Goodness and mercy shall follow me

‘I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD’

John 10:11-14 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.’”

Last summer we were on holiday in the Lakes. On a rainy day, we went to a country fair in Rydal, and to my great delight there was a sheepdog trial. This is where shepherds with varying years of experience from around the country get together to share shaggy dog stories and pit their wits (and their working dogs) against each other. The organisers provide each shepherd with five sheep who wait for them at the far end of a pasture. They then must guide these sheep, which they will not know, through various gates and twists and turns till they arrive at a pen when, with a final flourish, the shepherd shuts the gate behind them.

Talking to one of the shepherds after his round, it emerged he had nearly 60 years’ experience. But, notwithstanding all that knowledge, the five sheep had been absolute tearaways and his young dog was run ragged. We were chatting to him as he gave his poor worn out border collie glucose water to re-charge her. He said: ‘Sheep are not as silly as they are made out. They are very canny. They spot a weakness in a dog and they exploit it. And once they have challenged the authority of the dog it will only go one way, and that’s downhill.’ This was very true of his experience that day. If sheep could smile, then his five were beaming.

We perhaps have a romantic view of the life of a hill shepherd. Of course, it is a tough and lonely lifestyle. It requires physical strength, tenaciousness, patience and a kind of stoicism which is born out of wisdom – the wisdom that knows things almost inevitably are going to go wrong rather than right. As I watched the shepherds with their wonderful dogs, I learned especially about their calm and steady attitude. Not once did I hear any of them raise their voice, no matter how frustrating the trial was turning out. In the real world (away from sheepdog trials) a shepherd knows his or her sheep. He or she know each sheep because they were there when they were born (or soon after). And they will know which one is missing even if it seems the flock is full. Shepherds will also know every rock and stream and blade of grass of the fells on which their sheep wander. They will know the favourite grazing spaces and sheltered spots. They will know which ewe is the leader of the flock. And the flock will know their shepherd (and dog).

We are considering the ‘names of Jesus’ in this blog. And currently we are midway through a chain of ‘I am’ names which Jesus gives himself in the Gospel of John. The idea that Jesus is a Good Shepherd is perhaps one of the most familiar, comforting and widely-known name. We are invited to imagine Jesus as the one who is out in front with a staff in his hand leading us to new pastures and quiet waters and places of safety. It is a dynamic image because it involves a sense of movement or journey.

But, actually, this role is about utter self-sacrifice. We learn that a good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep (echoes here of Jesus as the Lamb of God). He is completely committed to them. He loves them even to the point where he would give up his life for the sheep’s safety. He would not run away when the wolf appears (unlike the hired hands, who are only there for the money). But he would stay and ward off prey. And the sheep know him as he knows them. Such a good shepherd has his eye on the far horizon. He longs to add more sheep to his flock. He is constantly on the move and his sheep must keep on the move with him too.

Metaphors do eventually break, for none can hold the completeness of Jesus. But this metaphor works for us both as individuals (being carried as a vulnerable lamb over the shoulders of the rescuing shepherd) and as a congregation (hearing his voice together, discerning a path together). We each have our own relationship with the shepherd as well as a sense of a shared relationship with the shepherd.

Throughout John’s gospel one of the great themes is ‘knowing’. What kind of ‘knowing’ does John mean? Scholars often look for the ‘Gnostic’ nature of the narrative, a hidden or secret knowledge. It is sometimes called the Gnostic gospel because this was a developing theme of first century Christian exploration. In fact, this kind of secret knowledge was seen to develop an exclusive and dangerous approach to faith in Jesus, and so it was identified as a heresy. But Jesus was not a ‘secret shepherd’. He was always open, always calling, always teaching and ministering to people in the open. His was not a hidden cult or sect. And so, when Jesus says the shepherd ‘knows’ his sheep and his sheep ‘know’ the shepherd, he is not talking about an initiated secret knowledge. But rather he is talking about a liberated, free and relational knowing. It is about the kind of knowledge founded upon trust and experience. It is not, ultimately, about ‘knowledge’ of the head on its own, but ‘knowledge’ of the head and the heart. And the Good Shepherd knows how to take the trusting sheep on that journey from head knowledge to heart knowledge. Thank goodness!

Jesus knows things are inevitably going to go wrong rather than right - he knows the journey to liberation will go through the necessity of the cross. Jesus also knows the paths to righteousness where deliverance from evil is possible. And:

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
    my whole life long.