Words for Worship

Ministry Today

Text John 10.1-5; 14-18

 

I suppose, from time to time,

we all get fed up

with our house’s view.

 

But that is not a problem

for many on

the Falkland Islands.

 

Particularly on those

desolate isles

to the West.

 

For their homes

are built from

a wooden frame

covered with

aluminium sheeting.

 

So when the view

starts to pall

it is not very difficult

to get half-a-dozen tractors

and some wooden rollers

and just haul

the home

to a new location.

 

They literally then

move house.  

 

And this lessee fair attitude

to their address

also extends

to their jobs.

 

For they are all

tenanting Shepherds

for landowners

8000 miles away.

 

So if any of

their vast flocks

get lost

they don't go looking

for them.

 

Because in the end,

the sheep are

mere commodities

cultivated for the wool.

 

Indeed it is only ever

the islanders

who eat their mutton

which they call

– 365 –

as they eat it

365 days per year.

 

Contrast that with

the Palestinian shepherds’ outlook

of over 2000 years ago.

 

Now he lived perpetually

with his sheep.

 

He walked everywhere

with them.

 

He even led the way

when they were

traversing

a treacherous pass.

 

And as this shepherd

also kept few sheep,

he knew each animal

individually.

 

Moreover, each creature

would be born,

grow up

and enter old age

in his company.

 

No wonder then

that he often gave them

names.

 

They, in turn,

also had to

rely on him

entirely.

 

For their common habitat

was arid and dangerous.

 

Therefore, the sheep

needed the shepherd

to find them

grazing and water,

to aid the ewes

in lambing

and to protect them

from wolfs and robbers.

 

And so they followed willingly

this figure of safety.

 

And it is for all these reasons

that the Shepherd motif

is popular and meaningful

in the Bible.

 

It was for these,

better reasons,

that Christ called himself

a shepherd.

 

And it was for these,

the best of all reasons,

that we too

are tempted

to follow Jesus

as our Shepherd.

 

So let us spend

a little bit of time

looking at

what it truly means

to have Christ as

our friend, healer,

help and Saviour.

 

Let us think through

the ways that

Jesus is indeed

our good shepherd.

 

 

 

Now Anne Hobbes

tells us that

her neighbours

near her Welsh home

are good shepherds.

 

Good, at least,

in the sense that

their flocks are w

ell fed, contented

and cared for.

 

Yet they only tend

their flock

occasionally.  

 

So when it is time

to around them up

they use quad bikes

and dogs

to forcibly drive

the sheep ahead of them.

 

With the result

the sheep run away

at the sight of any human

and ignore their voices

when they can.

 

What a difference then

from the first way

that Jesus

is our shepherd.

 

For he, like the shepherds

of long ago,

spends his days

in the fields

with his flock.

 

Therefore, he is

ever available

for us.

 

He also knows

each of us

through and through.

 

In other words,

he knows us

by name.  

 

Not only that but

in his care for us,

he never goads us forward

into the darkness.

 

He never drives us

in a blind panic.

 

Rather, he always gives us

reassurance

by going ahead

to insure our safety.  

 

And by that way,

we know that

there is nothing head

that he has not experienced.  

 

More importantly,

we know there is nothing

in the foggy unseen

which he has not

already conquered

on our behalf.

 

All we need do then

is to listen for

his voice,

respond to his voice

and give heartfelt thanks

for his voice.

 

After a Portsmouth businessman

had interviewed

an 18 year-old youth for a job,

he wrote to his previous employer

for a reference.

 

The reply came

by return of post

and gave him

food for thought.

 

It went:

 

Dear Sir,

Tom was in my employee

for two weeks.

 

Any employer

who gets Tom

to work for him

will be

a very lucking man indeed.

 

Yet that story reminds us

that a great deal

of our modern world

can be,

as it were,

read two ways.

 

For example,

24-hour news can inform

yet also

overwhelm and depress.

 

Here then is another way

Jesus is

our protecting shepherd.

 

Because he said-

I am the gate.

 

For in ancient times,

a shepherd would

lie across

the fold’s entrance

at night.

 

And this is how

he gave security

from malevolent attacks

upon his flock.

 

So too Jesus,

if we allow him,

will be our gateway

so that we might read

this world

the right way.

 

The gateway

to finding out

how to live our life

in freedom

but with well-being.

 

The gateway

to our fully exploiting

the right opportunities

presented to us

in this

here and now.

 

Indeed the gateway

to accepting the invitation

to live life to the full

in this wonderful 21st century world.

 

Yet we can say,

I'm not really good enough

for this Good Shepherd.

 

More truthfully,

there are times

when I do not want to

be part of his flock.

 

 

But it is when

we bleat and stray

the most

that Jesus demonstrates

his way

as our loyal shepherd.

 

For it is then,

he will have none of it.

 

So much so,

the further we drift,

the faster he comes after us

to cure our malaise

and to solve the situation.

 

And you know

that devoted shepherding

has another name –

a simpler title –

a more memorable moniker even –

and that is –

forgiveness.

 

Now in many ways

it is a silly story.

 

But like all stories

it has a point

to make.

 

And it goes like this.

 

One day, the farmyard animals

heard it was

the farmer’s birthday.

 

He was a good and kind man

and they felt

they should give him a gift.

 

And so  

they decided

they would give him

a breakfast

fit for a king.

 

The cows agreed

that they would provide

milk and butter.

 

The hens hurriedly agreed

that they would give

some eggs.

 

Then they all approached

the pig

for the bacon.

 

At which point,

he remarked that

while the rest

were being asked

for a contribution,

he was being called upon

to make a sacrifice.

 

And that phrase

 ’asked for a sacrifice’

brings us

to the greatest way

of Christ

as Shepherd.

 

For even in recent times,

shepherds have

put their lives

at risk

to rescue their flock.

 

And how much more so

is this true

of our good shepherd.

 

The Divine Shepherd who said-

I lay down my life

for the sheep.

 

The Good shepherd

who gave his life

so that we could have

this ever present guidance,

protection and forgiveness.

 

Yet wherever

the shepherd goes

so must the flock also.

 

And therefore

we show our gratitude

for Christ’s sacrifice

by picking

his path of giving,

caring and guiding;

his way of justice,

truth and hope;

Aye, his way too

of correcting, leading

and defending.  

 

For that is the path

that leads directly

to better views

for other lost sheep,

to a better house

for all his human flock

and a more secure fold

for ourselves.

 

A little boy told his mum

that he didn't want to go

to Sunday school

because they were going

to be learning

about heaven.

 

Astonished,

his mum asked –

why don’t want hear

about it.

 

To which he replied –

cos I've want heaven

to be a surprise!

 

Well maybe we want heaven

also to be a surprise.

 

But let us today

not be surprised

at the ways

of our shepherd

who leads us there.

 

For it is he

who knows

us and guides us

to a safer vantage-point.  

 

For it is he

that protects us

as we move home

to that better place.

 

For it is he indeed

who is the gateway

helping us escape

the wilderness’s dangers.  

 

Yet it is in

his way of sacrifice

that he offers us

the biggest surprise of all.

 

For it is through

Our Shepherds sacrifice alone

will we,

his flock,

not be so much surprised

by heaven

but that we will be

enfolded there -

365 days a year.

 

 

AMEN

 

HYMN

 

The Good Shepherd