There is something blissfully archaic about our Gospel lesson for today with its reference to sheep and shepherds. Sheep-talk is whimsical and romantic, but it also may seem quite irrelevant. Unless you are one of the few people who has perhaps worked on a farm or business which dealt with sheep, they may appear in your mind--as they long had in mine--as fluffy, white little animals spending their lives out grazing in some ideal bucolic scene.
For those with a bit more knowledge, sheep may be referred to as rather stupid animals. They are easily distracted and gifted with minimal problem-solving ability. They also tend to be rather dirty and smelly, much of the time. Given that view of sheep, I always marveled that so many pastors chose to refer to their congregation as "my little flock!"
But I discovered another way of looking at sheep. Most of the negative information about sheep can be traced to cattle ranchers, who do not like them because they are not cows. Cows are easier to herd. Cowboys get behind them, crack whips, or make noise, and the cattle move forward. That does not work with sheep. If you do that, sheep will run in circles. Sheep cannot be driven; they need to be led. They will learn to trust a leader and will go anywhere their leader goes first. Sheep need their shepherd to guide them and, if things get dodgy, to rescue them.
Jesus understood this unique relationship between the sheep and the shepherd. He knew that while all sheep may look the same to an outsider, a good shepherd knows his sheep individually. Certainly that was what He had in mind when He told that story about a shepherd leaving ninety-nine sheep to search for one that had gone astray (cf. Matthew 18:12-14; Luke 15:3-7). Likewise, Jesus identifies a good shepherd as one who truly cares for the welfare of his sheep, even to the point of being willing to lay down his life for them (John 10:11-18). Jesus would have us understand that this is the nature of God¡¯s deep and persistent love for every one of us.
But sheep existed then--and exist now--in a world of danger as well as nourishment. I find it interesting that the Evangelist John makes a specific reference to the weather in this passage: "It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple...(10:22)."
John was not a meteorologist, so I believe he is referring to the spiritual climate expressed by those who were opposed to Jesus and His message. The wind-chill factor of hostility and endless criticism from the religious leaders in Jerusalem cut Jesus and His disciples to the bone, blasting them with the cold air of ridicule and resentment.
Into this frigid atmosphere, Jesus spoke those beautiful words that compared His followers' love and trust for Him to that wonderful relationship between the sheep and their shepherd. ¡°My sheep hear My voice¡±, Jesus said. ¡° I know them, and they follow Me. I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of My hand" (John 10 27-28). You can count on that, Jesus says.
Yet Jesus is here surrounded by those hostile to Him and His message. They demand that He "tell them plainly" whether He is the Messiah or not. This demand is not motivated by an honest desire to get to know Him better--they are implacably hostile to Him. They are there only to try yet again to entrap Him by His words--to get Him to say something which will give them a pretext to seek His condemnation.?
Their minds are made up, and they are not open to any counter-evidence, such as the fact that Jesus performed healing miracles--a matter that did expose some doubt among the crowd present at this confrontation immediately preceding today's Scripture selection?(John 10:19-21). I would urge you to read the entire chapter of John 10 for greater context. Jesus makes this point again further on in this chapter: "If I don't do the works of My Father, don't believe Me. But if I do them, though you don't believe Me, believe the works; that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father." (John 20:37-38).
As to why they are not convinced, again, Jesus states the simple truth: "I told you, and you don't believe. The works that I do in My Father's name, these testify about Me. But you don't believe, because you are not of My flock." They are stubbornly and deliberately blind to anything opposed to their agenda and its real motive and purpose: Jesus undermines their prestige--undermines their comfort--has thwarted their clever arguments designed to trap Him, and He has excoriated them for their spiritual blindness, hypocrisy, and corruption.
His opponents then try to seize Him immediately lest the others in the crowd take further note of this simple truth and consider its true implications. ?
Lest we be too hard on the Pharisees, Sadducees, Temple officials, and the like, we ought to remember that in many ways they were still the "best of the lot" in terms of personal piety and personal effort to live Godly lives as they understood it. They were singled out first of all for being teachers of the people who got things wrong and taught human precepts rather than God's word and for leading corrupt lives despite their observance of many religious rituals and precepts. Their sin was that they didn't recognize their sins and errors--were too comfortable in their lives--thought too much of themselves--were jealous of their status and prerogatives--and had forgotten to genuinely love and care about all and genuinely love and serve all.
I would suggest that this is something that should give all of us pause for reflection in our lives as well.
So again, Jesus says it all in today's Scripture. First of all, faith is a gift from God. We do not "acquire" faith through our works, nor can we ever do so. Works in and of themselves are dead if not done in love and faith in Jesus. As Paul states: "If I speak with the languages of men and angels, but don't have love, I have become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, to remove mountains, but don't have love, I am nothing. If I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but don't have love, it profits me nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).
But even though we cannot "earn" faith in God, His people knew from ancient times His promise to them: "You shall seek Me, and find Me, when you shall search for Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13). Jesus reinforces this in His Sermon On The Mount: "Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. He who seeks, finds. To him who knocks, it will be opened." (Matthew 7:7-8). ?
So in this sense, our "works" or efforts are relevant--not as our "earning" faith, but as God's generous promise of the gift of faith in Him to those who make such sincere efforts to know Him and His will, and who are open to His guidance and correction. But of course, God has also generously revealed Himself to those who made no such effort--and again, we aren't "earning" anything. I do believe, however, that God is trying to encourage all of us to take initiative, even as He does the actual "work" of salvation among His followers through His accomplished sacrifice and the guidance of His Spirit and His grace.
Faith is reinforced through loving, trusting relationships that are personal and vital, in seeking to follow God's will--but faith itself is always a gift from God, never earned but generously granted by a loving God: "The Lord is not slow concerning His promise, as some count slowness; but is longsuffering towards us, _not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance._'' (2 Peter 3:9). It is not promised that salvation will come to all--but that God desires that all will choose to do so, and that He practices extraordinary forbearance, hoping for more to turn to Him even after already having sacrificed Himself on our behalf!
I know that there are many different perspectives on what it means to be a believing Christian, and some of these are denominationally divisive.?But listen again to what Jesus said to those who were harassing Him with their demand for answers: "I have told you, but you do not believe ¡ because you do not belong to My sheep. My sheep hear My voice. I know them and they follow Me."
I think this means that not only is the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd a source of emotional joy and visual pleasure, but it just may give us a valuable insight into what it means to be a Christian. We are the sheep who know the Shepherd¡¯s voice, and from that knowledge we gain confidence, purpose, and hope.?
This means that faith is more than intellectual assent. Faith is trust. Faith is a willingness to be FAITH-ful to His teachings. Faith is a willingness to follow and not always be in charge. Faith is the ability to remain calm in those moments when maybe we cannot hear the Shepherd¡¯s voice as clearly as we might like. Faith is allowing God to lead us where perhaps we would not otherwise want to go.
Jesus makes it clear that His sheep are not stupid beasts but beloved sons and daughters who have been redeemed from pain, gathered from confusion, and brought out of darkness into light. Again and again, Jesus expresses His love and commitment to His followers, ¡°I am the Good Shepherd. I give those who follow me the gift of eternal life, and they will never perish.¡±
¡°My sheep hear My voice and I know them, and they follow Me.¡± Is this not the intimacy we seek? Do we not all yearn to know and be known by this Good Shepherd?
Thanks be to God for being our Good Shepherd and for His loving and supportive promises to lead us and be with us always as we love and serve Him and others in His name! Ours is a generous, awesome, and loving God: our good shepherd, asking that we come to know and follow His voice!
Thanks be to God for that indeed--and a happy Mother's Day to all!
AMEN!!
