Yes, I know it’s difficult. Hard to swallow and all that. But, yes, we are being equated with – sheep. I would love to be proved wrong, but I’m not familiar with any sayings like: “He’s as intelligent as a sheep,” or “She’s as courageous and determined as an ewe.” E – W – E. There is the standard, “Cute as a lamb,” but that doesn’t get you very far. The comparison I’ve heard most often is, “Us humans? As dumb as sheep.”
I’ll admit, as a species we can exhibit sheep-like qualities: constantly eating or at least constantly thinking about eating, following our noses until we find ourselves lost, skittish as all get-out, and a tendency to follow leaders blindly. All together now: Baaaah. Despite these less-than-stellar qualities, Jesus – as the good shepherd – points to some laudable qualities in us sheep. In fact, it is within the relationship with the good shepherd that our good qualities come out.
The first quality is that the sheep hear his voice. While grazing, or doing whatever it is sheep do, they have one ear open for hearing the shepherd’s voice. This is a great metaphor for us. Denise Roy has written a book called “My Monastery is a Minivan.” She speaks of listening for and finding God in the everyday activities of life. She writes: “A minivan might not be as good as a monastery for finding peace and quiet, but it is precisely where I find the face of God.” All it takes is developing one’s ear.
In fact, we might assume that we can hear God’s voice, because God is present in all of life. If Paul is right, that God is the One in whom we live, move, and have our being, then God’s voice is always at the edge of consciousness, close enough to hear, if we’re listening. So it’s important for us sheep, to have one ear always turned toward the good shepherd.
The second quality is that sheep know the good shepherd’s voice. They recognize it out of all the other voices. Now the text says that the sheep won’t follow a stranger because they don’t recognize a stranger’s voice, yet it seems we as sheep often find ourselves following all kinds of other voices: the lure of materialism, the acclaim of fame, the approval of others.
Yet it is my sense that within all of us the voice of God is recognizable, but we haven’t learned to trust it, or to sit still within ourselves long enough to freely get to that place where we say, I know what I’m to do. Lenny Kravitz, a guitar-playing, rock icon, has a song:
All that I want
Is stillness of heart
So I can start
To find my way
Out of the dark
Into your heart.
Deep down we know, we recognize, God’s voice. The more we still our heart the more we will know. As the Psalmist says simply and profoundly: Be still and know that I am God.
The third quality is that sheep, hearing and recognizing the voice of the good shepherd, then follow where the shepherd leads. Robin Crawford, a pastor in CA, tells the story of a troubled, institutionalized woman, who in the process of counseling finally recognized the voice of sanity in her life: the day of her first wedding. She said, “I knew I was making a mistake. But I went through with it anyway.” From there, she saw how many times she had little moments of clarity, but kept trying to meet other people’s expectations. As she began to follow this voice of clarity within her, the voice she learned to trust as the good shepherd’s, her life returned to health. We must learn to trust the voice of the good shepherd within us, and to follow.
As sheep, we would do well to open our ears to God’s constant presence, be still enough to recognize that voice out of all the other voices we hear, and to trust that voice and follow it in our living.
But after the image of Jesus as shepherd, and we as sheep, the text goes on to say: “Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.” So Jesus tried another figure of speech. If we don’t get it, if we don’t understand, Jesus tries something else. Which means – importantly – that we are not sheep! Jesus does not want blind following. Jesus wants us to follow with understanding.
Someone has said that the Christian life is one of “faith seeking understanding.” And part of what we understand is that Jesus always used figures of speech. They are not literal descriptions. To make them into literal descriptions is to miss-understand them and misunderstand our relationship with God.
Today many people have no religious tradition, or have minimal exposure to faith. Or they have turned to a fundamentalist approach that knows all the answers and simplifies life, so we don’t have to bear the burden of seeking that we might find. In this context many biblical and religious terms and figures of speech have lost their context of meaning. But because people are more than sheep, we must follow Jesus’ example. When figures of speech don’t work, are not understood, we must try a different figure of speech to communicate the truth.
On Louise’s last Sunday she welcomed a new member joining Central, Mary. She answered yes to the question, Is Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior? But for many people today, these figures of speech – Lord and Savior – are no longer part and parcel of our culture; we don’t have Lords lording it over us – at least I hope and pray that the want-to-be-Lord and Savior would quickly realize he is not. Lord and Savior – these figures of speech – are classic to the Christian faith, but they are not the only ones.
What if we use the other figure of speech Jesus used in our text? Was there another figure of speech? Any guesses? Is Jesus Christ your gate? Is it through the life and teachings, his death and resurrection, that you enter into a deeper relationship with God? Understand what it means to live in the Kingdom of God? See how God invites us to live? Jesus – the way, the truth, the life – is the gate through which we experience abundant life.
I have a friend in Buena Vista who is a certified, well-educated, peer-reviewed, atheist. When I first met him and told him I was a retired pastor, he immediately told me he was an atheist, not in a challenging way, but in a “this-is-who-I-am” way. I told him, “That’s cool…until the fires of hell have their way with you.” We laughed hard! We have fabulous conversations. Because of his own research, he will throw back at me some of the typical church language others have used to convert him. I find myself often saying, “I don’t believe in that kind of God either, but here’s what I think is a better way to see it,”or, “try this metaphor. What do think?” And I see him thinking about it. He’s an atheist, but he knows he doesn’t know everything. So he purposefully embraces not knowing – being dumb if you will – so he doesn’t get stuck in what he thinks.
Being dumb as sheep, knowing we do not know everything, is a way of keeping our ears, mind, and heart open to God. The other day I told my friend I can’t make the Open Mic at The Slammer, the bar that used to be the town jail in 1890, because I need to be in Denver on Thursday for Theology on Tap. He said, “What’s that?” I told him. He said, “Tim, you should do that here. People would love that. I would love that! I promise I will come!” I’m not trying to convert him. But I am willing to help him be open to that deep voice within that he’s coming to know more and more, the voice that knows him.
God does not want us to be dumb sheep, blindly following. But God wants us to recognize there is much we don’t know. Being comfortable with not knowing, with not being certain, means we are teachable. God wants us to hear, recognize, follow, and understand the One whose love is the abundant life. Friends, the Silence that follows is for you, to listen deeply for the voice of the Good Shepherd, the one who knows you best. Amen.
