Fourth Easter - May 7, 2006

A shepherd was herding his flock in a remote pasture when suddenly a brand new 2006 Jeep Cherokee advanced out of a cloud of dust towards him.  The driver, a young man in an Armani buttoned-down shirt, LL Bean hiking boots, and Ray-Ban sunglasses leaned out the window and asked the shepherd, “If I tell you exactly how many sheep you have in your flock, will you give me one?”

The shepherd looks at the yuppie, then at his peacefully grazing flock and calmly answers, “Sure.”

The young man parks the Jeep, whips out his notebook, connects it to a cell-phone, surfs to a NASA page on the Internet where he calls up a GPS satellite navigation system, scans the area, opens a database and 60 Excel spreadsheets with complex macros.  Finally, he prints out a 150 page report on his hi-tech miniaturized printer, and turns to the shepherd and says, “You have exactly 1586 sheep!”

“That is correct, take one of the sheep,” says the shepherd.  He watches the young man select one of the animals and put it in his Cherokee.  Then the shepherd says, “If I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me my sheep back?”

“Okay, why not?” said the young man.

“You are a consultant,” says the shepherd.

“That is correct,” says the young man, somewhat puzzled.  “How did you guess that?”

“Easy,” answers the shepherd.  “You turned up here although nobody called you.  You want to get paid for the answer to a question I already know.  And you don’t know anything about my business, because you took my dog!”

I would suggest that the Good Shepherd could have helped that young man, but many people think they can solve their own problems.

It was this time of the year that the lambs could be seen playfully galloping in the meadows on our farm.  They had been born in February and March and were still with their mommas.  Weaning would not be too far off in the days ahead.  Springtime was special in the days of my youth.

I am always thrilled when the image of the Good Shepherd shows up in the lectionary.  Sometimes it comes in the 23^rd Psalm, or the reference to the Paschal Lamb, or it comes in several places where the very ministry of the Lord Jesus is said to be like that of a shepherd.  I get excited about that because I know a little about raising sheep. 

The Collect for today petitions God that we may hear the voice of the Good Shepherd and follow where he leads.  It is a difficult image for us.  Fewer and fewer people are having or have had experiences with shepherding or raising sheep.  The image of the modern sheep rancher with four-wheel ATVs and helicopters driving sheep from low pastures to high mountains fits better with our modern notion.

I would want to suggest that there are three basic methods to move sheep from one location to another; three ways to finally reach the safety of the fold.

Sheep may be driven.  That is a rather stressful method.  It is not quite as bad as herding cats, but it is close.  Sheep are not the brightest bulb in the lamps of life.  They tend to panic, run off alone when frightened, and think their bodies are the same size as their heads.  It is slow going when you try to drive sheep.

We contemporary folk are sometimes like driven sheep.  We are driven to succeed, to produce, to get ahead, to get good grades, to get the most out of life, to have a storybook marriage, to have smart and mannerly children who go to college when they are supposed to and are gainfully employed upon graduation, to be appropriately religious but not fanatically so, to have more faith and do more good works, driven to attain some of the finer things in life, driven to be happy as Madison Avenue and Hollywood define it for us, and avoid all the health issues that might come from being so forcefully driven.  Oh, yes, we are driven and it is killing us!

We may give in to deception in our desire to reach the sheepfold.  In our desire to know who we are, where we are, where we are going, and who all these other sheep are, we may fall victim to the latest craze, religious or otherwise.  We just happen to be watching an infomercial about the latest “how to” book and conclude it is just the thing for which we’ve been waiting.  Positive thinking is said to offer the fast cure for those with negative outlooks.  Extreme makeovers do a booming business in our country and not just for houses.

The world is filled with folks offering the short cut to paradise.  Religious “how to” books, seminars, and retreats are just as popular as the secular ones.  Cults and fundamentalist movements are tempting because they tell the potential adherent what to believe, what to do, when to do it, and with whom.

Deception, listening to the voice of the false prophet or teacher, putting yourself under the care and protection of the hireling is always the path to disillusionment and despair.  It is difficult to remember that in spiritual matters there are no shortcuts.  All we have that is authentic and genuine is daily hard work, hours listening to the still, clarion voice of God, and communing with the Good Shepherd long enough to recognize that voice amid the clamor and the hawking voices of a culture deathly afraid of silence.

That brings us to the third way we can use to reach the fold.  We can be led to where we want to be.  The gospels use the imagery of a God who leads rather than one who drives or deceives.  It calls for a level of trust that moves us from a casual relationship to a total one.  In using the image of the Good Shepherd Jesus never attempted to make disciples of people under false pretenses.  The Good Shepherd goes before and not after and cares for every sheep as though there were only one for which to care.  The Good Shepherd comforts and tends those who are bruised and battered by the randomness of life along the journey.  The Good Shepherd rescues those who may have taken a wrong turn, those who find themselves in a dead-end situation, with no human way to escape.  The Good Shepherd restores those who were separated from the flock and reminds the other sheep that the best welcome is to refrain from judgment and ridicule.

It is the Good Shepherd who is out front watching and leading, providing what is needed for the journey.  Notice that needs are supplied, not wants.  The Good Shepherd will not spoil us along the way with extravagant riches that tend to divert our attention away from his leading footsteps.  Nor will we be rewarded because we can recite from memory everything the Good Shepherd says.  The journey is the reward.  Being in the presence of the one who willingly laid down his life for each sheep, acknowledging that atoning sacrifice, and confessing the Good Shepherd as Lord and Savior is what flings wide the gate to the fold.  Our good works are important along the way, but they do not save us. 

It is both our burden and our glory that the Good Shepherd allows each sheep to choose which of those ways they will live their lives.  Remember the safe fold of the loving, caring Good Shepherd is our destination.  There are absolutely no guarantees that we will reach that destination if we choose to be driven or deceived.  We need not be driven or deceived if we choose to be led.  That decision will help us rest peacefully at night and, since the Good Shepherd is doing the counting, we won’t have to.  Amen.