Shepherd

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

This is Psalm 23. A Psalm which I am sure everyone who reads this will be relatively familiar with. Well I have been pretty taken by it recently. I think it is just incredible! I have been studying it and enjoying it. Drinking it in and let the truths settle. There is just so much in it that makes my chest feel like it is about the explode and my bring feel like it might be made out of macaroni cheese.

I want to talk about shepherds though. Shepherds and sheep.

Christians are happy with being called the sheep. Jesus the good shepherd. Us the sheep. He is bigger than us and we believe he leads and that is fine. Pretty cozy actually. I think it is pretty difficult to be called a sheep. I don't really like it. They are stupid. I was talking to a friend and got lost in the hilarity of it all. Have you ever driven through the country and just spotted a sheep in the most ridiculous place. Like they will be standing on a ledge with nothing else around them. It almost seems impossible that they could get there. They went on some meandering walk and ended up in this totally ridiculous and totally dangerous place. This is what happens when sheep look after themselves. When they have control. We are the sheep and we are stupid. Humble yourself to that truth. We go on these meandering walks and end up in totally ridiculous and dangerous places. We then cry out and the shepherd comes running and leads us back to those green pastures that are meant for us. We need him from the start. Following from the get go and realising that we are silly sheep.

I just want to say one thing about the shepherd. He is a wild man. Rough and ready and ruthlessly defensive. I used to see shepherds as these guys who just lay about in fields. I had read the parable of the lost sheep but i don't think I had fully understood it or imagined it properly. I still just saw Jesus wandering through these fields, with only the risk of loosing other sheep. Then I read 1 Samuel 17 and realised that shepherds are badass. King Saul wouldn't let David go and fight Goliath. Then David let Saul know that he used to be a shepherd. Fighting and killing lions and bears in order to protect is flock. This convinced Saul that David had what it took and off he went and kicked Goliath's ass. Shepherds are not passive, caring for the sheep like hippies care for trees. They go out and fight for their flock, risking injury to themselves because the flock is their everything.

Do we then take this same attitude? I don't want to be misunderstood here. I do not believe that we are Jesus. So I cannot make the statement, 'are you caring for your flock?'. The flock is always Jesus'. We know that. However I do believe that we are to be Jesus to people before they come to know him. To mirror him and live as close to him as we can, offering a true representation. After all Jesus said that his disciples would do greater things than even him (John 14:12). So are you caring for the people that have been entrusted to you? Am I caring for the people that have been entrusted to me? To a degree, yes. Not with this ruthless and wild regard though. I want that and I seek it. Theres a prayer point for you. Pray I can be more like that.

'Even though I walk through the valley in the shadow of death, i will fear no evil; For you are with me.' This is just incredible. That is just love isn't it. That is what what fellowship should look like. That is what I want my ministry to be defined by. Just being there. I don't have the knowledge or the ability to sort every problem. I would probably just make them worse. Let me get alongside people though. Let me just be there as people walk through the dark valleys, and let them realise that although I may be close; Jesus is closer.

Praise God, the Good Shepherd.