Lest We Turn Others into Sheep - John 10:22-30

Like many pastors before me, I have often used the occasion of this scripture passage appearing in the lectionary as an opportunity to once again remind people that it is not a great complement to be referred to as sheep. So, I am not going to take that tack this year. Instead, I want to look at the passage, and the whole idea of being God's sheep as a comforting thought, which is what I think the original intent of the image, and the passage was. The lectionary pairs Psalm 23 with the John passage, which is one of the better connections made by a device that sometimes mystifies me as from whence came the rationale to have selected some scripture passages that don't seem to have the slightest family relationship to other passage with which they have been paired.
Psalm 23 was the first scripture passage I ever memorized. I was asked to do so for a program at our church when I was a very young boy. It was a major production, as far as I was concerned, and, as I remember it, I got most of it right that night for the program. What touches me more about the passage in the context of that program is the memory of that church and its people. My home church was a place of great comfort to me as a child and adolescent. For that reason, the imagery of Psalm 23 always calls to mind that place and those people. The fact that the church was destroyed by fire when I was fourteen and the congregation split as a result of a rift over the decision not to rebuild the church makes the memory all that much sweeter, because the physical place is gone. Perhaps because of that wonderful nurturing faith community, I catch myself when I am tempted to turn others into sheep, not looking deeply to see their uniqueness or their joy or their hurt. Sheep tend to all look and behave alike to non-shepherds, and Psalm 23 is an assurance to us that God never views us as a herd, but as individuals, in need of loving care and pastoral respite. I can think of no greater comfort than to "lie down in green pastures" because God comforts us in whatever ways we need to be comforted, and such love and care make it difficult (or should make it difficult) for us to look past the needs of those all around us, dismissing them as a part of the herd.