Shepherd

Now that I've retired I will be going through my unpublished sermons and offering them, with some revisions. This one was first preached on April 21, 2002.

The scriptures referred to are Acts 6:1-9, 7:54-60; Psalm 23; 1 Peter 2:19-25; John 10:1-10.

Every nation seems to have one period in the past that is particularly associated with it and one profession that is instantly identified as a symbol of that nation. For the British, it's the Victorian era when the sun never set on the empire. The universally recognized profession would be the British policeman called the bobby. For Italians, it might be the Roman empire with the Roman soldier the distinctive profession. For the United States, it's the frontier days of the 1800s and the profession: the cowboy, of course. For Israel, it would be the kingdom of David and the profession would definitely be the shepherd. The patriarchs were all shepherds as was their most popular king. Even though by David's time it was not as central to their economy as it was before, the shepherd held for them the romance and nostalgia that the cowboy does for us.

It was not an easy profession. The sheep didn't graze in fenced off areas. They would be scattered over the plains of Judea to get at the sparse grass. So the shepherd would be on constant watch that the sheep didn't wander off or fall into a ravine or get snatched by a wild animal. The shepherd was armed with his sling, a cudgel and his crook. He would use the sling to chase off predators, as well as to keep the sheep from straying. A good shepherd should be able to fling a stone just in front of a sheep's nose to keep it from getting too far from the rest of the flock. The cudgel or staff, which hung from his belt, was used to beat off wolves and chase away bandits who came to steal and eat the sheep. The crook or rod was used to fish errant sheep out of crevasses. He also would put it across the entrance to the sheepfold where they went at night. This forced the sheep to go in one at a time so he could check each for injuries. Those who were hurt had their wounds anointed with medicinal oil. Then the shepherd would lie across the gateway, so that no sheep could get out without stepping on the shepherd.

This is what we see in Psalm 23 and it's the picture Jesus uses when he refers to himself as the good shepherd. The shepherd is literally the gate; his body is their security. That's why the thief tries to enter by climbing the walls. He's trying not to alert the shepherd. Consequently the shepherd could never sleep too deeply. He would have to be sensitive to any sudden movement in the flock or to any worried bleating.

In the morning the shepherd would lead the sheep out of the gate. He would walk before them and look out for hazards as he led them to good pasture and water. The sheep were usually kept for their wool so the shepherd would have the same sheep for years and give them names by which he could call them. This helped because sometimes 2 shepherds would be forced to shelter their flocks from the elements using the same cave. When the storm passed, they would walk away from each other and call their flocks. The sheep would respond to their particular shepherd's voice and sort themselves.

So the idea of a shepherd spending his time snoozing under a tree is inaccurate. It was, in fact, a tough and demanding job. A shepherd was a guide, a provider of nourishment, a veterinarian, and a protector. He knew each sheep, named it and looked out for it. Which is why Jesus uses the title for himself. And it's why we use that title for those who take care of his followers. After all, pastor is simply the Latin word for shepherd.

There is another word used in today's readings for Jesus. In 1^st Peter he is called the guardian of our souls. In the Greek the word is episkopos. It's where we get the word “Episcopal.” It can be translated as “overseer, guardian, bishop.” But like many words in Greek it means much more.

William Barclay, to whom I am indebted for all of this, points out that, in Homer's Iliad, Hector was the episkopos of Troy. In other words he was the city's champion and defender. The people who supervised public games in Greece and saw that they were fair and honest were also called episkopoi. Governors, administrators, and the people who oversaw public education were called episkopoi as well. So an episkopos is one who guards, supervises, keeps order and administers things for the public good.

As the number of Christians in a city outgrew small house-churches, the need arose for an overseer, a local supervisor and administrator, to cover all the churches in a city and eventually in an entire region. We call them bishops. Other denominations that don't have bishops nevertheless have a similar administrative position. It's like a regional manager. Such a person is an organizational necessity. But the bishop was a later development. First came the deacon.

In Acts we have the story of how the office of deacon was created. A dispute arose between 2 segments of the church. The whole church was Jewish at this point. Some, however, were Hellenists, or Greek-speaking Jews, who had come to Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost and were converted when hearing Peter's sermon. They felt they were being slighted by Palestinian Jewish Christians who spoke Aramaic, the common language of the land, which was related to Hebrew. The bone of contention was whether Greek widows were getting their fair share of the daily food distribution.

Apparently, the church was functioning like a synagogue and was following the custom of weekly and daily collections for the poor. 2 people from a synagogue would go around to the local shops and houses on Friday morning before sabbath began and they would collect money and goods for the poor in the congregation. Out of this collection varying amounts would go to needy people to help them through the week. A widow with no means of support would be given enough for 14 meals, or 2 meals a day for a week. This collection was called the kuppah or basket. In addition there was a daily collection for those with urgent needs. That was called the tamhui or tray.

The Greek-speaking Jew in the church felt their native brethren were not being fair to their widows. The apostles, who were called to spread the good news about the Messiah Jesus, didn't want to get bogged down in the daily mechanics of just one ministry. So they asked the whole church to put forward “7 men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom” to be appointed for this task. These came to be known as deacons, from the Greek for “servant, helper, minister.” They became assistants to church leaders. They tended to the poor and the sick, assisted in baptism and especially with the Eucharist or communion. In fact the related Greek verb “to serve” is often used of those who wait on tables. Women also served as deacons. In his letter to the Romans, Paul introduces and praises Phoebe, a deacon from the church at Cenchreae, a port of Corinth. (Romans 16:1) Deaconesses are mentioned prominently in early Christian writings.

So as the church evolved, first came deacons. Later as the apostles planted churches and moved on, they appointed bishops, who were like a synagogue's president of the congregation. Christian priests are not mentioned in the New Testament as such, probably because they didn't come about until after the apostles died. As the faith spread, the number of house-churches per city increased. Eventually the bishop could not visit every one of them every Sunday to preside over the Eucharist. So as the apostles had appointed bishops to lead the churches they left behind, the bishops chose from the elders of the individual churches and anointed one to lead each church and to stand in for them. They represented the bishop to the congregation and they represented the congregation to the bishop. The word for elder in Greek is presbuteros, which over time became the word priest. Thus by the second century AD, we had a three-fold ordained ministry of deacons, priests and bishops.

All of these ministers took on at least some of the functions of a shepherd. The deacons fed the poor and tended to the sick. The priests offered spiritual nourishment and guidance to the local congregation. The bishops oversaw and guarded the larger church.

Today we have seen betrayals by some pastors of the church. In the wave of scandals first exposed among our Roman brethren but now uncovered in Protestant churches as well, we have seen pastors turn from shepherds into predators. And we have seen bishops and other overseers more anxious to guard the institution of the church than those people who actually make up the church. We have seen priests and pastors and evangelists take advantage of their positions to get into sexual relationships with parishioners and people they are supposed to counsel. And they have made it hard for the rest of us clergy by sowing distrust and fear and besmirching the name of Christ.

What they have done in the cases involving children are crimes, and, along with those involving adults, sins as well. The sexual sin is compounded by the sin of abusing the position of trust they are granted as pastors and priests. Regarding those given the work of caring for those in the church, Jesus said, “To whomever much is given, of him much will be required.” (Luke 12:42-48) And in regards to children, he said, “Things that cause people to sin are bound to come but woe to that person through whom they come. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. So watch yourselves.” (Luke 17:1-2)

Church leaders would often get offending clerics therapy. And then they would send them to a different parish but essentially the same situation in which they got in trouble. It's like taking an alcoholic just out of rehab and dropping him off at a bar.

Pastors are human but when they misuse their position to prey upon those they should be helping, they not only injure those in their immediate congregations but the church as a whole. And while we expect to see imperfection in others, we hold our clergy to higher standards. And so we should. Yet we should remember that they, like all of us, are fallible sinners. We need to support them as they do a more visible and in some ways harder ministry than most Christians have. But for their part, they need to be honest about themselves. As far as we can tell, pedophilia is not a choice but a disease. In many cases, pedophiles were themselves molested. But if they are not responsible for what they are, they are still responsible for what they do about it, much like alcoholics.

The Miami Herald ran a story about a priest who molested 8 teenage boys. In his case the therapy worked. He saw the pain he caused his victims and felt shame. He voluntarily quit the priesthood and went into another profession. But he says that, like a recovering alcoholic, he will never be cured. So he put himself in quarantine. Even now, retired and living by himself on a farm, he will not allow himself to be alone with a male under 22 years old. Priests are supposed to make sacrifices. This is one who truly knows the meaning of that word.

Saul was a persecutor of the church. He stood aside and watched the stoning of Stephen with approval. He was an accessory to murder. Later, when Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus, he became a changed man. Once a zealous, hate-filled ultra-observant Pharisee, he became Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles. He wrote the beautiful chapter in 1^st Corinthians about the nature of love. He was always conscious of his sinfulness but he knew that God loves sinners and Jesus died to redeem them. (1 Timothy 1:15) It's safe to say that Paul's motivation was his gratitude that God deigned to save him and use him to bring the good news of God's love and grace to others.

1^st Peter reminds us that we are all part of a priesthood. (1 Peter 2:5) We are all set aside by God to bring his love to others. So we must be aware of our lives and conduct. We must be honest with God and with ourselves. We must confess our sins. We must not flirt with temptations. But we must remember that God uses even sinners to build his kingdom. In fact, he only uses sinners...partly because there are no perfect people around and partly because this is our therapy: learning to love and serve his other lost sheep. He, not you or I, is the true shepherd. His is the voice we must obey. And he says “Love one another as I have loved you.” (John 13:34) It's a high calling. It's a tough task. But no harder than his. After all, the good shepherd laid down his life for the sheep. Can we not sacrifice a few parts of our lives for him?