Just about everybody knows, I think, that one of the reasons God so often calls his people sheep and himself the shepherd is because sheep are so stupid. What I don’t think people realize is that sheep were also incredibly valuable.
Sheep were one of Israel’s most important economic resources. A rich man, especially in OT times, might be described as “the owner of 10,000 sheep.” And although they were mostly raised for wool, from which most of their garments were made, every part of the sheep was important. Sheep’s milk was made into cheese, and when one was killed for food, or for sacrifice, the horns would be used for for musical instruments; the ram’s horns became containers for oil or trumpets called “Shofars” to call people to worship, or to battle. The bones were made into buttons or needles or other small tools. The leather from the hides was made into everything from tents to live in to parchment to write on. Sheep were REALLY important. And not only were they valuable, they were also valued. Sheep were gentle, and loyal, and sometimes became household pets.
But just because sheep are valuable, that doesn’t make ‘em any less stupid. One of the big differences between sheep and goats is that goats can usually find their own food, but sheep have to be shown where the good stuff is. Goats are also much more sure-footed than sheep, and much less likely to follow the rest of the herd - whether into danger or out of it. Very independent thinkers, goats. Much less satisfactory as pets, too. They like their own way too much.
Has anyone here seen a movie called “Far From the Madding Crowd?” It’s an old one, starring Julie Christie and Alan Bates, from a novel by Thomas Hardy. Anyway, early on in the movie one of the shepherd’s dogs goes crazy and drives his sheep over a cliff. Once the first one went the rest didn’t even stop. Over they go, one at a time, smack down on the hard-packed sand below, and our hero, unable to catch them in time, watches in helpless dismay as his livelihood disappears. It reminds me a bit of the Heaven’s Gate cult suicide. . . when their habit of playing Follow-the-Leader turned deadly.
Sheep need leaders. Goats do not. Sometimes I think people are even dumber than sheep. D’you know why? Because people think they’re goats. We don’t even know we need leaders. I remember back in the hippie era how we all thought that we were such independent non-conformists. We all grew our hair long and wore the same clothes and sang the same songs and read the same books and I swear we all thought the same thoughts. And it’s just the same now, if not more so. Whether it’s torn jeans, green hair or a nose-ring, the rebellious ones band together and start to look and act alike. And pat themselves on the back for their non-conformity.
Sometimes I think that the more independent and progressive a thinker a person claims to be, the blinder they are. Because, you see, as long as we think we’re independent, we can’t evaluate whoever or whatever it is we’re depending on. We’re all dependent on something; the only question is, dependent on what? Independent of what? We’re all far more influenced by the people around us and the people who raised us than most of us realize... and none more so than the people who have rebelled against - rejected - what they grew up with.
My parents used to criticize Christians - particularly Catholics, as we spend several years in Catholic Latin America - for being sheep. Well, that may be so. . . but even worse than being a sheep is being a sheep who thinks he (or she!) is a goat. The dumbest kind of dumb is thinking you’re smart.
Another reason that I think people are even dumber than sheep is found in the book of Isaiah. Right at the beginning, it says straight out, “The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, they do not understand.” [Is 1:3] Even the animals knew who took care of them, knew where there next meal was coming from, knew (if you’ll pardon the mixed metaphor) which side their bread was buttered on. And Israelite sheep, whatever their faults, did know their shepherd’s voice.
It was a lonely life, being a shepherd. Shepherds were solely responsible for their flocks; they protected the sheep from danger with a wooden staff or perhaps a slingshot. They made sure their animals got good food and clean water. They tended their wounds and went looking for them when they strayed. They didn’t use sheepdogs in those days, so shepherds used to spend their time talking to the sheep, maybe singing to them or playing a reed flute or, like David, a little harp that could be slung over their back. Wouldn’t it have been a treat being one of David’s sheep, listening to him make up those wonderful Psalms? I wonder how many more there were that never got written down... But with all that the sheep would get to know who they belonged to. That’s how the shepherds divided up their flocks after meeting at a waterhole. Of course the flocks would mingle. But when the shepherd called them, they would come. So maybe the sheep weren’t all that dumb after all.
And - why do we think that needing a leader and coming when you’re called is a bad thing? The Bible doesn’t say that. In fact, it looks to me as though the Bible thinks very highly of sheep. When people get divided up into sheep and goats in Matthew 25, who is it that God wants on his team? The sheep! The goats - the ones who go their own way, who make up their own rules - they get left behind.
Where did we get the idea that “I did it my way” is a slogan to live by? The Bible likes sheep. God likes sheep. God made sheep. God values sheep. “We are God’s people, the sheep of His pasture.” And the first step toward being in right relationship with God is learning to live with the fact that we are sheep. “The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom,” as it says in Proverbs, is another way of putting it. But it’s not an easy thing to admit to, is it.
For one thing, our whole culture is geared toward praising autonomy, self-actualization, individualism, diversity, nonconformity. For another, sheep are kind of helpless. Sheep have to rely on someone other than themselves for protection and provision, and who can you trust, after all? What happens if you follow the wrong shepherd? Maybe the thing to do is just follow a little bit, hang around outside the edges and watch what’s going on. If you don’t get too close, if you don’t completely commit, maybe you can get some of the benefits without taking any of the risks.
I guess the question really is, even if we admit that we need a spiritual leader, why should we trust Jesus?
Why should we give our selves, our spiritual well-being, our eternal destiny, our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor into the hands of this person?
I was raised a Unitarian, and I was taught that Jesus was a good man, a great moral teacher. I was also taught that Socrates, Mohammed and Buddha were also good men and great moral teachers. A lot of the teachings were the same, they pointed out; be honest, fair, peaceable, diligent, humble, give alms, treat others as you would be treated. Why pick Jesus over these others? Aren’t they all the same?
No. They’re not. Because Jesus did not only say, “follow my teaching.” He said, “Follow me.” Jesus did not only say, “Do these things and God will reward you.” He said, “Follow me and I will be with you.”
Jesus has the kind of power and authority that no one else has ever claimed to have. We can trust him not only because he is good, but because he is unlike anyone else, and he can give us something that we can get from nowhere else.
There are three objective standards by which we can measure the claims of all these leaders. The first is, what authority does the leader claim to have, and where does it come from?
"Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheep¬fold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep." [v.1-2]
What on earth does it mean, to enter “by the gate”? There’s no clear consensus on this, but it is clear that the coming of the shepherd has been prepared for and is anticipated. The doorkeeper - again, nobody seems to know who that is - recognizes him, as do his sheep, on the basis of prior experience and acquaintance. Only Israel had been prepared for a savior, only Israel awaited someone who would fulfill the promises their God had made and repeated over centuries. Only Jesus stepped into a role that the people would recognnize and follow. No one else can match this claim.
The Buddha was a prince who laid aside the trappings of wealth and sought truth with a begging bowl. This is admirable - but note: He did not possess truth in himself; he had to look for it.
Socrates made his name by questioning everything. He stood establishment truth on its head by pushing his students to examine what they believed and why, to ground their beliefs in reality. He neither solicited followers nor claimed authority over them.
Some Muslim sects, although not the Shi’a, report that Mohammed originally questioned his visions. He was troubled at the beginning until he was reassured by his wife Khadija.
Do any of these look like the kind of authority we can trust?
Jesus said, “just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; and he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.” [Jn 5:26-27] What is more, his claim was affirmed by the people: “...the crowds were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.” [Mt 7:28-29]
The second objective standard to look at is what it cost the leader to get his message across.
Mohammed and his followers provided for themselves by raiding caravans, and soon began the practice of assassinating Mohammed’s critics. Buddha voluntarily accepted poverty. Socrates was put to death by unjust men on trumped-up grounds because he was a danger to the state. He died willingly. He had the option of choosing exile instead. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Both Buddha and Socrates did suffer for their cause. But they embraced suffering and death for their own sakes, not for the sake of their followers.
Like them, Jesus suffered. Like Socrates, Jesus suffered unjustly “When [Jesus] was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly.” [1 Pe 2:23] Unlike them, however, Jesus died for his sheep. Jesus died for us, for you and me, because we matter to him. He didn’t die for abstract truth, or for his own honor’s sake, but so that we might be restored to God. “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” [v 10] And Jesus wasn’t looking for the meaning of life; he and he alone can give us true meaning for our lives. In fact, he IS the meaning of life. “I am the gate,” said Jesus. “Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.” [v -9]
Jesus is personally involved with each one of his followers. Personal relationship is the core and essence of Christianity. It is necessary and good to think correctly and to act correctly; but as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13, “if I do not have love I am nothing.” Our God and our Creator is the only one who loves his creation. Jesus knows us and loves us “just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.” The love that exists within the trinity, the Father, Son, and Spirit, is where life comes from, and it is only as Jesus empowers us through the Holy Spirit that we are able to love God and one another as we ought. What we have been given through Christ is unique; no one else has ever even claimed to have it to offer.
There is only one way back to God, and Jesus is it. "He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice." [v.3b-4]
That’s why he was sent. If God wanted us back, there wasn’t any other way to retrieve us. One flock, one shepherd. That doesn’t mean that Buddhists are bad people, or that Muslims are not sincerely devoted to Allah or that Hindus cannot have authentic spiritual experiences. What it means is that “no one comes to the Father but through Christ.” [Jn 14:6] The one who rejects Jesus has rejected the one who sent Jesus, namely God the Father and Creator of us all. You have to go through Jesus to get to God; if you go another way, you’ll wind up somewhere else. It’s as simple as that. What this adds up to is that when faced with Jesus, the only response that will lead us to God is to say, “Yes, Lord.” Those who respond with, “I’d rather do it some other way,” are in big trouble. “My way” just doesn’t cut it. And how do we know God wants us? Simple. Why else would Jesus go through what he went through? “God so loved the world. . . “ [Jn 3:16]
Jesus was not a victim of random violence. His death was not an accident of history, but was planned, agreed to, and carried out in a conscious and deliberate manner in order to alter history forever. And when we say yes to Jesus, we become part of that plan. From that moment on our lives have shape and meaning beyond anything that human will can devise. God has plans for us, as he told the prophet Jeremiah, “plans for our welfare, plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future with hope.” [Je 9:11] And even more exciting and wonderful than that, to my mind, is that we become partners in God’s plans for the world. As members of His Church we become messengers of peace and reconciliation to the world. We are his hands and feet and voice in the world, what we do and say matters now and forever.
So it’s not all that bad to be sheep, is it?
If we follow the true shepherd, its better to be a sheep in God’s pasture than anything else in the world.
