Leaving the Sheep Fold

There’s going to be a lot of sheep metaphors today because the 4th Sunday of Easter is also called Good Shepherd Sunday. If we were to have our full set of readings we would hear the Shepherd and their sheep evoked in Psalm 23; by St Peter’s writings; and we would hear of those very first Christians in the Book of Acts living out a version of Jesus’ gospel teaching. 

There must be something important in what Jesus is trying to get across to his listeners in this passage because he’s using an image that comes up again and again throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. As well as probably the best known psalm, the shepherd metaphor is used by Isaiah, Ezekiel, Micah…Jesus must be trying to communicate something important about God’s character and intention, and how his hearer’s should respond to that, even if, as we heard in the gospel account, they weren’t quite grasping it.

I remember on this Sunday five years ago Huw’s dad came to preach- I don’t always remember sermons I must admit but that one stuck with me. He spoke of God’s care for each and every one of us. We’d just entered an interregnum so we were a flock without a shepherd; now we have a shepherd, but the sheep are scattered, unable to be physically gathered in our fold.

It’s an incredibly unsettling time as clergy, and all those involved in church leadership, and our team here at St Michael’s, try to work out what shepherding our flock looks like in lockdown- and beyond as we imagine what church and community may be like when the world, probably quite slowly, begins to emerge from isolation.

We also have the challenge of looking to the ultimate Good Shepherd, Jesus himself, and wondering how we live that God-infused abundant life in our varying situations right now.

The Good Shepherd has for centuries been used as the ultimate model of how a “good Priest” should lead, it’s written into our ordination rites, and is what I would hope we each aspire to. Jesus describes the shepherd as a gatekeeper, but gates can be used to keep people out or let people in, admission or exclusion.

Our task is finding ways to nurture and feed our community which admit as many as possible and exclude as few as possible. As we find these new ways of worshipping and sharing our faith we’re admitting new people through the gate, but at the same time these new ways aren’t accessible or helpful to all members of our community and they may feeling excluded or shut out.

But there is good news here for those of us worried about the flock, concerned that we aren’t able to care for all as we’d wish. 

In the shepherding metaphor we, the people of God are the sheep. Now your impression of sheep may be that they're kind of skittish and none too bright but if you’ve spent any time with them you come the realise they’re also pretty tough, they’re hardy and resilient creatures. They're out in all weathers, in all terrains and in all circumstances. 

Also, they don't require constant attention, they're pretty good at just getting on and doing their own thing without their Shepherd being constantly present- they just check in every now and again to make sure one of the flock isn't in bother. 

Essentially sheep are equipped for survival, if we're God's "sheep" that means we’re equipped for survival too!

We're experiencing a pretty tough time right now but I truly believe we are designed for tough times. Having faith isn't a magic bullet to protect us from times like these but part of what helps pull us through and weather the storm, knowing we aren't on our own; the shepherd may not always be in sight, but they're never too far from us either.

I read a couple of articles this week on the Patheos website by a David Roberts and they gave me a new perspective on the shepherding metaphor.

We see the sheep fold as the place of safety, maybe as our home or church, or the traditions of our faith that bring us comfort- but where is the shepherd? Not in the fold.

To lead us to the green pastures we hear of in that famous psalm, to the abundant life promised by Jesus, The shepherd calls us out from the fold, we follow their voice as we’re led through the wilderness and eventually we will make it to those green pastures to the life Jesus intends for us.

To all of us who’re trying to lead: please try not to worry, the flock know the shepherd’s voice and are a hardy bunch, built to weather the storm. And to us the flock; trust the voice you know is God’s, follow where it leads. We will weather the storm, we will pass through the wilderness and there will, eventually, be in green pastures. Amen.

John 10.1-10

‘Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.’ Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So again Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.