"but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him." ( Hebrews 10:38 )
A couple of weeks ago after the morning sheep count, a year old ewe came up missing. After a short search I found her standing inside of a small thicket. As I slowly approached her, thankfully, I surmised that she was in normal labor without any extra distress.
A couple days later when another ewe was absent from the flock, I found her in an empty field licking the remains of a mineral block off the ground. After examining her eyes, gums, and weight loss, I saw that she needed to be treated for parasites. I quarantined her for a bit, and she bounced back nicely. Fortunately, hair sheep have proven to be a resilient breed in our area.
Still another morning, I noticed a sheep off to herself under the shade of an oasis of black walnut and sycamore trees. Before I got over to her, I quickly turned and headed for the barn to grab my work gloves because I could see that she was all caught up in an old strand of barbed wire. I carefully untangled the mess without much damage to the wool, and she happily joined the flock, leaping all the way.
Another time when a ewe was desperately baaing for one of her lamb twins, the Farmer and I found the poor little ram with his head stuck in a portion of the woven fence line, no worse for wear.
One of the first things I learned in sheep farming is that if a sheep is missing from the flock, there's a problem.
Sheep stay together. Another habit I've noticed is that within the flock, sheep tend to stick with their biological family group. In other words, a ewe with her new twin lambs will usually be resting or grazing next to her older girls with her new lambs and on down the generation line. Also nearby are her castrated rams that the Farmer hasn't found time to butcher and process yet.
Sheep possess herd mentality to a fault. When one starts running in any given direction, they all follow even if that means going over the edge of a cliff. This makes field rotation either a piece of cake or a pain in my side, depending on what direction they go. You never can tell. And Great Pyrenees aren't herd dogs, they're strictly guardians. So they ensure the sheep are protected while being stupid. No sheep left behind.
For all of the sarcasm with my sheep, the minute I'm among them, I melt. When they look to me for help or grain or in fear because they have no idea what is going on, their sheep eyes never fail to flood my heart with compassion and humble me into milk toast. I totally get why God compares us to sheep.
The part I didn't get was church.
The flock.
I never understood how important the church is to God and should be to us. I think it's partly because of growing up in the South in our church culture where often times attending church each week was a bit like attending a a country club. Everyone dresses up and gives God their Sunday best, but after that, you keep the rest. You move through the liturgy and finally the benediction and keep on moving, never taking God too seriously. Otherwise you might look like a Jesus freak in your frills and lace.
On the road to Damascus in Acts 9 when Saul has his radical conversion experience, Jesus appears to him and says, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" Why did Jesus say that Saul ( Paul in Greek ) was persecuting him? Wasn't he persecuting the church? Yes, and when someone persecutes the church they are in fact persecuting Jesus because he calls us "his Body." In Christ, we are now his Bride, his very own Body. We abide in him - that's how much he loves us.
And how much we should love each other.
That's why when someone is missing from church, we need to find out why. It could be something as simple as maternity leave or as difficult as a terminal illness, a season of grief, or an entanglement in an egregious sin. Our pastors, the shepherds, depend on us, the sheep, since we do form into these small family groups doing life together.
Loves takes many forms.
Love looks for lost sheep. Love speaks the truth at the risk of offending. Love untangles the mess while preserving the wool.
I'm one of those introverted sheep that has been silent most all of my life until recently when I began to understand the depth of the love of God for his flock. I also know how easy it is to wander off, and the predators that wait to gobble us up.
Everyday I pray this hymn:
"Jesus sought me when a stranger wandering from the fold of God.
He rescued me from danger interposed his precious blood.
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart, Oh take and seal it
Seal it for thy courts above."
In writing with the hope of warning others about false teachers and doctrines - wolves in sheep's clothing, I have offended anyone, that wasn't my original intention.
But then I remember that every time I've grown in my faith, it's usually come through first being offended at the truth. I've learned the truth can indeed hurt and often does; but in the long run the truth proves to be a good and needed pain.
If I'm wrong, no harm done, right? You have at least maybe been encouraged to listen closer to what you're hearing. But if I'm right, have I kept a lamb or sheep from wandering from the flock like I've done at times?
What lures content sheep away? Pastures that appear greener, richer, more enticing than the one they're on? Wolves in sheep clothing leading the flock in the wrong direction? Listen carefully to Paul's words in Acts 20:
"I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you in public and from house to house testifying both to Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ." ( 20-21 )
Paul doesn't shrink from the truth and reminds them of the gospel! That's what he taught them! That is what he said was profitable!
Then he goes on to warn them in verse 23 that all he cares about doing is finishing his race and testifying to the gospel of the grace of God that he received from the Lord Jesus. He doesn't know what awaits him in Jerusalem - he's about to leave. He's giving them their final instructions.
He says in verse 29 that he knows "after his departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock."
That scares the hades out of me.
Keep listening: "and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them."
Who is Paul talking with? The text tells us that it is the elders! The elders of the church in Ephesus. So wolves are going to come into the leadership of the church! Drawing away the disciples - that's the sheep.
Jesus said that there would be false prophets coming to us in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ( Matthew 7:15 ) Peter said that there would be false teachers among us. ( 2 Peter 2 ) They look and sound like us, so we need to examine their fruit, Jesus told us. That's the test: "A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit." ( 7:18 )
One day, and I know this is big talk, but one day, I want to stand before my Father as a daughter who didn't shrink back, because that has always been another weakness of mine, not speaking up, staying silent.
Love isn't always silent.
In the church if we replace the Gospel of Jesus Christ with destructive heresies that just help "good people" become "better people" and our focus is to help them live a better life and obey rules rather than giving them the often painful truth of the Good News, of sin, repentance, and redemption, that contains the power to truly transform their lives, then we need to know we are doing this or at the least be aware of the danger in our midst. I wished someone had warned me.
Surrounding my property and flock of sheep are hundreds of acres of woods filled with coyote and foxes. Their footprints close to my fencing, their eerie howls, I am well aware of the danger lurking all around the sheep. Sadly some predators managed to creep inside the fencing and steal some sheep.
That's why I was compelled to place safeguards within the flock and especially for the sake of the vulnerable lambs in the form of Great Pyrenees, livestock guardians. If a sheep still goes missing, any farmer worth his salt will search until they find the lost lamb.
Just like our Good Shepherd.
May we go and do likewise.
💜
No comments:
Post a Comment