Sunday, May 3rd was “Good Shepherd Sunday” – a day which comes around in churches that follow the Revised Common Lectionary (a 3 year, pre-set schedule of reading throughout the Bible, used by many denominations world-wide); the day in which we hear the much beloved Psalm 23, and the Gospel lesson where Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd.” (John 10:11-18)
I look forward to hearing these lessons, probably because of all the sweet Sunday School images they conjure up: a nice, neat looking Jesus cradling a soft little white lamb; or a nice, neat looking Jesus carrying a big fluffy sheep on his shoulders.
But in reality, shepherds’ work was dirty work – and sheep smell. And it was hard work to get sheep to move along to greener pastures. It was the job of the shepherd to keep the sheep safe, and keep them moving to areas where they would find food. Because sheep, if left alone, will eat all the grass in a pasture – down to the roots, and kill it. Unless they are moved to a greener pasture, the sheep will just stay right there, and starve.
In the book “Living With Sheep,” Chuck Wooster & Geoff Hansen write:
“Sheep, like many humans, prefer to eat dessert first. Turn them out in a pasture that has some nice, tasty alfalfa interspersed with some decent grass and an occasional thorny thistle, and they’ll eat the alfalfa. Then they’ll work on the grass. But they’ll never eat the thistle… they’ll eat everything else down to its roots and kill it in the process. Your sheep can starve, because they’ve ‘high-graded’ the pasture by taking the best and leaving the rest.”
The really Good Shepherd gets down and dirty with us, protects and cares for us, and wants to move us to greener pastures so we don’t starve.
It makes me wonder, have I gotten comfortable in this pasture? Am I eating it down to the ground? Am I just taking the good stuff, and leaving the hard and difficult teachings? Where is Jesus trying to lead me right now?
These are good questions for each of us, individually – and as a church. Are we comfortable where we are? Or, are we willing to let the Good Shepherd lead us to greener pastures?
