Sam Bush, “In Case of Emergency”

For the past eight years, my family and I have lived around the corner from a fire station which, as you can imagine, has its pros and cons. The one drawback is that the sound of sirens is so incessant that we have to tune them out. Emergency services are easy to take for granted in that way. There is simply no way to appreciate the siren of a rescue vehicle unless that vehicle is coming for you. 

The upside is that the fire station is a source of entertainment for our boys. If anyone is interested in a lifetime supply of red plastic helmets, just let me know. On a daily basis, we chat with cadets or watch the hook-and-ladder truck drive off as it responds to a call. Every time we visit, I thank the emergency workers, saying that they are heroes (heroes that I wish lived just a few more blocks away). 

My limited understanding of an emergency worker is similar to our collective understanding of Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Shepherdry has long been ubiquitous in the church. Think of the countless portraits of Jesus with a sheep dangling over his shoulder. It’s a heartwarming illustration, but, like an emergency worker, it’s misunderstood. For starters, being a shepherd was anything but cute. The hours were endless. Day and night, you couldn’t let up for even a moment without risking your entire  livelihood. It was highly dangerous protecting the flock from both predators and thieves. 

Not much has changed. In his 2015 memoir The Shepherd’s Life, James Rebanks describes the stress of lambing season on his farm in the Lake District in England. “You are trying to keep things alive,” he says. “You make a mistake and something dies.” Rebanks brings each lamb into the world, making sure they can suckle and grow. If a lamb is orphaned, he will pair it with a barren mother sheep. He checks their teeth! By the time he sells off one of his lambs at a crowded auction, he can recognize it out of a crowd of a hundred others. He knows them each by name. This is the kind of shepherd that Jesus is describing himself as. 

The relationship between shepherd and sheep, however, is a story of unrequited love. Sheep will only come to you if you have food. They have no real interest beyond their immediate appetite. They are daft and stubborn and fearful. They are quick to panic. They don’t learn from their mistakes. If this sounds like you or someone you live with, that’s because, in this little one-act play where Jesus plays the role of the Good Shepherd, you and I have been cast as sheep. We are not the heroes in this story. We are the fools. If you don’t like it, take it up with the director. 

There’s a third character: the hired hand from whom Jesus is careful to distinguish himself. Hired hands were completely unreliable. They would ask to be paid half up front. If a wolf got into the pin, they had no stake in the flock, they would take the money and run. The hired hand is not a purely fictional character. Jesus had a certain person in mind. He’s talking about the religious leaders.

You see, the religious leaders had set up all kinds of boundaries to God that exploited the people of Israel. There were countless laws and regulations demanding that people purify themselves to be presentable to God. It sounded helpful, it sounded like the way to joy and peace but instead it put a tremendous burden on the people of Israel. For anyone undergoing a crisis, these laws did nothing for them. In the chapter before this passage, Jesus heals a blind man on the Sabbath - he helps this man - and all the religious leaders can think about is how Jesus broke one of the Ten Commandments about keeping the Sabbath holy. They are obsessed with their idea of everyone getting what they deserve. 

They are like a character from the cartoon South Park (if I may be so bold) named Captain Hindsight who would always correct people without offering any help. A building would be on fire and people trapped inside when, to everyone’s delight, Captain Hindsight would burst onto the scene, but only to say, “See those windows on the right side? They should have built fire escapes on those windows for the higher floors. And they should have built the roof with a more reinforced structure so a helicopter could have landed on it. And they shouldn’t have built that other building so close!” And then…he flies away as everyone says, “Thank you, Captain Hindsight!” And then the building burns down. 

The way of the world is no different. If someone gets lung cancer, most people’s first question is, “Were they a smoker?” We want people to get what they deserve and to learn their lesson. Until, that is, we are the ones who are in a state of crisis. You see, when you’re in a crisis, you’re not interested in learning from your mistakes. Your only interest is in getting rescued. You see, in a world where only the strong survive, sheep don’t stand a chance. We need a Shepherd.

What’s your current crisis right now? Is it financial instability or a child that you wish you could help but is beyond your ability or a relationship that has run dry or uncertainty about the future? Whatever it is, you may think Jesus is an inspiring figure or a revolutionary teacher, but you will not consider him a Savior until you are in need of saving. Likewise, you won’t appreciate the protection, guidance and love of the Good Shepherd until you are lost, alone, exhausted and afraid. 

After eight years of calling our local firefighters heroes, the extent of that reality was finally realized one day. While digging up an old boxwood bush in front of my house, I hit a gas line with my shovel. The sound was earsplitting. Within minutes the entire block reeked of fumes. “Call 911!” I shouted to Maddy while trying to plug a pipe spewing out flammable gas. After Maddy made the call, we stood there, helplessly waiting. And then we heard the familiar sound of sirens. A noise that had previously been a nuisance was the sound of my imminent rescue. Within minutes, three fire trucks were parked in front of our house. There was no lecture from Captain Hindsight, nobody reminding me, “Call Before You Dig.” Instead, our sleeping children were evacuated, our neighborhood was blocked off until they knew that we were all safe and sound. The next day I got a phone call saying that there wouldn’t be any charge. Now, whenever I hear a siren, it’s like I’m hearing the voice of my shepherd. I am reminded that once upon a time I was rescued.

The Good Shepherd lays his life down for the sheep. You see, in those days any responsible shepherd would lay across the door of the sheep pin to keep the sheep safe and to keep predators out. If you want a piece of the sheep you’re going to have to get over the shepherd’s dead body. Through the Cross, Jesus delivered us from the forces of evil that were out to eat us alive - the powers of Sin and Death. It is not by teaching or training his sheep that Jesus saved them. He saved us by laying down his life. And because of his resurrection we are now safe. Though you may walk in the valley of the shadow of death you need not fear for he is with you. His rod and his staff, they comfort you. 

In your current crisis - whatever that is at the moment - I pray that your heart will be tuned to hear the voice of your Savior. Having long been in the emergency rescue business, it is simply what God does: He saves. You may take him for granted in your day-to-day life; you may even visit with him on a regular basis without ever realizing how much you need him. When the day of crisis comes, rest assured, you will hear the voice: “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”