Bringing in the Sheep

My church has been asking members to craft reflections based upon the Scriptures assigned for any particular day in the Easter Season. I was asked to do one for the Gospel lesson assigned for the Fourth Sunday of Easter.  The passage is from John 10:

 "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. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father."

 

My reflection:

Those of us who believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God know him to be the good shepherd, the voice we hear that reminds us to love one another as He has loved us. And in this passage, Jesus notes that he has “other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also and they will listen to my voice.” We can’t know how God is working God’s purpose out in other people, be they other Christians or other people of faith. God may also be secretly working on those whose unbelief has left them scattered. All we can do is keep listening to the voice of the shepherd and doing our part to lay down our lives for others. You never know how Christ may be using you to bring another sheep back into the fold.