2022.11.20 | The Good Shepherd
“The Good Shepherd”
Rev. Dr. Arlene K. Nehring
Eden United Church of Christ, Hayward, California
Christ the King Sunday 2022
Nov. 20, 2022
This past week was a rough one for those whom the 6th Century BCE Prophet Jeremiah would have called “Bad Shepherds.” The national headlines are resplendent with bad actors--Bad Shepherds--this past week. Consider the following:
The so-called “red wave” did not, as it turns out, materialize in the midterm elections. NPR’s political analysts attribute this November surprise to the fact that voters are angry about the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade and they “remembered in November,” and turned out Pennsylvania and Arizona to elect moderate rather than extreme candidates. Meanwhile, voters in highly contested races such as Pennsylvania, Arizona, New Hampshire, Nevada, and Michigan rejected election-denying candidates up and down the ballot.
As a result of these red losses in purple places, he-who-will-not-be-named did not get the whole-hearted support of his party, or the momentum that he and most pollsters and political parties had anticipated when he announced the launch of his 2024 campaign for President of the United States of America.
Interestingly, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the the leading contender for the Republican nominee for President, watched a federal judge partially block a law that he had championed which was designed to limit the discussion of critical race theory in Florida schools and workplace training. (Critical race theory describes the evidence and effects of racism and privilege in our culture.)
In addition, Elizabeth Holmes, founder of Theranos, a Silicon Valley startup, was sentenced, on Friday, to more than 11 years in prison for felony fraud. According to an article in Friday’s “Mercury News,” Holmes was found guilty in January of defrauding investors out of more than $144M—with total losses estimated at more than $800M.
And, Elon Musk, the self-described “Chief Twit” at the social media giant, Twitter, appears to have become his own worst enemy by laying off half of his workforce, and the vast majority of those left on staff resign in droves, when he announced on Thursday that employees must commit to a new “hard core” era, or leave the company with three months severance.
For those familiar with today’s sermon text, it is easy to see the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s ancient prophecy in these headlines. Here, in Jeremiah 23:1-2, the prophet warns:
Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord...It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord.
We don’t have to look far to find bad shepherds, but what would a good shepherd look like? How would we know ‘em when we see ‘em?
Jeremiah only offers one clue. In verse 5, the prophet says: “...[they will] deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”
II
It’s no accident that there are numerous references in scripture to sheep and shepherds. Our ancestors in the faith were what social scientists, like Madeline S. and J. Lane Miller, referred to as “nomadic pastoralists,” in their description of shepherds in Harper’s Encyclopedia of the Bible, the third edition, published in San Francisco, by Harper & Row in 1978 on page 142.
The Hebrew people raised sheep, and goats, but unlike most shepherds in the US, they did not fence ‘em in. Our forebears in the faith herded their livestock from one pasture to the next following the rainy season, in order to provide lush pastures for their flocks.
In an ancient nomadic family like Abraham and Sarah’s, every able-bodied person was a shepherd, and shepherding involved tending and guarding the flock.
Watering the sheep was generally considered women’s work, while the nomadic herding of sheep was the responsibility of younger men, who guided their families’ flocks from one pasture to another. Pastures were often several miles from a nomadic family’s camp or settled village, so shepherds spent much of their time in relative isolation, a long way from their families and friends for weeks at a time.
A shepherd’s primary role in biblical times and today involved protecting the flock. Keeping sheep alive and healthy until they were sent to market or to slaughter was no small task. Sickness, injury, and predatory threats abounded, particularly for nomads. The most common threats to sheep (and goats) in biblical times were wild animals, theft, and extreme weather conditions (Ibid., 142).
Shepherds had to decide every day where they would take their flock to graze and drink water or the sheep would die. Experienced shepherds knew the area surrounding their home base, but in biblical times, shepherds could not rely solely on familiar pastures. They had to migrate seasonally to provide for their flocks, thereby traveling numerous miles over harsh terrain. The only cover from the elements that a shepherd might be able to find was a random cave along their nomadic journey (Ibid., 143).
Shepherds survived by their wits, and their abilities to master the use of a slingshot and stones, a shepherd’s crook, and a homemade spear (Ibid. 143). The slingshot and stones were used to scare off predators from a distance, while the spear was used for close contact with wolves or snakes. And a shepherd’s crook was used to rein in a drifter, or rescue a sheep that had fallen down the side of a cliff or gotten a leg wedged between rocks.
If a flock was large and required more than one shepherd, the whole crew set up camp near water and returned with the flock each night, where they would scan the herd for sickness and injury, and build a fire to warm themselves and ward off predators. A sheepfold constructed of stones was often built around a central campsite, and the sheep herded into the sheepfold at dusk.
For those who haven’t seen a sheepfold, imagine a giant corral made of rocks piled waist high with a gate at one end. The corral was built to keep the sheep from scattering, but it was not a fool-proof way of protecting the sheep. The howl of a wolf or a crack of thunder could instantly spark the sheep to scatter. So during the night, the shepherds took turns keeping watch over their flock and warding off predators (Ibid., 144).
III
The ancient prophet Jeremiah was quick to point out that not all shepherds were cut from the same cloth--most especially the worldly kings, who he metaphorically referred to in this passage as shepherds. A good shepherd--a good king--in Jeremiah’s view, guided their flock to green pastures and made sure that they had ample water to drink. When the flock was threatened, the good shepherd defended the sheep. When one or two wandered off, the good shepherd searched for the lost and guided them back to the fold. When one was injured, the good shepherd tended to the wounds of the one who was suffering.
But the bad shepherds were different. They acted conversely to the ways of the good shepherds. The bad shepherds did not lead their flocks to verdant pastures. They did not gather and unify the flock. They did not protect and defend the vulnerable or bind up the wounds of the injured.
As a consequence, the bad shepherds--the bad kings--were subject to divine judgment. They would suffer through a divine house cleaning.
The bad shepherds, like King Jehoiakim (ruler of the Southern Kingdom, which was known as Judah) trampled on the poor, submitted to the rule of foreign kings, and worshiped their false gods, so he would be ousted, and replaced with a Good Shepherd, who would usher in a new day. The lost would be found, the scattered would be gathered, and the nation would be reunited.
The Good Shepherd, Jeremiah proclaimed, would come from the house and lineage of David. They would bring the exiles home, and rule with righteousness and justice. They would fulfill the needs of the poor, widows, and orphans. They would worship Yahweh, rather than idols, and they would inspire earthly leaders to emulate this divinely anointed King, so that peace with justice--God’s shalom--would prevail in the world.
Today, as we turn the last page on the Pentecost calendar and look longingly toward Advent, this is who we, like Jeremiah, have been waiting for--this Good Shepherd--this long expected Jesus. Let us prepare to welcome and promote his reign in our world, so that God’s justice and peace might prevail. Amen.