Day 2: pews full of sheep

John 10:14-18 (New Living Translation)

14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, 15 just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd.

17 “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. 18 No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”


Most youth ministers would agree with me that there are some moments in youth ministry that you want to freeze in your memory. Last night was one of those moments. I had the honor of sitting with the youth last night at the Ash Wednesday service. As I sat there waiting for the service to start, I looked around at all the youth surrounding me and instantly I thought about their journey to the service that night. Some had walked to our church right after school got out, some were dropped off early to help serve our Wonderful Wednesday meal, most had come specifically for the Ash Wednesday service. One girl sent me a text message that was full of panic saying that she had a ton of homework and she was trying to finish it all so she could make it to the service. Not only did she make it to the service... but she brought her younger brother too.

It was overwhelming to be surrounded by all of these youth who weren't even members of the church. Most of these youth have life stories that would either bring you to tears or inspire you to be a better person. All of us had been on a journey leading up to the service last night. Our Christian Journey is made up of many choices. The pews filled last night who chose to come to the service. with people last night were full of choices. This scripture reminds us that we are all sheep in search of a shepherd. There is one flock with one shepherd.

Many times we follow our calendars, friends, and teams rather than our Shepherd. Many times laziness, guilt, and selfishness stand in between the sheep and the shepherd. Last Wednesday the youth and I talked about words like guilt, shame, broken relationships, bad choices, drugs, food, sex... all of which stand in the way of having a true relationship with our Shepherd. Then words were written by the youth. Words that are only known by the youth and the Shepherd. Those slips of paper were burned. No longer could we hold onto those words. Those choices that we made were no longer ours. They were in the form of ashes. Ashes that symbolized forgiveness. We had put to death those choices so that new life could come.

Last night those ashes were combined with the ashes created by our Palm Sunday palms. One by one those words formed a cross on the foreheads of the congregation as a symbol of the everlasting life and forgiveness given to us by our Shepherd. Choir members, ministers, committee chairs, children, and youth alike all had the ultimate symbol of love placed on their foreheads. All of us took a step on our journey together.

At the end I thought about the magnitude of this service. There was a sense of celebration coming from the youth. A sense of excitement as they asked if their ashes would last until baseball practice tomorrow. Excitement as they immediately took pictures and posted them on facebook. These crosses were symbols of hope, symbols of freedom, and symbols of the unconditional love that was sacrificed voluntarily for our sins.

I praise God that I can learn from the youth. I praise God that my excitement for Him is magnified by the excitement the youth have for their Creator. I praise God for moments in our journey that we can just freeze and remember always.