Shepherds

Wow, it feels like it’s been forever since I’ve typed anything. To be honest, I’ve been dealing with depression, burn out, family issues and injuries Oh My!

But today, I want to talk a little bit about shepherds. In our society today, it’s hard to think of someone literally living with animals. Eating their meals in the fields while the sheep eat, sleeping beside their pen, spending every single second of every single day living with sheep. If you’re a city folk like me and you’ve never spent much time near sheep, they smell and they’re quite stupid. And I mean they smell and they’re stupid lol!

Sheep don’t have the ability to really think for themselves. They have a flock mentality. Where the flock goes, they all go. They have to have a leader to follow because none of them are capable of leading. When they see one of the flock move over to a different part of the pasture, they all follow. They wouldn’t know how to find food or water if they didn’t have someone show them or one of them just happened to stumble upon it by accident and the rest of the flock followed.

They also have no real way of protecting themselves. They’re not particularly fast, so running won’t protect them. They don’t have horns/antlers to headbutt a predator. They aren’t big enough to have a powerful kick. And they also don’t have the sharpest teeth. Sheep are pretty helpless when it comes to being attacked.

That’s where the shepherds come into play. They spend their lives leading the flocks to the fields to graze and to water to drink. They watch over them, making sure that none of them wander off and get lost, because they probably wouldn’t be able to find their way back by themselves. Shepherds keep their eyes on the edge of the fields, ever vigilant, watching for danger. They tend to the wounded and sick of the flock and care for the new borns.

Shepherds took the well being of their flocks very seriously because that was their livelihood. When the flock grew, they were rewarded. When the flock dwindled, they were punished.

Shepherds were also considered to be some of the lowest people in Jewish society. They smelled bad, probably didn’t bathe much. They weren’t very well educated. They were quite poor.

But they were fiercely loyal to the flock that they tended to. They were abtly skilled in basic veterinary skills to nurse wounded and sick animals back to health. They were savage when a predator came to attack.

The shepherds crook (the stick they carried) was used for multiple things. First, the staff was used as a walking stick to help the shepherd on difficult terrain and to lean when there wasn’t a tree nearby. Second, the hook was used to help wrangle stubborn sheep and to shake fruit out of trees. And lastly, the other end was often sharpened to a point to help fend off predators.

When we look at a young boy named David, he was a lowly shepherd. But he had some skills with a sling shot. Not the slingshot of our generation mind you, but a long piece of cord or leather that they would nestle a rock into and spin around themselves, releasing one side at the right time and sending that rock flying towards the head of a giant. Or really any target, but since we’re talking about David, Goliath’s head is an apt target. David was also extremely brave, not the least bit afraid of the giant that all of the king’s army trembled before. He had the faith that God had his back and that He would help him defeat Israel’s enemies.

He didn’t learn that level of bravery and slingshot skill sitting in a classroom or as an apprentice of a craftsman. No, he learned those by protecting his sheep. He would’ve defended them from lions, wolves, etc. I’ve been to the zoo and seen lions through the thick glass around the viewing part of their enclosure. They are some BIG and scary beasts. I couldn’t imagine how terrifying a hungry lion out hunting for food would be. I also can’t imaging what it would be like to be 10 or 12 years old and have to defend some dumb, smelly sheep from one. And with a stick and a piece of cord with a rock. My adrenaline would be pumping so hard that I’m not sure that I could even aim a rock anywhere near a lion. Or a pack of wolves. I’d be looking for some new underwear and a new job. But that is what David did as a young man, or rather as a young boy. I was playing little league baseball, he was kicking some predator butt.

So what does this have to do with anything other than winter jackets and scratchy socks? Why am I talking about a shepherd’s job on a blog about faith? Jesus. He was the Good Shepherd. He came to earth to lead His flock and to protect them from the attacks of the enemy. He came to lead them to food and water, to care for their wounds and to show them the love that the lowly shepherds showed their flocks day in and day out. He knew his flock couldn’t find life without him. He knew they couldn’t defend themselves from the attacks of the devil and would be picked off one by one. He knew that there were sick and wounded, infants and elderly, that needed the tender love and healing that only He could provide.

“Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly-not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God. Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example. And when the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor.” 1 Peter 5:2-4

Peter is telling the church, that would be you and me, that we are to be shepherds. We are to care for the flock that God has placed before us. We are to lead by example, showing “the sheep” where the bread and water of salvation are. We are to help heal wounds and care for those who may not have someone to care for them. We are to be good shepherds following in the example of the greatest of shepherds, Jesus.

We are called to protect our flock from the enemy and the world that he uses to keep people separate from Jesus. We are to take the sharp end of our crook and arm ourselves with our trusty slingshot and fight as hard as we can.

One thing that I think that we have become numb to is our call to find the lost sheep. We have become a society where it’s easier to not have uncomfortable conversations with people about our faith because today, Christians are regarded as lowly in our society as shepherds were in early Jewish society. We have become the pariahs because of our faith. Many of us go to church on Sunday and sing the songs and listen to the sermon, but how many of us go out and live our calling to make disciples of all nations and to spread the Word of God? I know I’m guilty.

We have to understand something very important. This is about eternity. Our actions and inactions have ETERNAL CONSEQUENCES. When you think of friends and family that haven’t come to be saved by the blood of Jesus, those sheep that are lost in the world, does your heart absolutely break? When you think that the only way into an eternity in the presence of God is through the salvation offered by Jesus and that those friends and family that you love haven’t come to accept that salvation, does it break your heart to know what will happen? Scripture is very clear that if we don’t accept Jesus, our eternity is not with God. Our eternity is a much more terrible fate. Does it truly bring you to your knees in tears because you are so heart broken for those that you love because their eternity will be one of “gnashing of teeth” and a lake of fire?

If not, you have some questions to ask yourself. Some deep and hard questions.

A friend of mine that I’ve known for 25ish years has been an atheist. Not anti Christian, just not a believer. Several months ago, he messaged me and told me that he was open to the idea. He had some experiences in his life that brought him to a point that he was willing to open his eyes enough to look into the idea of Jesus. Mind you, all these years I haven’t really said much of anything at all about my faith to him. Looking at it today, I allowed myself to be ok with the idea, and quite frankly rather blind to it, that his eternity was bleak and that I said NOTHING all those years. I would have allowed him to go on with his life not knowing the love, grace and mercy of Jesus because it would have been an uncomfortable conversation that may not have gone as well as I would have liked.

But when I got his text, I was so overjoyed. I couldn’t believe it!! I was so elated that he was at least open to the concept. Since then, I have done all that I can to answer questions, talk about what the scripture says about relationships and hope, pray for him and try to lead him towards a path that would put him into a place that he could find the bread that is Jesus’ body, broken for us, and the wine representing His blood, spilled for us. And now, I have gotten to see him grow so much in his faith. It really opened my eyes to just how blind I truly was. Just how little of my duties as a a shepherd I was really doing.

I didn’t lead him as a shepherd. I didn’t protect him and pray for him all those years. I wasn’t a good shepherd at all. I’m grateful to God for opening my eyes and making me see that I wasn’t living out His call. I wasn’t helping the people that I love find what they truly need. I wasn’t doing everything in my power to protect those in my flock. My eyes have been opened to what God has called for each of us to live out, things that I have failed at. Things that have those pesky eternal consequences. My heart is now broken for the people that I love that haven’t found Jesus and those that need a shepherd to guide them, care for them and love them.

I know now that I haven’t been living out my faith as fully as I had thought and that I have so much more love that I need to show. It may not have to be the “Can I speak to you about our Lord and Savior” kind of conversation. It can just be as simple as living the way that we are supposed to, in the world but apart from it. Living with love, humility and gentleness. Being an earthly example of our heavenly Father. Shining His light into our dark world.

Are you ready to grab your shepherd’s crook and lead the flock that God has given you to care for?