The Good Shepherdess
Preacher: Rt Revd Ian Paton, Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane, Scottish Episcopal Church
Readings: Revelation 7:9-17; John 10:22-30
Jesus the Good Shepherd is a major theme of the Easter season. We hear Jesus saying, in John’s Gospel, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down their life for the sheep.” And in the reading today, “My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me.”
In this part of the world it reflects spring-time, with new-born lambs and the care of shepherds and mother ewes evident in the fields. But as the first reading from Revelation shows, it also brings out a paradox, for Jesus is both the slain Lamb and the Good Shepherd.
In Psalm 23, the shepherd is God himself: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not be in want,” says one of the most loved texts of the Bible. It is a comforting image, a symbol of compassion, being known by name, being guided to good pasture, and being taken home in safety. But it is also a demanding image of alert and attentive leadership, and in scripture the image is used not only of God but of Israel’s leaders, kings and priests,
But being an actual shepherd with actual sheep was not regarded positively in ancient Jewish society. Because it was a twenty four hours a day, seven days a week job, shepherds could not fulfil their religious duties and so were on the margins of respectability. So to say that God or the king or Jesus is a shepherd, is to compare them to those considered marginal and without status.
Even more marginal because, in fact, many shepherds in the ancient world were women, children or the elderly. It was the physically weakest members of the family who cared for the flock, they could be spared from the harder labour. So, we see David as a child tending the sheep, and Rachel watering the sheep when she meets Jacob. Moses meets Zipporah when she is watering the sheep with her sisters. Biblical shepherds can be male or female, so our assumption that the shepherds who went to the manger were male, are false. Like our assumption that Jesus had a male image in mind when comparing himself to a Good Shepherd.
The assumptions we make about the maleness of shepherds are like the assumptions we make about humankind, and about God. We may understand well that all language about God, and about human beings, is metaphor and analogy. God is not literally a father as Jesus is not literally a shepherd. But many in our culture still find it hard instinctively to see the women (or children, or black people) present in scripture, and in the image of God. As the Roman Catholic philosopher Mary Daly said many years ago, “If God is male, then the male is God.”
This matters in a world where girls are being denied education, or women denied the right to choose, or are raped as a weapon of war. It matters because in Scotland women are still less likely to achieve
higher pay; are still judged by their appearance more than by their achievement; are still likely to experience sexual harassment at work and domestic violence at home; and still likely to be accused of distracting male colleagues by merely moving their limbs, in the ‘mother of parliaments.’ If Jesus identified with shepherds because they were marginalised, he would surely identify with women and girls among all the marginalised of today. He might even be heard to say, “I am the good shepherdess.”
Occasional openness about gender when speaking about God was a feature of some early and medieval Christian spirituality. Clement of Alexandria in the late 2nd century, “In his ineffable essence God is father; in his compassion to us he became mother.“ Augustine in the early 5th century, “He who has promised us heavenly food has nourished us on milk with a mother’s tenderness.” Anselm, in the 12th century, “Jesus, like a mother you gather your people to you; you are gentle with us as a mother with her children, in sickness you nurse us, and with pure milk you feed us.”
And in the 14th century, Julian of Norwich reflected on the experience she had on 8th May 1373. Her ‘Revelations of Divine Love’ includes her famous words, “All shall be well and all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well.” But also, “As truly as God is our Father, so truly is God our Mother. A mother feeds her child with her milk, but our mother Jesus feeds us with himself.”
Moving between male and female in trying to describe the indescribable nature of God, makes the image of the shepherd(ess) more arresting and revealing. But there are also many other places where scripture breaks down gender differences. Women are called brothers; men are called brides of Christ; Jesus and Paul assert maternal qualities for themselves; the Church is a female body with a male head. Paul tells us that in Christ there is no longer male and female but all are one, just as Jesus implies that such distinctions are not found in the resurrection ‘where they are as angels and children of God.’ And in describing their creation, Genesis portrays male and female as equal dimensions of the image of God, and complementary features of each human being (some Jewish midrash sees ‘taking the rib’ as dividing Adam in two to create Eve, male and female coming from one flesh. Which is how, in Matthew, Jesus can speak of them becoming one flesh again, in marriage).
Faith has an almost unparalleled ability to bring people of all kinds together in the name of love and compassion. Christian faith, in particular, is a faith of transcending separations and distinctions while celebrating difference. We say we believe in the ‘catholic’ church, not because we are all Roman Catholics, but because we claim to recognise this drive to ‘catholicity’ at the heart of our faith, in which ‘catholic’ means literally ‘the one for the sake of the many.’ There is one shepherd, and there is one flock, even if it is rather scattered, but that flock is made up of every size, shape and breed of sheep. For God, says scripture, looks not on the appearance, but on the heart.
There are good shepherds, but there are also bad shepherds. In the Prophets kings and priests are sometimes accused as bad shepherds for failing to protect or nurture the flock. And we see bad shepherding in today’s ‘kings and priests.’ The failure of church leaders – pastors – to act when other shepherds abused and harmed the flock that trusted them, was a betrayal of vulnerable children and adults. Their courage in telling their stories and demanding justice shows how goodness can be stronger than evil. There are other abuses, other bad shepherdings, to repent of, such as the legacy of slavery and racism in our churches as in our country. In the churches we have to own the shame, be ready to do justice, and be eager to seek healing.
Since we have talked about the gender fluidity of scripture in images such as the Good Shepherd, we should think for a moment about the bad shepherding of those whose very lives are being lived, worked out, in that space of gender diversity and openness. Transgender and gender-diverse people have become more visible in society. Gender-diversity is not easy for most people, as we have been steeped in a male/female-only understanding of gender. It is hard to believe that our birth bodies do not tell the whole story about who we are, or that some people find themselves with bodies that do not match the gender they identify with.
Some Christians say that the Bible requires people of faith to oppose the affirmation of transgender and other LGBT+ people. In such situations, many people have testified to being made to feel sinful, or twisted, less than human. They have been persuaded to accept conversion therapy, directive counselling, manipulative prayer and exorcism. Many have suffered damage to mental or physical health. Many have suffered rejection and abuse, even violence. Too many have taken their own lives. What kind of shepherding is that?
If we believe that God is beyond gender, and that all human life is able to reflect the image and nature of God, and if we read and understand the diversity of language and image in our scriptures, then our churches should be the safest place to reflect on, share in confidence, be open about, being transgender or LGBT+. Yet two-thirds of LGBT+ Christians do not feel safe to be themselves in their place of worship. That’s something that we need to change, and to reject all prejudice, hatred, oppression, and violence against LGBT+ people.
We need their forgiveness, I am sure, but we also need to listen to their wisdom and insight, their faith in a God who is beyond gender and the stereotypes our culture imposes, just as they are. And by that insight and understanding they will be our good shepherds, leading the flock to new pastures and fresh waters. LGBT+ and Trans people can help us to see the diversity of humankind and the diversity of God’s people, and to stand with people who are not the same as us but can help us all to be more our true selves. To help us understand afresh what it is to be human, and what it is to look on God, and follow Jesus the Good Shepherdess.
Good Shepherd now your flock has need of you, One finds the fold and ninety-nine are lost
Out in the darkness and the icy dew,
And no one knows how long this night will last.
Restore us; call us back to you by name,
And by your life laid down, redeem our shame. (Malcolm Guite)