Becoming the Good Shepherd

Sunday, April 21, 2024 –  John 10:11-18, Acts 4:5-12, Psalm 23, 1 John 3:16-24

Today is the day that the church calls “Good Shepherd Sunday.” It’s a day we recognize every year, and every year the readings include Psalm 23. Many of us can recite this psalm by heart, and maybe even feel an immediate sense of comfort just by saying or hearing “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…” The image of the shepherd is a common one in our scriptures and was a very rich symbol to ancient people whose life and livelihood often depended on animals like sheep and goats.

For those of us who did not grow up around farm animals, the image may not carry the same depth of associations. Most of my associations with sheep and pastures come from television and movies. I love watching shows like “All Creatures Great and Small.” The landscape of the Yorkshire dales is especially beautiful and brings up deep feelings of longing in me.

Almost exactly a year ago, I was in Scotland, so I got to see some of that landscape for myself. And Scotland in late April is lambing season. There were lambs everywhere. It was a total cuteness overload. All of us on my pilgrimage trip were trying desperately to pet the lambs but they were having none of it. One day, I was standing at the side of the narrow road on the island of Iona talking to one of the adorable lambs. A Scottish woman walked past: “Cute, aren’t they?” she said. “Yes!” I answered. “Daft though,” was her reply. I had to laugh.

The little lambies were smart enough to stay away from the people they didn’t know, but it seems sheep are generally likely to go astray without a good shepherd. And of course there are always predators who want to eat the sheep. I remember not long ago hearing about a Great Pyrenees dog, who went after a pack of five coyotes, nearly losing his life, in order to protect his sheep. The dog demonstrated his devotion to those who were in his care.

In ancient times, the shepherd was an image of kingship. And so, it makes sense for us to think about devoted protection when we think of a good shepherd. Jesus himself links his own role and life to being the “good shepherd,” the one who is willing to give his life – voluntarily – for the sheep who are in his care. But our psalm goes much further than just the idea of protection.

Jerome Creach, Professor of Old Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary points out that this psalm doesn’t begin with the communal statement, “The Lord is our shepherd…” but with the very personal statement, “The Lord is my shepherd…” In other words, the God of the universe cares about me.

This reminds me of a time when I was interviewing people about their spiritual practice of working with their dreams. After one of my participants described a dream where he was falling into darkness when a hand stopped his fall and held him, he said that the experience stirred a faith in him that “God is for me” in a very real and personal way.

Not only that, but our psalmist says that “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want,” meaning that when I am in the care of the good shepherd, I will lack for nothing. The shepherd now doesn’t just protect but also provides. We see that in the rest of the psalm – how the lord provides green pastures, rest, abundance, goodness, and mercy.

I learned from Paul Nancarrow that when the psalmist writes “your rod and your staff they comfort me,” we should understand the word comfort as meaning more than just solace. The word “comfort” comes from the word “fortis” which is also the root of “fortress” and “fortitude.” So being comforted is not just about being calmed and held but also about being strengthened and empowered. This is why the psalmist – who, along with his whole community were beset upon by enemies – can walk through “the valley of the shadow of death” without fear.

The shepherd also brings restoration of the soul. The Greek word for soul is also the root of the words psyche and psychology. If we look at our text from Acts about the healing brought about through the power of Christ, I think we can link this restoration of the soul to its message of healing and saving. Because the Greek word sozo. Salvation is all about healing and wholeness.

We can have a tendency to overlook the fact that when anyone is healed in the biblical text, they are also restored to community. Their sense of belonging is restored because no one can flourish without other people. Humans are social animals. We need each other.

In fact, we are called to heal each other through the power and strength given us by Jesus Christ. This is a crucial difference between us and sheep. While we may occasionally be “daft,” and while we can certainly be led astray by those who do not have our best interests at heart, we are strengthened by the Lord to become like the shepherd ourselves. As Paul Nancarrow writes,

When Psalm 23 was first translated into English, the phrase ‘your rod and your staff, they comfort me,’ spoke to the way God in Christ gives us strength, gives us empowerment, to follow in the way of mission and service and suffering and new life where Jesus has gone before us, into which Jesus leads us.”

When we expand our understanding in this way, it gives new meaning to fearing no evil even in the “valley of the shadow of death.” He adds,

It can mean that walking into the valley of shadow, that confronting the threat of danger and suffering and death, is not something that happens to us as hapless victims. It can affirm that we have agency – even if limited and opposed, still some level of genuine agency – in the way we face the things that threaten us. It affirms that even when harmful and hurtful things are done to us, we still have strength to determine what we will do with those hurts in our personal and communal realities.”

This is what is possible when we follow the way of the good shepherd, Jesus, and love and heal one another. We abide in him, he abides in us, and that gives us the strength to do his work in the world. This way of living, of being Christ to others, is how goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives.