April 1

John 10:1-18 

“I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me. In the same way, the Father knows me and I know the Father. I put the sheep before myself, sacrificing myself if necessary. You need to know that I have other sheep in addition to those in this pen. I need to gather and bring them, too. They’ll also recognize my voice. Then it will be one flock, one Shepherd.” ~ John 10:14-16 The Message 

I panicked. 

My daughter had slipped away during a shopping trip in a large department store, and like every parent, I died a thousand deaths in those few seconds of not knowing my child was safe. Even as her tiny hand slipped out of mine, I was aware of her distance from me, but she innocently hid in the center of a circular clothing rack to initiate a hide-and-seek game. Calling for her, my voice rose quickly in concert with my panic, and, after just a little too long, her cherubic face, framed in blonde curls, emerged from between dozens of cotton robes. 

Like most parents, we had practiced simple procedures with our kids on what to do under various emergency situations, memorizing names and telephone numbers. One of the things we reminded them every time we rehearsed with them was that, if they were ever separated from us for any reason, we would never, ever stop looking for them. Hope is an important thing to a lost child. 

Jesus takes on the role of the Good Shepherd simile that is so familiar in Ezekiel and Isaiah and the Gospels to give hope to all of God’s lost children. Even in the depths of our darkest moments of despair, God calls every one of us to reconciliation and renewal with the hope that springs from the good news that God’s Love comes to us in the person of Jesus. He reminds us: He will never, ever stop looking for us.