“How the Shepherd Cares for the Sheep”
(A
sermon I preached at a church looking for a new pastor)
Introduction:
I
know that you folks are in the market for a new pastor. After a long pastorate
of 32 years Pastor “John Doe” is retiring and turning the reins over to a new
minister. This means that you as a congregation are now in the process of
looking for God’s man to be your next pastor, in the hopes that he will lead
you on to a wonderful new phase in the life of your church.
But
that also means that now you must stop and ponder what kind of leader you need
and want. Of course, everyone in the congregation has an idea of what they want
to see in their ideal pastor. If we put all those ideas together the job
description might sound like this:
“The ideal pastor
preaches for exactly twenty minutes with an hour's content. He condemns sin,
but never offends anyone, or hurts anybody’s feelings. He works from 8 am to midnight
and serves as the church janitor and handyman. He makes $300 a week, wears good
clothes, and puts $100 in the offering every Sunday. He is 29 years old and has
40 years of experience. He is a strong leader, yet also follows everyone's
advice. He can effectively relate to all the teenagers and spends all his time
with the elderly. He plays the guitar but is also skilled on the pipe organ. He
is tall and short, thin, and heavyset, and has one brown eye and one blue eye.
He makes 15 house-calls a day, regularly visits the hospital, and is always in
his office whenever you choose to stop by.”
And of course, we all expect that his nearly perfect
wife will accompany our new pastor. The typical job description for a pastor’s
wife sounds something like this:
“HELP WANTED:
Pastor’s wife. Must sing well and play the piano and two other instruments. She
leads youth groups, raises angelic children, entertains church notables at a
moment’s notice, ministers to other wives, can recite the Bible backwards and
can choreograph the annual church Christmas pageant. She must be an excellent
cook and keep a spotless house just in case anyone chooses to drop by without
calling first. She must keep the pastor calm, satisfied, and out of trouble.
She must we willing to put up with erratic hours, difficult colleagues, and demanding
church members. Hourly wage: $0.00.”
Transition:
I
trust that you folks are going to be more realistic about your expectations for
your new pastor and his family. At least, I hope so, because our personal preferences
about the personality and personal habits of a pastor should not be the criteria
that we use to measure his success or failure.
Today
I want to stimulate your thinking with this question: What are the real characteristics you should look for when shopping for
a new pastor? Keep in mind that biblically speaking, the pastor’s primary
calling is to be a servant of God. God is his Boss, his Master, and his
Evaluator. Yes, of course, his secondary calling is to minister to you
here at Anywhere Bible Church. But in the final analysis he is not your flunky,
sent here to do whatever you want him to do. It does not work like that.
The
New Testament uses four different Greek words to describe the same job. In
other words, each of these synonyms highlights a different facet of the same
person’s job description. A pastor is not just one of these things; he
is all of them. Let’s look briefly at all four titles, but then I want us
to concentrate our attention today on the fourth one.
1.
Elder (Gr. presbúteros)
= Suggests an older man noted for his wisdom, integrity, and spiritual insight.
The focus is on being an example of godliness.
2.
Overseer/bishop (Gr. epískopos)
= One who oversees and manages the work of the church. The focus is on
administration.
3.
Minister (Gr. diákonos) =
One who leads through his service to the members of the local body. The focus
is on humble service.
4.
Shepherd (Gr. poimén /
Latin word is “pastor”) = One who herds sheep; literally, “a sheepherder.” The
focus is on the day-to-day care of the sheep in his flock.
Main Body:
What
does a good sheepherder do? What is his job description, and therefore, what
skills must he bring to the job? The best starting place is to examine what the
Bible says about the Great Shepherd, who is our model. Surprisingly, the Word
of God has much to say about how God shepherds His people, his “sheep.”
Psalm 23:
1 The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. [Fact #1: We are sheep. God
is our Provider, giving us what we need, though not necessarily what we want.]
2
He makes me lie down in
green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.
[God protects His sheep and makes us feel loved and well cared for. Without
fear the sheep dare to lie down and rest, contentedly chewing their cuds and
meditating. God leads His sheep to gently flowing streams where they can drink,
knowing that sheep are afraid of fast water.]
3 He restores my soul; He guides me in the
paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. [God has a
medical/restorative ministry in the lives of the sheep. He gives us medicine
when we need it. He leads us in good paths, never in paths designed to trip us
up or cause us harm.]
4 Even though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your
staff, they comfort me. [He stays close to His sheep, sharing any
danger with them. He is never aloof or distant. He has the tools necessary to
fight off wolves or bears or poachers.]
5 You prepare a table before me in the
presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows.
[He gives His sheep confidence even when enemies surround them. He cares for
His sheep and He provides for them abundantly.]
6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will
follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever. [He makes a safe place for the sheep to abide, to
bed down and dwell in security. He treats His sheep with kindness and
gentleness.]
So
that is how the Lord treats us. And moreover, He expects His under-shepherds,
His servants, to treat the sheep in the same way. He, as the Good Shepherd, has
provided an example for other shepherds to follow in caring for His sheep.
This
metaphor of the shepherd can be found throughout Scripture. In the Old
Testament some of the strongest indictments in all of Scripture are reserved
for the priests of Israel who were given the job of shepherding God’s people
but who time and again fell down on the job, either through greed or sloth or
jealousy or other evil motives. We do not have time to do it this morning but I
would encourage you to do a study on your own of Ezekiel chapter 34 and also
the Book of Jeremiah. Go through and mark the verses where God speaks about the
failures and the unfaithfulness of the shepherds of Israel. Let me just give
you taste, a couple of examples:
·
Ezekiel 34:1-2 – “Then the word of the Lord came to me saying, ‘Son of man, prophesy
against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds,
“Thus says the Lord God, “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding
themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock?”
·
Jeremiah 10:21 – “For the shepherds have become stupid and have not sought the
Lord; therefore, they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered.”
·
Jeremiah 23:2 – “Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel concerning the shepherds
who are tending My people: ‘You have scattered My flock and driven them away,
and have not attended to them; behold, I am about to attend to you for the evil
of your deeds,’ declares the Lord.”
·
Jeremiah 50:6 – “My people have become lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them
astray. They have made them turn aside on
the mountains; they [the sheep] have gone along from mountain to hill and have
forgotten their resting place.”
These
passages serve to point out the fact that God takes very seriously the
responsibility that He places on His shepherds to care for His sheep in the way
that He has ordained. While it is an awesome privilege to be one of the
Lord’s shepherds, it is also an awesome responsibility and one that
comes with high accountability. Any man that takes on the job and then screws
it up will have to answer to the Great Shepherd for his failure. That fact, in
and of itself, should scare off the riffraff but unfortunately there are still
a lot of bad shepherds out there, just as there were in the days of the Old
Testament.
So, what are the qualities of a good
shepherd? What kind of man should you folks be looking for
in this process of finding a new pastor for this congregation? Of course, the
first qualification should be that he is the specific man called by God to be
here at Anywhere Bible Church. You want God’s choice, not your own choice,
based on some composite job description cobbled together from all your personal
preferences. Also, you should not be on the lookout for someone just
like Pastor “John” who has been your beloved pastor for 32 years. He was God’s
man for the past, but now you need to find God’s man for the present and the
future. And he may turn out to be quite different from Pastor John. You need to
be prepared to let him be himself and to grow his ministry according to God’s
leading in his life. I can tell you from experience that the greatest gift you
as a congregation can give to your new pastor will be to let him be himself
rather than try to shoehorn himself into Pastor John’s boots.
I
have put together a list of duties that typically fall to the pastor. This list
comes out of my own experience as well as the instructions given to shepherds
in the Scriptures. This is probably not an exhaustive list, but it is a good
starting point. Let’s look at them together.
#1 A good shepherd FEEDS the sheep
·
John 21:15-17 – “So when they had finished breakfast,
Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son
of John, do you love Me…?’ He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love
You.” He said to him, ‘Tend My lambs.’
16 He said to him again a
second time, ‘Simon, son of
John, do you love Me?’ He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”
He said to him, ‘Shepherd My sheep.’
17 He said to him the third
time, ‘Simon, son of John, do
you love Me?’ Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, ‘Do you
love Me?’ And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love
You.” Jesus said to him, ‘Tend My sheep.’”
·
First Jesus says, "tend my lambs." The primary
task in tending lambs is to feed them regularly, and everyone knows that lambs
drink nothing but milk. In the same way, spiritual lambs need the basic
milk of the Gospel and simple biblical precepts to grow. Then Jesus tells
Peter to “shepherd My sheep,” and
again, “tend My sheep.” Notice
the Lord’s use of the possessive, “MY” when referring to the sheep. These
are the Lord’s sheep, not our sheep. We who are shepherds are caretakers
of sheep that belong to the Master. Another important point is that it is
the shepherd’s duty to move the lambs beyond just drinking milk to where they
become mature sheep and can nourish themselves on solid food.
·
Hebrews 5:12-14
– “In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone
to teach you the elementary truths of God’s Word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an
infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food
is for the mature, who by
constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.”
·
What then is “solid food?” It is
training in righteousness so that the sheep can be fully equipped, able to
stand in the day of testing. This nourishment is provided in the Word of God.
·
2 Timothy
3:16-17 – “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training
in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every
good work.”
·
Cute stories, pop psychology and worldly methodology
do not feed sheep. They must be fed on the written Word of God, as it is
exegeted properly, explained clearly, and applied to life by the Holy Spirit.
#2 A good shepherd PROTECTS the sheep
·
Acts 20:28 – “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which
the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”
·
Hebrews 13:7 – “Obey your leaders and submit to
them, for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give
an account. Let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be
unprofitable for you.”
·
In Bible times the shepherd would bring the
flock home to the fold at night. He would then lay out his bedroll in the
gateway to protect the sheep from wolves or other predators coming into the
sheepfold in the night. He literally put his life on the line for
the sheep.
·
John 10:1-5 – “I
tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but
climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the
gate is the shepherd of his sheep… The sheep listen to his voice. He
calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his
own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his
voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from
him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice."
·
We learn some important things about being
a good shepherd in this passage. First, he is to be a watchman. There
are not only savage wolves out in the world; there are even wolves that try to
enter the sheepfold when nobody is watching. One of the pastor’s main jobs is
to be on the lookout for people who make their way into the flock looking like
sheep but acting like wolves.
·
Acts 20:29 – “I
know that after I leave, savage wolves
will come in among you and will not spare the flock.”
·
Matthew 7:15 – “Watch out for false prophets. They come to
you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.”
·
The wolves that try to enter the church dress
up like sheep. They talk like sheep; they pray like sheep; they make
themselves look ultra-holy. They say the right things, but their fruit gives
them away in the end. Jesus warned concerning false teachers in Matthew 5:15-20
– “Beware of the false
prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous
wolves. 16 You
will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are
they? 17 So
every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot
produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not
bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will know
them by their fruits.” Part
of the shepherd’s job is to see through their ruse and deal with them
appropriately to protect the flock. This is one of the hardest aspects of any
pastor’s job. I tell you that from experience.
·
Ezekiel 33:6-7 –
“But if the watchman sees the sword
coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword
comes and takes the life of one of them, that man will be taken away because of
his sin, but I will hold the watchman
accountable for his blood.’ “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the
house of Israel; so, hear the word I speak and give them warning from Me.”
·
You see, God expects every shepherd to be a
watchman. He must be on the lookout for those who would try to come in and
spread false teaching or create division and dissension in the Body. He must be
willing to lay down his life at the gate to protect the flock, even at the risk
of popularity, reputation, friendship, or livelihood. In the modern church there
are too many “hired hands” that are not doing their job because they do not
want to take a stand against anyone or anything. By their inability to
make the hard stands they make themselves useless to the Good Shepherd and
allow great evil to gain a foothold under their watch.
#3 A good shepherd LEADS the sheep
·
Psalm 23:1-3 – “The
LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside
quiet waters, He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of
righteousness for His name’s sake.”
·
Following the example of the Good Shepherd
of Psalm 23, every shepherd is to lead his sheep to pasture and water. His
job is to teach them and restore them. He is to be their guide in paths of
righteousness. He is to protect them from wolves and beasts in the world
with the rod and staff.
·
The shepherd is there to discipline the
sheep to avoid the pitfalls of the world. He is to lead the flock out into
the world and teach them to stay together in unity. Sheep tend to get into
trouble when they get separated from the flock. That is why the shepherd tries
to keep them together.
·
Ephesians 4:3 – “Make
every effort to keep the unity of the
Spirit through the bond of peace.”
·
This “unity of the Spirit” is unity of
belief, unity of doctrine, and unity of heart. But there is no way for
sheep to be unified with wolves because there is no unity of the Faith. Sheep
and wolves are fundamentally different.
·
Matthew 10:16 – “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.
Therefore, be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”
·
Wolves are those who pretend to be in unity
with the sheep just long enough to come in and drag sheep away into sin. They
may look and talk like sheep, but they expose who they really are by their counterfeit
fruits, their divisiveness, and their false teaching. A pastor needs to
teach the sheep to be shrewd and be on the watch for the pitfalls of the world,
the flesh, the devil and of false religion.
#4 A good shepherd CORRECTS the sheep
·
2 Timothy 2:24-26 – “The Lord’s bond-servant must not be
quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, 25 with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition,
if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth,
26 and they may
come to their senses and escape
from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.”
·
1 Peter 5:1-4 – “Therefore, I exhort the elders among
you, as your fellow elder and
witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is
to be revealed, 2 shepherd the flock of God among you,
exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid
gain, but with eagerness; 3 nor
yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of
glory.”
·
A shepherd grooms his sheep, keeps them
clean and free of contamination. In the same way, a pastor tries to keep
his sheep spiritually clean and free of contamination from the world, the
flesh, and the devil. This with the goal of preparing them to be faithful
disciples, followers of the Good Shepherd, so they will, in turn, go out and
minister to others. That is what the Great Commission is about.
·
Matthew 28:19-20
– “Therefore go and make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching
them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you
always, to the very end of the age.”
·
2 Timothy 4:2-5
– Hear Paul’s words of wise counsel to a young shepherd… “Preach the Word;
be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage— with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will
come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own
desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what
their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth
and turn aside to myths. But you, keep
your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist,
discharge all the duties of your ministry.”
·
1 Thessalonians
5:14 – “And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle,
encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.”
·
Titus 2:15 – “These,
then, are the things you should teach. Encourage
and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.”
#5 A good shepherd HELPS DELIVER the lambs
·
Isaiah 40:11 – “He
[God] tends His flock [Israel] like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart; He gently
leads those that have young.”
·
In the context of the church the “sheep”
are all those who by faith have come to know Jesus Christ personally. We refer
to them as “born again,” “saved,” “in Christ,” “redeemed,” etc. When the Gospel
is preached, taught, or shared the Holy Spirit convicts the sinner, who then
must respond with saving faith in Christ, turning from sin to the Saviour. The
change that occurs in them is described in the New Testament as a “new birth.”
·
But notice that in our metaphor of sheep,
shepherds, and the flock it is not the shepherd that gives birth to the
lambs. That is the job of the sheep! The shepherd does not become pregnant
and give birth to a lamb. Yet in many flocks this is the mistaken expectation
that the sheep have of their shepherd.
·
The sheep are the ones who give birth to
the lambs, but the shepherd should always be nearby to help with the delivery. Sometimes
the ewe can deliver without any complications and can take care of her new-born
without any assistance. That is good. However, sheep often get into trouble in
the birthing process and need the gentle hand of the shepherd. You see, when a lamb is born, is comes out of
the womb wrapped in the placenta. Sometimes the lamb can get free by
itself. However, many times the shepherd must break the placenta so that the
lamb can get out.
·
Transferring this picture back to the
spiritual realm many people are new-born into the Christian life with the
vestiges of their old life still tightly wrapped around them. They need to
be helped to put off the old man and put on the new lamb! This is the
early stage of discipleship. The shepherd’s job is to set the lamb free so
that it can begin to grow toward maturity. In the same way, a pastor seeks to
help new Christians take their first steps and begin to move toward Christian
maturity.
·
Now, I need you all to do me a favour…lift
both of your feet up off the floor. That is good because what I am going to say
right now might tend to step on some people’s favourite toes. Here goes… the
Great Commission was not given to pastors, at least not to any special degree.
Everything is supposed to reproduce after its own kind. That means that
Christians should beget other Christians. Like I said a few moments ago, the
sheep are the ones who should be giving birth, not the shepherd. The pastor’s
job is not to be the evangelist of the church. His job is to feed you so that
you can give birth to baby Christians. It is my observation that most pastors
do not even have the gift of evangelism. And in fact, some of the best
evangelists make the worst pastors. And some of the absolute best pastors are poor
as evangelists.
·
So, do not make the mistake of thinking
that you are going to get a hotshot evangelist in here to win this community
for you. The fact is…now lift your feet up again…if this church is not seeing
souls brought to Christ, do not blame the pastor! Blame yourself. Of course, he
is a sheep too, and should be a faithful witness and an example of Christian
integrity that will touch the lives of the people around him, but he is not a
hired gun who’s going to come in and clean up the neighbourhood with his
amazing preaching.
#6 A good shepherd GOES AFTER wandering
sheep
·
Luke 15:4 – “Suppose one of you [shepherds] has a hundred
sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open
country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds
it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his
friends and neighbours together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my
lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in Heaven
over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not
need to repent.’”
·
The Bible is clear that many people have
and will continue to wander from the Faith.
·
1 Timothy 6:10 –
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have
wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
·
1 Timothy
6:20-21 – “Timothy, guard what has
been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing
ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so
doing have wandered from the faith.”
·
James 5:19-20 – “My
brothers, if one of you should wander
from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever
turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover
over a multitude of sins.”
·
Part of the shepherd’s job is to help
people who have wandered from the Faith or detoured into sin.
·
Jude 1:22-23 – “Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others
from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear— hating even
the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.”
·
But it is also important for the shepherd
to never forget that he was a sheep before he became a shepherd. He is no
better than the people he is there to help. The Bible says, “All we, like sheep, have gone astray.”
We have all wandered at times, we have gone astray, but the point is to return
to the Shepherd.
·
1 Peter 2:25 – “For you were like sheep going astray, but now
you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”
Conclusion:
In
closing I want to point out that there is a significant fundamental difference
between the herding methods of a shepherd and a cowboy.
The
cowboy sits up on his high
horse and controls the cows by threats, yells, and the liberal use of a whip or
a cattle prod. He follows along behind the herd frightening them into doing
what he wants or going where he chooses. He does not know the cows personally
and he does not care about them. He is all about the job, all about getting
them to do what they are supposed to do. He gets paid for driving them from one
field to another, or to a railhead where they can be loaded up for shipment.
The
shepherd, on the other hand,
knows his sheep. He cares about them and has their welfare in mind. He leads
them by going out ahead and urging them to follow. He uses no whips or prods.
He charms them with his voice. He wins their trust and they follow willingly,
knowing that he will lead them in pleasant paths. He does not yell at them, nor
does he threaten them. If he uses his staff, it is to gently nudge them back
onto the path to follow the flock. He keeps his eye out for predators who would
steal the lambs and savage the ewes. He goes out ahead and leads them to
pleasant pastures and to quiet streams. He assists in the lambing when a sheep
gets into trouble. He applies medicine to their wounds. In the spring, he
shears them and sets them free from their heavy, stinky burdens.
Of
course, we could go on and on with this metaphor and I will leave it to you to
finish the picture, but I think you get my point. What you need here at
Anywhere Bible Church is a shepherd, not a cowboy. As we look around these days,
we see a lot of churches led by cowboys. With big names, they write books, go
on talk shows, and lead by personality, charisma, and good looks. But I do not
think that they are the models we should look for in seeking a new shepherd.
You see, it is not about how famous the pastor is, but about how healthy his
church is.
I
am praying that God will bring you the exact person He wants to be your next
shepherd and that you will welcome him with the same love and open arms you
gave to Pastor John.
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