Snot in the Pocket

You may have noticed that my title this week does not correlate with with my message. This post is still very much about Jesus' statement "I am the good shepherd", but I would like to illustrate it outside of the text to start.

When I was a single man, I decided that I needed one of those life changing trips; you know the ones. The trip that when you are really old you can sit your grandchild on your knee and recall how cool you once were. I figured what would be cooler and more unique than attending Lyle Sankey's Rodeo School in Kansas. Lyle was a two time PBR (professional bull riding)champion and his father Ike Sankey was known for being one of the top breeders for the PBR.

I hopped on a train and headed down to Kansas on my solo trip that would change my life. For the sake of brevity, I will hold all other stories, since there are many, for a later date and proceed directly to the one that applies.

At this particular school, there was also a "clowning" school. This was not for the circus, but rather to teach rodeo clowns how to fight bulls. In this class there was a 50 plus year old women who appeared to be even crazier than me. She had hit some form of crisis and wanted an adventure. Rodeo clowns had an expression they used when they did a good job. It was "snot in your pocket". What it meant was that the bull had gotten so close to you that when you checked your back pocket you were able to feel the bulls snot. Crude, I know, but we are talking about rodeo clowns. When it was this womans turn for her final exam, which consisted of being alone in the ring with a bull for 2 minutes, no one was prepared for what was about to take place. In school, the clowns were taught to fake there hand one way and then head in the opposite direction. This lady faked as she was taught, but then proceeded to run in the same direction as she faked. The bull plowed right into her and for the next couple of seconds, which felt like minutes, the bull began to pound her into the ground. As she got to her hands and knees in an attempt to stand, the bull butted her in the back side and sent her into the concrete wall. This is when the professionals went to work.

Without hesitation, the head rodeo clown ran up to the bull, slapped it as hard as he could across the face, and began to run. The bull turned his now extreme anger to the head clown. The instructor ran far enough away from the woman in order that she could be attended to and cared for. Eventually, he led the bull back to the pen where they could shut the gate, therefore making the arena safe. He definitely had snot in his pocket.

When Jesus said "I am the good shepherd" we must not forget the words that followed; "I lay down my life for the sheep". Jesus was willing to step in our place and die so that we could be protected. If this is what Jesus did for us, why don't we tell this story of replacement with more passion and excitement. When I saw this rodeo clown step in the way of a bull to save another, I couldn't wait to tell others about it. It wasn't even that I was saved from the bull, but I just saw how amazing it was. We have been saved, first hand, by the good shepherd. Jesus was willing to step in harms way so that we could live. Tell this substitutionary story as if you mean it; tell it as if you were truly saved from peril and live in such a way as if you have been given a second chance at life. Then you will truly understand what Jesus meant when he said "I am the good shepherd".