I
felt a bit indignant at the description of the hired hand. Sure, some hired
hands would run away at the first sign of danger - but where’s their sense of
responsibility? They’re being paid to do a job, after all! Personally, I’d like
to think that I would do it properly, even if the sheep weren’t actually mine.
What a generalisation to throw around!
Of
course, the generalisation is true, and - of course - it applies to me as well
as everyone else. We protect what we care about. (If we’re lucky, we care about
the work we do - and that’s why we do it well). God has given us stewardship
over many things on this earth, and who of us can honestly say that we don’t
sometimes (many times…) run away in fear from the action we’re called to take?
In protecting our planet and our fellow inhabitants of it, we decide that, well
- maybe it isn’t our responsibility after all.
However,
the hired hand isn’t the only character in this story. There’s the shepherd,
and then there’s the flock. The flock doesn’t always see the big picture (just
who are these “other sheep” anyway - are they like us? And where is their sheep
pen??) but they know the shepherd’s voice. They know they are safe with him.
They know his unfailing care and devotion to protecting us all. They know that
hired hands may come and go but that the shepherd’s love remains.
As
we hear the Good Shepherd speak and follow where he leads, perhaps we - the
flock - are called most simply to be his Good Sheep.
Jo Hamborg
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