WANDERING SHEEP

From My Perspective - - -

Sheep are very interesting animals. When one thinks about the nature of sheep, it is easy to conclude that they are gentle and vulnerable. They are gentle in the sense that they are not vicious or carnivorous and vulnerable because they are an easy prey for any predator. They need a protector – a shepherd - who will be vigilant and offer a defense against that which would attach the flock. The shepherd would find the best pasture for his sheep so they will be nourished and healthy. The very nature of the sheep is that they will follow their shepherd – willingly and without resistance – because they have learned their shepherd will lead them to the greenest pastures and quench their thirst at the edge of still waters.

Everyone has some knowledge of the words written by David in Psalm 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” A paraphrase states those words: “Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything that I need.” This is a picture that Jesus Christ embraced for himself when He stated in John 10, “I am the Good Shepherd Who lays down His life for His sheep.” He exposes Himself to this risk and danger because the sheep are incapable of protecting or delivering themselves. If they are left to themselves, they will be immediately on a dangerous and perilous path. They will meander aimlessly because they lack a sense of direction and none from among their number is able to emerge as a leader for the flock.

In 1843, Horatius Bonar penned the words for a hymn that has become a partial testimony of several, “(1) I Was A Wandering Sheep, I did not love the fold; I did not love my Shepherd’s voice, I would not be controlled. I was a wayward child, I did not love my home; I did not love my Father’s voice, I loved afar to roam. (2) The Shepherd sought His sheep, The Father sought His child; They followed me o’er vale and hill, O’er deserts waste and wild; They found me nigh to death, Famished and faint and lone; They bound me with the bands of love, They saved the wandering one. (3) They spoke in tender love, They raised my drooping head, They gently closed my bleeding wounds, My fainting soul they fed; They washed my filth away, They made me clean and fair; They brought me to my home in peace, The long sought wanderer. (4) Jesus my Shepherd is: ’Twas He that loved my soul; ’Twas He that washed me in His blood, ’Twas He that made me whole. ’Twas He that sought the lost, That found the wandering sheep, ’Twas He that brought me to the fold, ’Tis He that still doth keep. (5) No more a wandering sheep, I love to be controlled; I love my tender Shepherd’s voice, I love the peaceful fold. No more a wayward child, I seek no more to roam; I love my heavenly Father’s voice, I love, I love His home!” Do these words echo your personal testimony?

Those who measure church life and numbers indicate that the Generation X and the Millennial's have lost interest in the church and their attendance is waning. The Church continues on its course – maintaining its forms and rituals; its traditions and formats. Those who are absenting themselves are bored and disinterested in attending the long and drawn out services that are called “worship” services. Meanwhile, the church has become indifferent and impervious to the needs and longings of multitudes of wandering sheep in their vicinity and neighborhood. This situation is far more serious and urgent than the church thinks. The Lord indicates in Jeremiah 50:6, "My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray, turning them away on the mountains. From mountain to hill they have gone. They have forgotten their fold. All who found them have devoured them…” Similar words are stated in Ezekiel 34:8-10, "As I live, says the Lord GOD, because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild animals, since there was no shepherd; and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep; therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: Thus says the Lord GOD, I am against the shepherds; and I will demand my sheep at their hand, and put a stop to their feeding the sheep; no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, so that they may not be food for them. Is that the vision and mission of your life, as well as that of the church you attend? If not, why not? Rather than forms, God wants faithfulness; rather than just recitation of creedal confessions, God wants compassion toward the wandering sheep. Are you a spectator or a participator? Consider these things with me.