The Sheepish Shepherds!
A sermon on John 10:1-10 by Jill Friebel, 17 April 2005

Sheep to most of us are animals we see from a distance when we drive at 100ks an hour through the countryside. We may get closer to them occasionally watching them on the tele, and being Australian they are ever present in our psyche as they have played an integral part in the rural development of our country. To the point where farmers have complained that we have ridden on the sheep’s back. So sheep for us produce wool and are good to eat. Not even Tom Cruise could get a date with an admirer if her mum was cooking a lamb roast for tea. So images of sheep are more about commodities and wealth and delicious fare and quite silly animals who follow one another for no reason and are easily led astray.

Now the farmer possibly knows some of his or her sheep individually but the concept of having names for each one and the picture of the shepherd leading the sheep out to pasture for the day is not one we are familiar with.

Jesus uses sheep imagery in our reading and because we have heard it often enough it has become a romantic nice story about sheep and their shepherd in another time and culture. However we could well be missing the impact he was having when his hearers listened for the first time because we just don’t have this sort of knowing about sheep and shepherds.

When we lived on the edge of the Sahara Desert in Niger for four years we were introduced to a culture which still related to their animals in much the same way as Jesus. One day I watched two shepherds coming towards each other on the road outside our house. They were followed by their flocks of sheep and goats which look exactly the same except that the sheep tails go down and the goats go up which you can see in this picture if you look closely. The two small ones on the left are goats. As the shepherds came together so did their flocks. They stood talking for about 10 minutes while their flocks merged and milled around them. When they headed off in opposite directions the shepherds called them. It was quite astounding to watch these animals respond to the voice of their shepherd and follow the one they knew and trusted. Now David tells me an even better story which our friend Phil Short told him. Phil would spend weeks at a time out in the bush like this following the Fulani nomadic herds people and getting to know them. One day he was at a watering hole when two shepherds arrived with the their animals. He knew one of them and greeted him and began to chat in Fulfude as only Phil knew how. Phil became aware that his sheep were getting restless while the other flock was lapping up the much longed for water. He asked him why his sheep weren’t drinking. The shepherd responded, “Oh, I forgot to tell them to drink.”

These animals were treated much like the children and each one had a name. The sheep knew the voice of the shepherd instinctively and absolutely trusted him. They spent all day together, and were tied up at night and at times it was really challenging to find food and clean water. They could tell an impostor and stranger when one came along like this one. Even if I took on the traditional clothing including the typical head cover for protection from the hot Sahara sun, the sheep would not be fooled. Admittedly I may not have deliberately caused them any harm but I didn’t know them or enough about the ways of the culture and land and the bottom line was I really didn’t care about them. I certainly wouldn’t have given a minutes consideration to suffering for their sake let alone risking my life.

Now the people Jesus told this sheep parable too knew all this stuff, but they were even having trouble connecting with the point he was making so he pushed the metaphors further with slight variations between being the shepherd and being the gate. It is rather unfortunate that we have a new chapter for this story because it is really a continuation of the same situation that was going on in the chapter before. Jesus had healed the man born blind on the Sabbath and had raised the fury of the Pharisees. They were disputing Jesus claims about coming from God and being a prophet because He did not keep the Sabbath. The man born blind had been hauled before the Pharisees and after being interrogated he was excommunicated. They then turned on his parents and proceeded to intimidate them. The Pharisees had the power to excommunicate the parents from the synagogue if they confessed that Jesus was from God. This is not like being told “you can’t come to our church anymore,” which could be devastating enough anyway if you think about what that would do to you. But this was their community, their social network, their identity, their only connection with God; it was literally their whole world. They would become outcasts and rejects and they were powerless against this sort of leadership.

Consequently they had distanced themselves from their own son, their son who was born blind but now could see, which must have been painful enough in itself, for if he was my child I would be so excited I would want to throw a party for such a miracle and invite the miracle worker as guest of honour. But fear of the leadership paralysed them and instead of celebrating together it brought a painful separation between them and their son. It must have created confusion and guilt within them, and they didn’t have the courage to oppose this intimidation for fear of the consequences.

Jesus is angry, marginalized people are being intimidated and this sheep story is directed to the Pharisees. By the time he has finished telling it the place is in an uproar with division over Jesus and his teaching. This is not a romantic nice sheep story. This is a dangerous and strong political and social confrontation against the “shepherds”, those endowed with the task of caring for the sheep and the ones that Jesus was locked in a dispute with, about who was the “true shepherd”. These Pharisees caught on that Jesus was challenging them; for they were in the long honoured tradition of Israel of being the “shepherds” caring for the sheep. It has the same undertones as being entrusted as “pastors.” Originally it was most common as a metaphor for rulers, as for back as the Pharaohs, and the symbolism is clear when King David became the shepherd king and the model for messianic hope.

Jesus is making a statement that he is the long promised messianic shepherd of hope, in the lineage of David. Unlike the present leadership he cares not for keeping rules and regulations that lay heavy burdens on people. He doesn’t come and break the law, but he comes to fulfil it. His voice booms out fearlessly “I am the Good Shepherd (new slide) I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me. In the same way, the Father knows me and I know the Father. I put the sheep before myself, and I lay down my life for the sheep. The thief only comes to steal, and kill, and destroy. I came so that they could have life – yes, and have it full to overflowing.”

What does this mean for you and me? I believe Jesus not only knows our birth name, but he has given us a special name, one that describes who you are and who you are meant to be. Discovering this name is like discovering our real life, a life that is full of purpose and meaning and significance and one that is in unity and love with Jesus. It is a life that is so real and so rich that it becomes the most abundant and precious experience you could only dream about - this is not experienced by knowing a lot about God and theology or about being an A grade student. It is about love and intimacy and prayer – it is about “knowing God” in your inner depths. There is so much that can keep you from hearing his voice. It could be guilt laid on you by other pastors and authority figures that have told you to be more committed and be better Christians and then God will hear you and bless you. The Pharisees used that line when they told the healed blind man that God doesn’t listen to sinners but only to the devout and godly person who does his will – namely them and anyone who falls in line with their ideology. Do you see how this is control? This gives so much power to one who has the place of authority. I listen to the stories of women whose lives have been broken because they believed their husbands were given the power and authority from God to have control over them. Even when they were abused they didn’t know they could trust their feelings of humiliation and anger into which God’s voice was inviting them to expose the control and reveal the truth.

Jesus has come to release everyone from anyone who claims to have power and control over us that hurts or harms us, or keeps us from being liberated and free to be who God has called us by name to be. The Pharisees honestly thought they were righteous and were doing God’s will. But they were the blind ones who couldn’t see who Jesus was. Nor could they hear his voice.

“God doesn’t come to control us but to love us. God’s love has nothing to do with my behaviour. Responsible behaviour does not increase the Father’s love, nor does irresponsible behaviour decrease it. Love is our source and love is to be our fulfilment. The Christian God wants the intimacy of our friendship not our fear. He loves sinners, redeems failures, delights in second chances and fresh starts and never tires of pursuing lost sheep or rescuing those damaged by life on the sides of its paths.”¹

We can also create prisons by our own free will. Holding onto beliefs about God that are not true. Anger, fear, and anxiety from past hurts and mistakes will keep us from listening for the tender voice of Jesus. Having no meaning or purpose, and being disconnected from our own heart will scare us into following therapeutic voices that offer relief but are addictive and controlling in their own way. It is only by listening and experiencing love in the depth of your soul that the bars and doors which are structured from birth can be opened. Trust this shepherd, he knows you and knows your name. Listen for his voice and stay close to him.

1 David Benner Surrender to Love (Intervasity Press:Illinois:2003)