A man was once in a pub when he saw a dog walk in. He noticed the dog go to the bar and order a pint. He watched as the dog reached behind his collar to get money and to pay for his pint, then he watched the dog drink the pint and walk out. The man was fascinated and followed the dog, who got on a bus, and he followed the dog as the dog got off the bus and walked to a house. He then saw the dog knock the door, and the owner came out. The man decided that he should tell the owner how amazing his dog was. The owner disagreed, the man was shocked, but then the owner said, 'The dog is not great; he has forgotten his keys again.'
Our gospel reading (John 10:1-10) this morning is all about a gate, a doorway. A way into something in which we are protected. In that reading we heard of a bad shepherd, of thieves and robbers who wanted to steal the sheep to make life hard for them, maybe even kill them. But Jesus pointed out that He was the doorway and so a good shepherd. When a shepherd was leading his flock out, if they were away from home, the shepherd would find an enclosure in a field and would lay across any gap so that the sheep couldn't get out and no one else could get in.
When Jesus spoke about the good shepherd, He was encouraging His listeners to make the connection that He was a good shepherd. Jesus as the good shepherd was showing that He protected His sheep, making sure that nothing could attack them. Jesus knew that sheep would follow a good shepherd; they would trust the shepherd and would be led to a good and safe place.
This is amazing; we are the sheep and Jesus is our shepherd. He is good; He wants to give us life, not rob us of anything. He wants us to have life in its fullest. When Pepsi Max first came out, the slogan was, 'Live life to the max.' It was accompanied by shots of people doing really mad things like bungee jumping. I was never tempted to do anything like that, but the slogan always makes me think of the promise of Jesus that He wants His sheep, us, to live life to its fullest. Jesus wants us to know the best way, and that way is with Him. Once the sheep had found the good shepherd, they wouldn't want to move away, after all sheep naturally want to be safe and have good food. With Jesus it is the same for us; we are sheep who are safe, who are receiving good food.
But, as with anything, there is a problem. That problem is that sometimes we want to go our own way, we leave Jesus, not consciously perhaps, but we move away from Him as other things get in the way. The other things can be good things; they may be family, doing things for the Church, helping other people, all important things, but sometimes those things can take over so much that we forget about God. Just like the sheep in good pasture, we have immediate access to the best food. That food is prayer, reading the Bible, spending time with other believers. Jesus gives us this immediate food; it is the food of knowing Him and spending time with Him.
Jesus our Lord is our shepherd, and we can turn to Him knowing that He will never let us down, knowing that even when things make life hard for us the good shepherd is still there. The Lord is our shepherd, and He is good. He wants to bring us the best; He wants us to know Him. Now, this doesn't mean that life will always be perfect, it won't, it doesn't mean that we will always be able to make sense of everything, but it does mean that Jesus is always with us. Always protecting, always loving.
In the reading from Acts (2:42-47) we heard of the early Church meeting together and sharing. Of them helping each other, being together and praising God together. It is a perfect picture of how life should and could be. At the moment election leaflets are coming through the door. I am not going to be party political, but I will say that as believers we have a responsibility to vote. That responsibility is one where we pray for those who win. One where, as we vote, we think of the actions that we believe will be most helpful for a peaceful country, and a country ruled with fairness and equality, just as we heard about in the reading from Acts.
In our Psalm (23) we heard the beautiful words of David as he watched his sheep. I like picturing him watching the sheep and reflecting on the fact that God was his shepherd, and He was a really good one who would make sure that the pastures you had were always perfect and lush green. The best. David showed in these words of praise that God would give the best, protecting him. Making sure that he had all that he needed. It is a beautiful Psalm, and the words in it are a great reminder of what we can expect as followers of God. Notice at the end of the Psalm David talks of being in God’s house forever. This is a promise for us as well.
Two beautiful pictures that go along with Jesus as the good shepherd. In the reading from 1 Peter (2:19-25) we were reminded that Jesus died for His sheep. We were also warned that in the same way as sheep we can go astray, but we need to make sure that we always return to the shepherd and guardian of our souls.
We are sheep, of a good shepherd. Who brings life, not destroys it, who supports us all the way through all that happens in life even when it makes no sense at all.
Jesus is the gate; He is the doorway for us all. We enter through Him into a better life. This is a life that means we can be contented in knowing that we are loved and are being led to life in its fullest, life with our creator. May we all seek to stay true to the good shepherd who will never leave us. AMEN
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