Sheepdogs and Jesus

My Faith Sheepdogs...

Worship yesterday was planned and lead by one of our families. The daughter chose the hymn...Savior, Like A Shepherd Lead Us... and that set the theme for our time together. Our scripture from John held the image of Jesus as the shepherd who knows his sheep and who is known by his sheep. The father spoke his reflections on this passage, remembering his initial reactions to this passage... God gave us knowledge and free will so we didn’t have to be sheep following a shepherd blindly... But we can get really messed up by relying only on ourselves... Perhaps we do need a shepherd. Talk back time produced some wise responses and then my friend Mark spoke. Mark marches to the beat of the drum circle at Pritchard Park. He can be counted on to have a many faceted view that produces something so outside the usual that you are left with your jaw hanging down in laughter and revelation. Yesterday was no exception.
Mark shared a short discourse on the varieties of sheepdogs and their differences. Basically, there are three types of sheepdogs. One type is devoted to and protective of the sheep. Relationships with humans are peripheral and nonessential. The sheep are of primary importance. The second type relates to both humans and the sheep, responding to direction while tending the animals. These dogs love both sheep and people. The third type of dog is primarily a people dog with sheep skills. All its work with sheep is done at the direction of a person whom the dog loves and respects. After our short tutorial on sheepdogs, Mark asked us who our sheepdogs were. We know our shepherd but who are our sheepdogs? So this morning when I woke before sunrise, I lay in bed thinking about my sheepdogs.
My first faith sheepdogs were my parents. They loved me into faith in God. Focused on me, their child, they carried me to church, read me Bible stories, modeled steadfast love by their presence in all of my life, rejoiced in my affirmation of belief and worried about my call to full time Christian service. Their calling as Christian parents was lived out by their keeping me in the flock of Christians called Baptists.
Other faith sheepdogs came along as I grew... Sunday School teachers, preachers, adult friends. Mrs. Tyre taught me the Bible, helped me memorize verses and showed me the mechanics of our sacred book. Brother Kannon was my lesson in true humility. Walter and Mary Lynn taught me you don’t have to be dumb to be a Christian. God made you smart for a reason. Celeste showed me the joy of creation, whatever its form, is the opportunity to be like our Creator. Others who never knew me helped guide me as they preached, taught, and wrote the what and the why of their beliefs. My faith sheepdog list is very long.
I sing the old hymn now with a refreshed vision, a new appreciation for my Shepherd Jesus who has provided the sheepdogs I have needed. “Savior, like a shepherd lead us, much we need thy tender care; In thy pleasant pastures feed us, for our use thy folds prepare...We are thine do thou befriend us, be the Guardian of our way; Keep thy flock, from sin defend us, seek us when we go astray.” For all the saints disguised as sheepdogs who have befriended me, defended me and sought me when I was astray, I give thanks. But most of all, I give thanks for the Shepherd Source who holds us all close, sheep and dogs alike, in his loving arms.