Have you ever read a book or watched a documentary that you thought just was so illuminating that you’d never forget it because it just makes everything make more sense? And then forget most of it within a month or two? I do this! One of those books for me was a book called Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. While I have forgotten most of it, there were a few key nuggets. And this is my favorite one.

 

Harari writes about how humans changed in our evolutionary journey from being lower on the food chain to being the dominant species. He says we did this in a fraction of the evolutionary time it took for other keystone predators to dominate their ecosystems, like lions for example. Since we did this mostly through culture and technology, our physical bodies have yet to catch up.

 

So, he was essentially saying that we have the nervous systems of scared bunnies, while in reality we are quite dominant. Doesn’t that explain a few things?It’s a weird fact that often the most scared among us are the ultra-wealthy since they have so much to lose. It seems we can’t achieve our way out of the fact that we’re basically fancy bunnies.

I’m sure you’ve heard people explaining that our near constant anxiety is due to over-activation of our nervous systems that are meant to keep us safe from things that want to eat us. They weren’t designed to help us manage our modern lives. We don’t need to run from wild animals for the most part, but our bodies just don’t know it yet. 

 

So, on Good Shepherd Sunday, we get to celebrate our Good Shepherd and give thanks for all that God gives us; assurance in our dark valleys, trustworthy guidance and care, justice, and abundant, new life. But given the fact that we’re basically fancy bunnies, perhaps the metaphor of the Good Shepherd when we speak of God isn’t just because of God and what God does. Maybe God is our Good Shepherd primarily because we are a lot like sheep/bunnies and we really need a shepherd. God shows up for us as we need God to be as the one who cares for us.

 

Of course, we humans don’t think we’re like sheep or bunnies. However we do a lot of the things sheep do. I heard stories from friends and colleagues who grew up with sheep or have sheep. They can get each other running until they die. One can randomly go run into a lake, the rest will follow and then they’ll die. Or if they aren’t moved from pasture to pasture, they’ll over graze until there’s nothing left. We may not like it, but we are sometimes like this. Cute, clueless, skittery, and have a propensity for group think that doesn’t go well.

 

Us sheep really do need the Good Shepherd.

 

The promise of the Jesus as our Good Shepherd is abundant life, that he is the gate out of the sheep pen and the way towards green pastures. He is the one to lead us. This is the promise of the resurrection, that we too will live abundant lives despite our dark valleys, despite the ways we experience death and fear. The promise is always loving care by the one who leads us.

 

Jesus says of us sheep that the “sheep follow him because they know his voice.” I think this is perhaps putting a lot of trust in the sheep, because when I look around I see a lot of us sheep following the voices of strangers a lot.

 

It seems it’s really easy for us to follow the wrong voices. And yet Jesus says, his sheep follow because they listen and they know his voice. We, followers of Christ, listen and we know his voice.

 

And yet we still get lost. We get spooked, we react, we lose our way. So listening and hearing his voice is key. How do we listen? How do we hear and know we’re hearing the right voice?

 

For that question, here is a poem we read in Adult Forum together by Reverend Steve Garnaas-Holmes, called The Voice.

 

The Voice

Many try to do a good impression of God
but they all fail.

Something in you knows the true voice,
resonates as to no other voice, vibrates

in the orchestra pit of your soul,
to the voice that in the beginning uttered the Word,

the voice of who you are, that calls you into being,
that calls you deeper into life, into the mystery.

You won’t hear it in the noise out there,
or even the noise within, but underneath that,

speaking out of silence, heard only by sensing beyond sense.
You follow in the dark purely by the sound of the voice.

The more keenly you listen,
the more you make listening your prayer,

the more you realize you are already following,
without even having set out.

 

Listening in this way sounds like prayer or like silent meditation. I know for me, when I listen in this way, I experience my nervous system calm down, my heart slow down, my body settle down so that I can “hear” my Good Shepherd lead me to abundant life. My inner bunny is calmed so that I can follow.

This practice of listening to the Good Shepherd seems particularly important for Celebration right now. Celebration is about to have an experience it has not had in over 30 years, not having a pastor. And not just any pastor, but we’re talking about Dave and Leann Haven. I’m sure for some this boggles the mind. What will Celebration be without their music, enthusiasm, presence, and creativity?

 

At the same time, Celebration has all the resources it needs.

 

Celebration has the greater church body, council, the call team, and a truly great congregation and community. Celebration has Darcie and Annette in the office, and Ann leading Sunday School. Celebration has the volunteers who keep all the things going. Celebration has life, and has it abundantly. And Celebration has the Good Shepherd who is leading out front towards green pastures and still waters.

 

Even with all of that, it’s not unwise to remember that we are basically fancy sheep. Getting scared and skittery is literally part of our human physiology. But we don’t have to be. We can listen to the Good Shepherd. We can hear. And we can share with each other what we hear. We can share our sense of calm, assurance, and confidence in what is to come. Humans are complicated. Even as we are skittery sheep, we are also made in the image of God. Made in relationship with God. We can listen, learn, share, and grow. And as members of the Body of Christ, we can also lead.

 

Sheep herds are led, I’ve been told, by the shepherd being out front calling to the sheep to follow. However, sometimes the shepherd is walking along side, sometimes following behind finding the stragglers and the lost. Sometimes the shepherd has a llama or donkey as an honorary herd member who can protect the herd from within.

 

So, as you listen to our Good Shepherd, what are some of the ways you might see yourself leading and being a part of the safe travel Celebration will be going on from one place to the next? Do you find yourself in a position out front, perhaps on council or the call committee? Do you find yourself full of vision for what comes next? Might you be one who walks beside others, one who maybe is one of the folks doing the work of the congregation? Do you feel like you might be one to walk beside others? Or might you be one who is noticing when someone is absent or when someone is visiting and might need a warm welcome? Do you notice when someone is down and might need a blessing or a hug? Or might you be someone who is in the thick of things and can be a reassuring voice to folks who might be afraid?

 

As followers of the Good Shepherd, we are taken care of and yet are always called into service and leadership for the sake of the other. We are called ourselves, as the Body of Christ, to be the Good Shepherd for others.

 

Celebration has exciting times ahead, along with the complex sadness and joy of sharing memories, saying thanks, and saying goodbye to an era that is coming to an end. The promise of Jesus is to be with us, all of us, in our journeys, leading the way with his voice, always towards abundant life for all of us. Let us listen, hear, and follow.

 

 

AMEN