The Voice of Love is Calling
Philip Keller tells a story in his book, Lessons from a Sheep Dog, about how a bedraggled collie named Lassie came into his possession. One day he happened to notice an ad in the paper that simply said: "Border collie to good owner. Currently uncontrollable and chases children and cars." So, he found the address in the city and discovered a horrible situation.
He founded a collie penned up in the backyard of a home and it was obvious the dog had been neglected. Its coat was a tangled mass full of burrs, thorns, and dirt. Additionally, it was clear that there were several generations of ticks and fleas burrowed down under this dog's fur. But the real clincher was the chain about its neck and another chain attached to its back leg.
Keller writes that he went up to the dog and it began to bark and growl and snap at him with a menace that raged in its soul. The owner informed him that the dog was two years old and had "gone wrong and was totally useless." He was told that this dog was beyond hope and help. Keller also knew that at two years of age this dog had probably learned all it could and would never be reformed. But despite that fact, he decided to take a chance on it.
He finally managed to get the dog in the back seat of his car for the long ride into the country. Periodically he would reach around and attempt to touch the dog and she would growl and snap at him. Upon arriving home, he finally managed to get the dog out and put her into the place he had fixed for her. He had built a fine kennel with clean bedding. He had a large bowl of water and a dish that had food heaped on it. But this dog ignored it all. She refused to eat, drink, or enter the kennel. Any attempts to pet her or to touch her were rejected. Any attempts to speak kindly to her were met with low growls and bared fangs.
Finally at a loss, since she was not eating or drinking, Keller decided that to keep her from wasting away, he turned her loose. Off she darted like a deer to the woods behind the house and Keller wondered if he would ever see her again. In fact, several months went by before Keller saw her again. He had almost given up on her and then one evening as he was moving some sheep from one pasture to another he looked up and saw her crouched down on rock above the pasture. She was watching intently every move of the shepherd and his flock. Her instincts were starting to kick back in, and she was being drawn in by the shepherd and the sheep.
He noticed as time passed that she would come nearer to him in the evenings as he sat in the edges of the pasture watching the sheep. When he would see her, he would flip small bits of food from his pack to her and she would slip up, take them, and then run back a safe distance away. But during her trek to get the food, Keller would speak clearly and softly to her in an attempt to win her over. Finally, as it turned out, the collie finally lost all of her fear and through the kindness and love of Keller became one of the best sheepdogs he ever had.
(From a sermon by Philip Harrelson, The Voice of the Shepherd, 8/6/2010)
Today’s scripture reading is about The Good Shepherd who loves us despite our brokenness, who can transform us into the best versions of ourselves no matter what the world has done to us:
John 10:11-18 (New International Version)
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So, when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”
I don’t know if anyone else has ever watched those animal rescue shows on television? It has been a while since I have, but I will never forget seeing those dogs whose owner had chained them up so long the chains would literally grow into the dogs’ neck. Burdened by uncaring evils of a harsh and cruel world, and victims of a less than optimal owner. Yet, we often find ourselves weighed down, burdened, by a harsh world that is fueled with worldly desires, like material items, drugs and addiction, bad attitudes, cruelty… and the list goes on…
The Hand that Feeds
So, who do you allow to feed you? The Good Shepherd who is caring, loving, and kind? The optimal fixer of our brokenness? When I think of the idea ‘fixer of brokenness’ I think of the the Japanese art of Kintsugi. I want you to imagine a time you dropped a glass vase or bowl. It drops, breaks into a thousand pieces, maybe you have kids in the room, and you are yelling at them to stay out of the kitchen, and some regret and anger loom. You know the heavy feel, especially if you loved that dish. Now imagine yourself being that broken dish, that pretty vase or that china bowl. Right? We are the broken. Kintsugi, the Japanese Art, is the fixer. The ‘Fixer’ uses a precious metal, the best medal, to bring back together the pieces of broken pottery and to enhance the breaks. The repaired pieces become beautifully unique, handcrafted by the Artist! Not only are we ‘…fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:13-14), we are fearfully and wonderfully restored. We are God’s handiwork (Ephesians 2:10), again. We are the clay, You are the potter (Isaiah 64:8).
The scars, remember the Unbelievable Scars? They become what we want to exhibit. With this technique, it’s possible to create true and always different works of art, each with its own story and beauty, thanks to the unique cracks formed when the object breaks as if they were wounds that leave different marks on each of us. In boundary training this week they instructed, “Never speak from wounds, only from scars.” Which is true, come to the Artist, be healed, then speak from that mended brokenness and do your part to heal the world, be vulnerable, share your unbelievable scars. The Artist is calling! The Good Shepherd is calling!
Why would we choose the less than optimal- owner, the hired hand, who cares only for himself? The feeder of sheep to the wolves. The one who enjoys keeping you tied down, chained down. The dangerous and cruel one. The one who laughs at your pains. The one who destroys.
I see it in therapy, I see it in church, many people pressed by their problems. They look and feel empty. They have chains on their necks, many growing into their necks, and the chains about their feet are so constricted them they can hardly walk and function. Why? Why continue this path? The Good News today is that the Good Shepherd is waiting! I’ve watched many, including myself, welcome Jesus into their lives. The light that is shown on green pastures, it becomes the light shown on them. I have also noticed that in time as they keep engaging, as they work on themselves, as they find out how to get into their vortex and connect with Source, the Grace of God gently works on their spirit. Whether it was the connection to community, the praying they heard, the singing they heard, the gentle moving of the Spirit, the power of the Word, or the fellowship of the Church, all of it working together TURNED THEIR LIVES AROUND. NOT JUST GROWTH. A TOTAL TRANSFORMATION. IT IS A BEAUTIFUL REBIRTH! That is what takes place when the voice of the Shepherd reaches through to those who are willing to eat from His hand. Willing to heed that voice. The Voice of Love is Calling!
The Shepherd’s Voice
There once was a shepherd that lived in the Scottish Highlands (I am of Scottish descent, so my ancestors were cheering for this story). This shepherd had a daughter, and he would take her with him when he went out on the moors to take care of the sheep. The thing that the little girl liked best was to hear the call of the shepherd. His voice sounded so free and beautiful as carried across the valleys of the moors. As the years passed the little girl became a beautiful young woman and went off to one of Scotland’s great cities—Edinburgh or Glasgow. It was there that she was determined to build a life. On her arrival, she would write back home to her parents every week. But as life began to take her by the hand, her letters soon dropped off in their frequency and soon there were none.
Rumors begin to filter back home to that shepherd and his wife that their daughter had started hanging out with some unsavory characters and they were having a very negative influence on her life. One day one of the boys from back home ran into her in the city streets and she acted as if she did not even know him. When the old shepherd heard this, he gathered a few things together and dressed in his rough shepherd’s clothes went to the city to find his daughter.
For days on end, he looked for her. He looked everywhere; the slums, the rows of houses, the markets, the taverns, and everywhere in between to no avail. After all of this searching, he became very discouraged with the thought that he had lost his daughter to the evil city. As he started the long trek back home, just as he was on the outskirts of the city, he remembered that his daughter had always loved to hear the voice of the shepherd calling out to the sheep.
So, he turned around on this quest, and motivated by his sorrow and his love he began to stalk the streets. His voice rang out the shepherd’s call. The citizens of the city all looked at him as if he had lost his wits. It wasn’t too long as he walked the streets of one of the degraded neighborhoods that inside of one of those houses, his daughter sitting among the vermin who had led her astray, heard his voice. With great astonishment on her face, she heard that call of the voice of the shepherd, the voice of her father calling out to her. She leaped up and rushed out to the street and ran into the arms of that old shepherd, her father. It was then that he took her back home to the highlands of Scotland and brought her back to Good Shepherd’s loving embrace.
That is a moving example of what happens to those who can hear the voice of a shepherd. As a church, it is necessary can we hear the voice of the Shepherd. He can lead us into green pastures and beside still waters. He can lead us into the shade out of the heat of affliction. He can bring us into the light and away from the darkness. In our boundary training this week, which was phenomenal by the way, they challenged us to focus on the Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz and to consider placing them in our churches, somewhere we can refer to them often:
1. Always Do Your Best
2. Don’t Make Assumptions
3. Don’t Take Anything Personally
4. Be Impeccable with Your Word.
The enemy will plague and destroy churches who allow themselves to fall victim to ills of dishonesty, gossiping, making assumptions, taking things personally, and those not aiming to put their best foot forward--ALWAYS. It is important we live these truths and figure out where OUR OWN struggles lie. The Good Shepherd is calling. Ask Him to open the eyes of your heart.
The Good Shepherd again called to me that day expressing that using humor to excuse our own poor behavior is wrong. I am guilty. At times, I have been guilty of using humor to excuse myself from working on things. Now, don't get me wrong, humor is often good, BUT NOT FOR EXCUSE. For example, let’s be frank, I could be a better listener. There is no question I struggle with attention-deficit issues. But now I realize, I often EXCUSE myself from working on my listening skills by joking about my attention-deficit problems. And…that is just one area of my life. Also, I could focus less on engaging in gossip and more on productive and resolute conversation. Friends in Christ, if I list all my troubles, we could be here for days. So, hopefully, you are all getting the gist. We all have personality traits we can work on, and it is extremely important that we do. There are some very clear indicators that Kingsbury has some divine and glorious momentum-- let’s work to keep it! My prayer for our church is that we do everything in our power to keep moving forward. We are blessed. It is exciting. The Voice of Love is Calling!
As we go out in the world, may we strive to ALWAYS do our best, to stick to the qualities of our creator, that we become better listeners, and continue to welcome ALL god's children. THE VOICE OF LOVE IS CALLING!
In the name of our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, Amen
Stay tuned for Part II of this sermon series next week! -Kingsbury UCC
