Today?s psalm is ?The Lord is my shepherd.? How many people read or sing this psalm and think only of Jesus? Yet it was composed, probably by King David, around 1000 years before Jesus lived on earth. He wrote: ?He guides me in the paths of righteousness?? remember how God clearly showed his anger with David over the killing of Bathsheba?s husband Uriah, so that David could marry her. Guiding here involved fearful punishment. Yet David could see it as a shepherd?s care ? which ?restores his soul?. God as Shepherd/Lord provides all we need, protects and comforts in hard times throughout our lives. Not by preventing those hard times, but by accompanying us through them. In the early days the Israelites were mainly nomadic shepherds, so shepherding was seen as the noble occupation of their forbears. Just as the shepherd knew his sheep individually and they knew their own shepherd?s voice ? so leaders of a tribe could know everyone ? and be a wise and faithful leader. So the leader or king seen as a shepherd became the ideal in their tradition, not that they managed to live up to it! Even today in the Middle East you can see the sheep in single file following their shepherd as he walks in front of his flock. What a contrast with our sheep herded by dogs or by shepherds on quad bikes! In the same way actual leaders contrast with that shepherd ideal. Think of: leaders who are dictators ? whose every whim is met at the expense of their people. Eg King of Lesotho owning nearly all the wealth of his country and extravagantly spending money on palaces and cadillacs for his 40-odd wives while his people starve. Leaders who can?t or won?t stop genocide in their own country ? as in Darfur Or ignore schools for terrorism, drug trafficking or slavery Leaders who go to war out of greed or vainglory, in the process killing many innocent people Or even democratically elected leaders who ignore ?public opinion? between elections.
None of these show Christian-style leadership which involves: knowing people, working alongside and supporting them, loving them and putting their interests first. Jesus takes the analogy much further when he says: ? I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep?. Here the word translated ?good? also means ?excellent, honest, beautiful and honourable.? In the Old Testament a shepherd would have to risk danger to protect his flock from wolves and lions but would normally expect to come through alive. But Jesus knew he would die, that he would voluntarily lay down his life ? for the benefit of his people ? to win for them forgiveness and the hope of eternal life, to lay down his life and then to take it up again in glory on the first Easter Sunday. As Jesus said later ?greater love has no-one than this, that he lays down his life for his friends.? Jesus? love is the greatest of all, and his dying for us the greatest expression of that love, by which we know he is the good shepherd. Our other reading, from Acts, includes another metaphor that adds to our conception of Jesus. It?s very different from the image of a loving shepherd. The reading is part of Peter?s defence when he was arrested for healing a cripple. Peter fearlessly proclaims that the healing power was that of Jesus. And he hammers his point home by telling the court that this is the same Jesus whom they rejected and crucified. Then, showing that Jesus had fulfilled Jewish prophecies. Peter quotes from Psalm 118: ?the stone the builders rejected has become the capstone.? A stone considered worthless ? perhaps not conforming to the standard shape ? was chosen as the most important - perhaps as the keystone at the top of an arch, holding the whole together, the lintel over a door or the cornerstone of a wall. So Jesus is the most important, he is the key to our faith, it is based on him and he holds the whole together. Any metaphor can be taken too far ? in this case stones are cold and hard, but we aren?t meant to think Jesus is! The problem with the shepherd metaphor is what the image of sheep might do to us! Are we to see ourselves as passive, empty-headed sheep, following without thinking, too scared to think or take an initiative? There is a greetings card that mixes two parables and shows a herd of sheep dashing over a cliff, mindlessly following their leader. Another shows sheep in pews ? a dig at Christians - I expect you?ve all read comments in the press about Christians being brain-washed into conformity. No! We are not passive mindless sheep, because God gave us free-will. Our following of Jesus is much more valuable to him because we choose to follow. We choose to return Jesus? love and actively strive to be like him. Today is Vocations Sunday, when people think particularly of those who are called to serve God through leadership in the church. But I?d like to think about all who are called to lead ? in any way. Perhaps as leaders of industry, schools or colleges, local councils or governments ? all positions in which the Christian can put into practice the ideal of Christian leadership as exemplified by Jesus. Yes, it is a tall order. We all know the saying that power corrupts. To remain truly focussed on altruistic service is hard ? as we so often see in our own political parties and abroad. They need our help and prayers. We are all called to be shepherds too. In various ways anyone may find a time when they can take a lead. It may be in helping others, guiding someone in a difficult time or helping them to work through their own problem, giving them love and care, and reinforcing their sense of self-worth and dignity when it has been damaged. This is what is meant by pastoral care. The word ?pastoral? means ?of shepherds?. So vicars are sometimes called pastors, Bishop?s have crooks to signify pastoral responsibility. But despite what is sometimes thought, pastoral care is not the preserve of the few. It is the calling of us all. We are called to love one another and to follow Jesus? example of pastoral care. Jesus says his sheep know his voice ? But do we always recognise it when we are caught up in our everyday lives? Do we give ourselves enough time to listen? Enough time to hear his call to us?Do we respond by becoming shepherds ourselves? | 