Worth His Time

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” John 10:11

I had been without work for a couple of weeks. Spending my entire day, from dropping Sarah off with a babysitter until going to a part-time telemarketing job at 4 pm, finding employment was my full-time job. Patti worked a full-time shift at the same telemarketing firm.

One morning I visited a temporary agency. They sent me to a new electronics store that was opening in the area. Always being a bit of a gadget nerd, I took the opportunity, filled out the application and went to the site, resume in hand. The construction was finished, but the store was empty, awaiting the merchandise for its opening within the next three weeks.

The manager perused my resume, said he liked what he saw, and said that I could start right away. It was the first good news in quite a few weeks. I was between churches as a pastor, and it is always difficult to enter the secular arena for employment. The manager gave me a large white garbage bag and sent me out to pick up all the leftover trash from the lot. I didn’t flinch, went outside and began.

After about an hour I had nearly finished. Not only the litter of odd signs and paper, but Styrofoam packing bricks and scrap lumber dotted the unkempt lot. I looked around for the manager and could find neither him nor his car. Though I was not entirely done, I put the bag down and walked away. I quit. I was done. I was broken.

It had been a year of one battle after another, many of my own origin, others from outside. But I finally decided I was better than this. I left a note, finished the bit of trash that was left, and drove to the employment agency to report this job was not for me. Indeed, it was beneath me!

Don’t misunderstand; I have never been a quitter. And, I’ve never been too proud to do the work that no one else will do. But I could not take one more hit. My self-image was shattered beyond recognition, and it appeared this job was about to complete the defeat I felt inside. I walked away from that job determined that I was worth something more.

I am glad that Jesus doesn’t walk off the job. Shepherding doesn’t sound like the ultimate high-end corner office gig, after all. You spend your time with animals too stupid to find their own way, too weak to fight predators, and often too stubborn to follow the shepherd home at night. People hired at minimum wage to protect these smelly creatures from lions and other natural predators probably insisted on a wage increase. Or, walked off the job.

But not Jesus. No, He is the “good” shepherd. We are His sheep, meaning we belong to Him. He is not a high-school kid hired to babysit a few sheep after school. After their first encounter with a bear, most of them high-tailed it off to the Jerusalem McDonald’s for something more in line with a beginning wage.

But not Jesus. We are not beneath His dignity. We are worth His time. We are worth His very life! The Good Shepherd gave His life for the sheep. Don’t envision a pet lamb and baby-bottle here. Instead think about livestock, the smell of manure, the harsh Palestine sun and the danger of both predators and the rugged landscape. Sheep were attacked. Sheep got lost. Sheep sometimes even went astray.

Here at River of Life many of us responded to a Six Week Challenge to respond to God’s goodness by committing to attend worship for six weeks without fail. We also acknowledged the importance of meeting together at other times as well; Bible studies, sharing groups or Sunday School. We are now halfway through those six weeks.

Whether you participated or not, would you consider your response to the love of the Good Shepherd for you? We are His sheep and we stray quite often. We get weak. We sometimes get lost. Let me invite you to join the flock this weekend and re-ignite the love for the Good Shepherd who thinks you are totally worth His time.