In this sermon, Shawna Boren invites us to see how the movie The Sheep Detectives points us to three themes in Scripture: The Good Shepherd, belonging, and sacrifice. The Bible returns to the imagery of sheep and shepherding so much that it must hold unique insight into God’s nature and our calling.
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You’re My Flock
• Shawna Boren
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Shawna Boren engages the recent movie The Sheep Detectives to identify themes that reveal God’s truths. In this movie, a devoted shepherd named George (played by Hugh Jackman) reads murder mysteries aloud to his attentive flock. The sheep not only understand what he is saying, but they are also able to think critically about how mystery stories work. Then the sheep find George dead in his pasture and realize he has been murdered. Because they see things that the local police do not and they are so well trained by the stories George had read them, the sheep find clues and give them to the police, thereby solving the crime.
Shawna highlights three themes that stand out from this story. The first theme is that of the good shepherd. George exemplified what it means to take care of the sheep well. He named each one, knew them intimately, groomed them and protected them. His actions share a lot in common with the myriad of scriptures that refer to God as a shepherd (e.g. Psalm 23, Jeremiah 23, Ezekiel 34, Zechariah 10, Luke 15, Mark 6, Matthew 18 and John 10). The culmination of this imagery is found in John 10, when Jesus says that he is The Good Shepherd. This vocation speaks volumes about the character of Jesus and the nature of God. With this statement, the prophetic promises of the centuries were realized at last. And it was manifest through the humble, gentle, patient actions of The Good Shepherd.
The second theme is belonging. We all need a flock. Even those who are more introverted or enjoy being alone are made to walk alongside others. The problem is there is a growing epidemic of disconnection in our society. We have cultivated habits that generate isolation instead of connection. We are trained to pull back from others rather than learning to be mutually interdependent. Many of us do this because of wounds from previous connections. In the movie, there are winter lambs who are born out of season. They are rejected and viewed as outsiders. They walk in isolation from the flock. And when you are told often enough that you don’t fit, you begin to believe it. However, Jesus came to tear down these barriers and connect us all in love.
The third theme is sacrifice. In the movie, one of the sheep gives his life to protect other sheep from attacking dogs. This sheep was once a winter lamb who struggled to connect with the flock. As he is dying he says, “You’re my flock.” He demonstrated what Jesus meant when he said, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:12-13). This is a high bar, and most of us will not have the opportunity to sacrifice our lives in this way. However, sacrifice comes in many forms. Shawna points out the practice of hospitality as a way to embody sacrifice. When we include others and serve them, we are sacrificing for their sake. It’s a form of washing feet as Jesus said in John 13:14-15: “So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.”
Jesus, The Good Shepherd, set the model for us so that we can realize how we belong to each other. He came to connect us in love by becoming a servant and dying on the cross. As we follow his model, we experience belonging, and as we regularly sacrifice for each other, we learn to love together.
Hide Extended SummaryTopics: Community, Love, Sacrifice
Sermon Series: Reel to Real
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The MuseCast: August 25
Focus Scripture:
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John 10:11-16
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
