P ♰ C

by Jean Allen

I’ve written this before but it bears repeating: in Jesus’s day, each shepherd didn’t have a separate sheepfold for his flock to sleep at night. At the end of a day, several flocks of sheep would be led into one big sheepfold where the sheep mingled and slept all together. In the morning, the shepherd would start talking to his sheep and if a sheep didn’t belong to his flock, it wouldn’t pay any attention. But the sheep of his flock knew their shepherd’s voice and would follow him out. Sheep knew the voice of their shepherd because they listened to it all day long, which meant that the shepherd would call out to and talk to his sheep all day long. That’s how the sheep knew the voice of their shepherd. They didn’t just follow a familiar figure at the head of the flock. They listened for the shepherd’s voice who would call them by name and show them the good places to graze and take them to the still water because sheep won’t drink from running water.

Do you know the voice of the Shepherd? When you think of prayer, do you just think of a time when you’re doing all the talking, whether it’s rote prayer or spontaneous requests to God to help you or heal you or fix an uncomfortable situation? Or do you think of listening? Do you talk at God or with God? Do you listen for a voice steering you away from toxic food or calling you to a particularly good pool of water? Do you recognize his voice well enough that you can distinguish it from other voices that may seem good but don’t hold the warm, secure and comforting timbre of the Shepherd’s voice? 

Many people equate the Shepherd’s voice with a voice of condemnation. It makes them feel driven to some sort of immediate action to help take away the sting of shame and guilt. If this is the voice you equate with the Shepherd, please remember: in Jesus’ day, the true shepherd led his sheep.

It was the butcher that drove them.