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Trinity Community Church
Trinity Community Church
Walking With The Sheep
Join Pastor Mark Medley for “Walking With The Sheep,” the second part of our enlightening series “Journeying With The Shepherd.” In this profound message, Mark delves into the true essence of shepherding, both in literal and spiritual contexts, drawing from his personal experiences with dedicated shepherds in Poland.
Mark begins by reflecting on Psalm 95:6-7, emphasizing the compassionate heart, vigilant eyes, and skillful hands of a shepherd. He shares touching stories about Tadek and his brother Stasek, shepherds who have dedicated over 50 years to guiding flocks through the highlands. Their deep knowledge of each sheep, despite not owning them, highlights the level of commitment and love required in leadership roles.
Throughout the sermon, Mark explores how these shepherds knew each sheep individually, illustrating the importance of personal connection in our own leadership and community roles. He discusses the challenges they faced, such as ensuring the sheep were well-fed and healthy, and how this mirrors the concerns of spiritual leaders when their congregants are not engaging with spiritual nourishment.
Mark contrasts the genuine care of true shepherds with the pressures of modern systems that often prioritize profit over people. He references Ezekiel 34:1-16 to warn against leaders who neglect their flock in favor of personal gain. Emphasizing that leadership is more about heart than technique, Mark encourages us to lead willingly, eagerly, and by example, as outlined in 1 Peter 5:2-5.
The sermon also delves into the vulnerability of sheep and their absolute dependence on the shepherd, serving as a metaphor for our relationship with God. Mark reminds us that we are both sheep in need of guidance and shepherds called to care for others. Embracing this dual role requires us to reflect the love and dedication of our Good Shepherd in our interactions.
Don’t miss this inspiring message that challenges us to lead with compassion and integrity. Tune in to “Walking With The Sheep” and discover how you can embody the qualities of a true shepherd in your daily life, impacting those around you with love and faith.
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Okay, I want to read the psalm we read last week Psalm 95, 6 and 7. And it says this so come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our maker, for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. For he is our God and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand, for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. So this week is a sequel to last week, the first sermon that you heard last week. If you were here last week, I think we all learned a lot about the heart of Jesus for us and about being a sheep to our shepherd. And Jesus taught he taught in stories so often and so this sermon this morning is not like an expository sermon that you normally get here. It's really stories. It's understanding truths about him by understanding some stories. So if you weren't here, I'll just give you a little background. I was, two years ago, invited to be a part of a group of 20 or so people who were able to go to the south of Poland and walk with the shepherd and the sheep about 200 sheep from 15 different flocks and the shepherd family. We walked at least part of the trek this is a 90-mile trek they do in six days up to the mountains, to the highland grazing fields, and then they come back down in the fall. And I was able to go up with them and also go down with them and the things that I learned were so powerful and so indicative of the heart. Thank you of the heart of the shepherd for us, and I mentioned last week this is what I witnessed in the relationship between the shepherd and the sheep. I especially witnessed in the shepherd eyes, heart eyes and hands, right. So it's compassionate heart, it's a certain kind of heart, it's a heart of love, really, from which flows everything else. And watchful eyes that they watch always, they're looking, they're vigilant all the time, they're looking to the needs of each of those sheep, and skillful hands. They can do something about it. They have a heart, they have eyes and they have hands.
Speaker 1:So last week we talked about walking with a shepherd as if we are sheep and we are. This room is full of sheep this morning. Do you know that? Right, you are all sheep. Oh, come on. No sound effects needed, come on. Did you not learn anything last week? When the sheep are content, they make almost no noise. So I don't want to hear none from you this morning. Unless you're not content, that's okay, you can whatever.
Speaker 1:So we are sheep, but also also this week we want to flip it over and we want to say that we are also shepherds to our flocks. And what does it mean to be a shepherd to our flocks? When David looked over his flock and he understood that he is a shepherd, he also understood he had a shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd, but also that there's this responsibility that he has to take care of the flock for the well-being of his sheep. So the shepherd leads and feeds and protects and cares for the health of the sheep, creates an atmosphere that's conducive for flourishing for the sheep. So before they begin, they meet with all the owners, these 15 flocks, the shepherd family. They meet and they agree to terms, they discuss expectations, they discuss compensation. Everything's on the table up front. Everybody knows what their responsibilities and expectations are. And as I'm thinking about that, I think about it's a great responsibility for us also to care for our own flocks.
Speaker 1:If you can think about who is in your flock. You might not think you're a shepherd this morning, but if you're a parent, you're a shepherd. My first flock is my family and I've always felt that my first flock. I also am called to be a pastor, so you're part of my flock or our flock here, but my first flock is my family. So if you're a grandmother or a grandfather, you are a shepherd. Maybe you're a shepherd over a ministry team. Maybe you're a shepherd over people in your neighborhood. There are people that you have a sphere of influence over, or in your job, on your job or in school. There are all kinds of places and contexts where you could have the role of a shepherd. Maybe God wants you to see people who are around you, who are desperate, who are in a low place, maybe even a place where you were at one time, and he wants you to become a shepherd, maybe even to one sheep I don't know, but all of us. There's a room full of shepherds here this morning too.
Speaker 1:Okay, so I want to read 1 Peter, chapter 5, because Peter says something about that. He's talking to elders specifically who are overseeing the church Chapter 5, verses 2 through 5. He says shepherd, the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you, not for shameful game, but eagerly, not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. Examples to the flock, and when your chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. So we see, the heart of a shepherd is we do things for the right reason, the right motive, willingly, for the right motive in terms of not greedy, not for gain, but to be an example for the flock and in the right manner, not lording over them. So there's a serious responsibility, but also there's an unfading crown of glory for being faithful over your flock. So I want you to think about your flock this morning Especially. I want to think about parents with families this morning. Think about your families or grandparents who are here, the people that you have influence over.
Speaker 1:So we learned last week that first you have to be, you have to understand that you're a beloved sheep, that you're resting in this place, of being cared for first, and then you can turn it around and you can be a good shepherd. Really, you can only shepherd well out of being a cared for sheep, out of rest. You can take the risk of loving, the risk of caring for, the risk of protecting, but that all comes out of this place of rest, right, but that all comes out of this place of rest, right? So I'm just going to give you some insights about what we learned from the shepherds, especially the questions that we asked them and the answers that they gave us. But last week I mentioned that the first thing the shepherd has to do and he has these 15 different flocks sheep from 15 flocks and so they all come together and they're really disoriented and they're anxious because they're with people, with sheep that they don't know. They smell funny, they're not normal, and sheep freak out when things change, and so this changed, and so they freak out, and so here's the thing that happens they mix and intermingle them, they create this big blender, this big vortex, and I saw them do this with these 200 sheep.
Speaker 1:But I saw this video on YouTube and it's not the sheep that I was with, but it was other sheep that is also in a different shepherding family in South Poland, and it's great because you can see two flocks coming together one of them full of black sheep, one of them full of white sheep. So it's a great, great visual. So watch this video. They don't want to mix. You know, people are like that. You know, we all came from different backgrounds and families of origin, and churches maybe, or whatever, and sometimes we just want to kind of keep to ourselves, don't we? It doesn't work though. They can't move like this, and so they start running them around in circles. They use the dogs, and the sheep are freaking out are freaking out, so they're running up over the hill as sheep will do unruly, unsure, uncertain, panicked, don't know about this, but they keep working with them because it's really important to homogenize this flock and, however long it takes, they'll run them in this circle and after a while they're all mingled together and they start to smell like each other instead of smell different, and they start to see themselves as one flock, and then the shepherd can do something with them. Now we can move, right, isn't that great? I just have to tell you, as a pastor and representative of the pastoral team, this is hard to do because you guys are unruly. I love you all. You're not really all that unruly, it's just that you're from different backgrounds. We have people from all kinds of places, and you grew up differently. Even in the Lord you grew up differently. But to be able to homogenize and move together as one group in a direction is a real challenge, right, but it takes cooperation from the sheep too, right, and it's important because we need to be together in one flock. If you're not together, you're outside of the fold, and the sheep outside the fold is a sheep no more, because they won't survive.
Speaker 1:Okay, so I'm just going to tell you some of the questions. You can see the picture here. All of these sheep pretty much look alike. There's a few of them that have a few distinguishing characteristics, but they pretty much, to us, they all look alike. And so we asked them questions of these shepherds. And the shepherds are really, they're really sly. They answered the question, but they they sort of played with us a little bit, but they did answer the question, but you had to find the answer in their answer. And so we asked do you have a favorite? Do you have any favorite sheep of all your sheep? Do you have any favorite sheep? So this was the two shepherds, tadek and Stasek. This was Tadek. So Tadek looked over the whole sheepfold and he said yeah, I do, it's that one right over there and that one back there and this one right here and that one over there. And you know what he was saying. He was saying, yeah, every one of them are my favorite. That's what he was saying. He was just saying he was playing with us a little bit. He treats all of them equally. They're all equally valuable to them.
Speaker 1:We also asked are there any sheep that are actual leaders in this flock? And he said, no, not really. But there are some who want to be closer to the shepherd, so they come to the front. They look like leaders because they're with the shepherd more. And I thought, well, that'll preach, because I'll tell you, the people that we want to be leaders are the people who want to be close to the shepherd, not the shepherd us, but the shepherd Jesus. That's who we want to be in the front of the flock and leading the flock, that's great.
Speaker 1:So my friend, magda, who you saw a picture of last week she's the one that developed a relationship with these sheep shepherds and walks with them and brings groups in to walk with them she challenged us Before we walked. We met the day before. We had like a what would you call it, not a debriefing, but a pre-briefing. Right, we did a pre-briefing. So we said here's what you're going to expect and here's what I want you to do. So Magda said here's my challenge for you these sheep you're going to think they all look alike. I want you to try to make contact with one of the sheep. I mean, I want you to connect with a sheep, find a sheep any sheep and try to know that sheep, look at that sheep, study that sheep, learn that sheep and then the next day see if you can pick that sheep out of that big flock. Okay, all right.
Speaker 1:So I'm finding my sheep. I'm looking around. I should get one of the black ones. There's like three or four black ones, right, because I probably can pick those out. Okay, I'm going to go for one a little more hard. I'm looking for it.
Speaker 1:So I found a sheep and I was looking, I was staring into the sheep's eyes, trying to I don't know, I don't know make some kind of a contact. I don't feel like there was any reciprocal staring, but I'm trying to look at, study the face and is the ear a little weird or something? I don't know? How are the jowls? I don't know. I was doing something trying to. I never, the next day, I never could find that sheep. I never could, I know. I couldn't connect with it enough to know it.
Speaker 1:Okay, but I'm telling you the story for a reason, because we asked the shepherds this question how many sheep do you have walking with you? And you know what his answer was I don't know which I feel like is the wrong answer, you know. I just feel like you know you have 100 sheep. One goes, you leave the 99, you get the one, because you knew you had 100, right? I feel like you should know the answer to that question. I don't know, okay, okay, so at this point it's like okay, is he playing with us or is he not? What is this?
Speaker 1:Okay, let me tell you this story. So when you walk 25 or 30 miles a day with sheep sometimes we were walking, at least we were walking 25 miles a day sometimes and their lambs are there. The lambs are newborn, they were just born this year, right, and so they can't make the whole 25 miles. So they have to separate those lambs from their mothers and put them on a trailer and take them halfway up to a point where their path intersects a road and then, in the middle of the walk that day, they reunite those lambs with their mothers, and then they pick out those lambs that have walked all the way and now they need to ride. But let me show you this video, because this is what happens when there's a reuniting of the lambs with the moms.
Speaker 1:There's the mothers.
Speaker 1:This is a joyful reunion. Okay, so they reunite those lambs and then now what's happened? I didn't know this was what was going on. I had no idea. I was clueless most of the time just to let you know, but most of us were. So then they're picking out the lambs that have been walking and now need to ride on the trailer, but they're asking us to help carry those lambs to the trailer. So I'm just picking up lambs, you know, and carrying them, and the shepherd says no, no, not that one, this one over here. So I'm, okay, I don't know, I thought we were just picking up lambs, you know. And okay, I pick up this one, come back and I pick one not that one, not that one, this one over here. And then, okay, it doesn't take me long, I catch right on to things sometimes.
Speaker 1:So what was going on was the shepherd knew, even though these lambs, most of them, look just alike, he knew every single lamb and he knew the ones that had walked, he knew the ones that had not walked yet, and he was telling me to get the ones that needed to go on the trailers and to leave the ones that had just been reunited. I had no idea he did. Why did he? Because he's already developed a relationship. He walked two days with this whole flock and he developed a relationship with all of those lambs. I'm telling you now, some of these sheep have walked with him in years past right, because they do this every year, but some of them are brand new. Some of them are new because they're lambs.
Speaker 1:The shepherd knows every single one. Why did he say I don't know how many? Well, he was playing with us a little bit. What he was saying is I don't think about the number, because I know each one. You know and I'm thinking about this as a pastor there are pastors of churches and they know how many people come to their church, but they don't know the individuals, right? That's more like a hireling than a shepherd. I'm not calling them hirelings. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying here's what a shepherd's heart is, not calling them hirelings. I'm not saying that. I'm just saying here's what a shepherd's heart is. A shepherd's heart is he knows every single one.
Speaker 1:In fact, my friend, kasia, sent me this picture that she got this out of a book of an old shepherd. This is all in Polish, so you can't read it. This is a shepherd's book that carries with them. And you see, there's a number, on one side there's a column and there's the sheep, the name of the sheep, the name of the mother because they don't know the father but they do know the mother and what kind of characteristic that sheep, any kind of characteristic of that sheep. And so he's got in written in a book. This shepherd has every sheep written, name and origin and characteristics written down. He knows the flock, the shepherd knows the sheep. Your shepherd knows you. He doesn't see you just in the flock, he knows you, he knows your characteristics. It's beautiful.
Speaker 1:Halfway through the day on my first day, they led this normal-looking sheep. They all look normal to me, normal-looking sheep. They led it to one of the little trailers and they took it ahead. I had no idea why they were taking it ahead. They took it to the place where we were going to, that nice resting place they kind of rent or some places. They'll allow the sheep to sleep on their property. So they took it there and hours later, when we arrived, we saw why they took it there and this is the reason why it was pregnant. I had no idea it was about to give birth. It looked like a normal sheep to me. In fact it has horns. I didn't know it was even female. I'm stupid. I'm a sheep myself. I don't know nothing, okay. But see, they've got their finger on the pulse of these animals. They know, they knew exactly when she needed to. She needed to walk to help bring the little lamb along, and then and then, when it was time, they knew when they needed they needed to take her ahead. So we gave this is.
Speaker 1:This is the place where we gave the shepherds this surprise celebration at the end of that day, because this is their 50th year that their family has done this reddick, this walk. So through generations they've been walking with sheep from this village up to these highlands. They've been trusted for that many years. So it was a 50-year celebration, big deal, 50 years of this reddick. So we had a big banner there. Somebody had gone before. They had a banner. They had some extra supplies, shepherd supplies, some special food, some special shepherd drink, and we threw a little party and we, like, danced and sang a little bit and it was a joyful thing because we were celebrating their family's faithfulness to serve these bit, and it was a joyful thing because we were celebrating their family's faithfulness to serve these villages and it was great.
Speaker 1:So at the end of that celebration, magda asked Tadek the shepherd what was your favorite part of the day or of the celebration? And Tadek said you know, what you did for us was so nice, it was unexpected and it was very generous and we were really thankful for that. But my favorite thing that happened today was the birth of the sheep. Okay, that's the heart of a shepherd. He rejoices when there's new sheep. He rejoices when there's fruit. Angels in heaven above rejoice when there's a soul saved right. And the pastor, the real shepherd, rejoices when you see fruit in your flock. You see, you rejoice and you love it. Okay, so they actually named this little black lamb 50 because it was the 50th celebration. So this is 50. This was the walk up in the spring. So when I was with them in the summer, in the autumn, coming back down, I recognized 50. I asked there was a few black sheep, like a few, and so I knew one of them was 50. 50 is a black sheep. And so I said, hey, is this 50? And they said, yeah, you remember? Yeah, me and 50, we're like.
Speaker 1:So we asked the shepherd what are you most concerned about on the journey, because it's a pretty treacherous journey. It's a long journey and he said because we're thinking what weather? Probably because it gets bad, especially over the top of that mountain over there. Predators maybe? No, it's not that. What are you most concerned with? He said, when they don't want to eat, because that means that they're either sick or they're anxious. There's something going on that must be attended to.
Speaker 1:And can I just tell you, as a pastor, we're most concerned when you don't want to eat, because the Lord himself lays a table for us in the presence of our enemies, right, and the table is about fellowship and the table is about sustenance and we do what we can to bring the word of God to you on a weekly basis. We have, as a church, we're going through the Bible reading program. Every year we go through a different one. We're facilitating community groups, we're doing everything that we can to be able to allow you to be connected to each other and to the Word of God. When you don't want to eat, you don't want to feed yourself. That's what concerns us the most. Just want you to know that we can set a table for you, but you got to feed yourself. I mean, you got to like stoop down and pick the grass and chew it.
Speaker 1:So feeding the sheep was the most important thing, and I mentioned last week this is a picture from last week and that they will spread the sheep out when they find a good ground, because the sheep only know what's in front of them. Right now they just really are dumb animals and they don't know much at all and they have to eat many times a day like eat. They can graze as they're walking and they do, but they have to eat seriously six times a day on this journey and so, and they don't always know what's good for them to eat, and so sometimes they they eat things that are bad for them, and the shepherd has to find a place that has good ground, good grass, no briars, no plants that will give them gas or make them sick, spreads them out in a long line so that they can see what's right in front of them, and so he cares for them. He lays a table out for them, he puts them in places where they can eat. So he leads them, he feeds them, cares for them. I'm thinking about that in terms of our flock too.
Speaker 1:If we're shepherds, we have to be careful what we feed people right, your parents. You have to be careful what you feed, what you said before your own children. Sometimes sheep eat the wrong thing. They get this extreme gas. Their abdomens will bloat up so much that they will fall over and can't get back up and they will die. And sometimes it has to be a drastic measure. The shepherd actually has to go in and do a little surgery and cut a little puncture into the belly so that the gas can escape if they eat the wrong stuff. This is why we are really serious about teaching good doctrine to you and even keeping bad doctrine from you, because it can give you gas and you can fall over and not be able to get back up and you can die. It can be very detrimental to you, okay. So we have to feed the right food and also feed slowly and feed them consistently. They feed them throughout the day, so it's not like one big feeding and it's over.
Speaker 1:So when I was young, we had a little bit of land and we had some cattle Not a whole lot of cattle, but a few and so we kept some of them through the winter, and so at that time I was the only child at home. My brother and sister are older than me and so it was my job to feed the cows okay, in the wintertime, you know, and it was snow, like up to here, and it was uphill both ways down to the barn. It was, it was hard and it was cold and it was muddy and it smelled bad. And the funny thing about a cows is they they all night long they're standing down there and then the minute they see the light, come on in the house, they start. All right, but it sounded like they were saying Mark, over and over and over. It's like I'm coming, I'm coming, you know. So as soon as the light came on, they're like.
Speaker 1:I was waked up many a morning by cows calling my name. But here's the thing. I went down, I got bales of hay right and I threw it over in the trough. They were coming into the other side. They were eating the evening time. I had to go down there. I did the same thing, because in winter they didn't have anything to eat except for the hay. So feeding the cows was basically throwing something to them in the morning and throwing something to them in the evening, feeding the sheep.
Speaker 1:I was thinking of that when Jesus said to Peter feed my sheep. Do you love me, peter? I love you. Feed my sheep. Do you love me? I love you. Tend my lambs. Do you love me, peter? Lord, you know I love you, feed my sheep. And this word that, peter, we just read from Peter about other shepherds carefully feeding the flock. Feeding the sheep's not like feeding cows. Cows, you can just throw the food to Sheep. You have to walk with, you have to go out there with them, you have to be with them all day. In fact, sheep don't really trust you unless you smell like them. You have to be with them, you have to rub up against them. When we joined them, they didn't trust us but we smelled like them pretty quick and it wasn't great. I'm just telling you. It wasn't great.
Speaker 1:And I think, if you think about this next picture, I'm just thinking about the helplessness of a sheep. They really don't know what's going on, they don't know what to do, they don't know where to go. Their whole world is right in front of them in this moment and they have to have a leader or they will die. Can you go to the next picture? I mean, look at him. They're vulnerable to attack. They got these little no-count teeth that all they can do is pick grass. They can't defend themselves. They have no claws. They got these little hooves, no means of defense. They're weak, they're fragile, they're slow, they're unsure, they're panicky and they're not very smart. They need a shepherd. If they don't have a shepherd, they're goners. They're just goners.
Speaker 1:Jesus said in his great sermon, the greatest sermon, he opened his whole teaching up with this phrase blessed are the poor in spirit. What You're blessed when you're poor in spirit, when you know you're poverty, bankruptcy. He's not talking about monetary, he's talking about when you know your need. You're blessed because the whole kingdom belongs to you when you know your need. It's kind of upside down, isn't it? I'm thinking about that. I'm thinking there's hardly any animal that could be more poor in spirit than a sheep. They just don't have anything without the shepherd, but they have everything with a shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd, I have everything I need. It's beautiful.
Speaker 1:We had another question. Somebody asked the shepherd, why do you do it? Because we're walking with them and it's not easy. It's a really hard thing and this is a long-term commitment. This is like from April till October. This is seven full months of being with the sheep. Why do you do it? You know what the answer was I love the sheep, I love the sheep. That was simple. It's like we were thinking we're looking for some big, I don't know profound answer and we got one. It was just a simple, profound answer. They don't own the sheep, but they develop this true sense of love for the sheep and many of them have. Many of the sheep have walked with the shepherd their entire life. A lot of them. The shepherd will catch them at birth and they'll be with them when they die even. And they're with them for that whole period, that time of the year, those seven months for years and years. Right, he truly loves the sheep and his love looks different at different times, right? Sometimes it looks like food, sometimes it looks like rescue, sometimes it looks like rebuke, sometimes it's another kind of care and you can judge the shepherd by looking at his sheep. If they're, are they well-capped, are they content? You can judge the shepherd by looking at the sheep. One of the things when we debriefed this is a picture of Totic, one of the brothers, one of the. He's the one that said I love the sheep, why do you do it? I love the sheep.
Speaker 1:One of the things we remembered on that last day, the day after we walked with them, we did a debriefing and we all asked questions. What did we learn? What are the things that stood out and we're striking to us with the shepherd? And what came out was you know there's a difference between heart and technique. Technique is learnable. You know you can learn basic actions and basic tools. You can write a manual about caring for sheep and somebody could read it and could go through the motions of it. But leadership technique is important, but heart is a whole different thing. So what we came up with, it looks like probably technique is like 20% of being a shepherd and heart love for the sheep is like 80%, and that's what makes the difference between a hireling and a true shepherd and that's what makes the difference between a hireling and a true shepherd.
Speaker 1:And the next picture shows Stasek, tadek's brother and Stasek. I think I showed this picture last week. Stasek is a Highlander, he's a hard man. He's a tough man. Can you show that picture? Yeah, he's a tough man. Can you show that picture? Yeah, he's a tough guy. But I want to tell you the look in his eyes at the end of the journey, when they were coming back down and he was getting ready to we were two days away from dispensing the sheep back to their owners for the wintertime. And I just want to tell you the look in his eyes in the fall was totally different than the look in his eyes in the spring. It was, he was there, was almost like you could almost see tears in his eyes forming because he was going to be parted from his sheep. It's nothing less than love. I mean really tender, sacrificial love. That's a good shepherd. That's a tough man, but a good shepherd.
Speaker 1:And these rhetoric events, these events where the shepherds are taking them up there and to the mountains, they're kind of a dying occurrence, because the European Union is trying to move every sheep man into being a breeder rather than a shepherd, a breeder having large pieces of land and the sheep are just, you know, bred as a commodity. Basically, to the breeder, a sheep is a commodity, to the shepherd a sheep is valuable, and so these things are still hanging on, but they're rare. So we asked this other question about what about money? What about economics of the matter? Because we're looking and we're thinking this is a tough job and we know the compensation can't be that much, you know. And so we're asking what are the economics of the situation? So Tadek said to us I made a rule years ago never to calculate, because if I calculate I might decide it's not worth it. And I love the sheep. So I decided that I'll do what I love and the money will come. That's a great sermon right there, that's a great life sermon actually. I'll do what I love and the money will come.
Speaker 1:You see, you hear that the shepherd does not count the cost. That's heavy. He pays the cost, he doesn. He pays the cost, he doesn't count the cost. You know, there's a time when we need to stop and count the cost, and before we build there's a time for that. But you know, our great shepherd, jesus, didn't count the cost either. He saw the cost and gladly paid the cost. He did not count his life dear to himself, but he gave it up for us. No man took his life Willingly, he gave it. That's the heart of a shepherd, that's the heart of the one that cares for you, and this is the reason that you can take the risk of shepherding your flocks, because you're cared for in that way.
Speaker 1:Okay, this is rapid fire things that I learned here. Okay, number one sheep are needy. They need our presence mostly, which comes in the form of our voice, our communication with them. Shepherd need to be led. If the shepherd is not in sight, they will stray or they'll look for someone else to follow. You can give sheep some freedom to roam, but you've got to lead. They don't micromanage the sheep at all. They give some freedom, especially.
Speaker 1:What I learned is when they're up in the grazing fields it's kind of a different thing. They're not on a journey up to the grazing fields, they're there all summer long, and so it's like a different day, a different plan for the day. But they give them some autonomy. They give the sheep some autonomy because the sheep know when they hear the shepherd's voice, they'll come to him and they do. I'll show you that in a second. So you can give sheep freedom to roam, you can give. Autonomy doesn't mean rebellion, like when we give, when you have a burden, a ministry burden, and we say, great, let's go for it, let's see if we can help you even, and we release you, in that it's because there's a high level of trust. Autonomy means I trust you and that's the way things should be. Also, they need time to rest. Shepherds don't drive them, they lead them. They know where they're going and they keep moving, but they travel at the sheep's pace.
Speaker 1:What I learned was I had to slow down when I'm walking with a sheep. I learned that I have to be on a. I like to dial it back like three settings on my walk. You've got to walk slower, you've got to walk at their pace. You can lead, but you have to lead at the pace that the sheep are going.
Speaker 1:You can be a leader, but still love with them. You have to love them right here in order to get them over there. So you love them here by being with them and walking with them. Okay, so in the summertime, when they're in their fields, they have this rest time in the middle of the day, and so they'll actually lay down and rest, sometimes nap, and so this was when we were coming back down in the autumn. I want to show you a video. We got to the middle of the day, they spread the sheep out, they let the sheep eat really well, and then the sheep were like laying down, it was a time of day to sleep, to rest, but they couldn't rest. So, oh yeah, and you have to turn the video up on this- here.
Speaker 1:He just makes this little noise. Come on, and it took them 32 seconds. I think it's a 32-second video. It took 32 seconds. They're sitting there like chewing their cud, resting, and it's like, no, we got to go, what we got to go, okay, okay. And they got up and it took 32 seconds. I want to challenge you, I want to challenge me. When you hear the Lord call you to something, let it take no more than 32 seconds for you to respond. If a sheep can do it, I believe you can do it. They're not smart, but they trust. See, this was eight months, seven and a half months of trust built up. So when they knew this was time to lay down, but they heard the call, they got right up. It's amazing, it's beautiful, yeah, okay.
Speaker 1:They don't do this alone. They train people. They train these leaders. They were training us even as we were going along the picture of my friends that I walked with and they're helping out a little bit there. But they taught us some of the tricks. They taught us some of the things. They kind of mentored us in how to do some things with the sheep.
Speaker 1:Also, team ministry is crucial. The shepherd needs helpers. You don't do this alone. It's a family that did it. There were three in our group one shepherd and two assistants and if you try to do this alone, you won't do it for very long, you will burn to a crisp and you won't do it. Also, shepherds have big respect for other shepherds because this is a difficult, very difficult journey. It's sweat and smell and strain and 140 kilometers, 90 miles over six days. It's seriously hard. If you're going to do this, I'm going to admire you. So there's this camaraderie between the shepherds and they get it's difficult climate. They get paid very little and so they have a community and this community among the shepherds kills competition and it releases this collaboration and it releases help among them and it releases this collaboration and it releases help among them.
Speaker 1:So I want to show you this video. Maybe there's a picture. First Is that right Over the top of the mountain it's snowing, okay, and this is why they don't let us go the last day. They go over the top of the mountain, over into this valley where they're going to be all summer. This girl is the shepherd's daughter. He's talking. He's always talking. She's 12 years old. She walked the whole six days. She's more of a man than some of us guys.
Speaker 1:I'm telling you why would a sheep follow a shepherd over a six-day trip over a snowy mountain pass through deep ravines? Why would you even do that? The only reason you would do that is because you believe the shepherd is taking you someplace good. You trust, you develop a trust and you develop that trust as you hear his voice, as you walk with the shepherd. We're all on that journey, right? We're learning that from our shepherd. He goes over the top, and why would you go over the top of this mountain? Why would you even? What makes it even worth hiring a shepherd for seven months to take your little flock up over these mountains? And so I'm glad you asked. I'll show you another video. This is a video of what it looks like in summertime. Very good.
Speaker 1:Very good passion, it's really peaceful, really peaceful, really dense grass. They eat grass, grass grass. They make milk, milk, milk. They make peaceful, really dense grass. They eat grass, grass grass. They make milk, milk, milk. They make cheese, cheese, cheese, right, that's the whole thing. That's it.
Speaker 1:So what did I learn? What did I learn? Well, I learned that I am the sheep. I think I might have mentioned this last week. I learned that I'm sheepish, I'm skittish, I am anxious sometimes and I'm in need of care and I'm in need of leadership, and sometimes I'm able to tend to myself and I think like an orphan, when I'm not one, and I know these truths. But I still slip back into that thinking right, thinking like an orphan, like I don't't have enough, or I'm not going to have enough, or I'm fearful about tomorrow, or I can't let go of things. But I'm not an orphan. I'm a son of my father and I'm a sheep of my shepherd and the shepherd sees me at all times and he's constantly communicating to me and I'm valued and I'm safe. I also learned that I need a flock and I know I need you guys. You guys are a strength to me.
Speaker 1:We were out here praying this morning before the service. I'm just everybody's praying a little different way. I'm thinking, man. It's so beautiful to be surrounded by people who know Jesus, who love Jesus and who have my back and we're together. It's so beautiful. Community is such a treasure.
Speaker 1:I learned that I'm completely cared for and completely safe and able to be content as long as I look to the shepherd and hear his voice. I learned that I'm vulnerable and helpless and totally loved and completely safe and able to be content as long as I look to the shepherd and hear his voice. I learned that I'm vulnerable and helpless and totally loved and completely safe. And you can be both at the same time, because that's the life of a sheep. And here we are. So I just want to close by giving you a challenge. Every person in this room is a sheep, but you're also a shepherd to somebody, or you can be. You can be Maybe, look around. Maybe you're thinking about your children or your grandchildren, or maybe people at your work or on your ministry team, people you have some kind of influence over. Maybe it's somebody who just needs you to reach out a helping hand and to pull them up and to help them.
Speaker 1:But I want to pray that God would not only keep us grounded in our sheepness, but make us shepherds as well. So, father, thank you for your goodness, thank you for the heart that you have, a compassionate heart, thank you that you have watchful eyes. Thank you that you have able, capable hands. You can do what we need. Thank you that you care for us out of that heart of compassion. So, lord, I just pray that you would give us rest. Cause us to be able to live in this place of rest, totally cared for by you. Also, lord, cause us to see that we are shepherds as well. Cause us to be able to have this heart of love and compassion for others. Give us the courage to step out. Take a risk, lord, to shepherd others. Pray for that in Jesus' name, amen.
