Acts 20:17-35
May 12, 2019
Easter 4C
Dear Saints of Our Savior~
On this day we remember a very special person in our lives. This person has cared for us in special ways—comforted and encouraged us, corrected and disciplined us. We’ve been fed by this person. We’ve been taught by this person. And yet, strangely enough, none of us got to choose this special person to be a part of our lives. God Himself chose this person for you. God gave this special person to each and every one of you.
Yes, today is the special day when we celebrate shepherds—pastors—the men God has placed in your life to care for you in special ways. (Pastors rank right up there with mothers!) Today is “Good Shepherd Sunday,” but today’s reading from Acts 20 puts the spotlight squarely on the shepherds of the Good Shepherd—on the pastors of our Lord Jesus Christ. But I suspect you knew we would be celebrating the shepherds of the Good Shepherd today, because you’ve given your shepherd the best gift he could hope for: you have come here to receive the gifts your shepherd has been called to give you.
Just to be clear: “Pastor” and “Shepherd” are synonyms. Pastor is the Latin word for “shepherd.” And today’s reading from Acts 20 is a beautiful commentary on the relationship between a pastor and his flock. In this reading, St. Paul is preaching to pastors from the city of Ephesus. But you might not have realized that since the word “pastor” never appears. Instead, they are called “elders” and
These words to pastors are important words for all of us—for the whole church. Paul described how his own work as a shepherd had been characterized by tears and trials. Most pastors I know would echo that to some degree. There are few callings more humbling than this one. Every day pastors are reminded that they don’t have what it takes—not the wisdom, not the intelligence, not the charisma, not the energy—to be shepherds of the Good Shepherd. Our own weaknesses and shortcomings are ever before us. Yet, in the midst of our weakness, we also experience the power of God. We discover that His grace is always sufficient.
Paul reminded those pastors of how he had declared to them “the whole counsel of God.” Everything that the Lord had delivered to Paul, Paul had faithfully delivered to them. Not just the highlights. Not just a few bullet points or Powerpoint slides. But all the doctrinal details—the whole counsel of God—in a variety of times and places, sometimes one-on-one.
This seems like as good a time as any to remind you—the sheep I serve—that I’m here to apply the Word of God to your life—not just as I stand in the pulpit—but at other times and places throughout the week. Do you have a problem? Is something keeping you awake at night? Are you fighting depression? Is your conscience troubled? Are you struggling to do the right thing—or even to know what the right thing is? You have a shepherd on stand-by—ready and willing to listen, to encourage, to correct and comfort, to pray with you, to advise you, to carefully apply God’s Word to your particular problem, for your eternal good. Call. Email. Text. Let’s set something up. Let’s talk, sheep to shepherd.
Now, some of you might be asking, “Who does this guy think he is? Why does what he says have any authority in my life?” Good questions. The answer is found in today’s sermon for shepherds. St. Paul reminded all of those pastors from whence their authority came—that the Holy Spirit had made them overseers, or pastors. That’s terribly important. It’s a reminder that pastors are pastors—that they serve where they serve—because they have a divine call—because the Holy Spirit has orchestrated the whole thing. This congregation has two pastors with a divine call. That means that when you get weary of hearing our voices you can at least take comfort in knowing that these pastors and this congregation are nevertheless a match made in heaven. And likewise for the pastors, it’s comforting to realize that whatever tears and trials we may face here at Our Savior—we’re supposed to be here—come hell or high water.
It’s not always easy to appreciate the shepherds God sends. Every pastor has strengths and weaknesses. As one man told me many years ago, shortly after I arrived here: “Pastor, we’re so glad you’re here. We could have done so much worse.” A colleague in the ministry once had a lady tell him that each one of his sermons was “better than the next,” which, when you think about it, isn’t all that encouraging.
In Acts chapter 20 Paul also reminded the Ephesian pastors of precisely why God had made them pastors. This is the bottom line: “Be shepherds of the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” The church doesn’t belong to pastors—not to me and not to you either. It is the church of God. You, my dear sheep, have been bought and paid for with the blood of Jesus Christ. In that blood you have everything: sins forgiven, heaven opened, life everlasting. As sheep of the Good Shepherd, you are precious and priceless. No one else may ever tell you that—how valuable and treasured you are in Jesus—that no matter how much fear and failure you may encounter in this life, you can let it all go, and live each day in the quiet confidence that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead and that in Him you too will rise. You’ve been washed in the quiet waters of Holy Baptism. A meal of Jesus’ body and blood has been prepared before you. You are a child of God—a sheep for whom the Good Shepherd laid down His life, only to take it up again. And I, as a shepherd of the Good Shepherd, have the high and holy privilege of giving you that sure and certain encouragement and hope—week in and week out.
We all need that good news because we live in a fallen world—a bad-news-world of cross-bearing and struggles. You certainly get a sense for that in what Paul told those Ephesian pastors—how he anticipated imprisonment and afflictions—how he knew that fierce wolves would attack the flock—how men “speaking twisted things” would draw many away from Jesus and His church. We live in similar times, to be sure. Our culture has so twisted and distorted God’s gifts of marriage and sexuality and life that what used to seem absurd and crazy just a few years ago is now the law of the land. And you and I—we will be made to care—or rather, forced to care, forced to conform, forced to abandon and deny what we know to be good and true. Or else, we will face the consequences. And make no mistake, that day of reckoning is coming for each of us sooner than we know.
How can we in this flock prepare for that? Again, listen to Paul: “And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” As long as I can speak, I will use this shepherd’s voice to speak to you the “word of his grace,” the good news of Jesus. I will remind you that you have a Good Shepherd who gives you eternal life. In him you will never perish, and from His nail scarred hands no one can snatch you away. I will remind you that although it seems that you are part of a tiny shrinking flock on earth, yet you will one day take your place in heaven among a great multitude that no one can number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, who stand before the throne and the Lamb, clothed in white robes, washed in the blood of the Lamb, having come out of the great tribulation, with every tear wiped away.
That’s your destiny in Jesus, your Good Shepherd. In him you lack nothing. In Him you will be safely escorted right through the valley of the shadow of death. And in him, you shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen.
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