Hello,
I love the Bible as an ancient text filled with powerful narratives and metaphors. This does not stop me from being frustrated sometimes at the way it is read by Christians and used to justify some of the most appalling attitudes to vulnerable or marginalised groups in our society. Maybe too, I am being over selective, but it appears to me that there is a heart to the text of scripture that shows generations of ancient communities reaching an understanding of God as a lover and friend of the lost. Those who are broken, those who feel abandoned, those who are rejected, have a God who walks with them and stands in solidarity with them. The Bible reminds us that nobody should be alone. When we are lost, he is with us.
My favourite illustration of this is the illustration of the Shepherd.
In the Old Testament, much of the narrative places them as a people of the wilderness. A friend of mine, who at university was doing his PhD in the Torah, the Hebrew law, wrote about why ‘sheep and pigs’ were such contrasting themes in the Bible. Sheep were kosher, while pigs were unclean. He came to a very simple conclusion. Pigs were eaten by city dwellers in the valleys and sheep were acceptable to those who lived as nomads in the mountains. For Nick (my friend), that ‘God’ said it was never enough. He wanted to know why these ideas were embedded in the development of culture in communities.
The mountains and the hills were dangerous communities for sheep. They were timid animals who were always vulnerable to predators and bandits. They needed protecting and that was the job of the shepherd, to care for the sheep. The shepherd was always there for his sheep to care for them and look after them. It would take a moment of sleep in the wilderness, or for the shepherd to take his eyes off them, and a sheep could stray or be lost, or fall into a pit, or be savaged by a wild dog.
I love the 23rd Psalm. You will know it!
The LORD is my Shepherd;
23rd Psalm
I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside quiet waters.
He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness for the sake of His name.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
It is a simple and powerful message that, even when you are lost or struggling in life, God is with you like a shepherd, always alongside you, always faithful to you. We are approaching Christmas. It is the darkest time of the year with short days and unpredictable weather. For many people Christmas carries deeper and darker memories that fill us with elements of sadness. Thankfully, there is much in our culture that attempts to lift the spirits and build in people a measure of hope.
For too long, however, Christmas has become more about wealth and economics than about the real core of the Christmas story.
For those who spend time at Christmas, there is a simple story of a vulnerable baby being born to a young refugee woman in a cattle shed in the poorest part of a busy town. This story, like so much in the Bible, is filled with deep metaphors.
Jesus, in John’s Gospel, later described himself as the Good Shepherd who cares for his sheep. Here he is, in the Christmas story being born in manger, the place where sheep are fed. The Gospel writer wants us to know that Jesus is food for his sheep, broken bread for those who are hungry.
He is indeed the good shepherd. He is with us in the darkest valleys. He cares for us when we are in danger; he feeds us when we are hungry. With him, we are never alone. Have a lovely Christmas!
Eric