Shepherded with Love - February 16
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 101, 109:1-4(5-19)20-30; PM Psalm 119:121-144; Gen. 31:25-50; 1 John 2:12-17; John 10:1-18
Today’s Reflection
‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 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. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.’ —John 10: 12-18
Sheep are among the earliest of domesticated animals. Archaeologists have found artifacts with images of sheep as far back as 6,000 years ago. Apparently, they are the one domesticated animal that has never been found to revert to being wild—you will not find feral sheep, anywhere. Sheep have been with us humans for so long that they don’t know any other way to be. Over the years, sheep have been stereotyped as dumb creatures. But in fact, sheep are smarter than we have given them credit for being. Sheep can recognize and remember faces of fellow sheep even two years after last seeing them. They form attachments to one another, and they have the capacity for emotions—for instance, they notice when a fellow sheep has left the fold for good, and they show sadness about it. Sheep have minds and feelings of their own—and maybe that’s why they, like us, can be hard to wrangle sometimes. A shepherd is needed to keep them safe, both from predators and from their own proclivity to wander.
And what about shepherds, what is their role? The life of shepherds is not easy, especially back in the times when the Psalmist and John were writing about them. Shepherds needed to live amongst their sheep. And because sheep have minds capable of remembering and recognizing other sheep, and recognizing people as well, the more time a shepherd spends with his sheep, the more likely the sheep are to bond with the shepherd, to recognize the shepherd’s scent and voice and even face. Pope Francis once said that priests, if they are truly following the example of a shepherd, need to smell like more their sheep. In other words, someone who is truly ministering to a community needs to be so embedded in that community that they take on the scent of their flock—only then, they will be more accepted and followed when it is time for them to lead.
Being a shepherd also requires courage—when a threat to the flock comes on the scene, maybe a lion or a bear, or a river overflowing its banks, the shepherd has to do whatever it takes to either make the threat go away, or to get the sheep out of danger—to safe shelter or higher ground. Sometimes sheep are kept in an enclosure overnight, as John describes in today’s Gospel; and if there is no gate to the sheep pen, the shepherd would make his body into a human gate to make sure that no sheep wandered away during the night—and that no predator snuck into the enclosure to steal away one of the sheep.
Ultimately, being a Good Shepherd, as Jesus was and is to us, means to be someone who takes care of the needs of others, guiding others with equal parts gentleness, firmness, and courageousness. Our identity as followers of Christ means that we are both sheep and shepherds. We are sheep who need to be shepherded—we need to be led to green pastures and to be guided to still waters. We need to be guided through the valleys of the shadow, knowing that God is with us, his rod and his staff comforting us. We need shepherding by God—and oftentimes God shepherds us through placing shepherding people into our lives. And, in turn, we are called to be those shepherds to the people God places within the circle of our care.
Becky+
Questions for Self-Reflection
Who has served as a shepherd for you? Who have you served as shepherd for? What do you learn of Jesus’ love for us when you think of these shepherding relationships in your life?
Daily Challenge
Learn more of shepherds in Holy Scripture by reading this article.
This reflection is an excerpt from my April 25, 2021 sermon—you can listen to the full sermon here.