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We have two dogs. One is a yellow lab, Sasha, who worships the ground I walk on. Sometimes when we are nuzzling noses I look deeply into her eyes. And I swear she can understand what I am saying. If I could only hear what she says to me. Thanks to a new technology that translates dog barks into English, we all can understand what our dogs are telling us when they bark. Here’s how it works: You put an electronic transmitter on your dog’s collar that activates every time he barks, sending a signal to a receiver that you wear around your neck. The receiver interprets each bark within six different "mood" categories: Happy, Sad, Frustrated, Needy, On Guard and Assertive. When the delivery person rings your doorbell, you should be able to tell whether your dog is saying "Pet me! Pet me!" or "Go ahead, make my day." Users report mixed results with the device. Often the translation doesn’t match up with the circumstance surrounding the bark and, if you really get down to it, who needs a $120 translator to tell whether your dog is happy or sad? Isn’t that why they have tails? When Jesus speaks of his people, one of the metaphors he uses for them is "sheep." In his day, sheep were the staple livestock of the culture and were as common around town as dogs are around the family home today. Shepherds, however, clearly understood the communication style of the sheep in their care without the aid of any electronic device. It was merely a matter of knowing the language and the nature of the herd due to the fact that the shepherd spends a lot of time with his flock. Consider these facts about sheep (and people) that every shepherd knows. Sheep are gregarious. In other words, sheep will always band together and pretty much stay together when grazing or moving around. It’s not because they like each other, although they are social animals, but because they find security in numbers. "Get one to go and they’ll all go" is a principle that all shepherds know and follow. In the sheep herd, separation from the flock causes extreme stress. Sheep communicate that through high-pitched bleating. In humans it’s communicated through our cries of loneliness, addiction and depression. Many years ago, children in schools in America learned to know the voice of Walter Damrosch. He taught thousands of boys and girls to know and love music. Classes stopped at a certain hour, the school radio was switched on, and then his familiar voice was heard: "Good morning, my dear children." They then enjoyed a half-hour of beautiful music, and he would tell them the meaning and the message within the music One day Mr. Damrosch was asked by the headmaster of a school to come and talk to the boys and girls. He sat on the platform and the children fidgeted, for he was an old man, and they knew that old men very often make long speeches. The headmaster let him introduce himself. Mr. Damrosch stood up and smiled, but no one knew him. Then he said, "Good morning, my dear children," and immediately the whole room was in an uproar. The children clapped and cheered. Mr. Damrosch said, "And why do you cheer? You do not know me." "Yes we do, we know your voice." If we are sheep, do we know our Shepherd’s voice? Do we know with whom we belong? When Jesus was asked by those around him whether he was the Messiah (10:24), it was a question of belonging and of security. The Messiah was to be the one who would bring the whole "flock" of Israel together and provide protection and victory against the Roman oppressors. But Jesus reinterprets their tradition, and reminds them that theirs is not an exclusive flock, but rather that there are "other sheep that do not belong to this fold" (10:16) who he longs to bring in as well — even the Gentiles, like the Roman soldiers who were currently walking the streets. Jesus’ statement is a cautionary word to those who think they who know and who do not comprise the "sheep" of the flock of God. Don’t be thinking that our "brand" is the only brand. The Shepherd knows the sheep and it sounds like Jesus is saying that we might be surprised to discover just how many variations and breeds there are in the flock we call the church. In a culture like ours, where rugged individualism is a high value, the idea of "flocking" or being "herded" isn’t too appealing. We’d prefer to see ourselves as individuals of worth, but not necessarily valued because of our connection to the community. It is closer to the truth to understand that, like sheep, we are social animals who need each other, need to belong, and we herd instinctively. A shepherd was herding his flock in a remote pasture when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of the dust cloud toward him. The driver, a young man leaned out the window and asked the shepherd, "If I tell you exactly how many sheep you have in your flock, will you give me one?" The shepherd looks at the man and calmly answers, "Sure." The young man parks his car, whips out his laptop and connects it to a cell phone, then he surfs to a NASA page on the Internet where he calls up a GPS satellite navigation system and scans the area. He turns to the shepherd and says, "You have exactly 1,586 sheep." "Wow! That is correct, take one of the sheep," says the shepherd. He watches as the young man selects one of the animals and bundles it into his car. Then the shepherd says: "If I can tell you exactly what your business is, will you give me my sheep back?" "Okay, why not," answers the young man. "You are a consultant," says the shepherd. "That’s correct," says the young man, "but how did you guess that?" "No guessing required," answers the shepherd. "You turned up here although nobody called you. You want to get paid for the answer to a question I already knew, and you don’t know anything about my business. Now give me back my dog!" Contrary to popular opinion, sheep are intelligent. A study from Cambridge, England, showed that sheep have remarkable memories, being able to pick out a particular face in a line of pictures, if that face is associated with a food reward. Maybe we could employ this strategy here at St. John. I think that if any of you new people would give me an apple pie that I would more likely remember your face! Sheep also have keen hearing, which makes it possible for them to discern the voice of their shepherd from among many others, and they will always move toward the person they perceive to be a friend, particularly if that friend feeds the sheep. So sheep aren’t as dumb as we think…unless they’re scared. One of the authors of this study, Dr. Kendrick, believes that the sheep’s reputation for stupidity comes from the fact that sheep are afraid of just about everything. He writes, "Any animal, including humans, once they are scared, don’t tend to show signs of intelligent behavior." Fear causes a flock to disintegrate, and when sheep are driven apart they are most vulnerable to predators. What are the fears that sometimes cause you to scatter and disintegrate yourself? What particular fears make you most vulnerable to brokenness and sin? The solution is to be still enough to discern the voice of our Shepherd amidst the cacophony of other voices screaming for our attention. And yet, sometimes the problem is not that we do not recognize the voice of the Shepherd. Rather, we do recognize it. It’s just that we refuse to listen. Or we listen selectively. We have no problem listening when the voice of the Shepherd is offering comfort and reassurance. That, we can listen to. But when the Shepherd calls us to follow him, sometimes through the valley of the shadow of death, or self-denial, or obedience, or unconditional love — then the sheep don’t hear so well. We’re scared, and when we’re scared, like sheep, we do stupid things. We take a wrong turn, we make ill-advised decisions, we become self-destructive. The story is told of a farmer who had just rescued a lost sheep. When asked how the sheep got lost, the farmer replied, "They just nibble themselves lost. They go from one tuft of grass to another, until at last they've lost their way." That's what happens in life, isn't it? We nibble away at life with little purpose or direction, until it's gone and we have no idea where it went. In a world that’s increasingly more scattered and scared, our task as Christ’s Church is to translate and transmit the voice of the Good Shepherd to all those who are lost, hurting, and alone. It’s also about following Jesus’ example and welcoming everyone into the fold. Even we sheep should be able to understand that.
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05.02.04 - Sheep Language (John 10:22-30)
