Here in Denver, the National Western Stock Show is a big annual event and has been happening since 1906. It begins with an iconic parade of Longhorns through the streets downtown, ushering in two weeks of western-themed fun. Folks travel from all over the United States to bring their animals, rodeo prowess, and everything from pony rides to 4-H and university level shows of animal husbandry, cattle auctions, beekeeping, sheepdog herding, mutton busting, pro-rodeo, and carriage driving.
If you have never been, it is worth a visit!
Area schools have long taken the opportunity to bring students, who are learning about pioneers and western expansion, on field trips to the stock show for a hands-on experience—especially enlightening for students growing up in a more urban area. While chaperoning one of these trips, I had my first up-close encounter with sheep.
Our group of giddy second graders opted to attend a sheep shearing demonstration. Gathered around, we watched as the shepherd gently, and often firmly, used the shears to remove the wool from his sheep. At first, the sheep was tolerant, maybe even comfortable having the matted wool from its back and flanks removed. However, as the demonstration continued and the shearer got closer to its face, legs, and belly, what had begun as a tolerant demonstration became a bit of a wrestling match between the sheep and the shepherd. By this time, the shepherd was on the ground holding the anxious animal steady for the safety of each of them.
To a gal who did not grow up on a farm, this was an important illustration for me of God as the Good Shepherd: gentle, strong, slow-moving, and calm. It also brought great clarity to Pope Francis’ encouragement to his bishops to “be shepherds, with the ‘odour of the sheep.’” Based on my limited understanding of sheepherding, there is very little accomplished from a distance (unless of course, you have a sheepdog).
Scripture is fairly littered with analogies of sheep, goats, and shepherds. If we are honest, our best working knowledge of these creatures very likely comes from homilies and Scripture stories, rather than personal experience. We have probably heard that sheep are stubborn and not particularly bright—in need of protection, and prone to wander away.
For example:
The LORD is my shepherd. // Psalm 23:1
We had all gone astray like sheep,
all following our own way. // Isaiah 53:3
All the nations will be assembled before him. And he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
// Matthew 25:32-33
They were like sheep without a shepherd. // Mark 6:34
“Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.” // Luke 15:6
-“Behold, the Lamb of God.” // John 1:29
We know sheepherding to be a nomadic, lowly profession. Those who were left to tend the sheep were economically poor and physically unable to contribute to the hard work often required for harvesting and maintaining crops. Shepherds, therefore, could be children, the elderly, men, or women—whoever could be hired out or spared. The Lord has a special fondness for sheep and identifies Himself over and over as a Shepherd, but He doesn’t stop there.
The Lord in His humility is also identified as the Lamb of God: Shepherd and Lamb, Beginning and End, Human and Divine. God navigates so seamlessly in the arenas we might imagine to be either/or. And yet . . .
Just as the sheepdogs at the stock show are required to successfully and painstakingly herd the entire group of sheep into their pen to complete their competition, our next move heading into Lent is to humbly identify ourselves with sheep so desperately in need of our Shepherd.
Lent is the hardest season for me to enter into because it always asks me to go a little further and give a bit more. More self-awareness, more generosity, more sacrifice than what I might otherwise choose. Not as a drab duty, but as an adoption of the selfless love of God.
If you are looking for a Lenten devotional to accompany you through the season of Lent, Rescued: Lent with the Lamb of God is a beautiful option that focuses more deeply on the Scriptures, images, Sacraments, and stories of the season. Who better to lead us to Holy Week than the Good Shepherd, the Lamb of God?
Katie Cassady is a regular contributor to the BIS blog. She is a wife and mom to three little girls in Denver, CO. Steeped in theological reflection, beekeeping and motherhood, she is appreciative of any and all wisdom she can glean from those living intentional lives of faith. Find out more about her here. Read all of Katie's posts here.
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