"The Nurturing God" - John 10:11-18 - May 11, 2003

A shepherd was herding his flocks in a remote pasture when suddenly a brand new Jeep Cherokee advanced towards him out of a dust cloud. The driver, a young man in a Brioni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray Ban sunglasses and a YSL tie, leans out of the window and asks: "If I can tell you exactly how many sheep you have in your flock, will you give me one?"

The shepherd looks at the yuppie, then at his peacefully grazing flock and answers, "Sure!" The yuppie parks the car, whips out his notebook, connects it to a cell phone, surfs to a NASA page where he calls up a GPS navigation system, scans the area and opens a database and some 60 spreadsheets with complex formulas. Finally, he prints a 150-page report on a miniature printer, turns to our shepherd and says: "You have exactly 1586 sheep!" "That's correct. As agreed, you can take one of the sheep," says the shepherd. He watches the young man make a selection and bundle it into his Cherokee.

As the car starts to pull away, he calls out: "If I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me my sheep back?" "Okay, why not?" answers the young man, stopping the car. "You are a consultant" says the shepherd. "That's correct," says the yuppie. "How did you guess?" "Easy," answers the shepherd. "You turn up here without being asked. You want to be paid for information I already have. And you don't know anything about my business because you just took my dog."

Just what is the business of a shepherd? This is difficult for us to relate to in the 21st century, since none of us are in the business of razing sheep. I guess if I had to compare a shepherd in Jesus’ time to someone in the present it would be a daycare supervisor. That person is directly responsible for young children while their parents are at work. They must make certain they are protected, get enough food to eat and are tended to in a crisis. When you think about it, it must be an awesome task to be entrusted with young, vulnerable lives.

You would think these folks would be the highest paid people in society, but historically they are one of the lowest. Child-hood Development majors generally start at minimum wage. What’s even more scary, many people who take care of small children are untrained and unlicensed. Shepherds in Jesus’ day were also low on the socio-economic totem pole. In fact society treated them as "outcasts."

Yet, these shepherds were closely attached to their flocks, just as day care workers. "They knew them by name." The sheep also knew the shepherd’s voice. More importantly, the "good" shepherd was willing to "lay his life down for his sheep." Jesus was modeling a role for God that is quite different than the role we are accustomed to. Normally we think of God as powerful, strong, wise and mighty. But, here Jesus illustrates a side of God which is one as nurturer, comforter, listener and friend. In other words, Jesus is describing God somewhat like a mother.

In the movie, "Ice Age," the story begins with a young Eskimo mother struggling in a river that was swift and dangerous. It is all she can do to hold on to her young child and keep him from drowning. She sees the animals on the river bank and she holds her infant son up so that he can be rescued. Meanwhile, no longer able to keep herself afloat, she slips away into the swift waters and disappears.

Most mothers I know would do the same for their children. They use every available resource to protect them, even if it meant sacrificing their own lives. Mothers instinctually sacrifice their time, energy and resources to protect their children. Four times in this passage, Jesus said that the good shepherd lays down his life for his friends. Just as mothers are willing to save their children, God is willing to go to the maximum to protect us.

In the "All in the Family" daily cartoon there is one cartoon which shows the family in four squares on a summer day. In one scene, kids were hollering in the front yard, playing ball. The dad is mowing grass in the backyard. The two younger children were arguing and shouting at each other in the house. Dad comes into the house playing his pocket radio, turned up loud to be heard over the lawnmower. About that time the mother turns to dad and says, "Listen." She went upstairs with Dad and there they found the youngest, PJ, crying in his bed after waking up from his nap. Despite all the noise, the mother’s ears were tuned in to the cry of her youngest child.

The shepherd is tuned in to the flock. He hears their cries of despair. He is sensitive to their needs and has empathy for their pain. Although there are times when it seems as though no one is listening, God is. God is tuned in to our problems, our trials and our tribulations. God hears us.

Anna Marie Reeves Jarvis, was memorialized by her daughter in the first Mother’s Day service in 1905. Jarvis was a woman who was tuned in to the flock. During the civil war she provided nursing services for wounded soldiers, for both blue and gray. She refused to take sides. All soldiers were welcome in her home.

This passage was written to the church to illustrate that God’s flock includes everyone; Jews, Christians, and others. God is a tender, concerned shepherd who cares for all people. There is no sheep who is outside the flock.

The Homiletics, May 2000, commentary on this passage describes two types of shepherds: Those who own the sheep and those who don’t. The ones who don’t are the hired hands. The ones who do are like the good shepherd who has a sense of ownership of each of his little ones and is willing to stand between the wolf and the flock.

To model our lives as the good shepherd means to be willing to stand between the powerful and the powerless. We are called to love, sacrifice, protect the weak, the stranger and those who slip through the cracks. In most families it is normally the mother who looks after the children. Thankfully, fathers are taking a more active role in nurturing their children than in the past. Nevertheless, mothers seem to be the ones who go to extremes to care for their young.

One night at 11:30, an older African-American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rain storm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. A young white man stopped to help her - generally unheard of in the deep South during the 1960’s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxi cab. She seemed to be in a big hurry. She wrote down his address, thanked him and rode away.

Seven days went by and a knock came on the man’s door. To his surprise, a giant combination console color TV and stereo record player were delivered to his home. A special note was attached which read: Dear Mr. James, Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes but my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband’s bedside just before he passed away. God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others. Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole. (from Chicken Soup for the Woman’s Soul)

The good shepherd is anyone who attends to our needs and is sensitive to our plight. The good shepherd may be like the daycare worker who mother’s our children while we are at work. The good shepherd is tuned in to our voice and knows us. The good shepherd stands up for those who are without power. The good shepherd is willing to lay down their life for their friends.

Dr. Keith Wagner, St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Sidney, Ohio