"When Sheep Become Shepherds"
John 10:11-18
May 3, 2009
St. Paul United Methodist Church
Rev. John A. Fleming
The picture hung in several of the Sunday school classes of my growing up years and so it also hangs in my heart. No doubt you've seen it. It is the picture of Jesus standing on a hillside looking down at a lush meadow and a herd of sheep. In one of his arms is a shepherd's crook, that long curved stick that, if need be, can save a sheep from danger. In his other arm, curled there, looking lovingly into the Savior's eyes is the smallest of a lamb. That may be my favorite picture of Jesus.
I am told, though, that being a shepherd is anything but picturesque. In the days of Jesus, the life of a shepherd was always in danger. His job was risky and uncertain and menial. If you were a teenager in those days and were asked what you wanted to be when you grew up,
most likely you wouldn't have said, "Shepherd!" Being a shepherd may have been the job you settled for instead of inspiring to have. Maybe it was the job you took when nothing else worked out. And if your dad was a shepherd, then he would have been glad to have the company in those fields. "
And the shepherds of Jesus' day, well, I've been told that they were a little rough around the edges. Given the chance, they preferred to stay out there in the field instead of inside at a dinner party. And when they came inside, well, they smelled like sheep.
So when Jesus says, "I am a shepherd" there were folks listening who could relate to it because they were shepherds themselves. But the religious leaders, well, they wouldn't have thought that his use of that image was all that inspirational. When Jesus took it to a different level and said, "I am the good shepherd. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away - and the wolf snatches them and scatters them." That would have flown all over them.
According to our lesson for today, what makes Jesus a Good Shepherd, is his willingness to lay down his life for the herd, his willingness to get involved in their lives, his readiness to risk it all for every one sheep in the fold. What he said made the religious leaders mad, mostly because they knew that it was true.
I guess you could say that there is a real difference between a Savior and a Pharisee and between a good shepherd and a hired hand.
A preacher I know says that he has an honest to goodness shepherd as a member of his west Texas church. The man is hardly ever in a worship service. He misses because he takes his shepherding very seriously. Along with his dog Shep, Tom tends to a flock that has been in his family for a couple of generations. The two tend to the flock every day. You won't find Tom taking time off from his job. Tom is single, can you imagine that? He doesn't leave the sheep in the field while he goes out to dinner and a movie with someone he might be interested in. When he does go out and the conversation turns to what he does for a living, and he answers, "Shepherd" he almost always gets a strange look. When she asks, "No, really?" He answers, "Really." When he says that he knows the relationship won't continue. Who, after all, would want to marry a shepherd?
So Tom spends most of his time with those who care deeply about him. Sheep thrive on being in a community and Tom and Shep are as happy as they can be to be a part of it. Like Jesus, he knows his sheep. He knows all of them by name. He knows Houdini, the escape artist, who takes every chance to disappear. He knows Pegleg. She got her name from stepping in that hole in the field a year or so ago. She limped for what seemed like forever and so the name stuck. Tom and Shep also know Bossy. Can you imagine how she got her name? Maybe you know a sheep like that! Bossy rules the flock. It's not a good idea to cross her.
Tom doesn't flinch when people ask him what he does for a living, and he never smiles when people start to tell dumb sheep jokes the way some might tell dumb blonde jokes. Tom knows that his herd isn't brilliant, but he does know that they can figure out where to find food and drink, which, I guess, makes them pretty smart.
He also knows that if he doesn't keep the herd moving, they will kill a field of green grass, eating the grass by its very roots. I hope you are interested in this. I hope I'm not the only one who finds this interesting. Tom knows that to keep his fold moving, he should not yell or bark orders. When he does that the sheep look at him like he is crazy. The fold is also very skittish of loud voices and so Tom talks to himself and Shep, he talks to the sheep, bearing his soul the way a new mother does to her newborn, and he sings to them. They don't seem to mind that.
While talking and singing, Tom watches out for the herd, every sheep in it. He encourages the ones who lag behind. He comforts the ones whose muscles are sore, and he keeps the ones who are prone to wander, on the right path.
These sheep have come to trust their shepherd. It's when he is sick or gone that there is trouble. On those days, which are very few, Tom hires someone to come and tend the flock. Houdini and Pegleg and Bossy know the difference. They all know that the hired hands are in it for the paycheck and they all know that they only care about themselves. Tom has hired more than one that when the coyotes yelp; they do too. Sometimes they even run away. That is the kind of thing Jesus was talking about in our passage for this morning. There is a difference between the shepherd and the hired hand. So Tom never misses work. He leads his flock over rocks and crevices, through shadows and storms. Tom is also with them. They know his voice and they follow his lead.
Now, let's talk about another flock, the flock here at St. Paul. Given the fact that we know so much about sheep, we might not like being compared to them, but our Bibles abound in images about shepherds and sheep. Isaiah prophesies, "We have all wandered like sheep; each of us has gone his own way." In what may be the best scripture lesson in our Bibles, David tells us that the Lord is our Shepherd and John follows that up by telling us that Jesus is a good shepherd.
I don't know about you, but I don't mind being led. Like a sheep I have a tendency to cover the same ground until there is nothing there. Like a sheep I have a tendency to keep my head down and nibble myself lost. The most powerful word, it seems to me, in the 23rd Psalm is the word my. The Lord is "my" shepherd. I just hope He doesn't sigh and decided he's done all he can do for me.
We all find ourselves in a wilderness from time to time. We all need a Jesus who will pick us up when we've gotten ourselves into a situation that we cannot get out of. We all need a shepherd who will help mend our broken spirits. We all need a shepherd who will help us find food when we are famished. We all need a shepherd who will help us as we limp along. We all need a savior who will sing to our souls from time to time, don't we? Left to my own devices, I tend to take the wrong paths and sometimes there are waters that will sweep me away. The Lord is my good shepherd. I don't need a hired hand, someone who will bolt at the first sign of trouble or the howl of wolf. I need a shepherd who will be with me forever.
So what happens when this good shepherd isn't around anymore? What would happen if he were to die? In her book Bread of Angels author Barbara Brown Taylor tells of a flock who fell asleep the night before their good shepherd died. As they slept, they dreamed. It was an awful dream. In it, the wolves came out of nowhere and whisked their shepherd away. So they huddled in fear hoping he would come back. They weren't able to think or even to move and they stayed that way for three days. Down deep they all were afraid that the wolves would come for them, too.
But on the third day they heard the sound of their shepherd's voice once again. The shepherd greeted them with a word of peace. They saw him once again and they just knew that things were going to be the way they once were. Problem is, things were different now. The sheep all looked at each other and knew that something had happened. What was it? Well, they had fallen asleep as sheep, but woke up as shepherds. Their good shepherd handed them everything they needed for the job, a compassionate heart and a shepherd's crook. They were to gather a flock of their own. This word was written on their hearts, "Now, do for them as I did for you." I don't mind being called brother or pastor or preacher. Calling me John is just fine with me, but I love it when one of our members calls me her shepherd. I like that. I hope I have been a good one for you. Take your job as a shepherd seriously, friends. Let us pray.
( I am indebted to a couple of preachers for help with this sermon. One is Barbara Brown Taylor as noted above. The second is a source I cannot find again, but the preacher tells about the shepherd in her church).