The other week I was doing research into the origins of some commonly used words or phrases. One of them was the word “bummer.” In the 1960s it became a slang expression for a frustrating experience. For example, “Bummer, I flunked the history test.”
I also discovered that “bummer” has been applied to some newborn lambs. Most ewes (female sheep) give birth to only one lamb. A mother can provide adequate nursing for one lamb, but the birth of two or three lambs makes weaning difficult. There is not enough mother’s milk to go around.
When there are multiple births, or even the birth of one lamb, the ewe will reject a little lamb, pushing or kicking it away from her. Instinctively, the mother seems to know that particular lamb has a low probability of survival. The rejected lamb is called a bummer lamb. It will hang its head low, as if its spirit is broken. Other ewes in the herd will not adopt this rejected baby. In nature, a bummer lamb is destined to die.
On a farm, a shepherd may decide to hand-feed a bummer lamb. The shepherd will hold the baby and wrap it in a blanket to stay warm, often keeping it in the house. Once the bummer lamb gains enough strength, it is placed back in the flock. Interestingly, every time the shepherd calls the flock, the bummer lamb is first to respond, likely because it has been so close to the shepherd that it knows his voice the best.
Not surprisingly, there have been many devotionals written about Jesus, the shepherd, and we, the sheep. I offer my perspective.
When Jesus told the parable about a lost sheep (Luke 15:3-7), he rhetorically asked if we would leave 99 sheep to go after the lost sheep. Perhaps the Lord’s audience was already familiar with the concept of a bummer sheep separated from the flock. In the parable, the shepherd puts the lost sheep on his shoulders and takes it home to rejoice with his friends.
In John’s gospel, the Lord speaks of himself as the shepherd (John 10:1-16). His sheep know his voice because they have had a close relationship with the shepherd; an implied understanding that we were all at one time bummer sheep. There are also other sheep the shepherd wants to bring into the flock, so there would be only one shepherd and one flock. Moreover, Jesus is the good shepherd, willing to lay down his life for the sheep.
The Bible teaches we have all sinned, and Christ willingly died for us (Romans 3:23; 5:8). Each of us started life as a bummer sheep, rejected in many ways by the world around us. We were destined to eternal death had not the Good Shepherd come to look for us (Luke 19:10). By God’s grace, we heard his voice and came to him.
There are many wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing, trying to get the unwary to listen to their voices. Those that listen to their lies will eventually find themselves in the lake of fire. Now that’s a bummer.
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