Wednesday, August 15, 2018
Shepherds
John 21:16
He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”
Close to the end of his time physically on the earth, after the resurrection, Jesus had an engagement with Peter. Jesus had just served them breakfast after Peter had led a fruitless return to the sea. Jesus, in a kind of re-enactment of his first meeting with them, told them where to cast their net for a catch. Only this time, after a big catch, He already had food on a fire for them, just adding a few more of the newly caught fist.
After the meal Jesus pressed Peter. Just recently, Peter had denied him three times, now Peter is given three opportunities to pledge his love to his Lord. Jesus turned that moment into a kind of commissioning of Peter for his ministry now as a fisher of men, having just been called a second time from his job as a fisherman.
The difference this time is that Jesus changed the metaphor from a hook to a crook. At the initial call, the hook of the fisherman was a useful metaphor, fishing men. Peter after Pentecost had a big catch of fish, recorded as over three thousand in the first haul after the first evangelistic sermon.
In this conversation after breakfast of grilled fish and bread, Jesus was outlining the role of the shepherd. The metaphor for the minister was that of a shepherd with his crook tending lambs and sheep. Jesus wanted ministers who understood the role of the shepherd and emulated it.
Jesus had Himself, in a previous conversation with the Jews on a different subject, taking the shepherd as a representation of His own care for those who follow Him, saying, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” John 10:11.
The shepherd metaphor takes much of the glitz and glamour out of ministry and puts ministers in an involved hardworking role. The shepherd model is incongruous with the celebrity minister model that is popular today. In times of plenty, the shepherd has to keep watch for sheep that wander off in the lush green and pull them back with his crook. In times so scarcity the shepherd has to sometimes carry the weak sheep in his hands or on his shoulder as he searches out for a place where there is new pasture.
Conditions today are challenging for sheep. The challenges vary based on where we are in the world. There are places in the world when Christians are being killed for their faith, churches are being burned as people worship, and Christian women are raped as a way of punishing them for serving Christ. As horrific as that sounds there are pastors serving these people every day.
One friend of mine who was serving in Kazakhstan wrote to his supporters in the west one night after a group of newly converted teenage girls were ambushed and raped going home from bible study. Once raped their families would allow the rapists to marry them because no one else would want them. Once married it would be the end for them serving Christ. He wanted us to pray for God’s leading because he had no idea what to do but he was their shepherd.
At the same time, we have ministers in the rich countries of the world where church build sanctuaries that are architectural wonders outfitted with the latest technologies. And where ministers have large ministries and then leverage their success into global reach through social media.
Regardless of the conditions sheep need shepherds. In seasons of bad weather when good pasture is hard to find the sheep need shepherds to find pasture for them. When the going is tough and the wolves are hunting prey the sheep need a shepherd who would fight for them and, if necessary, give up their life for them.
When times are good and there is pasture all around that is attractive, when the greenery hides the danger, the sheep need a shepherd who will keep them in line. Someone whose voice they recognise, someone through whom they have heard the voice of God. “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” John 10:27.
The dangers today are not just physical as in Kazakhstan and surrounding countries, or in the countries of the middle-east like Syria, Iran, Egypt, Lebanon, or in Nigeria and some other countries of Africa, or in some countries in Asia. The dangers today, in the west, are also philosophical, political, social, and cultural. Often, in countries where life is not at risk, we are less conscious of the need for a shepherd.
The church needs shepherds who will seek out safe pasture in the midst of the culture and philosophies that are reshaping our time. Shepherds who will figure out that the grass always looks greener on the other side but will keep the flock safe by pulling wanderers back with the crook. Shepherds who will properly apply the unchanging word of God to rapidly changing times so that the sheep would still hear the voice of God.
Think on these things:
- Do you think that you are able to navigate the changes in our time by yourself?
- What are the things in society and culture that challenge you the most as you try to live out your Christian Faith?
- Does your church have a pastor who through his ministry demonstrates care that you feel personally?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that we be people who hear and know the voice of God.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex
