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When I mention the word “shepherd”, what kinds of images come to mind? I asked this question to our Tuesday Bible study group and their answers were probably not too different from most of yours. They talked about green grass, and watching over the sheep, and calm, and peace, and maybe someone laying there playing music on a harp like David used to do. In our Christian minds, we have this idea that being a shepherd would be a peaceful, idyllic existence. Most of that probably comes from two places. First, artwork like this that portrays Jesus as the Good Shepherd. And from Psalm 23, and I’ll read it in the King James English since that’s how a lot of us old timers learned it growing up. The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever. From these two places, I understand where people get this idea of how shepherds and sheep got associated with peace and calm and rest. And two times in our gospel passage, Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd, so that means that he is all these wonderful things, right? Well, I don’t want to shatter anyone’s long held beliefs about Jesus, but I would venture to say that when Jesus said that he was the Good Shepherd, it wasn’t this pretty of a thing. It wasn’t all lovey-dovey. Instead, it was a very confrontational statement. It would have made the people squirm in discomfort. It would have attracted some people to Jesus, but to others, it would’ve completely repelled them, offended them, and probably made them think twice about following such a confrontational guy. You see, back in Bible times, they didn’t have these nice pictures of Jesus carrying a little lamb or little pre-schoolers dressing up like sheep for the Christmas pageant. Back in Bible times, they got to see shepherds every now and then, whenever they came into town from out in the fields. But they probably smelled the shepherds before they saw them, for sheep are obnoxiously stinky creatures and their stink lingers on anything nearby – including the shepherds’ clothes. They also probably saw shepherds lead the sheep onto their property, onto their own land, and allowing the sheep to destroy whatever crops had grown. And sheep weren’t like cattle, rather than just eat the tops of the grass, sheep actually pull up the grass from the root. If the shepherds showed up with their flock of sheep, you could kiss your crops good-bye. They were a rough, kinda scraggely group, probably pretty anti-social – all that time with animals, not much time with women or other people. Shepherds weren’t really folks you would want to hang out with and you certainly wouldn’t want to mess with them. They carried their crook to yank back wandering sheep, but they also carried their rod, which is really what amounted to a club, often with little metal spikes sticking out of it to kill whatever happened to threaten the sheep. And so, perhaps more than the peaceful, pastoral shepherd of Psalm 23, it is this tough, defiant, protector image that Jesus had in mind when he said, “I am the Good Shepherd.” And, at least for me, this image of Jesus takes some getting used to. I like to think of Jesus like a friend, a confidant, a comforter – the Psalm 23 Jesus. But this good shepherd imagery seems to suggest Jesus the bodyguard, Jesus the cowboy, Jesus the rough and tumble manly-man. In just this one little passage, you have Jesus confronting some pretty powerful opponents, pitting himself against some pretty formidable foes. What makes Jesus the Good Shepherd? The fact that he will do anything to protect and care for his sheep. For starters, you have the Good Shepherd Jesus against the wolves. Wolves are pretty nasty creatures themselves, smart, calculating, hunting in packs. Last time I checked, there aren’t too many packs of wolves running around St. Charles, but I know there are all kinds of wolves that threaten your safety out there in the world. There are people who are just waiting to tear you down, make fun of you, take advantage of you, make a buck off of you, manipulate you, and just waiting to snatch you up. It breaks my heart whenever I talk to some of our teenagers and I can tell that they’re having a hard time. When I ask them what’s wrong, often the response is something like, “Nothing, just regular teenage crud.” Yeah, just teenage crud that rips your heart out, tears you down, makes you just want to come home from school and cry until dinner because of what people are saying to you or the pressures that you’re facing. Wolves. I remember, I was there in high school once, a long time ago. And that teenage crud, often just turns into adult crud when it seems like you’re all alone and no one is on your side helping you through cancer, or job loss, or divorce. These are the wolves that attack us in suburbia and they are no less real than the wolves that Jesus talked about. But that’s why Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd and why he wields that powerful rod – because he doesn’t want anything bad to happen to you. He is on your side, trying his best to protect you, and when those wolves come, he will stand his ground with you and lay down his life if necessary. He is completely devoted to you. But another thing that Jesus is against in this passage is all those crummy hired hands, those who you think are on your side, but at the first sign of danger, they run away leaving you all by yourself. You know that kind of people I’m talking about. The kind of people who say they’ll be there for you or do something, but never follow through or are always prone to let you down. You’ve probably heard the old joke, What’s the difference between a chicken and a pig at breakfast? The chicken is involved, but the pig is committed. Hired hands are too often chickens and won’t stick with you through it all. Jesus, on the other hand, is the pig. He’s committed to you. He’s not going anywhere when the going gets tough. He’s willing to give up his life to save you. There was a great example of this in the news recently with that captain who was captured by the pirates off the coast of Somalia. He locked his crew in a room and allowed himself to be captured so that everyone else on his boat could escape. He thought full well that he was going to die and he was willing to do it for the sake of those under his command. I don’t know if he’s a Christian or not, but he was certainly acting like the Good Shepherd that day. Like the captain was to his crew, Jesus is completely committed to you. So if Jesus is against wolves, and against the hired hands, who is he for? Jesus, the Good Shepherd is for you. He came to earth and became human for you. He was betrayed and arrested for you. He was wrongly convicted and crucified for you. He died for you, just as any good shepherd would do for their sheep. Jesus is against anything that would hurt you, harm you, or cause you to suffer…but he is for you. He is completely devoted to you. He is completely committed to you. And he has sacrificed for you in ways that no one else probably has or probably ever will again. If you happen to know any wolves out there, you just warn them about Jesus and what he’ll do to them if they keep coming after you. If you have any halfway friends who just use you up and spit you out, you just tell them about Jesus and let them deal with him. Because, here’s the deal. Jesus knows you. You are one of his own little sheep, as smelly, as stupid, as obnoxious as you sometimes are, you are his and he loves you. And he cares for you. And he laid his life down for you. While its nice to have a gentle, caring, lovable, peaceful Psalm 23 Jesus, sometimes its good to know that you have you someone who will fight for you against all the evil that threatens you...and the one who will do that, that’s the Good Shepherd. Amen.
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