Loading...Is it weird that I feel jealous of a lamb? Not just any lamb. The lambs who live in the pasture of Shepherd Kathy. Shepherd Kathy goes by many names, but one of them, the name most important to Molly and Trinket, is ‘Shepherd.’ Shepherd Kathy spoils those lambs so much that I feel an odd sense of jealousy. Can I live their lamb life style?
On Easter Day of 2019, Kathy and her friend Shepherd Pam brought Molly and Trinket to visit St James. The lambs didn’t come for Blessing of the Animals Day, although the lambs did bless us. The lambs came to St James for the Feast of Our Lord’s Resurrection. Remember, the entire point of Jesus dying on the cross and being raised by God his Father is to fulfill the Old Testament promise of God providing a Passover Lamb to forgive the sins of the whole world. Mission fulfilled!
That is why we celebrated Easter last year with a visit from 5-day old lambs. If you were there, you remember how cute they were, all snuggly and helpless. Since then Molly and Trinket have each gained over a hundred 
pounds. Shepherd Kathy bottle-fed them for several weeks before they were old enough to be kept in their pasture. Now they have a day pasture AND a separate night pasture with an enclosure where they sleep.
Every day Shepherd Kathy makes an improvement for their safety and security; after all there are many predators in the country and sheep have no natural defenses. They do have a shepherd. Shepherd Kathy is ever vigilant and has learned everything there is to know about lambs, lambing, and her own lambs. She loves them as if they are her life. She treats them as if she would give her life for their sake. Indeed, she has given over so much of her life of the last year to their every need.
So when I read about Shepherd Jesus today, it is no wonder I think of Shepherd Kathy. And I would see the life lived in Kathy’s pasture as the perfect comparison to the life lived by the sheep in Psalm 23. I don’t know much about lambs except this: the Shepherd does all the work. The lambs do nothing but receive.
If I want to live the lamb lifestyle, I must depend upon the Shepherd for every single thing. If I want to find pasture it’s going to come from the Shepherd. If I need a way in or out of something it’s going to come from the Shepherd. If I have any need whatsoever, my Shepherd supplies that need. Shepherd Jesus is making sure I have a green pasture to lie in and still water to drink. One little note Shepherd Kathy taught me is that sheep know they are prey so they won’t lie down if a stranger is around. They are only going to lie down when the Shepherd is there.
So if Psalm 23 describes how to live the lamb style it would sound like this:
When my soul needs reviving, Shepherd Jesus is the one who will revive it.
When I need guidance Shepherd Jesus leads me on the path that keeps me close to him, especially in scary places like the valley of the shadow of death,
I shall fear no evil; *
for Shepherd Jesus is with me;
His rod and staff are the tools to defend and comfort me in uncomfortable places.
Shepherd Jesus spreads a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me; *
anoints my head with oil, and fills my cup to overflowing.
The goodness and mercy of Shepherd Jesus follow every step of every day
and I will dwell in the house of the Shepherd Jesus for ever.
If you are as neurotic as I am about responsibilities, productivity, achievement, ambition, reputation you appreciate the lamb lifestyle but secretly jealous. How can I live a lamb’s life when I am so busy? I can’t possibly give up everything that stresses me out. If I give over all the important things I do how will I be important?
Could that be the reason the 23rd Psalm is read at every funeral I have ever attended?
We are not lambs, we are humans. And we are designed to work and consume and accomplish. AND to put our entire trust into the hands of Shepherd Jesus who chooses to be a lamb in our hands: vulnerable and eventually brutally sacrificed. God the Father gives His Lamb’s blood to wash away anything un-lamb-like and make us dependent in every way upon the Shepherd of our Souls for eternal life.
