The Shepherd & The Sheep

My precious little sister, Lisa, is having surgery today. In honor of her, I want to share a special memory - a story about a little shepherd and the Good Shepherd. I pray that these words are a fragrant offering and that God uses them to touch you in a special way today...

[Jesus said] “…the sheep listen to [the shepherd’s] voice.  He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.  I am the good shepherd.  The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  …I know my sheep and my sheep know me just as the Father knows me and I know the Father – and I lay down my life for the sheep.”   John 10:3-4,11,14-15



Three Sisters with our Little Flock



“Eighteen bottle lambs.  You girls get to spend the summer feeding them, raising them, caring for them.”  A cattle rancher, my father had never raised sheep.  But the sheep rancher down the road found himself with eighteen motherless lambs in need of care, and we lovingly adopted these little woolen critters.  My older sister, Connie, decided they each needed a name; unique markings on each lamb made it easy to distinguish one from another.  We spent countless hours in the pen each day, bottle-feeding, petting, playing, and laying down beside our little flock.

But it was my younger sister, Lisa, who had a way with our sheep.  Soon to be diagnosed with a rare degenerative form of epilepsy, Lisa was not an average five-year-old; she was, however, a true shepherd.  When Lisa called the sheep by name, they listened.  On several occasions, the silly, senseless critters wandered off, finding a hole in the fence and following one another out of the pen.  Lisa found them, bawling and bleating; she called the sheep by name, clucked her tongue, and began walking ahead of them with every lamb in tow, following her in faithful procession. My parents and Connie and I all marveled at our little shepherd. Lisa would often lie down in the pen, surrounded by her flock. Sometimes she even scooped them in her small arms and carried them here and there. Ever the protective older sister, I envisioned rattlesnakes attacking her or the sheep.  But Lisa had no fear.  I believe she would have placed herself between the snake and her flock, if necessary.  That is what a shepherd does.



Little Shepherds: Connie, Lisa, & Me

How often do we, like those senseless sheep, wander away?  What “hole” have we found to crawl through?  What sins lead us foolishly away?  No matter how far we wander, our Good Shepherd finds us, calls us by name, and leads us safely home.  In our Baptism the Lord uniquely marks us as His own, filling us with His Holy Spirit, giving us faith in our Savior, the great Shepherd of His sheep, who laid down His life for us.  That is what the Good Shepherd does.

By the power of His Spirit, we know His voice and we listen to Him as He speaks to us in His Word; as He leads us and guides us into His truth. We marvel at our Good Shepherd, who scoops us up in His strong arms and carries us always.



The Littlest Lamb in the Flock and Me

The Energy Gauge

We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.  Colossians 1:28-29

 

Several years ago, when asked to help with a household chore, my clever 6-year-old slumped his shoulders and replied, “But Mom, my energy gauge is practically on empty.”  My quizzical expression prompted him to continue:  “You see, Mom, normally my gauge is like this,” and he stretched his arms wide.  “But right now it’s almost gone, like this,” and he held his thumb and forefinger ¼ inch apart.  His “gauge” was curiously full a few minutes earlier when he was at play.  Now, when asked to complete a chore, it was dangerously low.

We invest our energies in all sorts of areas.  We put so much energy into daily work, hobbies, recreation, and even household chores, that we may find our energy gauge “practically on empty” when we spend time with the Lord. Do we go through the motions as we worship?  Or complain that we just don’t have energy left when a friend asks us to pray for her?  Are our tanks dangerously low when the church needs volunteers to teach and serve, or when we sit down for a few minutes of devotion time with our Savior?   Sometimes, our energy gauges read “empty,” alerting us that our tank has been drained before we’ve given any of our energy to the Lord.

Praise God for His continual refueling process through His forgiveness in Christ.  In our Savior’s death and resurrection, He traded our depleted tanks and empty gauges for His full one.  Through His Holy Spirit, He has given us faith to trust Him for a fresh start each day, with a gauge reading “full” and the power to serve Him in all the ways His energy directs us, that we may live our lives as a Fragrant Offering to Him.  We proclaim Christ, filled with His energy, powerfully working in us as we worship and pray, as we serve others, and as we spend time in His Word.

Energy-Gauge Boy!

Savior Jesus, Thank You for continually refueling me, trading my depleted tank for Yours.  Continue to fill me with the power of Your Holy Spirit, giving me Your energy that I may boldly proclaim You!  In Your name, Amen.

Nothing to Give

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

A few years ago, I was leading a family ministry on Saturday nights in our previous church. “Family Time Bible Study” engaged everyone from the rambunctious preschoolers to the more mature adults, because we all worked together to spontaneously act out dramatic Bible events. One such preschooler, Sam, was always eager to be “in on the action” and as Christmas approached, he was especially excitable. Not only would we act out the story of the Savior’s birth, but there would be a Christmas party to follow, and he knew that all the families were chipping in together to surprise me with a special gift. Knowing young Sam would struggle to keep a secret, his mother told him to pretend they had nothing to give me. A few days before our Christmas event, I ran into Sam, who looked up at me and loudly proclaimed, “Mrs. Burma, we have NOTHING for you!” His mom just shook her head and smiled.

The big night came, and we proclaimed the Christ child’s birth, “Family Time” style, our fragrant offering to the Lord that night. No one shouted the message or sang the songs louder than Sam. The families then produced a large gift for me, and Sam stood directly at my feet as I opened it, squinting his eyes and cocking his head from side to side curiously as he looked up at me. I squealed with delight as I unveiled a Kitchen Aid mixer! WOW! I was speechless, touched by the love and generosity of these brothers and sisters in Christ. But Sam just continued to stare up at me. With a look of disappointment on his face, finally he whispered, “My mom told me this gift would make you so happy that you would cry.” Sam hugged me and continued, “Why aren’t you crying?”

The tears fall now as I recount this special moment when one little guy had much more than “nothing” to give me. Sam gave me a far greater gift than my mixer. The same boy whose childlike faith enabled him to shout, “Joy to the World!” also allowed him to whisper those words of love to me. Wanting to give me something that would make me happy – so happy I would cry – was his greatest desire that night. Sam’s gift of love was also a fragrant offering before the Lord, as Sam “walked in love” toward me.

While we may pretend that we have nothing to give others, we have, in fact, the greatest gift of all to share. The Child whose birth we celebrated that night would grow up to be our Lord and our Savior. The very gift of God, given to us in Christ Jesus! As we give others the Good News of eternal life in Christ - as we “walk in love” - the sweet aroma of Christ is spread. A fragrant offering, indeed!


Sam