As early as the time of Moses, the image of a shepherd who cared for His people and provided for their every need began to be used to describe God's relationship to Israel. Isaiah echoed this lovely sentiment when he wrote:

``He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.'' Isaiah 41:11

David immortalized the image of God as shepherd in his matchless 23rd Psalm. Against this rich backdrop, Jesus could say to his disciples: ``I am the good Shepherd.'' Jesus was, in the flesh, what God had been for all eternity. In his peerless story of the lost sheep and the seeking shepherd recorded by Luke in the fifteenth chapter of his Gospel, Jesus opened the very heart of God in order that we might see and understand the nature of God's love for us. There is something so poignant about a lamb in its helplessness, something so noble about a shepherd in his strength, that touches deep chords within each heart. No other picture of Christ so portrays our weakness and his strength as does this picture of the Good Shepherd.

We can read at least four emotions on Jesus' expressive face in this beautiful window. Jesus' face first reflects compassion for one who is lost. There is no anger directed toward the straying lamb, in spite of all the heartache and trouble the shepherd has known in finding it. Who among us has not had a child who became lost and caused us great anxiety? In most cases, the child had simply gone over to a neighbor's house without telling us but, oh, the heart-stopping fear that overtook us when we called and the child did not answer. We enlisted our neighbors and together we searched the neighborhood until, at last, an embarrassed child came out of a friend's house to face all of the commotion he had caused. Did we not feel dual emotions of anger and relief flooding us at the same time? Yet the face of Jesus shows absolutely no trace of anger toward the little lamb in his arms—only deep compassion and pity. What a comfort it is to each of us to know, through this beautiful metaphor, that when we have sinned and strayed from God, we do not find anger when we return—only compassion and joy.

Jesus has only pity for the little lamb who has lost its way. Notice how gently Jesus cradles the lamb in his strong shepherd's arms. His commitment, his very reason for being, is to find and to save those who have lost their way in life. Jesus described his own mission in memorable words: ``The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.'' What a message of comfort that thought should give to each of us today, for we have each, at one time or another, left the safe path and strayed into the wilderness of sin.

Then, Jesus' face reflects concern for one who is in peril. Notice that it is Jesus, himself, who went out to seek the lost lamb. One of the most impressive truths of all times is that God did not send an intermediary to seek the lost, but His Own Son. The artist Rubens enjoyed a rare prosperity among his peers. He was one of the few artists whose works became valuable while he was still alive to enjoy the profits. In order to increase his productivity, Rubens established a factory in which aspiring young artists were hired to complete works he had started. He would sketch broad outlines on canvas, suggest colors, and then add a few brush strokes to the finished product, signing his own name to the masterpiece. How differently God has treated us. No substitute could ever be good enough. Only the Son of God was sufficient to seek and to save that which was lost.

Jesus did not come to give us a neat little philosophy of life whereby we might live more comfortably. Rather, he came to save us from our absolute lostness. There is an interesting conversation between Winnie the Pooh and the prosaic donkey, Eeyore. Eeyore has fallen into the river and is struggling to get out. Pooh comes along and says: ``Did you fall into the river, Eeyore?'' Eeyore answers, ``Silly of me, wasn't it?'' ``Is the river uncomfortable this morning?'', Pooh asks. ``Well, yes, the dampness you know.'' Pooh then says, ``You really ought to be more careful!'' Eeyore agrees, ``Thanks for the advice.'' Then Pooh notices, ``I think you're sinking.'' Eeyore finally pleads, ``Pooh, if it's not too much trouble, would you mind rescuing me?'' How like so much of our efforts to help people today—we see them drowning in a sea of sin and all we have to give them is advice. Not so with Jesus—at great danger to himself, he goes out and brings the lost into the safety of the fold. The whole image of the Good Shepherd proclaims God's great and personal love for each of us, and His willingness to become personally involved in rescuing us from the wilderness of sin.

Jesus sought the lost lamb at great peril to himself. Notice in the window that the feet of Jesus are bare. The artist is proclaiming that Jesus has gone out into the rocks, sand and thorns of the desert with bare feet to find the lost sheep. The sun rising in the east tells that the shepherd has been out all night in the darkness and the danger, in order to bring home safely the little lost lamb. Jesus gave up his life on the cross that he might win for us the gift of life. He carried, to the ultimate, the image of the shepherd willing to lay down his life for his sheep.

Then Jesus' face reflects love for one who is helpless. See with what tenderness Jesus looks down upon the frightened lamb. How fragile and weak the lamb appears in Jesus' arms. Few animals are so helpless as a tiny lamb. How often we, too, feel helpless in the problems we have created for ourselves by our sins and our mistakes. Maxie Dunham tells of a cartoon he once saw, which pictured an executive sitting behind a large desk covered with papers and folders, obviously under great stress. One of his employees is standing before him, trembling a little in the presence of his boss. Timidly, the employee says, ``If it's any comfort, it's lonely at the bottom, too!''

Notice in the window how Jesus cradles the weary, helpless lamb in his strong arms. The artist has captured so well in stained-glass the reality of Jesus' feelings toward us. As Jesus handles tenderly the little lamb, so he handles our bruised feelings and emotional wounds. As the shepherd cared tenderly for the foolish lamb, so Jesus cares for us—in spite of the troubles we have needlessly brought on ourselves.

Finally, Jesus' face reflects joy for one who is found. One has only to look at the face of Jesus in the window to see the deep joy and satisfaction over the lamb who has at last been found. Jesus' parable in the fifteenth chapter of Luke sounds triumphantly this same note of joy: ``Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, `Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.''' Remember once again that profound joy you felt when that lost child of yours was finally found. All your anger and anxiety vanished in a flash, as you enveloped the child in your arms and smothered him with kisses.

Jesus, the shepherd, is content now that the straying lamb is safe. I can read weariness in the face of Jesus, returning after a long night of grueling search, but it is the weariness of satisfaction in having found the object of his quest. Can we imagine that heaven itself rejoices when we, having strayed from the paths of righteousness, return safe to the shepherd's fold? Jesus says in his parable: ``I tell you that in the same way there is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.'' Let your imagination picture, for just a moment, yourself as the lamb in Jesus' arms and feel the wondrous joy your safety has now brought to the heart of God. In His great arms you can feel just as safe and secure as the little lamb in the arms of Jesus in the stained-glass window.

There is no more beautiful or impressive picture of what God is like than the picture of the Good Shepherd. From now on, when you look at this central panel on the north wall of the sanctuary, know that you are seeing straight into the heart of God. Know that, as the shepherd loves his sheep—each one by name—so God loves each of us individually, and seeks us with no less a person that His Own Son. In my study of the text upon which this window was based, I came across two meaningful statements with which I would like to close this sermon:

```What is God like?' Jesus answered the question. The world's instinctive faith is that He answered it from veritable experience. His friendship with God was not intermittent. God was never an Abstract Noun to Him, but always the Fact of facts. So He journeyed through the narrow valley of our earth answering our deepest question. He drew word-pictures of God that we might understand. Thus He said, `God is the Good Shepherd.'.....

Not without stirring of heart can we hear of a shepherd seeking a lost sheep, despising distance and darkness in the search. But on the divine plane (humanity the flock and God the Shepherd) the story is like a daybreak. The Presence sometimes felt and sometimes feared, the Power Who rolls the planets on their course and draws the line of death across our human days—Who is He? `Our dearest faith, our ghastliest doubt'—what is He like? He is like a shepherd! He led us into this pasture of mortal life. He knows the folly by which we wander, drawn by this pleasant tuft land that lush water-course, until the night is on us and the mountains rise like walls of rock. He seeks us through pain and peril. He will lead us at the last through the Valley of the Shadow, His lifted rod our guide!''

If there is any one of you here who has strayed from the safety of God's fold, won't you come back into his loving arms this morning by rededicating your life to Him completely? If there is one who has not yet received the Shepherd's great love, won't you give your heart and life to Him this very moment? Look once again at the wonderful stained-glass window representing Jesus as The Good Shepherd and let Him move you to make the decision that will turn your life around.

Harold L. McDonald
First Baptist Church
Albemarle, N.C.

April 7, 1991