April 30, 2023 – The Fourth Sunday of Easter

Today is traditionally called Good Shepherd Sunday. We’ve got a slew of shepherd, sheep, and gate metaphors in our readings today. And I think most of them are lost on the majority of us, as we tend to value innovation, technology, and industry more than sheep. We don’t learn much about sheep or shepherding in school. But then again, it seems that the Pharisees didn’t either – just look in John 10:6 where Jesus says that they “did not understand what he was saying to them.” Most of us assume that this is because they were thick-headed, but perhaps they spent their days with their heads buried in books, leaving little time to learn the lives of sheep, mud, pastures, manure, and shearing.

But, my friends, I think I have a better grasp on sheep than the average American. Two of my brothers own a farm in Chautauqua County, and I’ve helped them a bit over the years. Here are five things I know, either directly from dealing with sheep or doing some research for today’s sermon:

1. Sheep are disgusting, dirty animals often covered in mud and their own waste. For the same reasons that we value wool as a clothing fabric (that it tangles nicely and binds to itself), wool can tangle around all sorts of dirt and nastiness and hold onto it until the shepherd shows up to clean it. Woolite works just as well on live sheep wool as that sweater you have at home, and the best shepherds who are hoping to sell quality wool will use it before shearing.

2. We often think of cute little lambs when imagining sheep. They’re cute and bleat a gentle “baah.” Older sheep make a disturbing noise that is a cross between that cute baah and the sound of a car backfiring thirteen times right next to your ear – kind of like “BAAAAFT!” It can be startling – in volume, suddenness, and tone. The sheep start out cute, cuddly, and calming, like a little puppy. They rarely stay that way through adulthood.

3. Sheep are either suicidal or stupid. Maybe both together, at the same time. A shepherd from West Texas, Ed Winton, describes them as “just born looking for a way to die.” He recounts innumerable stories that involve sheep unnecessarily endangering themselves, many times in which they could usually have avoided any peril by doing something simple like turning around.

4. Sheep are hard-wired to follow the sheep in front of them. Sheep do know the voice of the shepherd, but don’t reliably follow that voice. They follow the other sheep far better than they follow a shepherd. (This is why people get sheep dogs to herd the sheep – if they can contain the lead sheep, the other sheep will follow.) Sometimes, sheep will follow a stranger – especially sheep who don’t yet know the shepherd well. It takes time for a shepherd to know sheep well enough to tell them apart, and apparently sheep see us the same way.

5. Sheep have very poor depth perception. They have a hard time distinguishing a partially open gate along a fence line. Unless the gate is WIDE open, they need a shepherd to lead a few sheep through as an example.

The more I learned about sheep (growing up and researching for this sermon), the more accurate and less flattering that Jesus’ metaphor of us being sheep becomes. We are dirty sheep and our being tangles us to all sorts of undesirable things. We don’t seem to notice because, like poop on wool, everything bad about us slowly clumps together. BUT the good news is that whatever is outside doesn’t corrupt what’s inside. Dirty sheep are still valuable to their owners. We are still valuable to God.

Like sheep, we startle others, sound worse than we think, and involve ourselves in all sorts of behaviors that we cannot escape on our own. It takes time and attention for that shepherd to know their sheep. I take comfort that God has taken that time and effort to know each of us by name. But, we, like sheep, have been led astray. Verses 5 and 8 of today’s Gospel are riddled with sarcasm, explaining why some have not followed Jesus. The more time that the sheep spend with the shepherd, the easier it is for the sheep to identify his distinct voice.

Now that you understand so much about sheep, let’s carry that understanding of sheep into verses 7-9. We read, “Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.” Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Abundant life is found through Jesus, but for some reason, we – like the sheep – seem to have a hard time recognizing the gate even when it is right in front of us. We need a God, a shepherd, a gatekeeper to help us find that freedom for which we thirst.

Here’s the thing – we sheep don’t need Woolite to clean our dirty wool. We need time with our shepherd. Time where we can reflect on our lives with God. Time spent in retreat. Time spent in prayer. And time spent thanking God for the wondrous things we see daily. 

God will cleanse us, wash our wool, and guide us gently in the right direction to still waters and green pastures. God will revive our souls. God will comfort us. Because of God, our cups are running over. We WILL dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. All we need to do is ask.