In Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, the main character, Odysseus, finds himself on a great adventure. He travels around the known world and along the way meets several creatures and people. He meets a Cyclops and through cunning and a great deal of luck is able to escape with his life. He finds himself in various positions of danger but always seems to find a way through them, all the while looking forward to coming home to his wife.

As a part of his adventures, Odysseus comes upon the island of the Sirens. The song of the Sirens is so beautiful and tempting that many a ship has been lured to the island only to be wrecked upon the rocks surrounding the island. Odysseus has heard about the call of the Sirens and wants to experience it for himself. He wants to see if he can resist their call.

So he commands all of the other men on the boat to stop up their ears with beeswax so that they will not be able to hear the Sirens’ call. He also commands them not to untie him no matter what he says or does. Then, he has the men tie him to the mast of the ship and he alone can hear the call of the Sirens.

As they approach the island, Odysseus hears their voice. Their music is so beautiful that Odysseus struggles against the ropes that bind him to the mast. He calls out to his sailors to untie him so that he can get to the Sirens. But the sailors either ignore him or can’t hear him and after they pass out of hearing range of the Sirens Odysseus slumps against the mast relieved to be out of their grasp.

There are many Sirens that call out to us today. These voices are tempting and promise all sorts of goodness and happiness. Some of these voices use words on the printed page: If you buy this product you will be happy, thinner, and better looking. Others use striking images: Won’t you be the envy of your neighbors in this new huge car.

There was a commercial I saw about a year ago. It pictured a middle-aged man standing in front of a nice house raking leaves. He looked directly into the camera and said, "I have a big house, a new car," and he listed many other things. "How do I do it? I’m in debt up to my eyeballs." I think that it was advertising for a bank but it really got me thinking. How many of the Sirens’ calls do we answer?

Jesus talked about sheep, who can tell the voice of a stranger from the voice of their shepherd. One time when I was standing in line somewhere, I felt a small hand grab onto my own. I looked down and saw a boy who was probably 8 years old. When I looked down at him, he looked up at me and I could see the fear and embarrassment on his face as it began to turn red as he resisted the urge to start to cry. The hand he had grabbed was not attached to the person he thought it was. No sooner did he realize his mistake than a voice called from the end of the line, "Matthew." The fear left the child’s face as he heard his name being called by a familiar voice. He dropped my hand and went and grabbed on to his mother.

I’ve had it happen to me so many times. I’m walking around a store and I hear someone call my name. Immediately my head shoots up and I look around for who is calling me. Most of the time, the voice is unfamiliar and I know that they couldn’t possibly be calling for me but still I look up and usually see a girl going to meet her father or whoever called her name. I usually smile when I see them find each other and then go about my shopping. It’s one thing to hear yourself being called by name but it’s still another to hear your name called by a familiar voice.

Jesus spoke about how the shepherd will call all of his sheep by name and using his voice, the voice they have grown to trust and obey. The sheep know that this one whose voice they know and who knows each of their names is one who can be trusted. He is the one who will lead them into the sheltered area in the evening and keep them safe at night. He is also the one who will lead them out of the sheltered area so that they can find green pastures and the sustenance they need.

There are others who also call out for the sheep and it is easy to become confused. But the others who call out do not lead the sheep into places of safety or to green pastures full of sustenance. Instead these voices call the sheep out so that they can feed off them. Instead of building up the sheep and strengthening them, these other voices, who Jesus labels thieves and bandits, feed off the sheep and drain them of the fullness they had found when they followed their shepherd.

Jesus contrasts himself with the thief. "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." So many thieves and Sirens are vying for our attention. I hear over and over the lament that there is not enough time in the day. All of these voices are calling us in different directions, splitting us apart and draining us of the sustenance that our shepherd has provided. Many of these voices don’t lead to sheltered places where we can rest. These voices don’t lead us out to the healthy pastureland where we can be filled.

I have heard studies done expressing the importance of unstructured playtime for young children. Apparently even playtime has become so structured that imagination is being stunted. Even our youngest generation is being drawn to following some of the other voices calling out to them.

High School students are concerned that they must participate in a certain number of extra-curricular activities so that they can list them on college applications. College students are told that they need to participate in certain organizations and try to get in specific honor societies because it will look good on their transcript. Adults find themselves pulled in different directions, following all of those voices that tell them all of the commitments they should make. Many times it is difficult to hear the familiar and gentle voice of the good shepherd over the cacophony of other voices coming at us.

I was watching a show on the Discovery Health Channel not too long ago. It was one of those shows that looks at odd accidents and how people recover from them. The story featured on this show was about a cheerleading instructor who was demonstrating a lift with her partner. Their balance was off and she fell, hitting her head on the concrete floor of the gym. After many surgeries, during which I turned my head away from the screen, she had to re-learn everything. She had to re-learn how to walk, how to dress herself, and how to talk.

But after much physical and occupational therapy, the doctors said that she would lead a "normal life" except for one thing. When she hit her head she damaged the part of her brain that helped to filter all of the sounds that we hear. Instead of being able to filter out the other conversations in a restaurant and concentrate on the conversation at her own table, as most of us can do, she would hear the cacophony of sound in the restaurant all together and be unable to filter out the relevant sounds from the irrelevant ones. There wasn’t much that the medical profession could do about this remaining effect from her fall so she had to adapt by using earplugs and trying to train her ears to listen only to the sounds that were relevant.

When we follow those other voices, we find that the pasture they are offering is not rich in the nutrients our souls need. There has been a rise, especially among those who are part of Generation X, in the number of people who are searching for spiritual nourishment. They pursue many different paths as they search for what will satisfy the hunger they feel within them.

Jesus promises that those who follow him will have abundant life. This should not be construed, as some have, to mean that you will have a life full of an abundance of stuff. But Jesus is promising that those who follow him will have an abundance of life. Tom Wright translated this last part of this passage as, "I came so that they could have life – yes, and have it full to overflowing."

So what is that fullness of life? What does it mean to have abundant life? Ronald Allen and Clark Williamson talk about abundant life as "existence animated by the Spirit." No longer is one motivated by the pursuit of accumulating stuff but one is motivated by the Holy Spirit at work within.

The Good Shepherd’s call can be hard to hear sometimes over all of the other voices vying for our attention but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t calling each of us out, by name. We have only to re-train our ears and minds to ignore the voices of the Sirens that only have our destruction as their goal. We have only to re-train our ears to ignore the voices calling out to us who will not lead us to safety but will only take us to parched, dry land where there is no nourishment. We have to train our ears to hear the familiar voice, even faintly calling our name. For that is the voice that will lead us in to safety where we can rest and lead us out into the lush green pastures where we can indeed have an abundance of life.