“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”
Thank God for George Herbert Walker Bush. And Bill Clinton. And Barack Obama.
OK, so there's a name suspiciously absent there... I found the 8 years under George W. Bush exceedingly painful, because I didn't think he was a good shepherd. He might have been - it's not my desire to start a debate on this topic on this blog - but I didn't perceive him as one. I didn't think he cared about me one whit, and he definitely seemed to be controlled by people who only cared about ideologies and domination. Although I cried with tears of joy and eight years of released tension when Obama won, I think McCain too would have been a good shepherd, he would have laid down his life for his sheep.
Jesus didn't have to die on a cross at the hands of Rome. He could have easily been more popular, he could have easily offended fewer people in power. He could have told the oppressed people to submit to their oppression and wait patiently for death - a message frequently enough told in Scripture and by the church, and very much appreciated by those in charge. Or he could have joined the zealots and fought gloriously for control of Jerusalem.
But he chose to proclaim a message that was bound to end in his death. Of first importance, life is about loving God and neighbor - not necessarily a dangerous message, but it certainly was in Jesus' hands, because Jesus' God insisted on justice and real love for all people. Poverty and sickness are not punishments by God, but are part of this world; wealth is meant to be shared, not acquired; it's hard for the rich to be part of God's kingdom; rules - even the Sabbath! - are meant for humans, not humans for rules; oppression need not be submitted to, but can be fought with subversive love rather than violence. This kind of teaching got people crucified in Jesus' day.
I want good shepherds, leaders who will give up their lives for me. As a post-Nixonian American, I don't really want to follow them, I don't want to be a sheep... they do their job (trying to take care of us) and we do ours. We have the same option with Jesus - we can let Jesus "take care of us" on the cross, and ignore what he says. And if that's all the care we want, perhaps it even "works" - I'm convinced that God forgives sinners, even in the midst of their sin. But gaining the full benefit of a shepherd requires the sheep to follow. And unlike a good president, Jesus can be trusted - not only to try, but to succeed in leading us well. To what extent are we willing to follow his lead? Could it be that Jesus will lead us to greener pastures?
Miscellaneous meanderings
The 4th Sunday of Easter is "Good Shepherd Sunday" each year, with a reading from John 10. The leader as "shepherd" is a common metaphor in the prophets; natural readings for this Sunday would be Jeremiah 23 or Ezekiel 34 (which should be read if you want to understand John 10), but during the Easter season the lectionary has readings from Acts (continuing the "history of Israel" in the history of the church) rather than the Hebrew scriptures.
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