Who Is the Shepherd?

What can I say about shepherds and sheep in first century Palestine that we have not already heard?   We know that the shepherd knows his sheep… that he has a special sound he makes that his sheep recognize… that they recognize his voice… and that the Good Shepherd would lay down his life to protect his sheep.  We know that Jesus is the Good Shepherd and that we are the sheep.  We have talked about all these things in previous Sundays.  Today, our focus seems to be on the sheep pen… the sheepfold itself… and the role that the shepherd plays in guarding the door. What can we observe in this text that may shed new light on our understanding of Jesus and on our understanding of ourselves?

A study of history tells us that a sheep pen in Palestine was normally constructed out of rocks that were piled high enough to make four walls. Barbed branches were put on top of the walls of rocks in order to prevent predators from coming over those walls into the sheep pen. There was a narrow entrance to the pen and, at dusk, the shepherd would guide the sheep through that narrow opening into the safety of the pen.  At night, the shepherd would actually lie down in the doorway and become, in essence, the door to the pen.  As the door, the shepherd would keep out the wolves, lions and other predators that might prey upon the sheep.  The sheep inside the pen were safe from harm, but those who were on the outside, separated from the flock and not in the pen, were subject to many predators as well as the dangers of wandering alone into unknown areas in the dark of night.

It is interesting to note that all the sheep need to do to be safe is to follow the shepherd into the sheepfold.  In order to do that, they need to listen for the shepherd’s call and pay attention to the guidance that the shepherd provides.  It is amazing that, even though the shepherd’s call is clear and the guidance is provided to all of the sheep, there are still sheep who manage to stray away and become separated from the flock, wandering into danger by themselves.  Isn’t it true that we can find some similarities between these sheep and ourselves?    How many of us, through our own inattention, have missed a turn… passed by our exit… or gone miles out of our way because we happened to have been distracted at the very moment when we should have been paying attention?   I will admit that it recently happened to me… not once, but twice in one night… resulting in a detour of more than fifteen miles and lots of wasted time.  How many times in our lives have we gotten off-track because we did not listen to someone who was attempting to provide some direction… or because we were distracted by something intriguing that was slightly off of the path we were on at the time?    The Greek word “akouo” in this passage means both “to hear” and “to pay attention to.”  It is not enough that the sheep hear the shepherd.  It is important that they pay attention to… that they heed … what the shepherd is saying… for only by doing what the shepherd instructs them to do will the sheep find the safety they seek. 

A second observation we can make of this text is that this passage tells us that anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs in by another way, is a thief and "a bandit."  There are those who attempt to access safety and security in life by stealing what they desire from others.  But, there are no shortcuts to the abundant life that Jesus promises. He tells us that the only way in is through the door and he is the door. It was Christ who died for us and it is through his death and resurrection that we have salvation.  The peace that God provides and the sense that our lives are filled to overflowing with love and grace comes from the knowledge that our sins have been forgiven and that we are free from the burden of that debt.  Only Jesus can give that knowledge… knowledge of a life so full and free that the actual physical state we live in… whether it is a prison cell or unfettered freedom… whether it is poverty or unimagined wealth… makes no difference at all.  The great theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer talked about the advantage of celebrating Easter Sunday from a prison cell. “You become entirely aware,” he said, “that the door is the only way out.  More than that: The door of a cell can be opened only from the outside.”  We cannot open the door ourselves.  When Jesus speaks of saving those who pass through the door, he has rescue in mind. Those who find Jesus, the door to the sheepfold, are saved not only from the predators that lurk outside the sheepfold, they also find freedom and abundant pastureland through the one who guards the door… who is the door… to all that God provides.

There is still another observation that we can make about this text.  The Greek verb that talks about the thieves coming is a verb that is set in the present tense, but denotes continuous action.  Those thieves and bandits that come to disrupt the tranquility of the sheepfold are coming and will continue to come to disrupt the lives of those who live in Christ.  This is not a one-time event that has been dealt with and will never happen again.  These thieves and bandits are a continually recurring challenge.  Just when we think we have achieved the peace and security of a life in Christ, something will come along that will attempt to shake our faith and distract us from all that we have found in him.  Living the Christian life is not a bed of roses… it is the daily challenge of coping with all that life throws at us with the abundance that God provides.  It is not for the faint of heart.

At the same time, Jesus talks about what he has done for the sheep and, while Jesus’ action is recorded in the past tense… “I have come,”… the result of that action is again in the present tense that, again, denotes continuous action… “that they may have life, and have it abundantly”… or, more accurately, that we might “continue to have life… and continue to have it in abundance.”   We have not been abandoned by our Savior.  He remains at the door of the sheepfold that he might guard the safety of the sheepfold… and, with the dawning of a new day, once again lead us forth into freedom and green pastures.

The task of protecting the sheep is not an easy one… and is, in fact, a task that claimed the life of our Savior… and yet, he continues to provide all that we need to have peace in our lives.  Most of us are familiar with Heinrich Hofman’s famous painting of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Binnerri Presbyterian Church in Richardson, Texas, has reproduced that painting in a stained glass window at the front of their beautiful sanctuary.  In that classic painting of Jesus praying in the garden, Jesus kneels with his hands folded on a rock and he gazes toward heaven with a look of beatific peace on his face.  That painting has never quite matched the story in the Bible that speaks of Jesus sweating blood as he prays.  At the end of a hallway in Binnerri Presbyterian Church, there is another painting of that same prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.  In this painting, Jesus is kneeling before the same rock… but this time his head is bowed and he is prostrate… his face is buried in his arms outstretched on the rock… his hair is in disarray…and the tension of the moment can be seen in his outstretched arms.  What a different picture… yet one that reveals the passion with which Jesus prayed that night… prayed not just for himself, but also for us… his disciples.    The shepherd has responsibility for all of the sheep… whose safety he prays for each night along with his own. 

Abundant living isn't hard to find.  As someone once said, it is merely a matter of walking through the right doors. The life of which Jesus is speaking… one that filled to overflowing the love and grace of God… one that is filled with joy regardless of life’s circumstances… is a life that comes through Jesus Christ.   We can follow phony shepherds who will make promises of false security and, for a time, we can think that we have found the abundant life in all that this world provides, but that soul-deep security of knowing God’s love and God’s grace… that life that is filled with a joy that overflows all boundaries… comes only through the Savior who died that we might live… the Savior who lives that we might know love and share that love with others.

For years, St. Anthony's Catholic Church in San Francisco has served meals to people in need. Over the doorway to its dining room, the church has posted a sign bearing the inscription: “Caritate Dei.”  One day a young mechanic, just released from jail and new to St. Anthony's, entered through the door and sat down for a meal. A woman was busy cleaning the adjoining table. "When do we get on our knees and do the chores, lady?" he asked. "You don't," she replied. "Then when's the sermon comin'?" he inquired. "Aren't any," she said. "How about the lecture on life, huh?" "Not here," she said.  The man was suspicious. "Then what's the gimmick?" he asked. The woman pointed to the inscription over the door where he had entered. He squinted at the sign. "What does it mean, lady?" "Out of love for God," she translated with a smile, and moved on to another table.   Those for whom the Savior died now serve others in his name. 

They say that love came down at Christmas… love with a capital “L”… a love so great and powerful that we stand helpless before its awesome majesty.  To be caught in its vortex is to be transformed into a new creature… one filled with love and joy… one longing to share that love and joy with others.  That is the love that promises safety within and freedom without… a love that encompasses all, yet knows no bounds… a love that takes the broken and makes them whole… that transforms the selfish into the selfless…  that turns small deeds into mighty acts… and transforms the sheep into shepherds themselves.  Yes, Jesus is the Good Shepherd, but he has commissioned us to serve others in his name.  Isn’t it through the One who gave his life that we find life?  Isn’t it through the love and grace we have received that we learn how to give?  Isn’t it through the One who came to serve that we learn to serve?  Who is the shepherd today?  We are… out of love for God.  Amen.

John 10:1-10