FEED MY SHEEP

The third time that Jesus showed himself to His disciples following His resurrection was on the shores of the Tiberias sea (John 21:14). After they had dined on fish and bread, Jesus turned to Simon Peter and asked him: "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?" Peter answered that he did. After the question was asked the third time, Jesus said to Peter: "Feed my sheep" (John 21:16). Why was this admonition given to Peter out of all the apostles? Because this simple instruction was directed at the President of His Church and the sheep that Jesus committed into Peter's care were members and not people in general. When pressed by the Jews in Solomon's porch to declare more openly His divinity, Jesus explained that we do not all fall into the category of His sheep : ".......I told you and ye believed not......ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep......my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me (John 10:23-27). When Peter became the President of the Church, he became the Saviour's under-shepherd and was entrusted with the care of His sheep.

Today, we are great in number and scattered all over the world. We are the sheep and we are the under-shepherds. We have a sacred responsibility to care for one another. We don't have to join clubs, knock on doors in our street or advertise to find those that are in need of care. There are many among us at Church that need to be fed because there are many of us that are weak, and sick, and naked and lonely, and misunderstood, and neglected, and unloved and many that are aching for loving kindness.

It is not always easy or convenient to feed one another and often it requires sacrifice. Before the disciples' encounter with Jesus on the shores of Tiberias' sea, Jesus instructed the weary fishermen to cast their nets one more time. They did so and what resulted was the most spectacular single catch of Galilee. It could have made Peter very rich and enhanced his fishing career. When Jesus posed His question to him, He did not just say; "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?" but "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these?", meaning the fish. In other words, "Peter do you love me more than the prospect of riches these fish could bring you? Do you love me more than yourself? Do you love me enough to forsake all this for the sake of the ministry?" Peter did, he 'forsook all, and followed him' (Luke 5:11) and he became a great great man. So great that 'the believers' brought out their sick onto the streets and laid them on beds 'that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them' (Acts 5:14, 15). Peter served as the under-shepherd with the price of sacrifice and often great suffering. He was imprisoned, flogged and threatened with loss of life but he did not waver in his responsibility as the under-shepherd.

We are the body of Christ, we are the sheep and we are the under-shepherds. We need to be fed and we need to do the feeding. We need to feed the hungry and clothe the poor and strengthen the weak. We need to liberate the captives and dry their tears and we need to show loving kindness to the unlovable and the unwanted. If we do this we will be worthy of the connection to the source of all compassion and love, even the Saviour of the world, who has promised: "...Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matt 25:40)

RESCUING THE LOST

"For the Son of man is come to save that which

was lost.

How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, 

and one of them be gone astray, 

doth he not leave the ninety and nine, 

and goeth into the mountains, 

and seeketh that which is gone astray?

And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, 

he rejoiceth more of that sheep, 

than of the ninety and nine

which went not astray.

Even so it is not the will of your Father

which is in heaven, 

that one of these little ones should perish."

Matt 18:11-14

Indeed it is not the will of the father that not one of us should perish. A will that sacrificed one of us for the good of all of us. Such is the love of a Father who desires to give us His all, who desires to give us eternal life. And so Jesus came to protect us, love us and claim us as His own. A shepherd who loves the one and will go and seek the one until that one is no longer lost. It matters not to Him how the sheep became lost or why, all that matters to Him is the rescue. How glorious and wise to relay His love for His sheep in such a poignant way. By leaving the ninety and nine he is not saying to them that they are not as important as the one that was lost, but to impress upon them that in Him is found true safety and protective care. In other words, by leaving the ninety and nine the Saviour was saying to them: 'If you get lost, I will come find you for this is what I do, I am come to save that which was lost."    

Since the beginning of man, the Lord has relied on His 'under shepherds' to do His work. Such under shepherds are found in prophets, Church leaders and anyone who possesses the truth. We are commanded to seek out and rescue the lost sheep but more often than not, we allow feelings of inadequacy to hold us back. We tell ourselves that we are not important enough or skilled enough for people to listen to us and believe our words when in fact we as the under shepherds and are endowed with power to do this sacred work. When Moses was called to his holy calling, in trepidation he replied that he was 'slow of speech'. The Lord replied, "Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say" (Exodus 4:10-12). In other words, 'do not suppose that this is your work, but mine, and you will say what I want you to say and I will empower you to say it'. 

When doing God's work, the power of the word is in God. It is never in us. When we speak with the tongue of angels, it is not by our brilliant skills but by the power of the Holy Ghost which not only empowers the bearer of the word but gives understanding to the hearer also. Such was the case for Enoch who was made mighty despite his claim that he also was of 'slow speech'. The Lord's reply was the same to him as it was to Moses: "Open thy mouth, and it shall be filled, and I will give thee utterance..." (Moses 6:32). So Enoch did and so great grew his power that when he spoke the word of the Lord, the earth trembled, and the mountains fled and the rivers of water were turned out of their course and all nations feared greatly 'so great was the power of the language which God had given him" (Moses 7:13) Not all went well for Enoch in the beginning though as he started his ministry. Even though he proclaimed the gospel with a 'loud' voice 'all men were offended because of him' (Moses 6:37). This is when most of us would give up. Fear of rejection and offence is a strong emotion so our rescuing efforts never get off the ground or become aborted when the going gets tough. Enoch, however, did not give up and he was rewarded, he was rewarded with rescuing a whole city, a city which became so righteous that the Lord took it unto Himself. 

The Lord never gives a commandment without attaching a blessing to it. Such is the case with the mission of rescue. The blessings attached to this work should negate all the fears we might have of rejection and offence and inadequacy. Proclaiming the gospel comes with a two-fold blessing. The Lord says clearly that if we get rejected, we will 'dwell with Him in His glory' and if we don't get rejected and those we are preaching to accept the testimony which is given to them, we shall have 'joy in the fruit of our labours' (D&C 6:29-31). In short, we cannot lose. Either way, rescuing will yield rewards.

And what of those who need to be rescued? How long and how hard should we expend our efforts, our time and our energy in offering them salavation? For as long as it takes. We should never give up on those who are receptive, even in the smallest way and proclaim them a 'hopeless cause'. Consider this example: "Like many of you, I have shared the gospel with some who are soon baptized or activated, and others - such as my nonmember friend Tim and his less-active wife, Charlene - take much more. For over 25 years I engaged Tim in gospel conversations and took Tim and Charlene to temple open houses. Others joined the rescue; however, Tim declined each invitation made to meet with the missionaries. One weekend I was assigned to preside at a stake conference. I had asked the stake president to fast and pray about whom we should visit. I was shocked when he handed me the name of my friend Tim. When Tim's bishop, the stake president, and I knocked on the door, Tim opened it, looked at me, looked at the bishop, and then said, 'Bishop, I thought you told me you were going to bring somebody special!' Then Tim laughed and said, 'Come on in, Merv.' A miracle occured that day. Tim has now been baptised, and he and Charlene have been sealed in the temple. We must never give up" (Elder Mervyn B. Arnold, To The Rescue: We Can Do It, Ensign May 2016, p 54). 

There was a time in my life when I was lost. I was attending Church every Sunday and living the gospel but in my heart I was harbouring resentment, feelings of betrayal and acute aloneness. I was freshly divorced and felt terribly betrayed by God. I had done all the right things from the time of my baptism and yet there I was with my heart in shreds and my life a shambles. Sometimes we see people at Church regularly and we do not know that they are lost in corridors, in Sunday School lessons, in fake smiles. But the Lord knows. He knows and He will reach out and send his under shepherds to find them and cradle them in the arms of His love. Such was the case for me. Following my divorce I moved and changed wards. I came into a freshly created ward where the Relief Society President was someone who was prepared by the Lord to be in that calling to rescue me. Through intricate, spiritually engineered sequence of events this sister was placed in my new ward and she became my source of security when I had none. She cried with me and she loved me and she cared for me. And she was not the only one. The Lord provided two other people who held me up, my Bishop and another sister who became my mentor and confidant for many years but my true under shepherd when I was hanging by a thread was my Relief Society President. To her I owe much more than I can repay for she provided comfort and grounding to me when I could not stand alone. She was sent at a particular time for a particular season in my life. I owe a debt of gratitude to her for her willingness to find the one that was lost.

"Our Saviour, the Good Shepherd, knows and loves us.

He knows and loves YOU.

He knows when you are lost, and He knows where you are.

He knows your grief. Your silent pleadings.

Your fears. Your tears.

It matters not how you became lost - 

whether because of your own poor choices or because of

circumstances beyond your control.

What matters is that you are His child.

And He loves you.

Because He loves, He will find you.

He will place you upon His shoulders, rejoicing.

And when he brings you home, He will say to one and all,

'Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost'"

- President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"He Will Place You On His Shoulders

and Carry You Home"

Ensign May 2016