The Great Shepherd
Tonight in the New Testament reading from the gospel of John (10:1-19) we have the account of Jesus describing himself as the Good Shepherd. Shepherds in the time of Jesus were tremendously important – they had the care of flocks of sheep, and they were expected to care for them in whatever way was necessary – even to the point of risking their lives for the sheep.
It was a poor occupation, and shepherds were often made to pay for any sheep that went astray, and this was well known at the time – for Jesus to describe himself as a shepherd he was describing himself as someone who was willing to give up everything for his flock, and someone who was expecting very little in the way of reward.
There was a preacher once who preached on this passage and talked of sheep as being cuddly and rather cute – then going on to say how comforting it was that these cuddly and cute creatures should be so well cared for by a shepherd – they would be safe and warm in his care.
After the service someone approached the preacher and said ‘you can tell you’re from the City !’ When the preacher asked ‘Why?’ he was told that sheep were not cute and cuddly at all, but smelly, dirty and stupid !
Whatever the rights and wrongs of that one fact though, something that is undeniably true is that each one of us as God’s flock are safely cared for in his loving arms – whether we always know it or not. Last week on Sunday evening we had the account of Jesus walking with 2 of his followers on the Road to Emmaus and they didn’t recognise him – it was only when he broke bread with them that their eyes were opened and they realised who he was.
Very often we can go through life in a similar way – not realising that in all situations and circumstances, God is walking alongside us.
And today as we think of this passage of the Good Shepherd, it’s worth celebrating God’s presence with us.
Firstly we celebrate that Jesus is indeed the great shepherd of the sheep – God doesn’t promise cute and cuddly and easy lives, rather God’s promises are about a Saviour being in the middle of any of our problems, ready to guide and support us through them. Through every moment of our lives, good or bad, God is there with us.
Secondly we celebrate our role as sheep in the flock – our task as the sheep of Jesus the shepherd is to follow him, confident in the fact that he will guide us safely through our lives.
A young woman who wanted to go to college, was disappointed when she read the question on the application form that asked, "Are you a leader?" Being both honest and conscientious she wrote, "No," and returned the application, expecting the worst. To her surprise, she received this letter from the college: "Dear Applicant: A study of the application forms reveals that this year our college will have 1,452 new leaders. We are accepting you because we feel it is imperative that they have at least one follower."
There is no shame being a follower of someone or something – and when we follow Jesus we are following someone who it is impossible to lead, and someone who always knows our thoughts and needs even before we do…
Following Jesus means to seek and to follow his will – to accept that by ourselves there are an awful lot of things that we won’t be able to do or at least do as well as we could, but with God’s support and strength, all things are possible !
And we can celebrate that there is 1 shepherd and 1 flock. The one shepherd bit, at least in theory is not so difficult – we can recognise Jesus, but the one flock bit is often at conflict with our human nature !
Often we can think we are part of the best flock, the one that shows most commitment, the one that acts most like Jesus, the one that worships in the way he would have us worship, the one that follows most faithfully, but there are not good flocks and bad flocks, there are not ordained flocks and flocks of lay people, there are not black and white flocks, or any flocks that are defined by colour or age, or by particular Church denomination or anything else – there is 1 shepherd and 1 flock, united under the love of God…
And so as we think of the shepherd we celebrate the very best shepherd, the shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep – we celebrate also the chance to follow him, and we celebrate the fact that, wherever we go or whatever circumstances we might find ourselves in, and however many of us there may be gathered together, we are part of 1 flock scattered throughout the world, and part of 1 flock with all the saints in heaven – equally loved by God…
In the words of perhaps the most famous Psalm of all (Psalm 23), ‘The Lord is our shepherd and we lack for nothing.’ AMEN
It was a poor occupation, and shepherds were often made to pay for any sheep that went astray, and this was well known at the time – for Jesus to describe himself as a shepherd he was describing himself as someone who was willing to give up everything for his flock, and someone who was expecting very little in the way of reward.
There was a preacher once who preached on this passage and talked of sheep as being cuddly and rather cute – then going on to say how comforting it was that these cuddly and cute creatures should be so well cared for by a shepherd – they would be safe and warm in his care.
After the service someone approached the preacher and said ‘you can tell you’re from the City !’ When the preacher asked ‘Why?’ he was told that sheep were not cute and cuddly at all, but smelly, dirty and stupid !
Whatever the rights and wrongs of that one fact though, something that is undeniably true is that each one of us as God’s flock are safely cared for in his loving arms – whether we always know it or not. Last week on Sunday evening we had the account of Jesus walking with 2 of his followers on the Road to Emmaus and they didn’t recognise him – it was only when he broke bread with them that their eyes were opened and they realised who he was.
Very often we can go through life in a similar way – not realising that in all situations and circumstances, God is walking alongside us.
And today as we think of this passage of the Good Shepherd, it’s worth celebrating God’s presence with us.
Firstly we celebrate that Jesus is indeed the great shepherd of the sheep – God doesn’t promise cute and cuddly and easy lives, rather God’s promises are about a Saviour being in the middle of any of our problems, ready to guide and support us through them. Through every moment of our lives, good or bad, God is there with us.
Secondly we celebrate our role as sheep in the flock – our task as the sheep of Jesus the shepherd is to follow him, confident in the fact that he will guide us safely through our lives.
A young woman who wanted to go to college, was disappointed when she read the question on the application form that asked, "Are you a leader?" Being both honest and conscientious she wrote, "No," and returned the application, expecting the worst. To her surprise, she received this letter from the college: "Dear Applicant: A study of the application forms reveals that this year our college will have 1,452 new leaders. We are accepting you because we feel it is imperative that they have at least one follower."
There is no shame being a follower of someone or something – and when we follow Jesus we are following someone who it is impossible to lead, and someone who always knows our thoughts and needs even before we do…
Following Jesus means to seek and to follow his will – to accept that by ourselves there are an awful lot of things that we won’t be able to do or at least do as well as we could, but with God’s support and strength, all things are possible !
And we can celebrate that there is 1 shepherd and 1 flock. The one shepherd bit, at least in theory is not so difficult – we can recognise Jesus, but the one flock bit is often at conflict with our human nature !
Often we can think we are part of the best flock, the one that shows most commitment, the one that acts most like Jesus, the one that worships in the way he would have us worship, the one that follows most faithfully, but there are not good flocks and bad flocks, there are not ordained flocks and flocks of lay people, there are not black and white flocks, or any flocks that are defined by colour or age, or by particular Church denomination or anything else – there is 1 shepherd and 1 flock, united under the love of God…
And so as we think of the shepherd we celebrate the very best shepherd, the shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep – we celebrate also the chance to follow him, and we celebrate the fact that, wherever we go or whatever circumstances we might find ourselves in, and however many of us there may be gathered together, we are part of 1 flock scattered throughout the world, and part of 1 flock with all the saints in heaven – equally loved by God…
In the words of perhaps the most famous Psalm of all (Psalm 23), ‘The Lord is our shepherd and we lack for nothing.’ AMEN
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