Meditation 275 John 10:11-18
I think it is safe to say that when we think of the parable of the Good Shepherd, we see ourselves as the sheep and Jesus as the shepherd. The Good Shepherd protects the sheep from predators and keeps them in the sheepfold. The sheep know that Jesus will lay down his life for them, that is he stands up for the sheep, not grudgingly, not out of a sense of obligation, but because he chooses to. What a nice safe place for the sheep to be. The sheep will be influenced by the Good Shepherd who is known by the sheep, and one who will lay down his life. The sheep would know that they could trust and follow the shepherd.
Since we are the sheep and Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and we know that the Good Shepherd loves us enough to lay down his life for us, this has some implications for us. How does this touch our lives? When you know that you are loved and valued, how does that affect your behaviour?
A number of years ago there was a prison chaplain who was a guest at a presbyterial meeting in NS. He was talking about the work he did as part of the rehabilitation work with male offenders. He told us that those who find themselves incarcerated come from all walks of life. There are those who are from poor homes, those from wealthy homes, those from the middle class. There are those who are educated, and those who are not. Those who are visible minorities, and those who are not. The one characteristic that most men who find themselves behind bars have in common is that they did not know they were loved. Being poor causes troubles, being rich can bring temptation, lacking education brings its own challenges, as does belonging to a group that is shunned for being racially different. But it seems that those who know they are loved, those who know their lives have value, are able to confront these external challenges more easily than those who have not had good messages sent to them. The Good Shepherd tells us that we are cared for, that the Shepherd will lay down his life for us, in short, the Good Shepherd tells us we are lovely and loveable. How does that affect us? One thing that being loved can do is motivate us to share that love with others.
One way we might share love with others is by observing Earth Day. Today is Earth Day, a day when we take time to cherish the earth. When we cherish the earth, we are helping to create a healthy environment for plants, animals and people to live. If Earth Day is an idea that has come to you without much notice, you might make the end of this week Earth Weekend. Take some time to notice the beauty of the earth, give thanks to God for the way the earth gives us all we need and do something definite to show care for the earth. Jesus, the Good Shepherd was present at creation. The earth is our safe place to live, and out of thankfulness for what God has given, we can care for the earth so that it will continue to be the place for people to live in safety.