The Good Shepherd and the Sheep
Texts: 1 John 3:16-24; Psalm 23; John 10:11-18 Everybody loves Jesus the Good Shepherd. We love seeing him in stained glass windows, or depicted in beautiful mosaics, in our churches. We love to recite the 23rd Psalm with its message of comfort, and many of us have our favorite renditions of that Psalm in music, from the evocative chant written by Bobby McFerrin to the lush choral version by Howard Goodall that everyone now knows as the Theme to the Vicar of Dibley tv series. Then there’s Bach’s lovely aria Sheep May Safely Graze which we often hear at weddings to encourage us to live without fear, although it was written to be a birthday song. So on this Good Shepherd Sunday, it’s lovely to reflect on Jesus the Good Shepherd who cares for the sheep and watches over them. I know how important it can be, especially in the hard times, to feel that a loving someone is watching over us. But everybody doesn’t love sheep, or at least not everyone loves the idea of being a sheep. The rap
