Year B Easter IV Psalm 23

Back in my college days, I spent one Thanksgiving with a clergy family that sort of “adopted” me when they found I wasn’t going home for the holiday. I’d actually planned on making a retreat that week, but the minister and his wife, plus their son – who was my age – decided I should join them for the holiday meal.

The minister was a man of sound and unshakable opinions, one of the loveable but gruff sorts, and during the meal, as talk turned to “lambs of God”, he let us all know that he much preferred the “goats” to the “sheep” in his congregation. Lambs, he felt, were too passive. He preferred those with opinions and personalities that challenged him.

But here we are today on what is called Good Shepherd Sunday – when we hear in our Gospel: Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. I never had the opportunity to hear the minister preach on this Gospel, but I wonder what he would have said. If Jesus is the Shepherd, who are we - goats or sheep? It gives us pause for thought.

What does it mean to be a sheep?

To be a sheep is, at its most basic, to be a creature. Unlike humans, sheep probably do not contemplate whether or not they are God. They likely do not spend their days thinking about ambition and success and storing up wealth for themselves. They have much more pressing tasks to tend to.

For instance, sheep must eat. And eat. And eat. And when they are done eating, they must take a little rest. Perhaps, they will find that they need some time to roughhouse and playfully pick on one another. Then they find that they need to rest some more, cuddling up in a heap, snoozing a bit in the sun or the shade of a tree, depending on their desired temperature. They do not spend their days thinking that they are the Source of all that is, the center of the universe, nor the creature at the heart of creation. Sheep, it seems, are just so happy to be sheep: eating and walking and playing and sleeping and bleating their way through life. A sheep is a creature, created and loved by their Creator.

Being a sheep also means being a part of a community, a herd. They are safest and happiest as part of a big community of sheep. When one does wander off, it knows it is alone, scared, and in a precarious position. It knows that – out here on this hillside all by itself – it will be an easy and quick dinner for that wolf or other roaming predator. Sometimes, a sheep gets lost, it’s true. But most sheep know to stick together, that their body depends on other bodies forming into one large protective pile. Sheep do not think they should live all alone, independent, and not reliant upon any other sheep. A life alone would be a sad and crazy life for a sheep. Sheep know that they need other sheep, desperately – because their very lives depend on it.

There are many more things we could say about sheep – like how they are fairly intelligent and how their wool is used to warm lots of other creatures around the world. Sheep certainly sound like “good people” to us, and so we are happy to say:

“The LORD is my Shepherd – I shall not want . . .

We’re content with this until we start to consider the other side of being a sheep.

Sheep are followers. Our society doesn’t encourage us to grow up and become followers. We are a society of people who want to be leaders, the ones in charge, giving the orders, followed and respected by others.

Sheep are followers because they have no idea where they are going. They do not have an internal GPS system that has highlighted all of the best pastures around. They would stay in their same pasture, eating stubby little grass. Or they would wander into a den of wolves. They need someone to call out their names (yes, sheep respond to their names). And they need someone to yell out, “Hey, over here, there’s some really thick and luscious grass for you to eat.”

Sheep need a guide – someone who knows their needs and can tend to them; someone to ward off scary wolves and defend them in the face of danger; someone who will memorize their markings, knowing their distinctive identities; someone who will help bring new lambs into the world; someone who will bury those who have died from illness and age; someone who is trustworthy and someone who knows the lay of the land, the places of danger and the places of respite.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul:

Oh! Wait a minute! That sounds good! So - we are sheep after all! Good to realize it and to come to understand we are sheep, because we can’t be anything but sheep. We are not the ruler of our lives, our herds, nor the masters of our destiny. To be a sheep – and at this point it is glaringly obvious – is not really a transition, because being a sheep is remarkably similar to being a human. We are creatures who need community and who can’t help but follow – since we often have no idea where we are going in the first place.

We are sheep because we are in desperate need of a Shepherd.

And this shepherd is a particularly good shepherd. One who will lay His life down for us. For us? Mere sheep? Yes, for us. This Good Shepherd will take us on a long and winding journey. And as we follow this Shepherd, there may be days where we wonder to ourselves: does this Shepherd know what He is doing? He seems to be taking us to a far and strange land. Those pastures back there seemed good enough for us – why, oh why, are we traveling again? It is scary out here.

But then we will arrive. And there will be such glorious sustenance, unexpected gifts of joy, and immense confirmation: this is a good Shepherd, and He knows what He is doing. Our dry mouths will be replenished, and our hungry bellies will be filled. We will know the solace of being known and the grace of not having to have it all figured out by ourselves.

The Good Shepherd is calling us - calling you – can you hear him? He is singing out your name. He is inviting us to get close, to join the herd for the journey, to rejoice in our created goodness, and to follow Him wherever He leads, even through those valleys of death.

Will you follow? Will you go where He calls? Will you let Him love you? Will you let Him carry you when you’re wounded and heal your loneliness? Will you trust Him, the Good Shepherd, with your very life?

Surely, surely, His goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives and we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Let us pray:

Eternal God, Heavenly Father, we were once sheep going astray; but we have now returned to You the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls! Thank You for watching over us even when we were not faithful to You. Thank You for loving us unconditionally so that we could return to Your flock like we had never left! You are the Good Shepherd, You would leave ninety-nine sheep just to save the one! Thank you for loving us so much! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.