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Some people don't like being short, or bald. One can wear elevator shoes and a toupee but it does not really change one. One is what one is. You are what you are. Sin is saying no to God. Sin. Adam's sin and your sin, is saying: "No, I will not fear, love and trust in You, God, above all things....after all, there's ME." Sin is coveting and lusting after what is not yours; craving that which was not given to you. Sin is also theft. Adam took what did not belong to him. Sin is like being a petulant, spoiled, and entirely normal child. God made us royalty and we spurned His love to become street people. God made us His precious little lambs and we rejected this honored position to become a pack of "sin-throwing" monkeys.

Some people don't like being sheep. One can act like a bull, an alpha ape, a "top dog" but it does not really change one. One is what one is. You are sheep. All believers are sheep in relation to the Lord. When, not if, you fight against this reality, you sin. When you sin, your life, and your "new life in Christ" is not what it is meant to be. When you sin it causes you hurt and harm; it causes others hurt and harm.

Jesus is no longer visually here to be seen with the eyes, but He remains here in a "real" and "true" way through His Word and through His Sacraments. He has called you back from being mongrels to being His royal siblings. He has called you out of the hell of individualism and ego into the embrace of His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. The Church is the Body of Christ. The Church is the sheepfold of Jesus the Good Shepherd. You are "the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand" as you sing in the Venite. This is not so much metaphor or simile as a kingdom reality. It is because the Lord God says it is. You are forgiven your sins because the Shepherd Jesus laid down His life on your behalf. He was the obedient, meek, submissive and perfect "Lamb of God" in your place. You were the laughing, grinning, reprobate hyena, He was the Passover Lamb. Your daily sins were punished when Jesus sacrificed His Body and His Blood on Calvary -- in your place. By His atonement, you have been "re-made" into sheep again.

The Lord now juridically, legally, declares you to be "not-guilty." The Lord says you're clean, white, lambs--by His Word.

This Church, which is the flock of the Shepherd, is where you are, and where you are to remain. There is no flock without the sheep. There is no flock without the shepherd. The Lord Jesus has commissioned men of His own choosing to be His shepherds, "in His stead and by His command." They were called Apostles. They are now called Pastors. They are not shepherds for their own sakes, or for their own bellies. They are servants who serve on behalf of the sheep. Like the sheep, the shepherds also sin daily in thought, word and deed. Shepherds aren't better, they are different. Shepherds aren't "Lord," (there is only One Lord) but they are still shepherds. The sheep follow the voice of their shepherd. They follow his voice because it is the voice of Christ Jesus. The shepherd is not to preach himself, but to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It is only the Christ-Shepherd Who laid down His life for the flock. The shepherd is to teach and preach the very words of Christ Jesus. The sheep know the voice of their Master, and they follow it, and they are lead into green pastures. It is only in the "green pastures" that there is food (nourishment), rest, safety and water. The Church is here for you. In the church, the sheepfold, you encounter not only the local pastor, but you are in the presence of the Shepherd Jesus Himself. In the Church you receive the water of rebirth. You receive the cleansing of Holy Absolution. You receive the meat and drink of the Holy Sacrament. Here and only here you are safe, accepted, at one with God.

In the Name of The Father and of The Son + and of The Holy Ghost