The Shepherd – ChurchEdge

In a poignant scene from Alan Paton’s novel CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY, a South African pastor and his wife struggle to come to terms with the fact that they may never see their wayward son again. Searching to find words to express the grief they carry, but attempting to face the reality of their loss, they take turns reminding one another, “When people go to Johannesburg, they do not come back.”

The pain of watching a son or daughter walk away from faith can be one of the most severe that any Christian can face. Such a parent fluctuates between resignation and despair, between hopefulness and desperation. Many feel tremendous guilt that they were not able to secure their child’s religious devotion, wondering if the child’s rejection of faith is owing to some lack in their parenting. Some become obsessed with winning their offspring back to belief and obedience.

To any parent who feels this pain, words from Isaiah 40 speak comfort. In this rich chapter, the prophet takes a moment to draw the picture of a God who is a tender shepherd. He writes, “He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young” (40:11).

You see, the shepherd is especially attentive to those who have young. When a sheep gives birth, it does not become less needy of a shepherd; in fact, caring for young makes it more vulnerable. If a lamb wanders away from the flock, the parent sheep is powerless to go find it. It is only the shepherd who can leave the flock and go after the lost sheep (Luke 15). This knowledge should drive us to earnest prayer rather than the inertia of hopelessness.

We long to see all those we love stay close to the shepherd, but we must not be tempted to wander out on our own in order to compel someone else to come back to the flock. Sheep make terrible shepherds. The best example we can set is to follow the shepherd ourselves, looking to him to seek out the lost. Charles Spurgeon wrote, “[I]f ever there is a soul brought from sin to grace, it is not by us poor ministers working alone, but it is by the Master himself, who goes after his own sheep. It is glorious to think of him still personally tracking sinners, who, though they fly from him with a desperateness of folly, yet are still pursued by him – pursued by the Son of God, by the Eternal Lover of men – pursued by him until he finds them.” (1)

A sheep may never wander back to the flock, but the Good Shepherd does not demand that it find its way home. He pursues it, gathers it in his arms, and he carries it. May he carry you and all your sorrows today as you cast your cares upon him, for he cares for you.

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1. Sermon 1801, delivered September 28, 1884.
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