CHAPTER 21 - OTHER SHEEP There was something bothering Emily. She didn’t quite know how to say it. She started anyway. ‘Nana, Abraham and Isaac were Hebrews, weren’t they? ‘Yes Emily.’ And David the shepherd boy became King of Israel, didn’t he? ‘Yes Emily.’ ‘And didn’t Jesus get crucified for being King of the Jews?’ ‘Yes Emily.’ Nana thought she could see where this was leading. ‘Nana…’ ‘Yes, Emily.’ ‘We’re not Hebrews, or Israelites or Jews. I do so want to be a sheep which listens to the voice of the Good Shepherd. But, Nana, can we belong in this nation of sheep and shepherds?’ All her life, Emily had heard that Jesus was for her. She’d never doubted it. Recently she’d realised that Jesus was not only long ago, but far away. Jesus wasn’t English like her, as she’d always thought. None of her school friends from that part of the world were fair skinned and blond like the baby in her battered Christmas story book. Surely Jesus wasn’t either. ‘You’re right, Emily. Jesus is talking to his own people. I’m sure he meant the sheep shelter to be their nation. People knew he meant they were sheep, who could listen to the good shepherd, follow and belong to him. Or not.’¹ ‘What about us, then?’ Emily sounded anxious. ‘I’m getting to that!’ said Nana. ‘Look here in verse 16: Jesus says he has other sheep, not from that sheep shelter. “I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice. There will be one flock and one shepherd.”’ ‘Oh, that must be us!’ Emily was relieved. ‘So, Nana…’ Nana watched the thought flit across Emily’s forehead and form itself into words. ‘It sounds like the Good Shepherd goes around calling all sheep from everywhere, but only some of the sheep trust him enough to follow him out of their shelter and into the wide open spaces with fresh grass. It doesn’t matter what country we’re from, does it, Nana? It’s whether we follow the shepherd when he comes and calls us.’ Nana nodded. She still wasn’t used to talking with Emily like a friend. In the last couple of weeks, Emily seemed to have grown up a lot. Nana looked at her with pride. But also with a sense of loss. Part of her would have liked to keep Emily as the innocent little girl, who simply accepted what her grandmother told her. She felt like she’d taken some big risks in exploring the story with Emily, jumping into parts of the Bible that even she would rather avoid. She had had to set aside her instinct to protect Emily from the harshness of the story. ‘It would be like keeping a sheep in the shelter all its life and never leading it out to pasture,’ she told herself. ‘What are you thinking?’ Emily broke in. ‘I can see it all going across your face, but I can’t read it!’ They laughed together. ‘I was thinking you’ve grown from a lamb to a sheep.’ Nana searched for words. ‘And you’ve helped me grow up too!’ Emily didn’t know grown-ups could grow up. She could only think of one word to say, ‘Baa-a-aaa!’ ¹ Nana is picking up on what she and Emily have been talking about from chapter 10 of John’s gospel. This is part 21 of 24 daily instalments in the lead up to Christmas 2014. Pick up your daily copy at The Sheep Shelter, On the web at Sandhurstbaptists Or here on Facebook. Free to copy for non-commercial uses, please acknowledge author as P. Evens
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 08:53:56 +0000
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