Of Sheep and Men

Of Sheep and Men

"I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd puts the sheep before himself, sacrifices himself if necessary. A hired man is not a real shepherd. The sheep mean nothing to him. He sees a wolf come and runs for it, leaving the sheep to be ravaged and scattered by the wolf. He's only in it for the money. The sheep don't matter to him.” – John 10:11-13, The Message

In those churches that use a cycle of lectionary readings, the second or fourth Sunday after Easter is known as Good Shepherd Sunday. It is the day when the gospel reading is drawn from John 10 and Jesus' declaration of himself as the Good Shepherd. The discourse in John's gospel draws heavily from Ezekiel 34 and God's condemnation of the evil shepherds and his promise that He will shepherd his own sheep. The image of the Good Shepherd is actually the oldest representation of Christ we have in Christian art. The catacombs of Rome have numerous depictions of Christ as a young shepherd with a lamb over his shoulders. Jack Miles in Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God notes , “The shepherd in Israelite tradition was a figure of heroism and valor. The king of a nation was like the shepherd of a flock not in nurture alone but also, and perhaps most important, in physical courage.” Whenever God, through the prophets, speaks of himself as the Shepherd of Israel or when Jesus applies the same language to himself, it is always against the backdrop of danger and warning. There are thieves and robbers. Evil shepherds and cowardly hirelings who don't care for the sheep. And there are wolves, both apparent and hidden in the guise of sheep.

After the persecutions ended for the early church, and Constantine issued his edict of tolerance, most citizens of the Roman Empire became “Christians” over night. The church was faced with a new concern. Since they were no longer a persecuted sect in a dangerous world, they now turned the looking glass on themselves and began to ask questions about what they saw. In the new world of Roman tolerance where anyone could call himself a Christian, they had to ask: who is the “real” Christian? They made a costly error in trying to answer that question. An error that plagues us still. They decided the answer could be found in creeds instead of fruit. So wars, some minor and some major, were fought over what you said in your creed. Counsels and condemnations would follow as generation after generation of church leaders would split theological hairs to determine whose creed was best and could thus lay claim to orthodoxy. Reading the early church fathers, it becomes painfully clear that many of them believed much the same thing. They just stated it in different ways. They were really “dis-fellowshipping” each other over linguistics more than anything else.
Fast forward to the 21st century, in the pluralistic American empire, the same question raises its head again. When my conservative friends (I have a few) and my conservative relatives (I have a few more) would see Bill Clinton with his bible going to church they would foam at the mouth and bellow -“How can that man call himself a Christian?” I used to think they were just nuts. (Well, OK, I still do.) But now, I find myself doing the same thing every time I see Resident Bush complete with Bible and high Sunday piety on his way to the house of the Lord. It’s forcing American Christians to ask that centuries’ old question again. Who really gets to lay claim to the title of Christian? Who are sheep and who are the wolves?
Let’s consider two men side by side. President Carter has dedicated his life to bringing peace, promoting humanitarian causes, and has taught Sunday School at the same Plains church for years despite his famous stature. I look at President Carter as the epitome of the man who is both politician and true Christian. In Bush, I see a man who has shown no mercy, does not practice forgiveness of his enemies, rejects peace, and by the policies of his political life shows his disdain for the poor. Jesus himself gave us two “litmus tests,” to keep in mind when deciding the authenticity of those who would claim to follow him:

1. “You will know them by their fruits”
2. “No man can serve two masters ... no man can serve God and Mammon.”

Mammon alludes to an ancient deity, part of whose worship involved casting ones children into his fires, in human sacrifice, in hope of greater prosperity. Bush gleefully cast the children of Baghdad (known as the City of Children, since over half its residents were under 15) into the fires of shock-and-awe in order to gain the prosperity of Iraqi oil fields. Anyone who claims Bush has not dedicated his life to ever greater levels of wealth and power has not studied his biography very closely. Can this man claim to serve God, when he serves Mammon with religious devotion? Many Christians have been swayed by Bush’s creed, willfully deceived by his Christian-speak, and accept Bush’s claim to Christianity blindly. But what kind of Christianity does he live? I can’t help but think of Christ’s idiom of the salt that has lost its saltiness and must be thrown out. I find myself fearing for the church in America when I see so many goose-stepping behind Bush because he is a “Christian like them.” He may be a Christian like them - but he is not a Christian like Christ. Shouldn’t the claim that Christ is the Lord of our lives bear corresponding fruit? Anyone can give the simplistic Sunday School response – Jesus lives in my heart. If He truly lives in Bush’s heart, why doesn’t he let Him out of that small, cramped, dark and dreadful cell? Living in Bush’s heart must be like being a prisoner at Guantanamo. If Jesus is Lord of my life, shouldn’t I do the things He says do, shouldn’t I show forth his likeness and nature to the world around me? At some point, being a Christian has to mean more than saying a “sinner’s prayer” – it must also be the acknowledgment of a sinner’s humility and living a Savior’s compassion. In this environment of sheep in wolves’ garb, we must ever seek to hear the Shepherd’s voice, follow his leading, and pray for his guidance.

J. R. Stott, in his book, Between Two Worlds, notes that a shepherd has four main duties: he feeds, guides, guards, and heals. And as the psalmist notes, he does all this "in the presence of our enemies." It is this relationship of sheep to shepherd in the midst of danger that has characterized much of the church’s prayer life for the past two thousand years. Reading the prayers of both the powerful and powerless, of various Christian traditions, compiled over two millennia, I'm struck by the emphasis on prayers against danger and dillusion. Prayers for protection and safety. Deliver us from evil. This is a prayer from a sheep to a shepherd. It captures the truth heart of prayer. Beyond the forms and formulas, styles and structures, lies a relationship of simple trust and faith. A relationship that is almost idyllic. Even though danger may lurk beyond the sheepfold, here, with the Shepherd I can feel safe, come what may.
In the opening stanzas of (Alfred) Joyce Kilmer's, The Fourth Shepherd, he captures this pastoral scene:

On nights like this the huddled sheep
Are like white clouds upon the grass,
And merry herdsmen guard their sleep
And chat and watch the big stars pass.

It is a pleasant thing to lie
Upon the meadow on the hill
With kindly fellowship near by
Of sheep and men of gentle will.

It is this kindly fellowship of sheep and men, or more precisely, sheep and Shepherd that is the invitation to a life of prayer.

Prayer:

Divine Shepherd,
Having you, I need nothing else:
When I need fresh pastures and still waters – you lead me.
When my strength is spent – you restore me.
When the right path is unclear – you guide me.
When the way becomes dark – you comfort me.
When the way becomes dangerous – you keep me.
When I am surrounded by enemies – you refresh me.
When my cup is empty – you bless me with more than enough.
Even when I stray – your goodness and faithfulness pursue me.
And all the days of my life, now and forever – you shelter me.
I am at home in your presence.

Be blessed...

Dei Gratia,
Stephen Ellis
Founder, On A Left Wing and A Prayer

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/On_A_Left_Wing_and_A_Prayer/
http://www.crossleft.org/