Shepherding

… we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Ps. 100:3

Last Sunday, I preached the sermon at the Black Lesbian/Gay Christian Fellowship in London. As I followed the lectionary readings, my sermon was all about sheep and shepherds. In Christ’s time, with its pastoral economy, tending sheep was not a very honourable trade. It was a day’s work for an unskilled labourer and lacked the status of a skilled artisan. Christ was either the son of a carpenter or a carpenter himself. However through out his ministry he appears to have been unemployed and supported by women.

There are several accounts in the Old Testament of the use of the metaphor of “tending the sheep” for a period of waiting and preparation. Several prophets laboured as shepherds before their calling, anointing and mission from God. This period of waiting on God gives the impression that there is important learning in the experience of being inconsequential before others, of feeling and being a nobody prior to being made aware of a mission from God. Those who stood out from the crowd were not selected but those who were lost in the crowd were repeatedly chosen to lead God’s people as prophets and kings. The prophet Samuel was sent by God to Jesse of Bethlehem to anoint David, a tender of sheep, to succeed Saul and to be the first King of Israel.

… the Lord said to Samuel, “do not consider his appearance or his height…The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”… I Sam. 16:7

So if we think we are doing something inconsequential or unimportant – God may have a surprise for us! God is no respecter of persons and does not favour those with celebrity status, in or outside of the church or as we say in Jamaica with smaddies.

I continued my sermon with a very brief look at the Old Testament reading: Ezekiel 34:11-16 and gave a few thoughts on God’s promise to us as our Shepherd

v.11“ ‘for this is what the sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them - Meaning: we may think we’re lost but God will find us.

v. 12 as a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness - Meaning: sometimes we are all over the place, harassed by circumstances but God will come to our assistance. The imagery of clouds and darkness tells us that we can’t be in sunshine all the time. Yet regardless of our emotional weather God is still with us and remains our anchor.

v.13 I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land – Meaning: wherever God finds us, even on the rocky slopes of this recession, She will ensure we are safe, provided for, and in an environment in which we can thrive.

v.14 I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land…and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel – Meaning: we have the security of knowing that we are sustained by Christ.

v.15 I myself will tend my sheep and make them lie down, declares the sovereign Lord - Meaning: we can be so confident because God Herself has promised

v.16 I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak…I will shepherd the flock with justice - Meaning: God’s commitment is unquestionable to those of us who are vulnerable for whatever reason.

I was struck by the number of ‘I wills’ in this reading and the affirmation of God’s commitment to us. I ended my sermon with my favourite Psalm.

The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?... For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. Ps. 27:1, 5.

May the Holy Spirit of God ensure the sensing of your Shepherd in all weathers.

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