Readings: 1 Samuel 16:1,4 -13; Psalm 23; John 10:11-18
So what exactly is a Good Shepherd? Have you seen one lately? In our urban, industrial, technological society we don`t get to see too many shepherds or wolves! Or do we?

My own experience of shepherding comes from growing up on the edge of Dartmoor - a granite landscape a bit like the John Forrest National Park but without any bush or trees - or wolves. There the sheep roam freely all year round. They know how to avoid the bogs and where to find shelter in winter storms and snow. And they certainly don`t need to be led to green pastures or water because, if there`s something Dartmoor does have plenty of, it`s rain and moorland streams!

I remember once a year the farmers working together on a `round-up`. With the help of their dogs they would gather up the sheep in their area to sort them, shear their wool, and mark their offspring. Any strays were left in a `pound` (which was a large circle hedged by a wall of stones) for their owners to collect. So I`m afraid the image of the 23rd Psalm didn`t mean too much to me. I much preferred Psalm 121 I will lift up mine eyes to the hills from whence my help did indeed come, far more meaningful to me as a teenager.

At least when I came to Australia and experienced this hot, dry land I could understand the importance of green pastures and refreshing oasis of water. But pictures of shepherding on pastoral stations seem much the same, only on a bigger scale with sheep running in front of motorbikes as well as dogs. So the Shepherd image still didn`t do too much for me - that`s until I went to India in the early 90`s.

During one of the many temporary stops, from our train, I watched a girl of about eight in the midst of her small flock of goats and sheep, playing a little pipe. Then, as she started moving on up the field, she seemed to be calling to the loiterers by name and the animals followed quietly behind her. What a different caring image that gave to the fear-filled, panicking animals I associated with the more aggressive mustering style of shepherding on Dartmoor and in Australia.

Then a few years later, a scene in the French film Manon des Sources gave me added insight. The shepherd was once again a girl but in her teens and as a storm swept up the valley, she was encouraging the flock to find their way back up to the pen quickly while she followed behind, helping the struggling ones at the rear, but becoming drenched in the process. And of course David was also in his teens acting as shepherd for his father`s flocks when Samuel arrived looking for a future leader.

Thanks to those experiences I now have two differing images of leadership - the one who leads from the front and the one who encourages from the back. There is a time and a place for both but I prefer the latter. I`ve also discovered that the verse which starts `You prepare a table before me` can actually be read in two ways - it could relate to the hostess preparing a meal for her guest, providing soothing oil for sundried skin and a relaxing cup to enjoy. But the phrase `to set the table` was also an expression that referred to `preparing fields for grazing - in the sense of uprooting poisonous weeds, harmful thorns and clearing the area of snakes and scorpion`s nests. And then at night, when the sheep had to be led into a pound to protect them from wolves and lions, as they came in the shepherd would look out for the injured or sickly ones, separate them from the others, and either treat them with oil or a curative drink made of fermented material and herbs sweetened with honey. - ``you anoint my head with oil and my cup overflows`.

Now that makes much more sense to me, especially when we talk about pastoral care, which comes from the Latin word `pastor meaning `shepherd`! As many of you will remember, for nearly eight years I was a chaplain at Bandyup Prison and much of my work in the prison scene was about dealing with deep wounds mainly arising from childhood sexual abuse or the stresses of poverty. But a fair amount of my time was also spent on trying to remove some of the harmful thorns and the scorpions of abusive institutional praxis - like getting the then Minister for Justice to agree to eliminate the shackling of women in childbirth, and taking a proactive role in drawing attention to the need for a more humane approach (including being part of the establishing of Boronia Pre-release Centre with its focus on case management and the effective rehabilitation of women prisoners).

I find it interesting with the court case to do with Anders Breivik`s massacre in Norway to hear that intentional rehabilitation is the normal focus for Norwegian handling of offenders but there has now come a realization that this is not possible for a very few. I wish our government would wake up to the reverse fact namely that recidivism rates are far lower where rehabilitation praxis is uppermost.

But back to Psalm 23! Recently someone in a group I was in wondered `why is it in this day and age when we`re so out of touch with this shepherd image, that the 23rd Psalm is still one of the favourite and best recalled passages in all the Bible?` Frivolously I said it was because we could sing it, preferably to the tune of Crimond with descant!! And of course it would have been read as poetry in Hebrew. But then I suggested that maybe it was to do with having a comforting, caring image of God over against the harsh, judgmental, powerful God that so much of the Old Testament and some present-day churches put forward.

But I also think Psalm 23 continues to speak to us today because it holds so beautifully together the `opposites in tension - peaceful oases and dark valleys, life and death, injury and healing, threatening enemies and caring hosts and shepherds (who could either have been male or female) - in a wonderful blending of imagery. It`s a psalm of great trust and assurance. Life may be paradoxical and seem unfair at times but the psalmist affirms that God is ever-present like a caring shepherd. Whatever life brings, we need not be overwhelmed or fearful like my moorland sheep.

As theologian McAfee Brown puts it - it`s one thing to walk through the valley of the shadow of death, but quite another thing to do so `without fear. The problem with fear is that it can hook us in to being eaten up with guilt or anger or despair, and it can also paralyse us from discerning what is the right path to take.

It`s interesting how Jesus, in naming himself as the Good Shepherd, picks up on this theme of fear, and images it in relation to the wolves that steal life away. He sees the role of caring for the vulnerable within ourselves and within society as very much linked to standing up to the wolves that threaten. I wonder what you would name as the wolves that are currently threatening our society and world?

I know that the churches value caring as a pastoral care dynamic, but I`m not so sure how many Christians value `advocacy as also part of pastoral care, involving a willingness to risk facing fears and deal appropriately with adversaries and abusers even though we may end up being the loser. This might be smallscale or at a personal level. For instance on Friday someone told me on about an elderly person who was afraid to move out of their chair in case they might fall and break their arm again, and how their good shepherd spouse has arranged for them to go to special classes to learn how to fall properly!

Or it might be on a larger-scale or social basis. I know here at Wembley Downs we have had many experiences of the importance of such social support over the years. But I`ve also come to realise that the naming and challenging of the wolves that threaten our society and world is also` a key role for our churches. That`s why we need people like our own Nev Watson and UnitingCare`s CEO Lyn Hatfield Dodds and social commentators like Hugh Mackay who can help inform us about the big picture so we can see our own role as pastoral carers and demand from our leaders concern for social rather than just economic well-being.

The reality is that the top 20% of Australian adults hold 62% of the nation`s wealth, while the bottom 20% have only 1%. But that at the present rate in 25 years` time the top 20% will have 70% of the spoils and a bottom 50% will have just 5%. To what extent our political leaders are bothered about this growing divide that is leading to the fragmentation of our community is a moot point. Indeed people and caring organizations like Lyn Hatfield Dodds and the St Vincent De Paul Society have all raised concern about opinion-makers (including politicians, senior public servants, corporate executives and the media) being interested in wealth creation and those responsible, but largely ignoring the ways in which it is derived and distributed.

I also see the peddling of fear by our media and politicians as adding to this divisive effect, with the polarization for votes and focus on protectionist refugee policies deflecting attention from addressing complex needs arising from poverty and disease, drugs and violence and doing something about radically caring for the most vulnerable in our world. If we are to act out of Christ values, first we have to discern what and where the predatory wolves are - at both personal and social levels. It`s at that point that we cannot separate politics and religion.

And today`s bible readings all provide a very different slant on leadership. As Samuel discovers, God`s manner of choosing differs from that of the world around. `And sometimes God`s choices are indeed strange. The youngest, smallest shepherd of is chosen to be the most powerful in Israel! In the economy of God, the greatest will be the least. What counts is not power and might but faith and vulnerability/ humility before God. Ironically shepherds were young people trusted with valuable stock and the Psalmist sees this in terms of an image of God with a style of leading to do with calling, encouraging and caring for the well-being of others, certainly nothing to do with using fear to maintain control. However it was Samuel, a wise and trusted elder who was given the task of guiding the young David on his journey to leadership.

Indeed Jesus`s emphasis that we are all to see ourselves as one flock within a sacrificial framework which takes on a very different meaning when translated into social economic terms. In our congregation at Wembley Downs I have over the years witnessed many examples of good shepherding of resources and modeling of a caring leadership including locally (in supporting refugees and those with mental health issues) and internationally (working with village communities in Bali East Timor and Africa to help support an orphanage or build a school or a women`s refuge centre); but also personally with caring cards and kind words of encouragement.

Sometimes (often!) God calls us out of our comfort zone and into places where we have to have faith in God alone. We are never too old or too young my friends! The powers of the world may seem strong before our vulnerability but God`s promise is to be with us in the task. When the journey gets tough, may we never forget that Jesus who is our leader, our trail guide, is calling `all of us to have the confidence to be God`s people, and to embody what that means just as he did.

And here is a version which I adapted from something I saw on the internet called

`A Trail Guide`s Psalm 23
The Holy One is my trail guide
I shall not lose my way for I will be led along the right path
by a divine companion who travels beside me.

With each step giving me new strength to continue on,
whether my path winds through flowering bush, dry valleys or rocky heights,
I will find peace and not be afraid,

For the Holy One is with me like an indwelling compass
offering guiding care and comforting rest points
all the days of my journey.

And I will rejoice in this holy company forever.