Sheep and Shepherds

John Westendorp. Trowel & Sword. June 1999

Preamble: While he is obviously trying to make a point, John’s opening statement that, “The Lord God isn’t paying us a compliment when He calls us ‘sheep’, would seem to be rather unfair, not only to sheep, but also to His people. Yes, in the 20th/21st centuries, sheep do require a lot of work. But we should also remember that when God created sheep he called them “very good” along with the rest of creation. They would also have been very different in Jesus day. Created sheep were very different to the sheep we have today. Marino sheep, specifically bred by selective breading by John Macarthur in the early 1800’s have large skin folds and fine, dense wool (to increase the wool clip), and are susceptible to lice and fly strike, so a lot of that extra work John refers to is largely due to man’s intervention in God’s original created “kind”. John’s assessment of sheep as “incredibly stupid is also rather unfair. Consider that whereas most animals have some sort of defence system against predators, sheep have none. They need to be protected; hence the need for shepherds in times past. Unfortunately, in todays profit driven world the welfare of the sheep is often secondary to the desire to maximise profit. So flock sizes have increased from hundreds to thousands, and shepherds have been replaced by fences, dogs and motorbikes. It is little wonder that sheep today are the way they are (Neurotic?). So yes, the imagery of Psalm 23 is beautiful, but it makes much more sense when viewed through David’s eyes than through the eyes of a 21st. century sheep farmer.

Sheep and Shepherds

The Sheep

The Lord God isn’t paying us a compliment when He calls us ‘sheep’. The memories of my childhood include vivid images from the sheep station in central Victoria where we grew up as children. In fact, our first ‘home’ in this land was a shearing hut – temporary residence of the shearing crews that would annually come and relieve the sheep of their heavy fleeces. The nearby shearing shed was a mixture of non-too-pleasant smells. Sheep droppings, tallow, greasy wool, and sheep dip.

Over the years we became familiar with the routines. Two things stood out. The first was that sheep needed a lot of work. Unlike the cattle, which were let loose in the back paddocks and largely left to fend for themselves for most of the year, the sheep were forever being rounded up for some sort of attention. Not only was there the annual shearing time – a highlight on the sheep station calendar. The sheep would also be brought in for foot-rot treatment. Then there would be the crutching, as wool was trimmed from the posterior to minimise fly infestation, and of course the dreaded sheep dip, as sheep were made to swim a foul smelling channel laced with chemicals that staved off a variety of plagues.

Lambing time required extra work – not only to rescue the ewes, making sure that the problem of orphan lambs was minimised, but that tails (and certain other body parts!) of the lambs were appropriately docked- all to aid the production of the nations wool and mutton.

Today I understand a little better why the Lord calls His people ‘His sheep’ and not ‘His cattle’. We, who live life under His care and who want to produce something worthwhile for the Master, need a lot of TLC. The rot of sin repeatedly needs to be cut out of our lives with the sharp knife of His discipline. His grace and Holy Spirit constantly guard our lives from the maggoty infestations of the evil one – more effectively than any sheep dip protects our four-legged namesakes. When we get ourselves Into the rut of depression, HIS loving and gentle hands lift us out. When things go well and pride rears its ugly head we need to be directed once again into the right paths of humility.

The Lord’s sheep sure do take a lot of work. Anyone who takes an active role in the life of the church quickly becomes conscious of need after need in various members of the flock. There is so much to do for so many people.

Before God we are sheep – creatures with many needs and with a certain helplessness and dependency about us. We may not like to acknowledge that but this is the Lord’s comparison: We are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care. (Ps.95:7).

A second thing that stood out was that sheep are not the most intelligent creatures on earth. One is even tempted to suggest that they are really incredibly stupid. Put a Border Collie sheep dog in amongst a flock of Sheep and when it comes to intelligence there is no contest. Sheep also tend to follow the leader unthinkingly. Many are the times I have watched a flock of sheep unwilling to go through a gate. They balk at going through the narrow opening and instead mill around, waiting for the nip of the sheep dog to drive the first sheep though the opening. But when one is through there is no stopping the rest. The whole flock then moves with the same relentlessness that drives lemmings over the face of the cliff. Again the Lord’s comparison of His people to sheep seems appropriate. We too so often do not want to be where it is best for us to be. Too many of the flock frolic on the sports oval when it’s really much better for them to gather in a worship service. Too often we resist going where the Lord wants us to be – up to the point where the nip on our heels convinces us that we have little other choice. And as for the peer pressure that reflects the herd mentality…? Most of us have experienced at one time or another the hard way that following the crowd is not always the best policy.

The Lord isn’t complimenting us when He calls us ‘the sheep of His pasture’, rather for our own good He is giving us a picture of what, in reality, we are.

The Shepherd(s)

The Lord comforts and encourages us when He calls Himself the Shepherd. For many years I thought shepherds didn’t exist in Australia or New Zealand. That seemed to be one of the big differences between our contemporary situation and that of Jesus and Bible times. The Biblical picture is one of shepherds taking personal care for the flock and personal responsibility for each individual sheep. Their life’s duty revolves around leading the sheep out to pasture… bringing them back to the pens at night… rounding up strays… attending to wounded and sick animals.

Here we do it a little differently. Where I grew up thousands of sheep were scattered over many square kilometres of land. After shearing they were let loose to roam the paddocks and fend tor themselves. While the farmer counted them before they were let back into the paddocks, he did so in the knowledge that the crows would pick the eyes out of sick animals and that foxes would make short work of lambs that strayed too far. All too often a walk through the paddocks would bring one across a straggly heap of wool and bones – all that was  left of yet another casualty. Of course the farmer was concerned – especially if too many casualties were taking place – but he learned to live with a certain percentage of loss.

Many years later, in the Tasmanian Highlands, we discovered for the first time that in this part of the world too we have professional shepherds. People who do a little more than just bringing the sheep in for shearing and dipping. Yet even they fall far short of the shepherding imagery God adopts as Shepherd of His flock.

The beauty of that imagery in Psalm 23 is unsurpassed. Here is the Shepherd who makes sure that we are in need of nothing. This Shepherd makes us lie down in green pastures and leads us beside still waters. And the greatest blessing is that because of our Shepherd we will ‘dwell in the house of the Lord forever’.

The Lord Jesus Christ applied that imagery to Himself. He not only told us about a God who cares so much that He leaves the ninety-nine in the fold to go and hunt for that one lost sheep but He called Himself the Good Shepherd who would lay down His life for His sheep. That’s a far cry from driving the sheep out into the paddocks until the next round-up.

As if all that was not enough grace and mercy for the sheep the Lord has also appointed under shepherds’ over His flock. God’s pastoral care for us is personal and intimate. Through Jesus that pastoral care is life-saving. Through the presence of the Holy Spirit we are nurtured in an ongoing way. But the Lord also ministers His Shepherd’s care through those whom He appoints to the task of pastoral care in His church.

God’s people are quick to see in their minister God’s ordained pastoral carer. We even call him ‘Pastor – a reflection of his pastoral task and calling. Many of us are far less likely to see our elders in the same way. Some of us may even wonder why these men come around every year with their questions to pry into our personal affairs. Yet the reality is that they are Gods gift to His church, appointed to shepherd the flock. To put it even more strongly: the Good Shepherd extends to us sheep His own pastoral care through those whom He has commissioned to shepherd the sheep. The apostle Peter’s words are very much to the point: “To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, ….be shepherds of Gods’ flock that is under your care.”  (IPeter 5:1,2).

It’s more than a little sad when the elders are not welcomed with open arms into our homes as God’s under-shepherds because the Good Shepherd is extending His pastoral care through them. Of course our elders too are frail creatures of dust who often grieve their Lord. But no matter how well we know the short-comings of an elder, that does not excuse us from declining his request to come in Christ’s name. To turn down a request for a family visit from your elders is worse than shooting your self in the foot. It is to deprive yourself and your loved ones of the pastoral care God provides to us, needy sheep.

The Lord comforts and encourages us when He calls himself our Shepherd. And He comforts and encourages us even further when He brings into our lives the care and concern of His under-shepherds. Let’s not rebel against that sort of pastoral care.

JW

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