Michael Treston tells the story of a hamster and its owner:
You’re all familiar with hamsters, their little cages, the routine.
Well, each morning Sam - that’s his name - hits the wheel, stopping only to snatch a bite to eat. He’s driven by some ingrained belief that all the effort is getting him somewhere. And so off he goes –
        Trudge, trudge, run, run,
                nibble, nibble, drink, drink,
                        With the only occasional treats to break the monotony.

That’s Sam’s life......
        .....And life for Sam’s pet hamster is almost as bad.

Amazing. Can you identify? Is your life like Sam’s?
What have you got?
        Some 80 years, give or take, statistically speaking.
        Asleep for 275,000 hours.
        Eating over 80,000 meals.
        Heart beating about 3 billion times.
                And..... for what?

A father said, "Now, Son, you need to get a good education."
The son replies, "If you say so. But why?"
"To get a good job."
"But why, Dad?"
"So you can earn a good salary and support yourself and, someday, take care of your family."
"Why?"
"So when you get old you can retire in ease."
"Yeah, I understand retiring and having something extra, but why?"
"So that when you die, you'll have something to leave behind."
[Mark Beaird]

A mad trip on a hamster wheel to go....... where?
        Perhaps just the right Christmas gift, good marks or graduation, get my flabby body in better shape, the home in the country, new job, badly needed vacation, grandchildren......
        ......just that and it’ll be good.
                Which perhaps it is – for a little while.
                Eventually we discover that all we’ve done is gave the hamster wheel a paint job. We still get called back. We still arrive at the goal line only to discover we did everything..... for what?

It is the Christmas season.

An awful lot of people are hurrying from mall to mall to buy hamster wheel paint of one sort or another. We spend hundreds of dollars and stagger into January way in debt and not one whit happier!
        One of the most bizarre rituals anywhere on the face of the earth. And even more strange – it is this one singular custom that serves as the greatest engine for the retail and manufacturing sectors of our economy! The insanity keeps us afloat. Try and figure that one out.

And then, somewhere, perhaps just a whisper, perhaps just a glimpse -
        but somewhere in all the seasonal hustle and ultimately meaningless bustle we find....... a glimmer of hope.
        It came to us this morning through the simple but precious message which the children shared.
        Mary. A manger. A baby.
        Shepherds.
        Angels with "good news of great joy that will be for all the people..... glory to God in the highest and on earth...........
                remember the next word??
                        ..... and on earth.... peace to people on whom his favor rests."

It’s what the prophet Isaiah said - words we spoke right at the beginning of the service:

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.... for to us a child is born, to us a son is given....." [Isaiah 9]

Read with me words of Jesus:

Hear, especially, these words:
        "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (v.10)
                Quite the opposite of Sam and his hamster.

Earlier this morning we shared the public profession of faith of Heather, Erica and Kathryn. Publically, without shame, they declared that their hope, their trust, their future is in the hands of this good shepherd.
        We could.... perhaps sit and debate what that means.
        What is "good" anyway?

But Jesus himself elaborates later - another place and time from this first declaration. This time Jesus is in the temple. He said:
        "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand." [Jn 10.28]

When he talks about eternal life he talks about life in the secure hand of God, a hand that holds us even now. Eternal life doesn't mean just that we fumble or stagger our way through life in a disjointed, haphazard manner now and then one day get plunked down into the sweet by and by where -- finally -- everything comes up roses.
        It means that eternity invades our life RIGHT NOW. The hand of the eternal God reaches down into our time and our space, grabs hold of us, and hangs onto us here and takes us step by step, inch by inch, through the struggles of life.

        Non-Christians get cancer. But so do Christians.
        Atheists are involved in automobile collisions. And so are believers.
        Spiritual orphans go bankrupt. Christians also meet the sherif.
        Tragedy, decay, aging and death face all members of the human race - believer and unbeliever alike. They are simply elements of being alive in this incomplete world; just like sunshine and good health and smiles.

        But for believers in Jesus comes the truth that as they...... as we engage the various struggles and conflicts of life, we will be sustained through them.
        We are not the product of some wicked fate or the rolling of some cosmic dice cast by a sneering, distant, tyrannical deity. If that were so it would leave us to become very cynical.
        Things are not out of control.

A woman named Irene came to me some time ago - she had just become a christian. She said, "Ken, things are SO different now. I still have the same job, live in the same house, and have the same fights with my bank manager. But now I’m not doing those things alone. I know it. I can feel it. The Lord has his hand on my shoulder. We’re doing it together. And wherever that takes me will be OK. Because I know that He’ll work it out in the end. My life matters to Him. And that makes it worth living."

"Surely I am with you always," (Mt 28.20) said the good shepherd.
        Always - as we attend to our studies and schooling; as we try to figure out the challenge and meaning of the work we do each day; as we try to build a home and family traditions; when we look for friends and life partners.
        Nothing is done in a fog.
        Nothing is done apart from His presence, His love, His care.

Every place we go, every relationship we make, every act we commit is somehow connected to eternity.
        Connected because of the hand of the eternal Christ on our shoulder.

        Shepherds in Jesus' day had very special relationships with their sheep. Their flocks weren't so large that a sheep would be merely one little fuzzy in a large, lanolin-soaked mass of wool. The shepherd and his family often had intimate knowledge of each one. It was not uncommon for the family to view these sheep as pets. Each was named. Each was special, valued.
        That’s the picture Jesus draws on in calling Himself the Good Shepherd.
        He knows his sheep, each one.
        No matter how big his flock, he never loses track of those who are his.
        He knows YOU.

"The Good Shepherd knows his sheep, he calls them by name and leads them..... he gives them life in the fullest possible way.... I am the Good Shepherd."

My friend - what have you got?
        Some 80 years, give or take, of life.
        Asleep and awake.
        Eating and working.
        Heart beating sometimes quickly..... and then slowly.

As you walk around this Christmas season, with all its frenzy and fluff, and as you see pictures of shepherds, think Good Shepherd.
        Breathe a prayer of thanks for His hand in your life.
        Join Kathryn, Erica and Heather in committing, entrusting your hope, your future to His care.
        And then – back to school, back to work tomorrow. Go back, prayerfully and carefully, knowing that you’re doing it under the gaze of the shepherd.
        Who will make your efforts count - somewhere, somehow - in the manner of His choosing.
                Who will make your life count today – and into eternity.

A full life.
That’s yours.
Because of the Good Shepherd whom the shepherds, and we, worship.