04282021 – John 10. 11-18
I am no employer…I am but a simple wage earner.
So, I have no idea about such things as wages, benefits, insurance, 401 K’s, Social Security, and governmental withholdings…
My mom’s first job was as a carhop at the Northern Mist, a hamburger joint. She SAID, “She was paid TEN CENTS an hour.” It is hard to believe that someone actually offered THAT as a salary. And people “hired on” and “agreed to it.” One thin dime, an hour. That’s it!
My first REAL JOB (besides being “a paper boy”) was as a dishwasher at a Marc’s Big Boy and I started out a dollar ten an hour.
I remember getting “the big pay raise” to $1.25…it was incredible.
I bet we all have our stories to tell about HOW LITTLE we were ACTUALLY PAID, at A certain point in our work lives…
Ministry, with a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in 1976, provided a $13,000.00 annual salary. I thought I was wealthy-livin’ high! I wonder what they get today…when they “just start out?”
The reason I am talking economics this evening is because a Shepherd did not even make A MINIMUM WAGE.
Way, way below that…WAY BELOW…
There were no guidelines…THEN, back in the day…
I remember my sister baby-sitting for 35 CENTS AN HOUR, for three kids and having to clean up, do the dishes and straighten up the house after the kids were put to bed…
She said when she started at Western Printing in Racine, it was at $1.53 an hour.
The times they have DEFINITELY CHANGED.
Taking care of someone else’s flock, out in the elements, day, and night, little to NOTHING to eat and fending off wild animals and all for pennies on the dollar… is not everyone’s idea of a good time.
Plus, if you LOST AN ANIMAL, you were responsible – it came out of your pay. A head count was necessary every day.
But our text is not about the shepherd. Nor is it about the sheep. Rather it is about the good shepherd. Or better yet, it is about CONTRASTING the hired-shepherd with the Good Shepherd. Of, course there can be NO COMPARISON…
They are a breed A PART.
Jesus contrasts the GOOD SHEPHERD with the hireling, the hired hand…
The HIRED HAND, he says, does not OWN the sheep and does NOT REALLY Care ABOUT the Sheep.
He is IN IT for the money. For the income, little though it be…it is better than nothing.
For the GOOD SHEPHERD – the sheep are his goal, they are his EVERYTHING…he is there, for the SAKE of the sheep. He not only LOVES them but CARES ABOUT ALL OF THE SHEEP…without EXCEPTION.
The Good Shepherd WANTS TO BE THERE for the sheep. He wants to PROVIDE, nurture and care for them.
For the HIRELING, the hired hand, the sheep are just a means…they are a means to the end…and that end is his paycheck…
It may not be a lot but at least he can hold his head up, he is doing what he has to do…
He is working. And he is receiving payment for THAT work. The hired hand punches the clock and shows up to receive his wages and when the shift is over, he is done and gone. Long gone!
The hired hand doesn’t really care about the sheep…or the job. It’s just a gig. So, when trouble comes, he is history. When, wild and hungry beasts show up snapping and snarling… “supper is served” and he is gone! IF, it gets too difficult, too scary, too risky, too “wolfy” the hired hand SHEEPISHLY RUNS AWAY.
But not so, with the Good Shepherd. He knows the sheep and the sheep know him. It is a relationship built on love and trust. The GOOD SHEPHERD will die for the sheep. With him, they can rest secure.
So, the question for EACH OF US is: DO YOU KNOW, I mean really know, the GOOD SHEPHERD?
Because HE definitely knows WHO YOU ARE!
Amen.