THE GOOD SHEPHERD’S STORY

Psalm 23; John 10: 11-1

Over the years of the hymns that have been written, carols that have been sung, and books that have been read, the world has come up with a rather romanticized picture of a shepherd. Sometimes they look like a boy in a bathrobe with a hand towel attached to his head with an athletic store sweat band. Sometimes they look sweet and gentle, and the gift of angels visiting them makes them seem holy. They were also among the first at the stable in Bethlehem when Jesus was born. Max Lucado, in his book, GOD CAME NEAR, writes “God had entered the world as a baby. Yet, were someone to chance upon the sheep stable on the outskirts of Bethlehem that morning, what a peculiar scene they would behold. The stable stinks like all stables do ….the ground is hard, the hay is scarce. Cobwebs cling to the ceiling and a mouse scurries across the dirt floor. A lowlier place of birth could not exist. And off to one side sits the group of shepherds.” [W Publishing Group, p. 4] In fact, shepherds in real life might have looked more like the illegal residents who rallied across our nation last week, asking for citizenship rights: some of them are hard working opportunists; some of the are not; some of them are honest, some of them are not; some of them care about their work; others just care about their families; and some drown their cares in drink.

When David affirmed that the Lord was his shepherd, he was first affirming that his Lord was someone he could trust. The Shepherd David may not have trusted kings or princes. Shepherds-like some country folk, back woodsmen, or survivalists-don’t trust strangers, don’t trust government, don’t trust military people; but they do trust certain shepherds. It was a lot for a shepherd to say he trusted someone like a colleague or a friend. The Lord felt that close to David as he wrote: The Lord is my Shepherd. Remember: as we scrap away the glow that carols have brought to shepherds: they are poor, dirty, and outcast in addition to being suspicious. Those are the ones the angels visited first. Politicians who have won have learned this lesson too: if you can convince the grassroots people that you are honest and your message is true, then you can change many other minds as well. By sending angels to shepherds first, God showed heaven’s care for the very poor and outcast. Later we know that Jesus would be called King, but to start life in a stable and be honored by shepherds was exactly as God planned. God in the flesh was born to a willing teenage girl and blessed with a human father- a tradesman- with carpenter’s hands.

Later, Jesus tells his disciples that HE is the Good Shepherd who will care for his followers like a good shepherd cares for sheep. The Lord whom David addressed cares for all in his flock. Jesus is our shepherd because we, like sheep, go astray. Jesus is also our shepherd to show the great reach of care he has for all people in all stations of life. God became mortal in Christ in all of the dirt, poverty, and smells of those living outdoors, of those who are homeless, of those who are rugged. But this one special shepherd is a Good shepherd: one who cares for his sheep, one who can be trusted by both owner and animal; one who is at home in the poverty of a stable, a donkey, or a pauper’s grave. Today we serve a risen Lord, but one who humbled himself to know our pains, our sorrows, and our joys. Come as one poor of body, where a morsel of bread is a feast and a sip of juice is refreshment. The table has been prepared. Jeffrey A. Sumner 5/7/06