THE SHEPHERD AND THE SHEEP DOG

John 10:1-10 and Psalm 23

Dear friends in Christ.  The picture or image of Jesus as our Good Shepherd is a very comforting one.  The Shepherd is meant to be a carer, one who loves and looks after the needs of his sheep and we all need care and love.  That’s why the words of Psalm 23 are so popular among Christians.  They bring the kind of comfort and assurance we need especially in difficult times. 

Psalm 23:1-6:  A Psalm of David.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. [2] He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, [3] he restores my soul.  He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. [4] Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. [5] You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.  [6] Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

 
In John’s gospel we hear the words of The Good Shepherd, Jesus, who assures us that his sheep know his voice and follow him, and he leads them that they might have life, and have it abundantly.

John 10:1-10: "I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. [2] The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. [3] The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. [4] When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. [5] But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." [6] Jesus used this figure of speech, but they did not understand what he was telling them. [7] Therefore Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. [8] All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. [9] I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. [10] The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

I’m told that sheep, when they are shepherded closely, will not listen to the voice of a stranger or a thief, but only the voice of their shepherd.  We are God’s sheep.  He is our Shepherd.  He loves and cares for us.  He knows us, but sadly we humans don’t always act like those loyal sheep.  We are so easily led away by other voices.  In America and Australia there have been many very tragic cases of people following self-styled leaders sho have convinced them to even commit suicide as the way to eternal life.  (The most recent was some years ago when 200 men and women committed suicide being convinced that aliens were coming to take them to a better world.)
More recently we regularly see on our TV screens the terrible carnage caused by suicide bombers, who blow themselves away with the false belief they will become martyrs and enter immediately into heaven.  If the truth were known these people were not much different from us.  Most did not start off twisted or crazies, eccentrics, but were ordinary people with normal fears and dreams, looking for answers in a mixed up world.

The Scriptures tell us that Psalm 23 is a Psalm of David.  So the great King David perhaps when he was a Shepherd boy wrote, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.”  Oh but David did want didn’t he?  David was called away by the voice of lust, a lust so great it drove him to want to murder his neighbour.

It doesn’t take much to get confused between the voice of the true and good shepherd and the voice of the thief who comes to steal and kill and destroy.  Voices call us from every direction, from inside ourselves and outside ourselves, promising us abundant life, urging us to go in this direction or that direction.  It is so easy to get caught in listening to all kinds of voices and pretty soon we’re out there like a bunch of silly sheep following what we call the great Aussie dream, or looking to overcome all our money problems by winning the lottery, or being swept off our feet by Prince Charming, or Princess Charming.  Or we follow the voices that say success is a good job with good superannuation provisions or a good career that will give you all your wants. Wants like a nice family home or a ¼ acre block in a safe respectable neighbourhood, with the latest Commodore or Ford Falcon or whatever in the garage and next to it the caravan or the holiday flat near the beach, and 2.3 kids to care for you in your old age.  Then maybe, when we have all these things, we can say: “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want” because we would have all that we want.  Or would we?

The thief calls us to that version of the abundant life.  Jesus, the Good Shepherd calls us to something quite different.  In John’s gospel we see that the abundant life is not all success, financial security, good health and happy familles.  Our Good Shepherd Jesus was not led into charming pastures but into death on a cross.   Jesus, the first among sheep became a sacrifice, the perfect Passover lamb, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.  The common picture of Jesus as the Good Shepherd is often one of a soft, untroubled, peaceful man. But the harsh reality is that the true picture of the Good Shepherd is one of a man who suffers and is slaughtered for you and me.  The reality of shepherding, of farming sheep is that shepherds and farmers do not keep sheep as pets.  Sheep are kept for shearing and also for butchering and eating.  There is a time for protecting, for caring and looking after the sheep, even for playing with the little lambs.  And the Shepherd may love them and call them by name.  But the reality of life says that finally the day comes for killing.  A lamb must be sacrificed. One of the sheep must be tonight’s dinner. Jesus the gentle Good Shepherd becomes the sheep that was sacrificed so that we might be nourished and kept alive.

The Good News is, that through our baptism, we belong to the Good Shepherd’s flock, and so we too are called to a life of sacrifice for others, called to follow the example of the Good Shepherd, and give our life in service of God and our world. The voices of the false shepherds promise no shearing, no suffering, no death, no cross.  They are the voices of the thieves.  Those voices promise our lives will be successful but for what? 

The voice of our Good Shepherd tells us we will go through the ‘Valley of the shadow of death.’  There will be times of heartache.  There will be times when we feel shorn and stripped and bleeding. In these times be assured you haven’t followed or listened to the wrong Shepherd.  Through your suffering the Good Shepherd may be preparing you as a sacrifice for someone he intends to give you to, someone who is naked, or hungry or struck dumb with grief and loss.  Through your suffering God may be leading you to understand and bring comfort and compassion to a fellow sufferer, and even though you both will face death you will not do so alone.  And that will make a difference.

Someone once wrote: ‘The way things become holy, is not through special blessing with holy waters or oils, but to give them away for the sake of love.’  That’s why God gives us away, we Christians, to this tired, aching, old world.  That is why we give ourselves away in caring for those around us.  We will be tempted along the way to listen to other voices and wander off, but don’t worry Psalm 23 promises that the sheep dogs are behind us, ready to keep us in the flock.  Didn’t you notice them?  They are at the end.  ‘Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.’

The sheep dogs are ‘Goodness and Mercy’.  God’s sheep dogs, following us all our life long.  Even though we go through death’s valley we need fear no evil for God’s goodness and mercy are behind us.  God promised to complete the good work he began in you at your baptism, where he planted faith and adopted you as His own.  God assures us in Holy Communion that through the body and blood of Jesus we have His mercy, the forgiveness of sins, life now and life forevermore.  Goodness and Mercy God’s sheep dogs are faithful.  They will never leave or desert or run away or get distracted.  They will safely lead us and ‘we will live in the house of the Lord forever’ and there all the sheep will be gathered and all tears will be wiped away.  There will be no more suffering, no more false voices, no more cruelty.  Only life, abundantly with God forever more.  Amen.