, it's just really, really important, 180-degree flatbed.

We're getting close to the curtain, and I could sort of hear the chinks of the champagne glasses clink, and I could smell the aroma of like the essential oils, the lavender, the tea tree, all I'm going, this is gonna be amazing.

So we get to the to the curtain that separates economy from business class, and then the shielders turns me to the right, out to the front, in the front of the plane, and out and the front of the plane, right there, is my bag, all spilled open, wrapped up in cellophane.

And the lady says, Mr.

Duco, is this your bag?

And I said, Yes.

And she says, it has split open, it's gone everywhere.

We have had to wrap it up.

Your zip is broken.

Next time, don't overfill your bag or get a new suitcase back to your desk, back to your chair.

So I have to do the walk of shame back to Renee.

I think I told her that there wasn't, there was only there wasn't enough for both of us.

Um, but suffice to say, it was a very quiet trip on the way from Brisbane to London to Singapore.

Right.

And I think um what's interesting, like the whole time, I actually delayed my baggage, luggage issue, I actually delayed 350 people's flight to Singapore that day.

I thought God was upgrading me into business class.

Everything was right in front of me.

I saw the flight attendant, I heard my own name, I saw where she was walking, but somehow I misinterpreted the whole thing through what was actually happening.

You know what?

If I can be honest, sometimes I do that in my own life as a Christ follower of Jesus.

I can go through my own week surrounding people who I work with, who I have coffee with, who live next door to me, who I actually sit beside, and who I can look directly at, but still not see what Jesus actually sees.

And that's what I want to talk about today.

So the message, the title of my message is called Echoes of the Shepherd's Heart.

You know, an echo is a repeat of a sound.

You only you can hear this when you speak into an empty room if you yell into a void or into like a tunnel.

An echo only exists because there's an original sound that comes first.

In this same way, as Christians, we don't have to come up with our own response to people.

We are meant to reflect the heart of Jesus, to echo the heart of Jesus.

And so before we need to talk about what we need to do, we need to actually hear what the shepherd's heart is.

And so when we echo the shepherd's heart, we need to begin with the heart that breaks.

And that means to feel what Jesus feels.

In that passage that I read early in Matthew chapter 9, verse 35, it says, Jesus went through all the towns and the villages, teaching in the synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.

Matthew 9:35

And then verse 36 says, When he saw the crowds.

So there's something important that's happening here.

This isn't about Jesus observing humanity from a distance.

He has been among them, town by town, village after village, with the elderly, with the broken, confronting the religious leaders.

He's been right there.

And this is what the Bible says when he sees the crowd.

He has compassion.

Compassion.

And that word in the Bible, compassion in the Greek, translates to splagnitzomai.

Splagnitzomai.

And that is that's a passion.

The sort of definition is around this idea that it feels inside your body.

Like in ancient Hebrew and Greek time, the word compassion, they realized that your feeling is really down in the depths of your gut.

It's like the word we use now around sort of gut wrenching, right?

So when Jesus looks at the people, he has this gut-wrenching reaction to them, right?

And then Matthew then gives us two words.

Why he feels this way?

And it's because he says they are helpless and harassed.

So the Greek word for helpless is skylo.

And that literally means to be torn apart.

So imagine a sheep, a sheep that is attacked by wolves, wounded, exhausted, unable to defend itself.

And then the Greek word for helpless is ripto, which means to be thrown down, like a sheep lying in a ditch, unable to get itself out.

So when Matthew gives us this image about helpless and harassed, it then says, they are like sheep without a shepherd.

And that phrase, Jesus is not meant mentioning for the first time.

I actually see that in the Bible numerous times.

When we go to Numbers chapter 27, one of the first references of it.

Numbers 27 · chapter mention

So just for context, Numbers 27 is about the Israelites.

So they've been in the journey around the wilderness for 40 years.

Their leader is Moses.

And Moses is about to pass on the baton of leadership to somebody else.

And so we read it, we pick it up in Numbers chapter 15, 27, verse 15.

Numbers 15 · chapter mention

And it says, Moses said to the Lord, May the Lord, the God who breeds all living things, appoint someone over this community to go out, come in before them, one who leads them out and brings them in.

So the Lord's people would not be like sheep without a shepherd.

And then further on in Ezekiel chapter 34, so this is later on when the Israelites, so the God's people, have had different leaders over their life.

Ezekiel 34 · chapter mention

But the leaders aren't doing a great thing.

The leaders are actually focusing more on themselves and not caring about the people.

And God sees that and been really, really disappointed.

And he says something really special.

He says, For this is what the sovereign Lord says, I myself will search for my sheep and look after them.

As a shepherd looks after the scattered flock when he is with them, so I will look after my sheep.

I will rescue them from the places where they were scattered on the day of clouds and darkness.

And so you've got this idea that when Jesus says that they are like sheep without a shepherd, he's actually saying, Hey, I am that shepherd.

He has arrived, and he's looking at his sheep.

And he's and what you notice about this passage is that Jesus sees them, he knows their sinners, but he doesn't minimize their sin.

But his first response is not disgust, it's not what's wrong with his people, it's compassion.

It's like Nitsumai, this sort of gut-ranching compassion for his people.

And to be honest, I actually found that very confronting because that's not always how I see people.

You know, sometimes I see a difficult colleague, a person who has different values to me, a person whose choices I don't understand.

But I think the honesty, the reality, sometimes I feel like my life gets a bit too full that I don't actually stop to pause and to see.

And I think something that's what I challenge myself every day.

Because I think honestly, this is one of the most important things that we need to do as Christians.

And so what moves the shepherd begins to move us, his heart starts to echo in ours.

And the next thing about the echo of a shepherd's heart is that when we when we echo a shepherd's heart, we need to recognize that there is a gap that beckons.

This means standing in the gap between desperate people and the shepherd that they truly need.

So let's talk about another shepherd in the Bible.

We all know the story of David, or most of us know the story of David, very popular.

Um, and this is the story when he is going to battle Goliath.

So this is found in 1 Samuel chapter 17.

1 Samuel 17 · chapter mention

And what you have is a Philistines and the Israelites are in a place called the Valley of Elah, which is about 25 kilometers from Bethlehem onto the west of Bethlehem, and they're ready for battle.

And then in chapter 17, verse 8, it says, Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, Why do you come up and line for battle?

Am I not a Philistine and are you not the servants of Saul?

So Saul is their king.

Choose a man and have him come down to me.

If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects.

But if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.

Then the Philistine said, This day I defy the armies of Israel.

Give me a man and let us fight each other.

On hearing this, the Philistine words, Saul, so Saul is the king of Israel, and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

So imagine being one of the Israelites of that time.

For 40 days, for 40 days, every morning, Goliath walks out.

Every morning, the same speech.

Every morning, silence.

Every sunrise reminds you that someone has to go, someone needs to fight, someone needs to save us.

And the challenge is terrifyingly simple.

You know, send one man.

If he wins, we serve you.

If I win, being Goliath, you serve us.

Think about the stakes.

Your freedom, your family, and your future.

Every day for 40 days, and nobody says anything.

Verse 11, I just read before, says, On hearing the Philistine words, Saul and the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

Now David comes into this story.

Now, we all most of us know what happened.

David is a shepherd boy, he gets sent by his father.

He comes, he says he can defeat Goliath.

Everyone is super excited.

They give him to Saul.

He goes and battles Goliath, and by a miracle, through God's strength, he's able to defeat Goliath with a slingshot.

Which is amazing.

It's a real David and Goliath story.

For some of you get that.

But now now imagine, now imagine the alternative.

Imagine before David actually got there.

Someone else turned up who wasn't a follower of Christ, wasn't a follower of God, but said the same things, hey, I can defeat Goliath.

I can win.

Put me there.

Do you think the Israelites would have stopped him?

Maybe, maybe not.

But I suspect that desperation would have made that offer very attractive.

Because when desperately, when people desperately need a rescue, they'll become willing to trust whoever can promise it.

When people desperately need a rescue, they'll become willing to trust whoever promises it.

And I think that's true for today as well.

Our world is looking for shepherds.

It's already following shepherds.

Our culture is no short of telling people how they can make their life meaningful, right?

You've got career, success, politics, identity, technology, comfort.

And look, all those things by themselves are not bad, but they make terrible shepherds.

And so when Jesus says they're sheep without a shepherd, it's not that they're not following anybody, it's that following the wrong, the wrong shepherd.

The wrong, the good shepherd.

They're not following the good shepherd.

But we need to be careful with this story about David, because our message is not that we are the champion.

You know, David actually points to beyond himself, to beyond himself, to the shepherd king.

Someone who delivers and fights on behalf of the people, and that's Jesus Christ.

He's already won and walked onto our battlefield that we couldn't survive.

He's faced death, he's faced sin and judgment, and he has won.

So our job is not to become the savior, our job is to introduce people to the savior.

So when we see what people are searching for, what only Jesus can give, we begin to echo the shepherd's heart towards him.

And so when we echo the shepherd's heart, we need to live a life that responds.

And that means answering the shepherd's call to harvest.

And so that brings us back to Matthew chapter 9 again.

Matthew 9 · chapter mention

And what's interesting is that for verse 37, it says, then he said to a disciple, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

And that's interesting, right?

Because it doesn't say a problem about the harvest, it says there's plentiful.

The issue that he highlights is that the workers are few.

And then Jesus says in Matthew verse 38, ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.

And so my my Bible verse then says there's like another section, chapter 10, which talks about Jesus, it says like a heading, Jesus sends out the 12.

But when this when this letter was written, there wasn't any chapters, right?

It were just all together.

And so what you have is 38, which says, Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore to send out workers into the harvest field.

And then the next verse literally says, Jesus called his 12 disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits.

So this is what's happening.

Jesus is saying, look at the people, look at the harvest, pray for the workers.

They pray, and then Jesus effectively says, Okay, good, you guys go.

Now there's something that's wonderfully, I guess, uncomfortable about that.

You know, Lord, someone should really send someone to speak to that person.

You might be feeling this, and God's like, Yep.

Lord, someone should invite them.

Yep.

Lord, send someone into my workplace.

Great idea.

You go.

You go.

And if you read in Romans, again, there's lots of Bible verse today, which I hope you guys are okay with.

Um, Romans chapter 10.

Romans 10 · chapter mention

So this is about Paul writing a letter to the Romans, and it's it's his heartfelt prayer that all of Israel, so both the Jews, so those who are from the lineage of Abraham and the Gentiles are going to be saved.

And it says here in Romans chapter 10, verses 11 to 13, it says, as scripture says, anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.

Romans 10:11–13

For there is no difference between Jews and Gentile.

The same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him.

For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Which is a really, really powerful verse.

But then if we read verse 14 about how this is going to happen, Paul starts working backwards.

He says, verse 14, how then can they call on the one they have not believed in?

Then he says, How can they believe in the one whom they have not heard?

How can they hear without someone preaching to them?

How can anyone preach unless they are sent?

As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.

So God, so he right here, Paul is showing us God's ordinary means.

It's astonishing simple.

And honestly, God could actually just write some words on the sky using skywriting or whatever.

He could send angels to our individual workplaces or wherever we find our place ourselves.

But he doesn't.

He uses us, ordinary people as individuals, to point towards Jesus.

And so when the shepherd calls and we make ourselves available, his heart echoes through our obedience.

This means recognizing Jesus and joining him there.

And I think this is where we many of us may struggle.

Maybe we agree with everything so far.

Yes, people need Jesus.

We need to have a heart that feels compassion, like Jesus does.

I mean, this could be something, to be honest, that you want to expand in.

This is something that I know I challenge myself in every day.

Yes, but we are called to speak.

But when?

When do I recognize that opportunity?

And John chapter 21 gives us this really interesting and extraordinary moment.

John 21 · chapter mention

So John is one of the gospels in the Bible, and it talks about the stories of how Jesus was on his time on earth.

And with John 21, for John in general, you have this situation where Jesus is called his disciples.

You know, most of them, you know, most of them, and they're led by Simon Peter.

And he's done miracles with his disciples.

They know him, they've seen him.

Jesus has been crucified, he's risen from the dead, the tomb is now empty.

He's appeared to Mary, he's appeared to the disciples, he's appeared to Thomas, and then now.

The disciples have now gone fishing.

The Bible doesn't tell us why they go fishing, but if you remember from the start, actually Simon Peter and a few of the others were actually fishermen.

So these were this is their occupation.

So the way that I think it is that they've gone back to their jobs.

And again, there's nothing wrong with that.

But if you read in John chapter 21, it says, afterwards, Jesus appeared again to his disciples by the Sea of Galilee.

John 21 · chapter mention

It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas known as Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together.

I'm going out to fish, Simon Peter told them.

And they said, We'll go with you.

So when they got out into the boat, so they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not recognize that it was Jesus.

He called out to them, Friends, haven't you any fish?

No, they answered.

Then he said, Throw your net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.

When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.

Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, It is the Lord.

As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, It is the Lord, he wrapped his outer garment around him, for he had taken it off, and he jumped into the water.

So think about this for a moment.

These disciples have spent three years with Jesus.

They've eaten with him, they've seen him do miracles, they've talked to him, they've done life with him.

Now they're close enough to have a conversation.

They're gone fishing, he's on the shoreline, they're having a conversation, but yet they don't recognize him.

He's standing, I don't know, 50 meters away, and they don't recognize Jesus.

You know, that's sobering.

Because it tells me that it is possible to know Jesus, to spend time with him, and still fail to recognize what Jesus is doing right in front of you.

I'm gonna repeat that.

It is possible to know Jesus, to spend time with him, and still fail to recognize what Jesus is doing right in front of you.

For us, for me, that could mean spending time with him, Jesus on a Sunday at church, but not seeing him on my Monday when I'm in work.

And I think for me, that's one of the biggest challenges that I face, is just around this idea of perception.

What am I seeing?

Last year I turned 40.

I turned 40.

Super exciting, milestone year, really pumped.

And my wife, beautiful Renee, she got me some really good gifts.

So she got me um this really cool electric guitar, a white Gretsch, right?

If you know the Gretsch, it's a super cool car guitar.

She got me some guitar pedals, a Marshall amp, you know, all the gear, sort of for me, no idea, but it was it was awesome.

She got me some cool Japanese knife sets as well.

So, like a really cool gift.

And I thought, yeah, this lady knows me.

She thinks I'm a rock star, I'm vibrant, I'm dangerous.

She's gonna give me all this cool stuff.

I'm going, yeah, awesome.

This year something changed.

So for my 41st birthday, Renee bought me slippers, a weighted blanket, eye mask, and some pajamas.

So apparently, in the last 12 months, it went from this guy super cool, rock star dangerous to mate.

He needs to be in bed by 7:30, all colourly and closed up.

Same person, different perception.

I'm honored to do actually really thoughtful gifts.

I love them.

I use them every single day.

Um, yeah, they're good.

Um, so I recommend getting a weighted blanket, it changed my life.

But actually, perception is really, really, really important.

Because tomorrow we're gonna see lots and lots of people.

And the question is, are you gonna see them physically, or are you gonna see what Jesus sees?

Are you gonna see the person who talks too much?

The difficult client, the challenging student, the annoying friend, maybe the successful executive who seems to have it all together, the colleague who's going through a divorce, the person whose world view frustrates you, or would you begin to wonder, Jesus, what do you see when you look at them?

What do you feel towards them, Lord?

Jesus, what is your gut response to these people?

John 5, verse 19, it says, Jesus gave them this answer.

John 5:19

Very truly, I say to you, the son can do nothing by himself, he can do only what he sees the father doing.

Because what the father does, the son also does.

So this is an extraordinary model for us.

Evangelism isn't a primary manifest, it's not like manufacturing these sort of awkward conversations.

It's about learning to recognize where God might already be working.

Maybe someone tells you they're struggling, maybe someone asks you, Why do you go to church?

Maybe someone asks you what you did on the weekend, maybe someone asks, why did you remain peaceful through that difficult situation?

And suddenly there's an opening.

Now the question is whether we recognize it.

Jesus could be standing right on the shoreline, and the people, they need the good shepherd.

So Darrell Johnson, who is um a respected author in England, um, sorry, an evangelist, um, who's been preaching for over 50 years, is um has a really great quote.

And it says, Evangelism is joining a conversation the Holy Spirit has with another person.

So when we notice where Jesus is already at work and join him in there, his heart echoes through our lives.

So I just want to just close.

So the shepherd heart is this, as you read in Matthew chapter 9.

Matthew 9 · chapter mention

Jesus sees the crowd.

He is moved with compassion.

He sees sheep without a shepherd.

Then he looks at his disciples.

The harvest is plentiful, the workers are few.

Pray for the workers, and then he sends them.

I don't think the main challenge for us for this week is to try to um harder to evangelize.

I think it begins somewhere deeper.

Learn to feel and learning to see.

As I meditate on this message, I was personally challenged again and again.

I don't want to live my life, my Christian life, like I did on that experience on that flight.

Looking at everything happening around me and completely misunderstanding what is going on.

Seeing that flight attendant coming towards me and thinking, this is about me, this is about my comfort, my upgrade, my experience when something completely different was happening.

And maybe there's a dang that we do this as Christians to in our Christianity.

I mean, I know this.

God bless me, God help me, God give me this, God fix that.

And God does care about those things, He cares about those things deeply, He really does.

He cares about us on an individual level.

But perhaps while we're asking God for our upgrade, He's trying to get our attention about someone else.

Someone he already placed beside us, someone who's already followed the shepherd that cannot save them, someone who may never walk into church, someone who may never open up the Bible themselves, but someone who might be far more open than we realize.

Twenty years ago, there was a song that was written called Hosanna, which is playing right now.

You might be familiar with it.

Can we just put the words up on the screen?

So this first verse, such a beautiful verse, it describes Jesus as the king of glory and that he will be coming on clouds of fire.

And then when he comes, the whole earth is going to shake.

And there's and these are prophecies straight out of the Bible about Jesus' coming.

It talks about his love and his mercy that washes over all our sins.

You know, this is the story about the gospel, the story of the peace and the gospel.

And then in our response to this love, as Christians, as they did in the Bible back then, they sing this word Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest.

And Hosanna is this ancient Hebrew phrase that means save us, please.

Save us now.

And it bridges a gap between this sort of desperate cry for help and a joyful shout of praise, capturing the moment that a person realizes that they cannot save themselves and they got to turn completely to God for their deliverance.

So that is such a powerful verse, but I want to really focus now on the bridge.

Let's put these words up on the bridge.

Heal my heart and make it clean.

Open up my eyes to the things unseen.

Show me how to love like you have loved me.

For what breaks yours?

Everything I am for your kingdom's cause.

As I walk from earth into eternity, it says to show me how to love like you have loved me, and it says to break my heart for what breaks yours.

I think this beautifully sums up what this whole message is about.

That we would truly see the world as God, the good shepherd, sees it, and that our heart would break as his does and echo his.

Teach us how to recognize when people are open to you, God.

And the third group of people, maybe coming today was a challenge, something brave that you did.

Congratulations, you did it.

You should be proud.

But maybe today you're exploring your faith, exploring Jesus, and you're hearing maybe for the first time, or being reminded that there is a savior, a shepherd, who sees you and desperately wants to meet you where you are, and you want to connect with him or to reconnect with him.

And so, Lord, would you meet those people?

Would you connect with them as a shepherd?

Would you introduce yourself to them as their savior?

Would they be able to sense your tangible love towards them?

And may today be the start of a beautiful journey working in partnership with the savior who first loved them.

For all of us today, God, let us be a mirror of your love to the people around us.

Let us echo the shepherd's heart.

Be a compassion for your people.

Amen.