I’ve checked out the facts. It is hard to find a verified account of a healthy wolf attacking a human, and there is absolutely no record of a healthy wolf ever killing a human. Indeed, wolves have more to fear from humans than we do from them; wolf numbers are declining worldwide due to habitat loss.
Nevertheless, to a shepherd, a wolf is a ferocious and dangerous animal, an enemy, a creature that is a constant threat to the sheep in his care. A wolf wouldn’t normally bother a shepherd. Wolves like to hide from humans. Like most predatory animals, wolves are perfectly content to leave humans alone.
But if that human should get in between a hungry wolf and its prey; well, I don’t know. There might be some collateral damage. Certainly there are stories of wolves attacking humans. Even in biblical times, there were plenty of stories regarding the ferocity of wolves.
Hearing these stories would be enough to instill a good dose of fear into anyone venturing into wolf territory, especially if they were to go alone, or at night, when the wolves emerge from their dens, with their night vision, and their keen sense of smell, roaming the wilderness in search of something to soothe their hungry appetites.
Some of the stories we know about wolves demonstrate that—not only can they be vicious and deadly to sheep and other prey, if not humans—they can also be clever and cunning. Little Red Riding Hood knew better than to get too close to a wolf, didn’t she?
But what did the wolf do? The wolf tricked her! he snuck in to Grandmother’s house, put on Grandmother’s clothes, got in to Grandmother’s bed, and waited for Little Red Riding Hood to arrive.
When she got there, Little Red Riding Hood went in to her Grandmother’s room, and said, “Grandmother! What big ears you have!” And the wolf said: The better to hear you with, my dear…
Then Little Red Riding Hood said, “Grandmother, what big eyes you have!” And the wolf said: The better to see you with, my dear…
Then Little Red Riding Hood said, “Grandmother, what a big nose you have!” And the wolf said: The better to smell you with, my dear…
Then Little Red Riding Hood said, “Grandmother, what big teeth you have!” And the wolf said: The better to EAT you with, my dear!” And he jumped out of the bed and chased Little Red Riding Hood, and Little Red Riding Hood discovered just how clever, how cunning, how ferocious the wolf could be. Poor Little Red Riding Hood.
From stories like this, we learn that the wolf is a threat to our safety and security. Never mind the accuracy of that learning. And we would never knowingly follow or even get too close to the wolf. But the wolf is clever, and sometimes people are tricked into following the wolf-in-disguise, thinking that the wolf will lead them to security and happiness—that the wolf, like our own grandmother, loves us and has our best interest at heart—when really, the wolf does just the opposite.
The disguises the wolf wears these days are a little different from the one he wore to fool Little Red Riding Hood; but not that different. The wolf often disguises himself as wealth or power. The wolf offers you money—lots of money—and promises that wealth will make you happy. He tells you that money will allow you to buy nice clothes, a nice car, a nice house. With money, you can travel to wonderful places. With money (he says), you’ll be able to sleep at night, not worrying about a thing, because you’ll be rich.
But at night, you do worry. At night, the wolf sneaks in and begins to feed. Fear and anxiety do begin to eat away at you. You worry that others might try to take your money from you. Thieves. Relatives. The government. You worry that, with all the economic ups and downs, perhaps all your wealth still isn’t enough. Perhaps you still need more.
In the morning, you go to the wolf, although he’s still in disguise and unrecognizable, and you say to him: “I have all this money, a nice house, a closet full of clothes, plenty of food to eat; why then am I still anxious? Why do I still feel that something is missing?”
And the wolf says, “Well, it’s because you haven’t yet gone quite far enough, my dear. Real wealth is just a little farther down the path. Really, you’re almost there. Follow me, and I’ll get you there.”
So you follow the wolf a little farther. And that night, you go to bed thinking, “now I can sleep peacefully.” But as soon as you turn out the light, the wolf returns. Fear and anxiety return.
The next morning is Sunday. You’ll be going to church, where the scripture this week has something to do with a good shepherd. But before church, you read the Sunday paper, full of ads and mini-catalogs filled with colorful pictures of smiling people wearing the latest clothes, or relaxing in front of their new 200 inch flat screen high definition plasma television sets.
That’s when the wolf, back in his disguise, arrives. You complain to him once again that you still don’t feel that your life is complete, you still don’t feel secure, and you still feel as if you’re missing something.
The wolf smiles at you, a great big smile, looking remarkably like the models in the ads, and he says, “You’re doing great, my dear, really you are. You just need to keep following me, and I’ll get you there. I promise.”
Day after day, night after night, it continues. Some days, the wolf says you need more power. Other days, he says you need a stronger home security system to protect what you have—that will help you sleep at night. Sometimes he says it’s your nation’s security system that needs to be improved, and that you should encourage your government to develop more weapons. And every once in awhile, the wolf-in-disguise says it’s your relationships that are holding you back, that you need to ditch your relationships, break your commitments, and find new ones; or, just go it alone.
Every day, you follow the wolf. Every night, he takes off the disguise, comes into your room, and takes a bite. Every day, you chase after so many things and run away from so many other things. Every night, fear and anxiety eat away just a little bit more. And the sun rises and the sun goes down, and hurries back to the place where it rises. The days of vanity go on forever, and what is ever gained from all this?
You’re just chasing after the wind.
It’s all a bit insane, really. Insanity has often been defined as doing the same thing over and over and over, but expecting different results each time you do it. People do that. Churches do it, too. Every day, the wolf comes to us, and we listen to him and chase after him, hoping and expecting that this time, he’ll lead us to where we want to go. But he never does.
Yes, we are to blame for foolishly following the wolf. But the wolf is incredibly clever, and he always comes in disguise. Maybe the ears are a little long and the eyes a little big, but really, who can tell the difference? Who can recognize the wolf for what he is? Who can stop the wolf from entering our homes and our lives, and devouring everything we hold dear?
The good shepherd can.
Most shepherds in biblical times, admittedly, are not all that good. They’re just hired hands, really, and the sheep are not their sheep. They don’t get paid enough to really care for the sheep, and they certainly don’t get paid enough to defend the sheep from vicious attacks. Is a strenuous, minimum-wage job really worth risking one’s life for? I think not.
But the good shepherd—the good shepherd doesn’t do it for the money. The good shepherd does it out of love. In fact, the good shepherd knows what the wolf does not, that love is more powerful and way more effective than money or anything else that people seek after. Love is what will allow one to sleep peacefully at night, to not spend the night in fear or filled with anxiety.
Because he has love, the good shepherd has no fear or anxiety, because God’s plan is fulfilled in love. The good shepherd allows himself to be filled with God’s love—completely filled, so that there is no room for fear, anxiety, or any other negative emotion or thought. The good shepherd is filled with love and allows that love to keep on coming, so that it overflows, and flows out into the sheep.
The sheep are then filled with that love, and they know that, because the good shepherd loves them so much, he’ll do anything to protect them. Anything at all.
The sheep are filled with the love of the good shepherd, and it overflows in them as well, so that they are overwhelmed with love for one another. Because of that love, they no longer seek wealth for themselves; now, they share what they have, willingly, generously. They share what they have with the entire flock.
In the sharing, in the love, and in trusting in the good shepherd, they find security. They find happiness. They find peace.
In trusting the good shepherd, they find that the wolf is kept at bay.
In following the good shepherd—in following the path on which he leads them—the sheep discover an abundant life they had not known before; a life of purpose and meaning; a life of deep, genuine satisfaction; a life that is eternal, everlasting; a life that is complete and good.
Will you let the good shepherd guide and protect you? Will you commit yourself to following his way? Will you strive to learn more about the path he travels, the path of truth and grace, the path on which he invites you to follow?
If so, then God himself will prepare a table for you in the presence of all your enemies—in the presence of all the wolves—and there you will feast, in peace, and goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life.
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