Am I a good shepherd of the people and responsibilities entrusted to me?

Jesus says that he is the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. (John 10:11) Most of us have never been around sheep, nor would we think of ourselves as shepherds. We may view the analogy appropriate for pastors or bishops, but not for ourselves. Yet, many of us are responsible for people or work just as a shepherd is of sheep. The people may be our families, employees who work for us, customers who we are expected to serve, or even friends who may have an expectation of support. The work can be our job responsibilities, family responsibilities, or expectations flowing from our volunteer activities. As the good shepherd, Jesus distinguishes himself from the hired hand who abandons the sheep when he sees the wolf coming because he neither owns the sheep nor cares for them. (John 10:12)

Shepherd or hired hand? John was a county prosecutor in Duluth, Minnesota for many years. In one of his early cases he was surprised to discover that a former high school friend, Jim, was the defendant. Over the next 26 years John would prosecute Jim a dozen times for theft related crimes to support a chemical dependency.

For a number of years John thought Jim was just another hopeless habitual criminal. Then John recommitted his life to Jesus Christ and experienced the baptism in the Holy Spirit. The next time he saw Jim in court he told him that he would pray for him. Jim said not to waste his time. In subsequent cases Jim would thank John for his prayers and said that he in turn would pray for John.

Then Jim was again caught with a cache of stolen goods, sentenced to prison, but learned that he was terminally ill with sclerosis of the liver. His lawyer arranged for him to be assigned to a hospice. Jim asked his lawyer to let John know his condition and to request his prayers.

Over the next six months John did more than just pray for Jim. He visited him two to four times a week. They reminisced about growing up in the 1950s and talked about their favorite baseball players. They also read the Bible together. That fall, Jim repented of his sins and surrendered his life to Jesus Christ. He died in November. “Jim loved reading and praying the psalms,” said John. “God used Jim to teach me about acceptance of suffering and perseverance, and he showed me that it’s never too late to say yes to the Lord, no matter what we have done.

John concludes, “Because God answers prayers, Jim said, ‘yes’ to Christ before he died, and I know he is in paradise today – just like another thief who died on the cross next to Jesus 2000 years ago.” (Excerpt from Hope for the Workplace, p. 46, www.zacchaeuspublications.com.)

Good Shepherd. John was a good shepherd of his responsibilities as a prosecutor and of even the people he prosecuted. Before every trial, John says, “I pray for the truth to be known, for a just result, and that everyone involved would come to know Christ.” John sacrificed his time in supporting Jim and leading him to Christ before he died. He did not run like a “hired hand” in the face of a challenge as Jesus mentioned. He persevered in going after a lost sheep in the person of his former high school friend Jim. He was faithful until he brought him home to the Father, just like “the good shepherd [who] lays down his life for his sheep.”

Does the Spirit of God reside in you?  

At the time of Moses, God would reside in the Tent of Meeting. (Exodus 33:7-11) Later, the Israelites built a temple for him in Jerusalem. In Psalm 24, we read, “Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty – he is the King of glory.” (Psalm 24:9-10)

The psalmist was declaring that the gates of the city be opened so that the people could experience God’s visitation and presence. A millennium later, Jesus tells the Samaritan woman at the well that “a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem…true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.” (John 4:21, 23) He would also declare that the “the Kingdom [of God] is within you.” (Luke 17:21) St. Paul would add, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” (1 Cor. 3:16)

God’s desire is not to reside in a Temple of bricks and mortar, but in the temple of our hearts.

Beverly who is an oncology nurse in Gilroy, California, says to her patients as she begins an IV, “Let’s pray that this IV will be painless.” At some point she will ask her patients if she can pray with them. They always say okay. At a time when medical care can become quite impersonal, Beverly says, “We get very close to many of our patients. I went to Pat’s house to help her out before she died. We’ll go to the hospital and pray with patients, even in a coma. People tell me, ‘You shouldn’t get so close to your patients,’ but I tell them that ‘this is my God job.’”

Beverly is bringing God’s presence to the patients that come to her clinic. She cares for them; she intercedes for them; as a Gospel singer and concert violinist, she sings and plays for them – she loves them just as Jesus would love them if he were physically present. He is present to them through Beverly. Read more in Hope for the Workplace – Christ in You, p. 37, www.zacchaeuspublications.com.

When we open the gates of our heart to his presence, God shares his own Holy Spirit with us. The Spirit of God comes to dwell in us and empower us to do the same things that Jesus did and even greater things. God’s love becomes our love, his strength becomes our strength and his word becomes our word – all for the purpose of bringing about his Kingdom through us to the people and circumstances of our lives.

Lift up the gates of my heart, O Lord that the love and mercy of your presence may be manifest to all whom you place in my path – my wife and family, friends, colleagues, bosses, subordinates, customers, suppliers and strangers.

Amazing!

It takes a lot of effort to support a lie. Can you remember a time when a little “white lie” led to another lie and then another?

The chief priests and elders of Jesus’ day did not know how to deal with an empty tomb and the possibility that Jesus, whom they crucified, was raised from the dead. Most everything that Jesus said and did was outside their paradigm for a Messiah. His resurrection was untenable to them. So, they devised a lie and paid those who were guarding his tomb a large sum of money to testify to the lie.

Matthew reports, “When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, ‘You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep. So the soldiers took the money and did as they were told.’” (Mt. 28:12-13, 15)

Providing cover for a lie can get complicated, taking time, creating anxiety and exacting an emotional toll. How often have we seen a public figure pay a high price for living a lie, sometimes costing them their marriage, family, career and, like the chief priests, even hush money?

In Hope for the Workplace – Christ in You, www.zacchaeuspublications.com), there is the story of Pat who had struggled to get a job after completing her master’s degree. She obtained temporary work at a small university to write a report about the effectiveness of a federal grant for a media center to improve teaching methods. When her report included survey data about the lack of use of the media center by the faculty, she was asked by the department chair to alter the data so that he and the university would not look bad. He implied that a permanent job would be in the offering if she acceded to his request, but probably not if she refused. Pat refused to go along with the lie. The job was not offered. But Pat’s conscience was clear, and her response helped her get a better job elsewhere several months later.

Truth is less complicated than a lie. It is liberating. It is cleansing. The lack of truth is an obstacle to the Holy Spirit acting in our lives, while its presence testifies to the power of God. Truth is the pearl “of great value.” (Mt. 13:46) Paul says love rejoices in the truth. (1 Cor.13:6)

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.” (John 14:6) “If you hold to my teaching…then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)

How much do we value the truth? How much is a lie costing us? Let us pray for the courage not to exchange the truth of God for a lie. (Romans 1:25)