Good Shepherd Sunday - The Big Bad Wolf

Good Shepherd Sunday

 

I'd like to reintroduce you

to someone you already know.

He has a reputation

for being lean, mean, and hairy,

he likes to huff and puff,

he likes to trick small girls,

and he likes to eat.

Have you guessed it yet?

The Big Bad Wolf.

 

(okay, this one isn't so big... or bad looking...)

 

Starring in many Disney shorts,

a musical, and some ancient fables,

The Big Bad Wolf

has been scaring and subverting good children

for centuries.

Today, we see the replay of his debut in the scriptures,

in the parable of the Good Shepherd,

well-beloved by many

as one of the most comforting parables of all time.

 

In the parable, the Big Bad Wolf

disrupts the quiet pastoral scene we are given

of the sheep and the hired hands

grazing in the fields.

The Big Bad Wolf comes running in,

frightening the hired hand into running away,

scattering the sheep,

and snatching one for his supper.

It is devastation and survival,

in its most raw form.

 

Metaphorically, the Big Bad Wolf

is used as a stand in for evil.

In the British television show, Doctor Who,

one season is particularly plagued with the recurring fear and confusion

which comes from seeing the words BAD WOLF pop up over and over again.

The watchers of the television show know immediately

that whatever BAD WOLF signifies,

it is not going to be good.

Despite the necessary nature of wolves to some ecosystems,

human beings see wolves as creatures to be feared,

since in our history wolves were seen as predators,

and still occasionally, we hear horror stories of wolves attacking hikers in the woods.

 

So when Jesus starts telling a parable about

a big bad wolf destroying a flock of sheep,

the people can easily understand the metaphor

about evil coming in and destroying the community,

and the lack of protection from those we perceive in authority.

Unfortunately, the parable rings true for us today.

When evil comes into our communities,

many of the people we look up to to take care of us

have a tendency to run and hide. 

We have all been disappointed in our lives,

felt the sting of betrayal

when something bad starts to happen to us

and the person or people we thought would take care of us

or would protect us 

or make whatever bad thing go away

fail to protect or care for us.

The sting of betrayal hurts a lot

and sadly not all of us recover from that betrayal.

As human beings, even in great communities like this one,

we are not always the most reliable or perfect.

Whether we are the scattering sheep or the frightened hired hand,

We fail to live up to expectations, like the hired hand running away from wolves,

we don't live up to our boss's expectations or our families' expectations,

or even our own expectations.

Thankfully, Jesus is the Good Shepherd.

Jesus comes into the parable

and changes it all around.

I am always interested by what parables don't say.

I bring this up because we as human beings are so good at filling in holes.

We walk through our days filling in missing information with assumptions

and ideas which come from our own history and understanding.

Not all our assumptions are true.

We sometimes lack information and fill it with assumptions

only to find out later that the reality was very different than we thought.

The parables of Jesus are very well-known stories

with very well-known interpretations.

Every year, we expect to hear the same stories and listen to the same lessons

about what it means to live a Christian life

and who Christ is.

Good Shepherd Sunday is one of those weeks in the church.

We come to church expecting to hear read the 23rd Psalm,

to hear about Jesus being the Good Shepherd

and to leave with a deep seated feeling of comfort

in having a Lord and Savior who loves us and cares for us

that he will lay down his life for us.

Jesus will protect us

even though we "walk through the valley of the shadow of death,"

We don't have to fear evil.

We don't have to live in fear of the coming of the Big Bad Wolf.

Jesus will be with us.

All of which is true.

Jesus is our Good Shepherd.

Jesus will be with us,

even though we "walk through the valley of the shadow of death,"

we DON'T have to fear evil.

Jesus will be with us.

However, what the parable doesn't say,

is that Jesus the Good Shepherd

killed the wolf.

That instead of running away from the coming of the Big Bad Wolf,

Jesus went out with his lightsaber,

his sword, his God-endued powers

and destroyed the wolf,

the evil which comes to destroy the pastoral scene of community among the sheep.

It doesn't say that Jesus hated the wolf.

I've heard people say things like this.

An assumption that Jesus would obviously take care of the Big Bad Wolf when he showed up

because he protects his sheep.

Yet, after all, that really isn't Jesus' style.

We are talking about the man who looked into the face of institutional injustice and evil,

the Roman Empire working through the Roman soldiers

who nailed him to a cross to crucify him,

and he forgave them.

Jesus didn't destroy death by continuing to work violence in the world.

Jesus destroyed death and made all creation new

by forgiving

by loving

and by giving himself up through that forgiveness and love.

So if the parable doesn't say that Jesus took care of the Big Bad Wolf forever,

what does the parable say?

What the parable does say is that Jesus' sheep

know his voice.

So that when the Big Bad Wolf does come

Jesus' sheep know his voice and can follow him.

They look to Jesus the Good Shepherd

for guidance and comfort.

They don't scatter out of fear

they don't hate the wolf.

No,

They follow the voice that they know.

They follow the call that they know.

They follow Jesus.

Too often in our country,

I hear people, Christians,

who have understandably been hurt by others

through betrayal, through abuse, through injustice

seeking to destroy evil with violence.

However, violence only begets more violence.

The call of Jesus,

the voice of Jesus

is a voice crying out for peace,

for justice,

for love.

He serves as the Good Shepherd faithfully

by laying down his life for us,

not by charging out against evil with a sword,

but by loving and forgiving.

I imagine that the Good Shepherd

would even find a place in his heart

to love

to show compassion to

to forgive 

the Big Bad Wolf.

Amen.