In C. S. Lewis’ book, series of books on Narnia, one particular section the lion who represents God of course is singing. And as he sings a real high clear note stars appear and when he sings a deep note the abyss appears. And when he sings a little ditty the rippling waters come. It’s a powerful image of God’s power to create and make us uniquely who we are. But it doesn’t quite grasp the more Christian viewpoint of things.
In Westchester, near the Hudson River, there’s a bridge, a drawbridge that goes up and down. When it’s up the watchman is supposed to have his lantern out and he’s supposed to shake it at night in a circle. And of course, when it’s down he’s supposed to keep it down by his side. So the engineer on the train sees it and makes the judgment accordingly. If the lantern is swinging then of course he stops the train because it means the bridge is up. And when it’s at his side it means that it is down and he can go right across the river. On a Friday in 1904, something went wrong and the train plunged into the Hudson River. Of course hundreds of people were killed, damage and etc. And the people were suspicious, you know, "how come this took place, who was guilty?" they thought it was the lantern swinger or the guard at the bridge and so they questioned him. And he pretty much was adamant and they could see nothing and so they took him to court anyway. He had his lawyer and they were doing well but the jury was in a kind of deadlock and not getting anywhere month after month so his lawyer decided to put him on the stand. He said just answer my questions. He said ok. "Were you at work on February etc., he said "yes." "Did you see the train coming? He says "yes." "Were you drunk?" He says "I don’t drink, I never drank." "Did you swing the lantern?" He starts saying "Ye ye ye ye, yes, I sw, sw, swung the la, la, la, lantern." All of a sudden the lawyer is beginning to wonder if he is guilty. And of course also the jury. But because of the evidence and everything they let him go. The lawyer was real upset. He says, "were you guilty? How come you started shuddering up there?" and he says "you asked the wrong question." "You didn’t ask if the lantern was lit."
That’s the Christian stance. It’s not enough for us to be unique individuals and loved by God because He made us uniquely who we are. There’s no one like you or me in the whole universe. And it’s a great gift that God has given us. But our light has to shine. And in this week that we’re focusing on, Jesus, is the Good Shepherd there’s two strong elements that belong to this. First of all, Jesus is alive and He is shepherding us. Our light shines and it’s lit precisely to the degree that we encounter Jesus. It’s precisely His leading of us and we encounter Him, that He not only enlightens, but strengthens, and empowers and transforms us. And that means that we experience this. And that’s the reason that we’re happy. We have knowledge of the certainty of Jesus’ guidance in our life. Our faith gives us certainty. And when you have someone in your life who loves you and you love them and you have knowledge of this and certainty then, of course, you have a wholly different disposition and therefore you radiate a light that people want. And so this is the real issue of this week, I think, with Jesus as the Good Shepherd. It doesn’t take much to see that if we are in any bad relationship with people that are significant in our life it can disturb our whole life. Even though it’s a small issue. If you have a very close friend and you upset them or they upset you, you don’t pay attention to all the good things that may be happening all around you, you may be worried about that relationship. It destroys everything else in your life. And so for us who claim we seek God and therefore find him it is precisely the degree in which we encounter Jesus as our shepherd. He’s Lord of Lords, kings of kings. It’s objectively true. That’s the other side of the Easter mystery because Jesus really rose no matter how I feel he did it! He leads and guides us. There’s only one flock and one Shepherd.