Shepherding
This is the sermon I will deliver to Artifact on Sunday, April 6, 2008.
Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.”
John 21:15
We’ll be taking a slightly different approach to our text today. While most scholars tend to look at this in the context of Jesus restoring Peter, we will look at Christ’s conference of the role of shepherd on Peter, and consequently on the Church. However, our general dissociation from shepherding and ranching in the modern world can lend to our misunderstanding this text. So first we’ll examine sheep and shepherds, then dive into what this means for us today.
Of what do you first think when you think of sheep? They appear to be rather stupid animals because they are so flighty and typically stick to the flock. (Wikipedia notes that a University of Illinois study found them to be on the same level of cows in IQ.) The flocking nature also lends well to following the voice of their shepherd. Sheep are a prey species and therefore have to be tended and guarded to keep them alive. Unlike other prey species, most do not have natural defensive abilities and are already prone to ailments and infections such that even should a sheep survive an attack, the sheep would likely die from infections.
In a biblical context, sheep were historically used as food, currency and sacrifice in many cultures. Sheep were prized, and large flocks denoted great wealth. Jesus used sheep often in his teaching to refer to his true followers (e.g. Matthew 9:36, Matthew 10:16, Matthew 12:11-12, Matthew 18:12, Matthew 25:31-46). In other words, we are sheep.
Now, what image springs to mind when you think of a shepherd? My first thought is of David, the youngest of all his brothers, sitting alone with his father’s flocks and defending them against both lions and bears (1 Samuel 17:34-37). David is of course exciting, but what about Rachel? Jacob first encounters her leading Laban’s sheep to the well, so not only men but women, too, were shepherds (Genesis 29:9). During his earthly ministry, Jesus claimed to be the Good Shepherd (John 10:1-18). He was also the Lamb of God, the lamb who was slain (Genesis 22:8; Isaiah 53:7; John 1:29; 1 Peter 1:19; Revelation 5:12, 7:17). In other words, Jesus Christ is our Shepherd, because He was the lamb who was slain and was raised again to give us eternal life (1 Peter 1:19-21).
So here we’ve come to learn that we, the followers of Christ are sheep, and Christ himself is the Good Shepherd. We hear his voice and follow him. Jesus said, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world” (John 9:5). But Christ has been raised and glorified, and we now anxiously await his return. He has called us to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13-16). We are his body here on earth (1 Corinthians 12:12-31). And in our text, he has told Peter to tend and feed his sheep.
What then does this mean? Are we to be shepherds of the flock of God? Yes, but we are not The Shepherd. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, the chief shepherd whom all the flock of God hear and follow. We are to lead the flock to Jesus, and like the Good Shepherd, we are to find the lost sheep and return them to the flock (Luke 15:3-7). This command is somewhat a parallel to the command in Matthew, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). In the pursuit of shepherding and disciple-making, it is always our job to lead people to Christ, not to us. We ourselves are also mere sheep, following the Good Shepherd.
Now the question becomes two: “Who is your flock?” and “How do you recognize the lost sheep?” These are more challenging questions, though some of us already know at least part of the answer to both. First, we know the answer is not everyone who does not yet know the Lord. Jesus spoke of sheep versus goats (Matthew 25:33) and of wheat versus weeds (Matthew 13:24-30; Luke 3:17). There are some in this world who are meant for destruction; however, we cannot know that just by looking (Jeremiah 17:10). Therefore, we must trust the Helper to whom Christ entrusted us; the Holy Spirit of God. Jesus said of the Holy Spirit, “He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26). So the Spirit will speak to us of those whom we should pursue as lost sheep, but we must listen. We must love the Lord and seek him diligently, for we are his. We must abide in him, then we may ask anything and know we will receive it and in this way glorify the Father and the Son (John 15:7-11). To abide in Christ, we must keep his commandments, and we keep his commandments by trusting in his Holy Spirit and in his power to keep us for himself (John 10:28). So in our abiding, we will be able to ask and to know, but we must abide.
Finally, the last question: “What will this cost me?” Just as Jesus laid down his life, so we are to be willing to lay down our own lives. This is indeed how Christ ends his series of three questions to Peter, by telling him the kind of death he was to die (John 21:18-19). We have laid them down to death with Christ in our baptism (Romans 6:4). What prevents us from doing likewise now? There is no greater thing than to live for Christ (Philippians 1:21). He is our resurrection, our promise of eternal life (John 11:25-26). Jesus said, “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11, 17-18) and “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Are you willing?
Granted, in our day, we are not likely to be asked to give up our lives on a daily basis. Given this, what prevents you from reaching out to your neighbor, co-worker, family or friend? What keeps you from asking tough questions of your brothers and sisters in Christ? Are you waiting for someone to shepherd you first? We should not wait for someone else to pour into us, for we have been “equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). However, we should seek someone to shepherd us, for this is good and right. We all need others to help us hold course, to stand firm (Ephesians 6:13). We are not asked to do this alone or to somehow rise above our brothers and sisters in Christ, for in Christ we are equals (1 Corinthians 12:21-22).
Tagged as Christ, Christian, Christianity, church, Discipleship, Leadership, Shepherding + Categorized as Christianity
Ryan, I really enjoyed the discussion last night and appreciate all your effort in preparing to lead it. The thoughts really led to some honest dialogue about our unwillingness to reach out to those around us whether they are in the church or not. I was having some theological questions as we went on but I thought those would best be discussed here, since it most likely would have killed the spirit of the evening. Here are the two questions I am having, I was interested in your thoughts sinve you have spent the most time looking into these ideas:
1. In John 10:1-6 the sheep seem to be described as those who hear the shepherds voice, follow his lead, and flee from those who they do not know. This imagery is taken from Numbers 27 and Ezekiel 34 and I find the same sort of descriptions of sheep predominant there. My question is can we shepherd those who do not claim to be sheep? This is not a call for us to judge who are sheeps or goats, but to be considered a sheep seems to infer that one claims the Shepherd (Christ). So we as undersheperds, can we truly attempt to shepherd those who do not claim to be sheep?
2. Did you see a difference in Scripture between “everyone as a shepherd” and those called to be “shepherds”? I am only beginning to look at this idea so I was wondering if you came across any sort of defining characteristics of those called to be shepherds compared to the responsibilities of all as shepherds.
Those are excellent questions, Chad. As I studied, I found that the rabbit hole seems to grow deeper as you go, so I finally cut off my thoughts and didn’t really address some of these things, nor did I come to conclusions on many of them. As to your first question, however, I do think that we do need to attempt to be under-shepherds to even those who may not yet claim to be sheep, at least in the sense of the analogy. Jesus came to seek and save the lost sheep (Luke 19:10). These, then, did not claim to be sheep, but Christ came after them. We may not be able to easily recognize a lost sheep from a goat, but I think that the more we abide in Christ, the more familiar will the eyes of our heart be to recognizing them.
As to your second question, I didn’t go there but left it as a question for the group. The early church had apostles, elders, deacons, and others, whereas we have no real positions. In Ephesians 4:11-13, Paul describes how Christ “gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers to equip the saints.” This indicates that “shepherd” is a called-to position in the body, which appears to counter this post and the general consensus last night. However, I would say that in our case, we are all at that level and, through our discussions of wanting all to be involved in one another’s lives, have on some level raised all to be shepherds.
Travis’s description of the overlaps between shepherding and discipleship I think were right on–that there is an extra bit to discipleship that goes deeper into the growing up into a mature Christian and that shepherding focuses on tending the needs of the flock and leading it in the right direction. As for characteristics, all I could really find were what seemed the obvious analogies to a real shepherd, as we discussed last night. Unlike elders and deacons, I gathered that the writers intended for their readers to take shepherd literally, much like Jesus when He said, “I’ll make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19).
I hope that makes sense. Also, please note that while a lot of the scripture used references aspects of Jesus’s Messiah-ship, I tried to pull the general shepherding aspects out that apply to the shepherds of his Church. There is meaning behind “I lay down my life for the sheep” of which none of us has any part; that meaning is purely for our Lord.
Thanks for the reply. I am still of the opinion that shepherding is for sheep (or at least those who claim to be sheep). The use of Jesus coming to seek and save the lost sheep is to much like the example you give in your last paragraph. It is a desciption of the messianic nature of Christ and cannot be directly applied to our ministry. We can in no way save lost sheep (I am not implying that you are stating we can). Obvioulsy, there is a responsibility to those outside the flock, but I do not think of it in terms of shepherding. This may be only a wording issue since I guess it comes down to how one defines shepherding.
The second question was in a more general since not specifically related to Artifact. Just asking what it means to be called out as a shepherd not so much what would it mean to shepherd Artifact specifically.
You are right on it depending on definition. I may be throwing too much of evangelism under shepherding, and certainly it is Christ’s role to seek and save the lost sheep. I do think it falls within the definition, though, since as the shepherd He does that, and we are to do the work that He is doing. I generally think of evangelism as telling everyone the good news about Christ, not specifically bringing people to him, which would seem more like shepherding. That’s probably an overlap of definitions.