Listening to a television talk-show one night I heard the cartoonist Jules Pfeiffer discussing a comic strip he once drew. In it, a little boy was afraid to go to school because he thought his parents might move away while he was gone. He didn't want to go to bed at night becuse he feared that his parents might die while he slept. "Coping with fears is a terrific battle for a child," said Pfeiffer. "It's like being on 24-hour guard duty." He went on to say that he had received many letters about the cartoon from adults who said that it was that way for them, too, that you don't have to be a child to feel surrounded by fear.
Sometimes it feels like fear is lurking around a corner or hovering over our heads. It attacks us at different levels. Some fears are relatively minor. What is going to happen tomorrow? Will it rain on my parade? Will I get sick?
Other fears reach down into our entrails and twist our stomachs into knots: Do people like me? Will I make it through this crisis? What if things don't turn out the way I want? What is going to become of me at last?
With all the pressures we feel and all the possibilities for evil, is it any wonder that we live with increasing insecurity? If we are not worrying about ourselves, we are concerned for our families or our friends, or about pollution, or global war. There always seems to be something. It is like being on 24-hour guard duty and it doesn't make any difference how old you are.
The words of our gospel from the Apostle John were written to Christians who were also on "guard duty," suffering hardships and persecution. Not only did they have to deal with the customary distresses of life, but they faced questions such as, "Would they be arrested? And if so, how would they die?" Would they be whipped to death, forced to fight the gladiators, fed to the lions? Theirs were frightful issues of life and death. Let's look at how John reached out to minister to the temptations and insecurities of the people of his day by telling a story about Jesus.
He relates the Lord's parable of the Good Shepherd. "Jesus," says John, "is the Good Shepherd." He is the trustworthy one who is willing to lay down his life for his sheep-like people. Trust Jesus for he will shepherd you safely through life. And how do you know you are on the path? You follow the word of Jesus into the green pastures, for he says, "My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me."
The call of our Lord, however, is "hidden" in a whole chorus of worldly voices which beckon us. Other would-be shepherds seek to tempt us away from the Good Shepherd, the joy of his forgiveness and the security of his love. And when we are weak and confused we may fall victim to the enticements of other gods.
I am reminded of an American tourist who was traveling in the Mid East. He came upon several shepherds whose flocks had intermingled while drinking water from a brook. After an exchange of greetings, one of the shepherds turned toward the sheep and called out, "Manah. Manah. Manah." (Manah means "follow me" in Arabic.) Immediately his sheep separated themselves from the rest and followed him.
Then one of the two remaining shepherds called out, "Manah. Manah." and his sheep left the common flock to follow him. The traveler then said to the third shepherd, "I would like to try that. Let me put on your cloak and turban and see if I can get the rest of the sheep to follow me."
The shepherd smiled knowingly as the traveler wrapped himself in the cloak, put the turban on his head and called out, "Manah. Manah." The sheep did not respond to the stranger's voice. Not one of them moved toward him. "Will the sheep ever follow someone other than you?" The traveler asked.
"Oh yes," the shepherd replied, "sometimes a sheep gets sick, and then it will follow anyone."
We have seen it, haven't we? People, young and old, who are "sick." Battered by the storms of life and distracted by voices urging them to go this way and that, they have lost their bearings and they don't know where they are or where they are going. That can be more than a little frightening; it leads to despair, to hopelessness. And when someone is "sick" they will follow anyone who will promise a moment of happiness, a brief feeling of peace or forgetfulness, a sense that they are someone.
The call of Jesus the Good Shepherd is, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." There is no better way, no greater truth, no happier life. Our Lord reaches out to us in love that we might follow him.
Sometimes in fear or desperation we chose to follow no one and instead turn inward and try to "lift ourselves up by our own bootstraps," as if that were possible. But the Way, the Truth and the Life cannot be discovered within one's self. That's why you can read all the self-help books in the world and still be lost, confused, and frightened. No self-oriented accomplishments - attaining power, amassing wealth, gaining status or receiving the applause of the crowd - will give enduring fulfillment, security of purpose, or abiding peace, no matter what the world says.
We have invested our time, money and faith in false gods. That is the reason for the anxiety, the sense of hopelessness, and turmoil of our world. That is why fear grips us. Don't you see? All the gods are dying! All the idols we have fashioned for ourselves, all the would-be shepherds we have followed, all the gods we have preferred before the Lord God have failed us. We followed them, only to watch them die. When the chips are down, when we are up against it, when we turn for help, we discover our gods have vanished. That can be terrifying! It can be terrifying to see the shepherds we have followed passing away, to see the gods we have loved and trusted and worshiped and pursued - materialism or pleasure, or popularity, or security, or whatever - to see them die because they are inadequate to speak to the deepest needs of our hearts and lives.
The trouble for many is that they have abandoned the church, or at least relegated it to a "bit role" in their life; it is a convenience at best. Thus the power of forgiveness, the gifts of grace, the warmth of fellowship are absent. When people no longer worship they lose sight of the beacons which warn us of the life-shattering rocks, they often forfeit the Word of God which lights the path. They find themselves in need of a Shepherd but they don't know where to look. Author Romain Gary describes it well in his book, The Ski Bum.
A Dominican priest speaks to a group of young people at a ski resort.He says, "You are all no more than 20 or 22 years old, but yours is an empty existence, I'm telling you. Nothing sings for you anymore. You're so angry with all the hypocrisy, all the phony piper's tunes, that you end up by breaking all the pipes and hating all the tunes. You reduce the world to a spiritual shambles. God is ha-ha-ha. The Soul is ho-ho-ho. Booze is your comfort. Love is reduced to sex. Family - what's that? Are you kidding? So now you are left with nothing. But before I go I shall say one more word."
"Oh God," says one of the skiers.
"Yes, yes," replies the priest, "That's right ... Oh God. But the point is, you dumped him and life didn't become more enjoyable. Something is still missing isn't it? You got rid of God, and isn't that funny, something is still missing. Perhaps you ought to try to get rid of yourselves a little. Perhaps you will end up by getting rid of yourselves as well. I would begin with that if I were you. That's a riddle that comes from an American children's game. The question is, 'Who took the cookie from the cookie jar?' I see you know the game; very interesting. You are all very bright and clever so maybe you'll find an answer. Who took the cookie from the cookie jar, indeed? Shall we blame Freud or Marx? Or maybe it was prosperity, materialism, or hard-boiled realism. I don't know and I don't care. But you certainly seem to be missing the cookie very much. You twist and turn and ache looking for it."
That's the future for those who follow some superficial shepherd down a primrose path littered with promises of pleasure and satisfaction. Ultimately he deserts us, dies on us, leaves us lost, bewildered, twisting and turning and aching. That is what is happening in our time. The gods are dying; they always do and that is a fearsome thing because we have staked our life on them.
So we hold before each other the option of following the Good Shepherd, to declare with our lips and our lives he is indeed the Way, the Truth and the Life. It is the Good Shepherd who beckons to us in our heartbreak and our loneliness, calls out to us in our guilt and in our dying. When we come to him he brings his love to our lovelessness and his power to our powerlessness so that now there is healing, now there is forgiveness, now there is direction to living, and life undying. That is the promise, "I give you life eternal and nothing in all creation will ever be able to snatch you out of my hand."
It is true that coping with our fears is a terrific battle; sometimes it seems overwhelming. We need all the help we can get. We need a Shepherd who will stand sentinel over our lives so that we can rest, knowing his mighty power will sustain us. No other god will do; we need the Good Shepherd who will lead us in the right Way, teach us the liberating Truth and give us strength for Life and peace and security at this life's end.
One of my favorite stories illustrates this for us in a poignant way. There was a little boy named Jimmy, who was the youngest of three children born into a wealthy Canadian family. He had been sickly since he was an infant, but in his fifth year his illness grew worse and he could no longer walk.
His parents spared no cost in seeing that Jimmy received the best medical care available. They purchased an electric wheelchair so that he could get around by himself, and any toy he wanted was his for the asking. As the months progressed it became obvious that Jimmy could not hang on much longer. The parents were anxious, wondering if they should say anything to him about his illness or if they should tell him he was dying. Although they belonged to no church, the father knew a man whom he respected and who was a Christian. He went to the man to ask his advice.
The man shared many things about life and death and about God's greatest gift of grace in Jesus. Then he said, "I like to teach young children this short Bible verse. Perhaps you could teach it to Jimmy. There's one word for each finger on the left hand: 'The Lord is my shepherd.' It's easy for them to learn, and afterward I explain the love of God in that verse. I always tell them," he said, "to hold on to the fourth finger, the Lord is my shepherd, because that means I belong to Jesus."
The father went home and taught Jimmy the Bible verse, doing his best to explain its meaning, and telling him to grasp the fourth finger on his left hand. Jimmy was delighted and repeated it many times a day.
One morning Jimmy's mother rushed in to get his father. "Jimmy's gone," she said, sobbing. "He's gone. But look. Look."
The father ran to his son's room and looked in. There was Jimmy, silent in death, but his hands were in front of his face, and his right hand was clasped tightly around the fourth finger of his left hand.
That father taught his son many things and gave him many possessions, but nothing he did for Jimmy was as valuable as introducing him to the Good Shepherd. The important thing for Jimmy was not that he had all the facts straight on Jesus, but that he was aware that Jesus, the Son of God, knew about him, and loved him. When you are weak and vulnerable it is good to know that someone so powerful comes to you personally, so that you might have the security and joy of knowing that, come what may, you will be cared for and provided for because you belong to Jesus.
Today I invite you to listen to the call of the Good Shepherd, to accept his invitation to let him be your God. He comes declaring his love and promising to be your God forever. Eternal power he offers through the Holy Spirit, and safe passage through the uncertainties of life. That is the good news I have for you today. You belong to Jesus. Follow him, for he is the Way of salvation. He is the Truth that endures forever. He is the Life that does not end. Jesus will give you the security of knowing where you are going, what you believe, and what you will be at last. Jesus loves you and you are safe with the Shepherd. Amen.
1. Printed by permission. Gary, Romain. The Ski Bum. Bantam Books. Harper and Row Publishers, Inc. 1966. pp. 123-125.