Following

Every year we come to Good Shepherd Sunday after a few weeks of focusing on the response to the resurrection. Good Shepherd Sunday is a reminder that we need a shepherd. It also reminds us that we are like sheep – not something we necessarily want to be like. Recently I learned that if sheep are flipped upside down and stay that way long enough, they will die. In that position a sheep’s organs start to shut down, which leads to its death. These are the types of facts that make us shy away from wanting to compare ourselves to sheep.

As we watch culture change, it is evident that we are followers. New trends like smart phones, smart watches, and other devices catch on like wildfire. I can hardly be in a meeting or any office waiting for an appointment without watching people check their phones. In the deep moments when I am reflecting on life I ask myself what we did before smart phones. Recently I saw that my brother-in-law had a record player, and again I reflected on when music was less portable than it is today. Sure, this shows our desire for convenience, but it also shows us our following nature. If you listen to conversations around you, you will find people encouraging others to watch their favorite show or eat at one of the restaurants they love. We want to be leaders, but like sheep, we are followers looking for a leader. Unfortunately, we find that all our human leaders eventually fail us. We see how, if upside down long enough, their organs fail. Anyone of us, upside down long enough in our behaviors, see our lives begin to fail.

This brings us back to the most important part of this Sunday. No matter what is going on in our lives, we need a great Shepherd, or leader, to guide us. And while we try time and time again to follow those leaders in our world we think will be great, we eventually see their fallibility. This is not true with Jesus, of course. He is the shepherd who will lead us back to the safety of the pen or the home we truly need. Yet so often we find ourselves in the pastures of life trying to follow a voice other than His. On Good Shepherd Sunday we are reminded that Easter is the source of our salvation, but it is in our repentance and trust in the Good Shepherd that we find the path to our eternal home. The hardest part is admitting how often we follow other people and ideas in this life. Once we come face-to-face with this reality – how easily we follow others to the point of being flipped upside down and even to death – then we are ready to understand why this Sunday is so important.  In the weeks after the resurrection as the disciples discovered the disorientation of this world, they found themselves right where we are – seeking a leader, a shepherd, a Savior to rescue us from our weak and easily disoriented nature. This week we reflect on our deep need for a Good Shepherd, and how that is none other than Jesus Christ!