Shepherd, Sheep and lambs are popular Biblical images both in the Old and in in the New Testaments.  People can get a bit 'dewy eyed' about lambs especially at this time of year when their appearance is synonymous with the coming of Spring.  Many a camera has clicked images of lambs gambolling around field, bleating for mother and for food.  There is also something quite tranquil about pastoral lamb-filled scenes painted by great landscape artists and a touch of nostalgia for a way of life that we see as idyllic - quintessentially English.

Of course, such a view avoids harsh reality which farmers in the North, in Wales and Scotland know only too well.   Keeping sheep can be a back-breaking and sometimes soul-breaking task.  In recent years there have been a number of framing crises involving sheep which have crippled the livelihood of framing families and devastated rural communities.  An idyllic view of lambs is also challenged if you happened to go into Church's butchers.  Most of our acquaintance with sheep is confined to the lamb chops we might cook for supper!  A bishop friend of mine one preached that we need to be careful when talking about Sheep - they are usually bred for two things - fleecing or slaughter!

Yet Sheep, Lambs and Shepherds are images which Jesus uses both about himself - as in today's Gospel - and about God's people - us.  The Lamb is a symbol of Christ which finds its place in every Eucharist when we say or sing the Angus Dei (literally the Lamb of God) and a popular Easter symbol is of the Lamb triumphant, often holding aloft the banner of Resurrection.  This image of the Lamb as a symbol of Jesus can get confusing when Jesus also refers to himself as the Good Shepherd - is He the Lamb, or is He the Shepherd?  The two roles are very different.

It all depends on context.  Jesus as the Lamb is the language of sacrifice.  The root for this sacrifice is tot be found it he Passover - when God smote the Egyptians in the final and terrible plague and 'passed over' and freed for the journey to the promised land of eternal life.  But even this image gets confused by the Gospel writers, particularly John, because in today's Gospel it is the Shepherd who sacrifices himself for the Sheep.  As the Good Shepherd, Jesus, lays down his life for the sheep.  This is the choice he makes and it is important to hold on to that because we are reminded by John that our Lord's death - whether it came about because of the plotting of the religious leaders - was actually His choice.  About laying down his life Jesus says that

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.

The Crucifixion is God's Divine Plan for our Salvation.  Those who sent him to the Cross where, unwittingly, caught up in something far bigger than anything they could conceive.  They were the players in a Sacred Drama which was God's way of saving the human race from ourselves.  As Jesus himself reminds us, in laying down his life for us he was obeying His Father's will not the will of Jewish and Roman leaders.  As He says at the end of today's Gospel

I have received this command from my Father.

Whether we see Jesus as the Shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep or the Lamb who was slaughtered as the price for our freedom depends on how we view the death of Jesus - did he pay the ultimate price for our sin dying on behalf of or instead of us - a dramatic extension of the sacrificial of the Old Testament - or did he demonstrate just how far God would go to show how much he loves us - which when we recognise the immensity of it leads us to repent of our sin because we want to respond totally to God's love.  The  two views are not incompatible, but the Gospel and the doctrine of Grace it emphasises suggest that, it is less a question of "look what your sins did to God" and much more a question of "how God loves you so much that he will got to any length to prove it."  This view is especially emphasised in today's Gospel where Jesus casts himself in the role of Shepherd.

Shepherds in Israel were much more involved with their sheep than farmers are today.  They were much more like the Shepherds of Celtic times.  When the Sheep were turned out in the spring to wander the hills throughout the summer, the shepherd joined them and lived with them.  They had three roles - to Lead, to Feed and to Care.  They led the sheep to new and richer pastures, moving on when one area had been worked to another and so on.  On the way they made sure the Sheep were fed and, of course, they defended the sheep from their natural enemies, the predators, like wolves, which would, unchecked, harry the sheep.

These three roles Jesus took upon himself and they became the hallmarks of Christian leadership.  This is especially so for Bishops, the Christian leaders whom the Church ordains to look after God's people.  At the ordination of a Bishop he is told that he is the Shepherd of Christ's flock and the implication is clear.  He is to lead the people and he is given a symbol of that leadership - the Crozier - fashioned on the Shepherd's Crook.  The model for the Bishop's ministry is drawn straight from the ministry of Jesus Christ whom he represents in a special way.  This is made clear in the statement of what a Bishop is for during the ordination service:

Bishops are called to serve and care for the flock of Christ.  Mindful of the Good Shepherd, who laid down his life for his sheep, they are to love and pray for those committed to their charge, knowing their people and being known by them.

They are to feed God's people through word and sacrament - as the ordination service says:

As principal ministers of word and sacrament, stewards of the mysteries of God, they are to preside at the Lord's table and to lead the offering of prayer and praise.  They are to feed God's pilgrim people, and so build up the Body of Christ. 

 This feeding includes speaking in the name of God and expounding the gospel of salvation ... proclaiming the Gospel boldly. And they are to care:

With the Shepherd's love, they are to be merciful, but with firmness; to minister discipline, but with compassion.  They are to have a special care for the poor, the outcast and those who are in need.  They are to seek out those who are lost and lead them home with rejoicing, declaring the absolution and forgiveness of sins to those who turn to Christ.

Leading, feeding, caring, which includes guarding against those things which might turn the people away from God.  These are the functions of Christian leader and they are drawn straight form the functions of the Shepherd of Israel.  But Bishops and other Christian leaders cannot do this on their own.  The cheer size of the Christian Church. makes this an impossible task for the chosen few.  Which is why, at a certain point in its history, the Church began to share the leadership tasks with others - set apart like the Bishop to lead, feed and care for the people of God in a particular locality.  So t he office and work of the priest was born and they Bishop's role of Shepherd of the people was carried out by others.

Today the Church of England keeps Vocation Sunday and it would be right and proper to encourage people to consider whether God might be calling them to this particular ministry of leading, feeding and caring for God's people by offering themselves for selection, training and ordination as priests, to share the Bishop's task laid upon him by Christ, the Good Shepherd.

Whatever shape the Church takes in the future it will need priests to lead, feed and care for congregations and communities and if you think God might be calling you to this work then you can do nothing finer than respond to that call - for it is one of the most privileged things in all the world - and if God isn't calling you, he is certainly calling you to pray that others may come to hear his Call and respond to it in that way.

But there is more - isn't there always!

Bishops and Priests are cast in the role of Shepherds and I suppose the assumption is therefore that those they lead, feed and care for are in some way Sheep.  A new dynamic is, however, emerging, or rather a New Testament view is being rediscovered.  It is not just Bishops and Priests who are called to the role of Shepherding, but Christian congregations.  I believe that the role of the priest is changing.  Shepherding will still be the hallmark of the work, but it will be a ministry to congregations who will themselves increasingly take on a shepherding role.  Led, Fed and Cared for by a mixture of ministry - ordained and lay - Congregations are being asked to fulfil their New Testament role of being God's Holy People with a special and particular ministry to the world and in particular within their own communities.  The Vocation of all Christians and Christian Congregations is to Lead, Feed and Care for all those with whom life's circumstance puts them in contact.  As  a Church this means facing the challenge of developing our life so that Christ the Good Shepherd can reach out to others through us.

We need to ask ourselves some important questions:

Is our Christian Community one which is forever seeking new pastures - new ways of expressing the Gospel so that it is accessible to those seeking a deeper meaning of life than the prevailing society can offer - a meaning which is rooted in God?  In other words, can people find God in our midst and so be touched by his Grace?

Secondly, are we the sort of Christian Community in which the Word of God dwells in us richly so that we can feed others, through nurture, through conviction of faith and through commitment to the Gospel?

Thirdly, are we a Caring Community that is open to all and who accepts those whom God sends to us to love into His Kingdom?   Do we welcome and encourage people to see this Church as the safe pasture where Christians share the love of Christ with all?

If we are true to our calling, our vocation, as a Church, the answer we give to those questions is vital, for on them depends not only what sort of Church we are, but also whether we truly belong to the fold of the Good Shepherd and whether, as Jesus says in today's Gospel, we really do know him.