In our gospel reading for today, Jesus describes his relationship with his disciples, and he uses terms that were very familiar to them. Jesus and his disciples are NOT like a coach and his players – NOT like a CEO and his vice-presidents – NOT even like a master and his slaves. Jesus is like a SHEPHERD, and his disciples are like SHEEP – sheep who are easily scattered, easily distracted, easily lost. And when we are most honest with ourselves, like when tragedy strikes or threatens to strike, we find that we wouldn't want our relationship with Jesus to be any other way....
If you have raised cattle, you know that whenever weather conditions get windy and snowy and mucky, that's when the cattle need you the most. Needs, needs, needs...as a livestock owner, you are continuously looking after needs of one kind or another. If only cattle could fix their own fences. If only cattle could move themselves between pastures. If only cattle had a reliable homing instinct. Instead, cattle can be ornery and stubborn and dangerous, even when you are trying to do things for their own good. In the end, the only valuable things the cattle do for you, are put on weight...and make calves. And between birth and market, YOU have to keep them off the highway, YOU have to make sure they have water when it's -40, and YOU have to supply enough food so they don't starve. You could call the relationship between a producer and his cattle...very one-sided.
I imagine there were a few raised eyebrows among the disciples when Jesus in our gospel reading described his relationship to his disciples in terms of shepherd and sheep! “Wait a minute, Jesus, aren't we going to be your seconds-in-command? Aren't we going to sit at your right hand and your left hand after we have taken power, and be in charge of stuff?” But when push came to shove, at Jesus' crucifixion, the disciples scattered, just as predicted. When the opportunity arose, Judas was distracted, and he took the bribe to betray Jesus, just as predicted. And after Jesus' death, when their shepherd was gone, the disciples herded together behind locked doors, totally lost - not knowing where to go, or what to do, just as predicted. Jesus' description of his shepherd-like relationship with his sheep-like disciples, fits far better than the disciples had hoped.
And the description fits us better than we had hoped! We like to think of ourselves as independent, as self-directed, as rational, not blindly following some herd. We like to think we bring a lot to the table as PARTNERS with Jesus. We like to think we are strong of character, that we are immune to temptation and idolatry. But in reality, we are just as needy as Jesus' first disciples. We need a shepherd, because all of us are one broken habit away from abandoning church for months on end. We need a shepherd, because all of us are one bad influence away from being snatched OUT of this Christian community altogether. We need a shepherd, because all of us struggle to figure out where to go and what to do with the gospel news we have been given. We like to think so highly of ourselves, especially when days are warm and the pasture is plentiful, that we get into the trouble of forgetting about how much we NEED a shepherd.