Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
by Rev. Randy Quinn


Wolves are invariably portrayed as evil in folklore. They are not nice. They are to be feared. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about “Peter and the Wolf” or “Little Red Riding Hood” or “The Three Little Pigs”. Whenever we read about wolves, they are the enemy.

(That isn’t necessarily true in Native American culture, however. I suspect that’s because Native Americans didn’t raise sheep.)

But the “Big Bad Wolf” in Western culture is almost always a metaphor for the fears we have. In some stories, the “Big Bad Wolf” is really the fear of darkness. In others it’s the fear of failure or the fear of death or the fear of loneliness.

The Big Bad Wolf is symbolic of the things we fear. And we all have fears. I don’t know what your fears are, but I do know some of mine. One way to help identify your fears is to ask the question a friend of mine asked when he was meeting people in the church where he was appointed. He asked, “What keeps you awake at night?” What are the dreams and fears that make your heart race and your palms sweat?

That’s your Big Bad Wolf.

I can’t remember the last time I had the dream, but I had a variation of the same dream throughout much of my time in college and seminary and well beyond. The dream was the sudden realization that I had a final exam in a class I had not attended since the first day of school. I couldn’t remember what building it was in. Or I couldn’t remember which room it was in. One time I couldn’t remember the combination to my locker that had my assignment in it.

I always woke up in a panic.

Those dreams reveal rather clearly that my Big Bad Wolf was the same as the one in “The Three Little Pigs,” the fear of failure due to lack of proper preparation.

That’s still my fear today. I know that because I still have dreams in which I find myself preaching to a church while I’m still wearing my pajamas. Or I dream I’m running so late that I can’t find my Bible. Or I’m the guest speaker and someone reads a scripture that I didn’t know I was supposed to use in my sermon.

It was in the middle of one of those dreams once that the fire whistle blew. As a Volunteer Firefighter, I jumped out of bed and raced to the fire station. As we were leaving the station, someone made a comment about getting ready for work and I realized it wasn’t Sunday morning – I was so relieved to realize I had three more days to finish my sermon that I laughed out loud!

Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? I am. And if you allow yourself to ask that question seriously, I believe you are too. We all are.

The Big Bad Wolf is Big and Bad. And he is hungry. We meet him and see his big teeth showing. We have every reason to be afraid of the Big Bad Wolf, whatever it is that he represents in your life.

Fortunately, in the folklore of our culture the Big Bad Wolf is always conquered. He is defeated by the hero. And as we face our own fears, we realize that we become the heroes who outsmart the wolf and become victorious.

But more often, we are looking for someone else to save us. We take that image with us when we read the scriptures and are grateful for the image of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who protects us from the Big Bad Wolf.

We like the image in the 23rd Psalm of the Lord as our Shepherd who leads us beside still waters, who restores our souls (Ps 23:2). We find comfort in the midst of the Big Bad Wolves and the “darkest of valleys” because the Shepherd is with us (Ps 23:4).

When the Big Bad Wolf huffs and puffs, we know we are safe because Jesus is the rock who protects us (Ps 62:2 and others).

But in our text today, Jesus sends the “lambs into the midst of wolves” (Lk 10:3). Not only that, they are not allowed to bring anything along with them to defeat the wolves – no money, no food, no clothing. They are going to their sure and certain death!

What kind of a shepherd is that?!

It’s one thing for the shepherd to lead us through a valley where there may be wolves lurking, but what kind of a shepherd sends the sheep into the midst of hungry wolves where they have no means of protection?

I mean, it may be appropriate to send someone out to show what they can do. In fact, sometimes it’s important to do.

I had my car in for service this week. The service manager made the comment that he was new, and this was his first day on his own. He needed to have the experience of being on his own or he would never succeed as a service manager.

It was one of the scariest days of my life the first time I took a plane into the air solo. But I had the knowledge and the experience to do it. I was capable of flying the plane solo and my instructor knew it. So he got out and sent me into the air on my own.

But this is different. The sheep don’t have the knowledge, or the experience, or the capabilities to go out on their own!

If we are afraid of the Big Bad Wolf – and as I said, I believe we all are – where are we to find hope? As a preacher, I began to wonder where I can find good news in this text.

That’s when I re-read the text for today.

And as I did, I noticed that the sheep weren’t sent one-by-one, but two-by-two. One lonely lamb would become a quick meal. And while two sheep cannot overcome a powerful wolf – and even less so a pack of wolves – I realized there is significance in the fact that they are not sent alone.

For “where two or three are gathered together in my name,” Jesus says, “there I am there among them” (Mt 18:20).

They are not alone. They are not unprotected.

Not as long as there are two or three of them. They are not alone. The shepherd is with them.

And just to ensure they trust the shepherd and not their own abilities or skills or resources, Jesus tells them not to bring anything along. They must trust him entirely. Like lambs in the midst of wolves that trust the shepherd to lead them through.

Amazingly, 70 out of 70 go. And as far as we can tell, 70 out of 70 return. 35 pairs of servants go and face the wolves and 35 pairs return sharing the excitement of not only conquered wolves but conquered bears and dragons as well!

And like the proud parent of a child who has just learned to ride a bike, Jesus rejoices in what has happened.

By the way, did you notice that there were 70 who were sent? Jesus isn’t sending the twelve Disciples to preach the Good News. He’s sending a larger group than that, suggesting that you and I are not immune from this story.

We have all been sent to serve, and we are all sent in such a way that we know we must trust Jesus to be with us. We must face our own “Big Bad Wolves”, but not on our own. We do it two-by-two or three-by-three or four-by-four so we know that Jesus is with us when we go.

It doesn’t matter if your Big Bad Wolf is the fear of visiting in the hospital or leading committees or teaching Sunday School or singing in the choir. We can face our fears and allow God to conquer them through us.

One way I have confronted the “wolf” of my own fear of failure due to poor preparation in the past was to invite people to join me in a weekly Bible study of the texts I use in worship. I’ll probably invite you to join me in a similar study after we get settled in a bit and I get a better sense of the routine here.

In fact, last year I tried to have two different studies on the text. One was a rather traditional study like ones I’ve done in churches before. The other was done via the Internet. It was an exciting experiment that I would be interested in trying again. Drop me a note via Email if you want to talk to me about being involved in that!

But I want to help you face your own “wolves,” too, whatever they may be. I want to do that because I’m convinced that God wants us to stand up to the “Big Bad Wolf” that we fear.

But for me to join you, for me to help you, you’ll need to take a risk and share your fears with me. Together, maybe we can respond to the shepherd’s call to go and serve, trusting God to lead us, trusting God to protect us, trusting God to work through us.

And when we face our fears, I believe God smiles. When we confront the Big Bad Wolf, I believe God rejoices. I believe it becomes a day of rejoicing, not unlike the one in our text today (Lk 10:18). For Jesus, the disciples, and all of heaven rejoice when the “Big Bad Wolf” is put to rest.

Thanks be to God.

Amen.