Be a Sheep

You cannot say that the LORD is your shepherd if you have not accepted to be the sheep.

Sermon by Rev. Mwashako during the burial of Mr. Nathan Mutitu Ngunjiri in Kamuyu, Nyeri County on 2^nd March 2019.

About the preacher

Rev. Mwashako is the chaplain of Wundanyi prison. He is an honest civil servant and gives the assurance that even civil servants can be honest (not be involved in corruption). He preaches to prisoners and prison police officers. He categorizes his congregation into three(3) groups of prisoners and then the officers and compares them with Biblical figures as follows;

1. The guilty prisoners; those who, for instance, admit killing people and thus serve time. He tells such prisoners that they are like Moses who killed a median and then ran away. However, he became a very useful man and so can they.

2. The innocent prisoners who were not able to put up a good defence in court. He compares them to Joseph who was accused innocently and imprisoned because the evidence pointed at him.

3. The prisoners who are just there, not blaming anyone; like those arrested during night patrols. These ones he compares with Paul and Silas.

4. The officers. They were the last to see Jesus on the cross and the first to acknowledge that Jesus was indeed the son of God. So police officers are special in God's service.

God will be your shepherd if you become the sheep

Psalms 23 says that 'The LORD is my shepherd' and so I shall not want. However, we cannot have a shepherd without sheep. Therefore, if the LORD is our shepherd then we must accept to be the sheep so that he can lead us. When Christ comes back for the second time, He will separate the sheep from the goats;

³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³ He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left (Matthew 25:32-33 (NIV)).

Who are the sheep and who are the goats?

Goat

-Goats are indisciplined. They always do what they are not supposed to do. When you tether a goat in one place it struggles to get away; you even find it trying to climb trees. Goats are restless.

-When goats pass by you'll not because of their smell.

-Goats are indecent in their dressing; they walk with their tails raised, exposing their private parts.

-Adam and Eve had the goat spirit; they were asked to eat from all the trees except the middle one. However, they went for the very one they were warned against. Do not have the goat spirit. Do not go about tasting everything, be decent, and disciplined. People who engage in corruption have the goat spirit because they have been given enough but still want to go for more. Same-sex-marriage culprits and indecent dressers also have the goat spirit.

Sheep

-Sheep are disciplined and always do what is expected of them. Tied in one place to graze they stay there and graze. They are able to rest in one place.

-Sheep are decent in their dressing; they use their short tails to cover their private parts.

-Sheep are also obedient.

The LORD will say the following to the goats;  “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41).

How to become the sheep

To those on His right (the sheep), the LORD will say: ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world...' (Matthew 25:34). The sheep will be blessed and will inherit God's Kingdom. The word of God continues to say that;

³⁵ For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶ I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’  When the righteous wanted to know when they did these to the LORD He told them that when they did the things to the least in the society they did for Him (verse 40).

We, therefore, become the sheep by doing what Christ tells us to do in the above scripture; we should help the less fortunate in society. We should also strive to adopt the 'sheep' spirit and flee from the 'goat' spirit so that God can truly be our shepherd.