I am hoping that these notes will gain illustrations and order themselv
es by the morning...
There are times when we need to use our God given imagination- and I believe that today is one of them...
For we live in a pre-packaged age, an age where perhaps the closest we get to sheep is a TV advert, or a model farm- where all looks idyllic- spring lambs gambolling in the meadows..... Sheep too often belong even in our rural setting on picture post cards or T.V. screens...
... I want to paint you a picture of Israels pasture land- it is not the lush rich pasture land we are used to seeing in the lower sheep farming regions of this country- rather it was a sparse land- a land where fresh pasture needed to be sought out- a shepherd would need skill and knowledge of the land and seasons to tend and care for his flock...
It may have been closer to resembling the high country, with its vast open spaces, and wind swept moorlands- but there were the added dangers of predators we do not find any longer in this country- bears and wolves, and even mountain lions.... shepherds in biblical times had their work cut out to protect their flocks....
Sheep were precious- they were farmed for their milk, and their wool, and their meat, they were also important as sacrificial animals in the culture of the day....
Shepherds had an important job, and yet they were treated as outcasts- unclean- they occupied a servant role in a hierarchal society....
... and yet Jesus, the son of God- when asked yet again if he is indeed the Messiah replies in these words:
"I told you, but you don't believe. Everything I have done has been authorised by my Father, actions that speak louder than words.You don't believe because you're not my sheep. My sheep recognise my voice. I know them, and they follow me. I give them real and eternal life. They are protected from the Destroyer for good. No one can steal them from out of my hand. The Father who put them under my care is so much greater than the Destroyer and Thief. No one could ever get them away from him. I and the Father are one heart and mind."
He is taking for himself the title of shepherd- servant leader- tender of the weak and vulnerable- yet the infinitely precious flock of God....
The shepherd would truly give his life for his sheep, caring for them, nurturing them and leading them as the psalm says into safe pastures and beside still waters...the psalm is a psalm of trust, of acknowledgement that God will provide for our needs, even in the difficult and dark places, God will lead us through....
Our dark places may be circumstances, they may be questions and doubts... the challenge Jesus gives us is to recognise his voice through the chatter and accusation of other voices... to listen through the barrage of instructions for his still small voice... at times it is as difficult as listening for platform announcements at a busy London railway station...
Jesus says his flock recognise his voice- they recognise it through knowing him, through spending time with him- so that when the " static" interruptions come our way we know, and recognise and will follow....
Sheep we are told, are stupid creatures- I am not so convinced- if sheep were truly stupid they would follow anyone- and yet these sheep knew the shepherds voice- they would follow him trusting in him for care and protection.... for unlike our shepherds who work dogs and round up the sheep from behind, Eastern shepherds would lead the way, testing and scouting the path and calling for their sheep to follow.... another interesting thing about sheep- and one which in our individualistic society is easy to overlook, that is that they are communal animals, they do best in herds- they stick together for protection and they keep one another warm, the shepherds knew this and at night they would corral the sheep in a shelter- enclosed on three sides, laying across the final side- making a door out of their living physical bodies...
Jesus offers himself to us as our Good Shepherd,calling us on, laying down his life for us , and becoming the door through which we are able to approach God- for ultimately we belong to God- we are precious to God- and yet here the illustration is turned upon its head- for we are not cared for and nurtured and led in order to become sacrificial lambs- we find ourselves served by the Good Shepherd in the most startling way- Jesus truly lay his life down for us- he gave himself to set us free, to ensure our access to God- in laying down his life he became our doorway, our gate, and he calls us to follow him .... to lay down our lives that we might enter into the freedom and vastness of a life lived in Gods presence.... the response is ours to make, to enter, or not...
The benefits are made clear, the table is laid....the invitation is given... come and eat- without cost.... the table is laid with good things; for the table is laid for us even in the presence of danger and difficulty, God's anointing is available to us- goodness and mercy will surround us when we make the choice to trust....
If that seems to good to be true it might be worth remembering some of Jesus other warnings to and demands upon his followers, he called for commitment, total commitment-though the road may not be, persecution may come.... he will call us on if we will follow- not a stupid dumb following- but as those who recognise and see the Good Shepherd is the one who leads the way to life in all its fullness...
Jesus calls and commissions us just as he commissioned Peter- the repentant and humbled Peter , the Peter who denied him three times was given the charge of caring for and leading Gods flock- like Peter we are called, called to leave our mistakes and wrondoings behind us- for they are forgiven, called not to live a past of if only's, but to sieze the day- to accept the forgiveness of a God whose desire is to restore and equip us.... for in God's plan sheep grow up to be shepherds.... not to be fattened for the slaughter
The final words of this passage are startling for throguh Christ we receive the revealtion of a God who longs to hold, to nuture and protect us, a God who in Christ gave his very life for us.... and more amazing his annointing is an annointing of the Holy Spirit, through whom we find the strength and boldness to follow...

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