Thought for Today

Genesis 4:2 Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a tiller of the ground.

Psalm 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.  

Matthew 9:36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  

John 10:2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.  

Yesterday did not much seem like a typical Wednesday to me. Our son is away and could not come over for coffee in the morning as he usually does. Our daughter did come over at lunchtime, which she rarely does on Wednesday. The group of friends with whom we usually gather on Wednesday afternoons did not meet yesterday for a variety of health-related reasons.

Yesterday, however, as I do every morning, I read the daily devotional in These Days, and then later I began to prepare my sermon for Sunday. Our Old Testament reading will be the 23rd Psalm. Whenever I read that favorite psalm or choose it for a reading during worship, I generally choose the King James Version rendition. I believe I have never encountered an alternative that captures the full impact of the hope and promise offered in that psalm.

I must admit to a personal bias, however, against thinking of myself as a sheep. Admittedly, some of my bias comes from being born and raised in Texas. Texas is ‘cattle country.’ Although the state has grown and expanded far beyond its roots so steeped in ranching, there is still some cultural bias. I have never seen comparisons of beef consumption and lamb consumption, but I suspect there remains a large discrepancy.

The state has changed. The livestock show which accompanies the Houston Rodeo now includes animals other than cattle, including sheep. The frontier days of range wars are far in the distant past. Ranchers and shepherds have learned to manage the contrasting grazing habits of the two species.

A part of my own personal bias comes from the understanding that sheep are not particularly intelligent creatures and that they are not known for their personal hygiene. Also, wet wool, while aromatic, is not pleasantly aromatic.

But, sheep are often used metaphorically in scripture to represent God’s children. Like us, sheep are herd animals, preferring to be among their own. Sheep are somewhat docile. Humans do present wide variations in the degree to which we are docile. But, in the aggregate, humans tend to accept shepherding.

When I read the almost 200 references to sheep in the Bible, it seems to me that the most significant characteristic of sheep is their trust. The cultures in which our Bible originated were primarily pastoral. There were cities and nations, but there were large nomadic, pastoral populations. The images of flocks of sheep tended and protected by shepherds were ideas to which everyone could relate. In Genesis, Abel was a keeper of sheep, ποιμὴν προβάτων. We see in that early verse in Genesis the dynamic tension between pastoralists and agriculturalists. Between nomadic wanderers and settled farmers.

I think about and often write about one of the earliest phrases I learned in my seminary classes in Greek, μὴ φοβου, ‘do not be afraid.’ I always found that phrase comforting when our professor repeated it as he handed out tests. I still find that phrase comforting when I encounter problems, issues and difficulties in life. Pastoralist or agriculturist, most people find comfort in regularity and dependability. Like me, most of us expect Wednesdays to be Wednesdays. We expect days to follow their set agenda and are troubled when they do not.

For me, the psalmist offers respite from fear in a very dramatic verse, “4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” And, Jesus reminds me that he is the gate for God’s sheep.

Missed coffee klatches and missed gatherings of friends may not rise to the occasion of traversing the valley of the shadow of death, but even so, I fear no evil because I know that the God of John 3:16 is with me. The God who sent me his Son to show me the way, to guarantee my salvation and place in eternity.

Stay safe, do not be afraid, trust God,

Pastor Ray