I have a theory that every video recording ever made will one day be posted on YouTube. Even though this has not yet happened, it always amazes me what I am able to find on that app. When I started thinking about this final “Life Lesson,” I remembered this silly Sunday school song, I Just Want to be a Sheep, Baaa. Sure enough I was able to find this classic in an adorable animated video on YouTube. Check it out.1
Most people who know anything at all
about the Bible know that sheep and shepherds play a pivotal role in the
narrative. At Christmas, the angels
appeared to, “shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by
night.” (Luke 2:8, KJV) The most quoted
poem in the Scriptures begins with, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”
(Psalm 23:1, KJV) Jesus identified Himself as the Good Shepherd:
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his
life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the
sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away.
Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he
is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know
my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows Me and I know the
Father—and I lay down My life for the sheep.
The Bible uses the metaphor of the shepherd and his sheep
not simply because sheep could be found throughout Israel. Sheep are probably the most dependent
domesticated animals on earth. They can
do almost nothing on their own. They
need to be led to food and water. They
need to be made to lie down in order to sleep.
They have no natural defense against predators. And they are easily led
astray. In Thomas Hardy’s novel, Far
from the Madding Crowd, one of the main characters, farmer Gabriel Oak,
loses his sheep farm when the eager, but untrained, sheep dog leads the whole
flock of sheep to jump off a cliff. We
are just like sheep. We rely on God to
supply our needs. We rarely get enough
sleep. We need God’s protection. And we so easily fall into self-destructive
behavior.
When
we follow Christ the Good Shepherd, He engages us in the sheep business. After the resurrection, the disciples went
back to fishing and Jesus met them for breakfast on the beach:
After breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of
John, do you love Me more than these?” “Yes, Master, you know I love You.”
Jesus said, “Feed My lambs.” He then asked a second time, “Simon, son of John,
do you love Me?” “Yes, Master, you know I love You.” Jesus said, “Shepherd My
sheep.” Then He said it a third time: “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?”
Peter was upset that He asked for the third time, “Do you love Me?” so he
answered, “Master, you know everything there is to know. You’ve got to know
that I love You.” Jesus said, “Feed My sheep”. (John 21: 15-17, MSG)
Clearly
here Jesus is equating loving Him and taking care of His sheep. But, you may object, Jesus was talking
specifically to Peter, the leader of the church. This may apply to pastors and other leaders
in the church today but it doesn’t apply to me.
However, as God’s flock, members of his family, we are called to love
one another:
We love because He first loved us. Whoever claims to love
God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their
brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not
seen. And He has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love
their brother and sister. (I John 4:19-21, NIV)
And
how do we show this love to one another?
Biblical love is not some Hallmark movie sentimentality. It is caring for people’s practical needs,
feeding them body and soul, pointing out the rest Jesus provides, warning of
pitfalls of life and offering a hand up and a second chance to those who have
fallen or gone astray. Love is an action
verb:
Little children
(believers, dear ones), let us not love [merely in theory] with word or with
tongue [giving lip service to compassion], but in action and in truth [in
practice and in sincerity, because practical acts of love are more than words].
(I John 3:18, AMP)
Just because all
followers of Christ are in the sheep business, this does not mean that we will
all take care of the sheep in our lives in the exact same way. Each of us has
been given a unique set of abilities, gifts, talents, personality, interests
and experiences. No one can say that
they have nothing to offer their fellow human beings. Peter told God’s people,
“each of you has received a gift to use to serve others. Be good servants of
God's various gifts of grace.” (1 Peter 4:10, NCV) We’ve all been given a gift
to use in caring for people but we express our concern in different ways and
different places. Paul tells us, “we all have different gifts that God has
given to us by His loving favor. We are to use them.” (Romans 12:6a, NLV)
One of the
spiritual gifts and interests that God has given me is teaching. You don’t have to have mastered a subject to
teach it. When my brother-in-law Jim was
in the Navy, he was an instructor in the Supply Officers Training School. Each week he studied the chapter of the book
just before he taught it to his students.
All that was required of him as an instructor was to be just one step
ahead of those he taught. The first time
I led a Bible study just months after I started following Christ, I don’t think
I was even one step ahead. In fact, I
think most of the girls in my dorm who joined the study knew more about the
Bible than I did. But I had a willing
heart and a teachable spirit so God honored my efforts.
Since then I have
been caring for God’s sheep by teaching one on one, in small groups, in larger
groups, in person and through my writing.
Recently I am embarking on a new shepherding adventure. Last summer, I heard a radio broadcast on
which Jack Alexander, author of The God Guarantee said, “Everyone who
has lived for a few decades in a broken world has areas of their lives that
they feel should be off limits, even to God. These are the tender areas of our
hearts, the places we feel may break if we touch them. But often, these are the
very wilderness places God calls us to use to serve others.”[2]
My wilderness
experience was dealing with my mother’s mental illness. My mother suffered
bouts of depression all through my growing up years and later she was diagnosed
with bipolar disorder. For the last 17 years of her life, I was my mother’s
primary caregiver. This was a very isolating experience because I did not know
anyone who understood the challenges I was facing. It has been nearly 10 years
since Mom died and I feel that God could use my experiences including all the
mistakes I made to encourage other people who are caring for family members
with mental and/or physical illness.
Shortly after I
made the decision to start a support group, I joined the wonderful church
family of Church by the Glades Lake Worth.
There I met Kerry Russo, who has also served as a caregiver for several
members of her family. I shared with
Kerry the vision for a support group.
She has taken this idea and really run with it. Her energy and enthusiasm have been
instrumental in making this group a reality. Kerry shared the idea of a group
with Bill Lares also from CBG Lake Worth, who spend nine years lovingly caring
for his wife who suffered from dementia.
So the three of us are starting Common
Ground Friends Support Group and are eager to see how God will use us to
encourage others on their caregiving journeys.
Learning the Lesson:
Crosswalk.com
gave some practical ways you can help care for fellow believers.[3] You can encourage anyone if you utilize these
ideas. Think of someone who needs a lift
and choose one of these actions to raise their spirits them in the next few
days.
1. Pray for them
2. Understand them
3. Write to them (via text, email or even send a card through
snail mail)
4. Call them
5. Eat with them
6. Listen to them
7. Help them
8. Invite them
[1] jrpruitt317. (2012, November 8). I just wanna be a sheep baa baa baa [Videorecording]. Retrieved
from https://youtu.be/tpYgYoNGM38
[2] Alexander, J. (2017). The God guarantee: Finding freedom from the fear of not having enough. Baker Books, p. 151.
[3]
Hough, C. B. (2017. September
18). 9 ways you can care for others in the context of the church. Retrieved
from https://www.crosswalk.com/church/giving/9-ways-you-can-care-for-others-in-the-context-of-the-church.html
No comments:
Post a Comment