John 10:25,26,27,28; Revelation 7: 17

Between Lamb and Shepherd

Imagine you are a small farmer who rents from a landlord in ancient Israel or Palestine.  You work a few acres of rocky, infertile land in the hills. Rainfall is sparse. You have a few goats for milk, but no cows. The landlord has a few of those. You tend to two big fig trees and have a few rows of olive trees to work with. A few vines of grapes produce a minimum of grapes.  Other than nuts, your only source of protein are sheep.  Chickens are not your staple.  The kids in the family love the little lambs. They are cuddly, make funny noises and don’t mind being carried around.  So when your faith demands that it is time to sacrifice a lamb as a sign of your devotion to God, it is something very real to you. You are killing the family play mate on the altar, a playmate not old enough to be accepted pleasant meal for the children.  So when Christians talk to you of the concept of Jesus as the Lamb of God, you may contort you face in frown at first, but soon enough your face muscles will relax and the story will become real to you.

To us, however, friends, lamb brings associations of dishes we order occasionally at Middle Eastern restaurants.  The depth of the innocence and helplessness of the lamb does not really come to mind, so to us the image of the Lamb of God is one we accept, but does not reach us at much more than a digestive level.  I actually don’t even like the taste. But when it comes to shepherds, we can get the picture.  It’s not that far from Cowboy or Gaucho or Paniolo.  Lonely Basque and Peruvian sheepherders still roam the heights of Nevada we hear.   The shepherd’s role is clear.  So Jesus at the Good Shepherd (for there are bad ones) is acceptable to us.  We get it: we are the sheep and the lamb.  The shepherd has a staff with one end shaped to pull sheep in and the base to push them away to roam free.

Now our lectionary readings are a bit confusing for they force us to acknowledge to Jesus is both Lamb and Shepherd, both helpless, vulnerable and strong, protective. We are not used to thinking of Him in both those terms at the same time.  We are used to thinking in clear roles, because when people have clear roles it is easier to run families, companies, churches, armies and societies.  Is there some hapless mixed metaphor here?  How can someone be weak and strong at the same time, vulnerable and resolute? We don’t get it.

Plenty Coups was the chief of the Crow nation who helped his people survive the disappearance of the buffalo and the move onto the reservation. In a vision he heard a voice say that “he must be like the chickadee (a cute animal that is the state bird of Massachussetts and Maine and the provincial bird of New Brunswick)-listening, attentive, industrious, trusting, with a well-developed mind and body, tending to the work at hand.”  He decided he must lead his people to be “chickadee-people.” (Toronto Journal of Theology, Supplement I, 2015). But he didn’t tell them to be both Chickadee and Hawk. The role was clear.

Brenee Brown is a researcher at the University of Houston who focuses on human connection.  She is interested in learning which people are good at establishing belonging and expressing empathy.  After many interviews, and she talks about this in a TED talk, she concluded that vulnerability is important in establishing connection and belonging, that vulnerability also helped in showing empathy. Vulnerability is the ability and willingness to show our wounds and our weaknesses.   That was a surprise to her.  So if we take this to its logical conclusion we come to see that the Lamb which is vulnerable and the Shepherd who is strong need each other for us to become what she calls “wholehearted people” (Weavings, vol. 31, no.1). Perhaps this is what the text is showing us, friends.

In a recent interview with Charlie Rose, Gloria Vanderbilt who is now 91 appeared together with her son, the journalist Anderson Cooper. They are each other’s only immediate remaining relatives.   Cooper said of his mother that she was not tough, but strong and that one thing he admired about her was that despite her many hardships she always remained vulnerable.  He presented it as if it were a key to her success.

So friends, Jesus is both Lamb and Shepherd, both the helpless one willing to be sacrificed on our behalf, but also The One Who looks out for us, pulling us in and pushing us along toward our work. Not one or the other, but both.  The two need each other for Jesus to be wholehearted. This is what we learn here.  We need to acknowledge both Lamb and Shepherd in us.  We cannot take care of others if we do not let others take care is us.  That is easier said and done I know. But if we are shepherds only of our loved ones and our friends and of those we are called to serve beyond those circles, we can become tired and resentful.  If we are lambs only, we become dependent and we become whiners. Not one, but both. We cannot always say : I am strong and you are weak so I will help you.” We can also not always say: “I am weak and you are strong so you must help me.” Just because we think those are the roles. Friends may we be wholehearted, allowing ourselves to become, both Lamb and Shepherd. Thanks be to God.