Safe & Secure

A young and new lay preacher was asked to lead an evening service at a church he had not visited before. A few days before the service he met a farmer who he knew to be a member of the church he was to visit. The hugely over-weight farmer was apologetic, saying that he would not be at church that evening and what was his sermon text? The preacher told him, and even went through how he was to expound the particular scripture. The farmer was delighted that he had shared it with him and went on his way.

 The preacher decided that he would attend morning service that Sunday at the church to get a feel for the place and its ambience. As he took his pew he noticed a ladder left against the side of the pulpit. When the service began he was surprised to see that the farmer was the preacher. As he could not get into the pulpit by the narrow door the farmer had to climb the ladder and swing himself over the pulpit side. He then proceeded to preach the same sermon as that prepared by the young preacher.

 The young man was extremely annoyed after he had put hours of work into his sermon for that evening.   When he eventually entered the pulpit that evening, he announced to the congregation, “My text this evening is St John, Chapter 10, verse 1, ‘Jesus said, verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber! ’

Whenever I come across this passage in John’s gospel I always think of this story told to me by an old friend of mine who worshiped in the Anglican Church in Yorkshire.   It is certainly a good ice breaker!  

The 11th verse of John 10 says: “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”   Jesus always spoke in terms his listeners would understand.   Theirs was a rural life and shepherds and sheep were common sights there.   It made sense to use these as characters in his stories and explanations.   After all, if today an audience were all engineers, a speaker would almost certainly use engineering terms when addressing them.   You could also say that we, in the church, have words and expressions that outsiders would not readily understand.

In Palestine in those days there were shepherds who were the owners of the flock and others who were paid to take care of them.   The good shepherd would be the owner whose livelihood depended on the safety of his sheep.   Without his sheep he would be lost.   A hired shepherd could always find another employer but an owner would be completely brought down if he lost his flock.

We know from gospel stories that sheep would often wander into danger.   If a sheep were missing it could be that it had fallen over a cliff or been drowned in a river.   This was disaster to the shepherd.   I remember, on holiday in Crete, watching a Greek shepherd watching over his flock whilst talking to a friend.   The sheep were fairly close to a river and if one were to become too close to the river bank the shepherd would whistle and very accurately throw a stone to scare the sheep away from the water.   All the time he was in conversation with his friend he was watching the sheep very closely.   In his hands those sheep were safe.   He was a good shepherd.

I read somewhere that if two flocks of sheep were to shelter in a large cave each flock would come out only when called by their own shepherd.    What is also worth remembering is that sheep in other countries follow their shepherd.   Here our sheep are driven from the rear.   The picture of a shepherd leading both sheep and goats up in the mountains of Crete is one that will always stay with me.   It is a picture that reminds me of the separation of the sheep from the goats in Matthew 25.   The level of trust in the shepherd is the key thing in the stories told be Jesus.

Not only do the sheep rely on their shepherd but the shepherd needs his flock.   They are his life and without them he is bereft.   George Psychoundakis was a young shepherd in Crete at the time of the German occupation of his island.   He ran countless errands with messages for the allies up and down the mountains of Crete.   He wrote an inspiring book, “The Cretan Runner” about his experiences.   At the end of hostilities he returned home to find that someone had stolen all his sheep.   He was penniless and could not replace them.   Suddenly he was reduced to abject poverty.   His sheep were everything to him and he had lost them.

I firmly believe that this is the situation that Jesus is in with us Christians.   We, his sheep, are vital to his work and without us that work stops.   He is counting on us to do our job.   In employment terms you will have heard it said t hat no-one is indispensible.   In terms of our volunteer employment I think the reverse is the case.   Each is needed to perform his/her part with the gifts God has given.   When this happens we see an incredible difference to our life in terms of joy at being part of mission.   Get yourself involved in worthwhile work under God and you will feel incredibly privileged because you see how the partnership achieves remarkable goals.

Just like the sheep, we discover what having a good shepherd means.   It empowers us for one thing.   God gives us ownership of the job he has for us and empowers us to do it for him.   Taking ownership of our jobs at work is something that we find inspirational and the same inspiration comes with our mission work at church and whatever the church is called to be doing.   If we attach great importance to what has to be done we shall know we are working for God.   An old lady was greeted after a church service by that morning’s preacher.   “What do you do for the Lord?” he asked.    She replied proudly, “I wash up!”   It is surprising, sometimes, how people realise the value of what they are doing as part of the mission handed on by Jesus.

I spoke earlier about a Cretan shepherd watching his sheep.   During the same holiday we hired a car and our first trip was up into the mountains that rose up behind our location.   As we went higher and higher, we crossed a number of plateaux.   At one of these crossings we stopped as a shepherd led his flock across our path.   Following him were sheep and goats.   I could not help thinking of the story.   It was very Biblical because he was at the front not, as in this land, where the sheep are driven.

Thinking about this makes me think that if I were a sheep or goat I would follow the shepherd because I trusted him.   Following Jesus is to trust him.   Yet, in addition, our task is to share the leading of the sheep.   We are not just hangers on.   We are totally involved through our commitment to him.   So we have work tasks to perform.   Turn to Matthew’s gospel and you find a list of all that the followers of Jesus would do:   Feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, visit the sick, visit the imprisoned.  

None of this is without risk.   As Jesus talked about being a Good Shepherd he was addressing a group who were ready to stone him at any moment.   I don’t suppose this was either the first or last time this danger faced Jesus.   But throughout the story we sense a calm and steady approach in preaching to his enemies.   He drew strength from knowing he was preaching God’s message.   Doing this he was ultimately safe and yet able to get the message across.   He felt safe and secure because of his relationship with God the Father.

Reflecting on this we may be sure that doing God’s work in the right thing to do and we are working under his support and protection.   From time to time it can get hairy as we ally ourselves to the greatest cause of all.   It often appears to be a dangerous job.   But God is behind it and that is what matters.   We are cared for by the Good Shepherd who protects his sheep by lying across the door to the sheepfold.   He is the first one to be in danger as we shelter within.   This is how far he is prepared to go for us and this is what makes us feel safe and secure.   As Christians we face a life of many facets, some of them scaring us.   But we have the protection of Jesus as her walks by our side.