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July 19, 2009 It seems clear that the folks who create the lectionary want us to think about sheep and shepherds this morning. From Jeremiah’s woes to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep with a promise that God will raise up a shepherd; to perhaps the Psalm most familiar to many of us; to Jesus’ compassion for a crowd who were like sheep without a shepherd. They are words frequently used in Scripture — my searchable Bible shows more than 300 uses of the word “sheep” or “flock,” and 60 uses of “shepherd.” And more than just the number, many of the references are among the most familiar passages. David is tending his sheep when Samuel calls him to become king, Amos is tending his herds when God calls him to become a prophet, every Good Friday we read the moving “suffering servant” passage of a sheep being led to the slaughter, the first to hear of Jesus’ birth were “shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night,” Jesus in his parables and teachings frequently speaks of a shepherd, referring to himself as “the Good Shepherd,” at the Last Judgment those who cared for “the least of these” are the sheep who enter the kingdom, the dominant image in Revelation is the triumphant Lamb, and on and on. I remember vaguely some years ago a sermon here about sheep and shepherds, although I don’t remember any details. To refresh my memory I found a Web site, “Sheep 101,” written for young people in Future Farmers of America. It reminded me that sheep are prey animals with a strong gregarious instinct who flock together for safety and become stressed when separated from their flock members. They have a “strong lead-follow tendency,” and have strong senses — they come to recognize the voice and smell of the shepherd. They follow him (or her) which results in the close relationships between shepherds and their flocks. Wikipedia informed me that sheep were one of the earliest animals to be domesticated for agricultural purposes, and that therefore, shepherding is one of the oldest professions, beginning some 6,000 years ago in Asia Minor. In many societies, particularly in the Middle East, it is still a dominant part of the local economies. So, it’s not surprising that it is strong imagery in the Abrahamic faiths, all three of which originated in the Middle East. I didn’t know that the term “Pastor” was originally the Latin word for “shepherd,” but is now used solely to refer to the clergy of most Christian congregations and many Jewish synagogues. The original meaning does survive in Spanish with “el buen Pastor.” One of our interns spoke in our chapel service this week with some reflections on our faith journey. One of his points was the importance of our remembering that we are not leading, we are following Jesus. It struck me that is one of the points of all of these passages — a reminder that in all aspects of our lives, we are to follow, not lead. But in our lives we can face constant temptations to follow false leaders or to think that we’re in charge — to go astray and turn to our own way. In our political or public lives, there is a human tendency to blindly follow a strong leader. And it seems most often for evil, such as a Hitler. A good leader recognizes the need for constant interaction and correction with his or her movement, rather than demanding blind obedience. The same is often true in religious life. We’re all familiar with the various cults or sects that emerge around a strong individual. Many church splits are less about significant theological issues and more about competing strong personalities that command obedience. And their followers then have to choose sides. And in both cases, we humans too often show the tendencies of sheep — to gather in a flock, and follow. It is easier for many people to unthinkingly follow rather than question and possibly be expelled from the flock. We humans also can become stressed when considering the possibility of being separated from our flock. But in both cases, we forget who the true leader is. For folks like us, the greater temptation is to essentially be “anti-leader.” It is one of the strong characteristics of my generation that anyone with the ability to lead was destroyed. An individualistic anarchical “question authority” mentality is one of the legacies of the 1960s “new left.” It is one of the strengths of this community that we have overcome that, but rather than one leader, we are all leaders and we affirm and support each other’s leadership. That individualism can also affect how we view our involvement in the world — especially those of us who see our work as contributing to the building of God’s kingdom, who see the hurt and pain in the world and want to change it. We think we can do it all ourselves. While we are responsible to act for justice in the world, we must always remember the ultimate responsibility for history belongs to God, not to us. The great temptation is to forget who is leading us, we are tempted to think that it’s all up to us — that we are responsible for changing the course of history. It’s a temptation that two of my theological “mentors” warned against. My favorite of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s writings, an essay titled “After Ten Years,” in his Letters and Papers From Prison, is one that I read over and over again, finding something new each time. Although the essay is a lament over how the German church had failed its responsibility in its time of trial, he went on to remind us that We are certainly not Christ; we are not called on to redeem the world by our own deeds and sufferings, and we need not try to assume such an impossible burden. We are not lords, but instruments in the hand of the Lord of history; and we can share in other people’s sufferings only to a very limited degree. And John Howard Yoder, although too often seen as arguing for an “irresponsible,” sectarian view of the church in society — a misperception perpetuated by folks like Stanley Hauerwas — in fact argued for an ethics of Christian involvement, but one that was always grounded in the church and in the centrality of Jesus. His view of a responsible Christian engagement in society — in public life — was grounded in Christian discipleship, grounded in the gospel. The three of his books that I refer to most often, tell the story in their titles — The Christian Witness to the State (which I have on my desk at work right next to a Bible), The Politics of Jesus, and For the Nations, which he subtitled Essays Evangelical and Public. As Christians, we can and must be involved in our city, nation, and world. We do have a role and responsibility to contribute to the building of God’s kingdom. But we do so always remembering that it is God’s kingdom, not ours, and that in Jesus God has given us a model and a leader. It’s an anchor, a foundation, that allows us to be faithfully engaged without giving in to the constant temptations that surround us. We are called to listen to the voice of our shepherd, and to follow where he leads. As Paul puts it, to remember that we are “members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone.” DShank Green Pastures, Emmy Lou Harris Troubles and trials often betray those |
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