Confidence in God’s shepherding

Psalm 23

From Genesis 48 to Psalm 23 to Acts 20 we’ve got at least 43 references to God (or Jesus) as shepherd. Some of these passages lift up God (Jesus) as the good shepherd, and also describe a bad shepherd. For those of us unfamiliar with pastoral life, we’ve got some studying to do!

Do we have to be sheep?

I’d prefer to be a dog. For thousands of years in the Middle East, most people lived around sheep. Today, hardly any of us live around sheep, but nearly half of Americans live with at least one dog.

So rather than “Anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit” (John 10:1), we might relate more to something like: The one who sneaks in the pet door and tricks you with raw steak to sneak upstairs is a marauder and thief; while the one who speaks your name in a voice you know like the taste of your own mouth is the good and true guide.

Mainstream US culture values individuality—being unique and self-made. The opposite of sheep, who prefer to be together, follow a leader, and be safely unnoticed. Each of us leans more toward leading or following, but we all do both. Even the boldest among us look up to someone, even the most rebellious of us don’t want to stand out or stand alone all the time. We absolutely need leaders, we all need to be following something—rules, customs, signs, stars, trends, friends.

We aren’t designed to be able to make executive decisions all day every day. You might experience decision fatigue when faced with 225 types of shampoo at the store, or which overdue bill to pay first, or what diet is healthiest this month. Our human brains are amazing and, still, we cannot make unlimited decisions.

Thy rod and thy staff

A shepherd uses a rod or staff as a walking stick. Either could be a weapon against predators; waving them sends hungry carnivores away. A staff might be what we call a shepherd’s crook, with a “u” shape at the end. If a sheep falls into a crevice, a shepherd might use it to pull the sheep out.

“If a shepherd has a hundred sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search?” (Matthew 18:12b).

I picture the shepherd using a crook to find the one that went astray. In Psalm 23, Ezekiel 34, John 10, again and again, the shepherd has the tools, fidelity, and compassion, to find, protect, and provide for all the sheep.

Anointing with oil

In the thousands of years reflected in the Bible (and in many places today), olive oil is used to clean cuts and wounds. We read in scripture about anointing people as kings or leaders.

To anoint means to set apart objects or people for God’s use. Throughout biblical times when someone invited a guest to their house, the host might anoint them with oil. Someone puts olive oil on another’s forehead to show that they care about them. James 5 tells us to anoint people who are sick and to pray for them. And of course, one of the most important stories in scripture (recorded in all four Gospels, perhaps as one story told four ways, or more than one event) is a woman anointing Jesus. She may have used the oil blend for burial.

A shepherd puts oil on sheep to keep them alive! Flies and other bugs can irritate sheep—even unto death! Bugs crawl into a sheep’s nose, ears, or eyes (laying eggs) and the sheep bang their heads against rocks, run around shaking their heads, and they can die as a result of this stress or the injuries they incur.

A good shepherd pays attention to the sheep and at the first sign of sheep shaking their heads, or jumping around, the shepherd checks their noses, ears, and eyes. The shepherd can protect sheep with oil.

Oil mixed with sulfur and spices is the usual recipe. The shepherd can rub the oil all over the sheep’s head and the sheep will feel better right away. The sheep will relax and rest, eat, drink, and be merry. During the summer, a shepherd might need to do this over and over.

I am the gate

“I will follow you all the days of my life.” We’re not sheep, but we do follow. Hopefully we are following God to the green pastures and beside still waters! John 10 offers the specifics of “gate” or “door.” The word translated “gate” is translated “door” or “entrance” all other places in scripture, but “gate” makes sense in a pastoral scene.

The gate is protective, if the sheep choose to come inside. The door is a way to nourishment, adventure, freedom, if the sheep choose to go outside. That’s an abundant life (John 10:10)!

We don’t have a gate or a door without a wall. Many of us sympathize with the narrator in the Robert Frost poem. Look it up, though you may have memorized it. The neighbor says, “Good fences make good neighbors,” but the narrator thinks, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.” We are right to be suspicious of walls, walls that pretend to keep pure from impure or righteous from fallen. But in John’s Gospel, Jesus is talking about sheep pastures.

The door is protective, if the sheep choose to come inside. Sheep are vulnerable, and predators and thieves know it.

The door is a way to nourishment, adventure, freedom, if the sheep choose to go outside.

Psalm 23 proclaims, “Your rod and your staff, they comfort me,” but they aren’t mentioned in John 10. Jesus doesn’t say, “I’m the shepherd’s crook to rescue you,” he says, “I am the gate.” And he says, “The shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. . . and the sheep follow him because they know his voice” (John 10:3-4).

Which means that the sheep (we) have a choice. We can choose to follow the one who speaks our names in a voice we know. We can choose to follow because we are known, and we know. Because we are in relationship with God. With Jesus.

As Brethren, we know our relationships with one another are essential to our relationship with God and with Jesus. We hear God’s call best when we gather in community to study and pray. We express God’s love best when we share our lives with one another.

To be led well is to commit. Because we don’t get much relationship without commitment. If we stroll from one pasture to another, we don’t get to know the sheep or shepherd well. So we can choose this gate without declaring that everyone else has to choose it too, but know that we need to settle in and get to know it.

“They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers” (John 10:5). Following the good shepherd, we hear our names in a familiar, trusted voice. That which is known and beloved deep inside us recognizes the knower, the lover, and we follow the voice that speaks our names in a voice of love.

There’s abundant life for us, green pastures and still waters, and there’s danger and pain, too. We’ve got the fullness of life to live. Settle in with the One who speaks your name in a voice of Love.