As Rev. Wendy Lambert recently shared in the St. Luke’s sermon series, The Lord Is My Shepherd, a kind stranger saved the life of “Chris” in the Australian bush last year.
Chris is a sheep. He most likely had wandered from his flock years ago.
What was Chris doing just before he was saved? Sheep things. Strolling around, eating grass, drinking, sleeping, eating again.
The threat to Chris was not a crocodile or a dingo. It was his own wool. His overgrown fleece, nearly five times larger than normal, was literally crushing him. It caused damage to his hooves and his skin. He was blinded by the wool covering his eyes. He was the size of a refrigerator. If he had fallen on his back… easy prey.
One day, a hiker just happened to cross paths with Chris and, with a compassionate heart, spread the word about his condition.
Soon, Chris was getting a hair cut for the ages. The barber was actually a professional sheep shearer, Ian Elkins, a four-time national champion in Australia. Ian knew exactly how to rescue Chris from his burden.
45 minutes and a few sedatives later, Chris emerged from his cocoon. Ian had shaved away nearly 90 pounds of wool… nearly half of the animal’s weight. The shearing shattered the previous world record. It was enough wool for 30 men’s suits. Experts say Chris wasn’t far from dying in the wild.
What struck me about this story is… Chris didn’t do anything wrong. He didn’t stumble into rushing water. He didn’t underestimate a predator. He was simply existing. But his trouble began when he wandered away from his shepherd’s care. Survival was naturally impossible on his own.
I remember feeling complete “freedom” in my younger days – wandering around on my own, confident in my self-sufficiency. But then life hits you like a sledgehammer. A loved one dies, a job is lost, a relationship ends, a tragedy strikes – and every time, it has brought me to my knees in prayer.
We are also like sheep. We can’t survive on our own. Sooner or later, the weight of this world – like the crippling wool on Chris – is going to be too much to bear alone. We need to be rescued from our cocoon of worry, shame, guilt, pain, and death. That’s exactly what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. That’s real freedom.
Jesus called himself the “good shepherd.” Even though I still wander away at times, He knows exactly how to rescue me. As it says in Psalm 23… He restores my soul.
Ed Doney, Staff Writer
