Rev Francisco BilogJohn 10:11-18
The word pastor is the Latin word for shepherd. When parishioners speak of their pastor, does the image of a shepherd comes to their mind? It should. The pastor is their spiritual shepherd. They are his flock.
This passage from John is a self-portrait by Jesus Christ, the eternal shepherd. It is also a personally compiled job description of the kind of ideal pastor he wanted in his church. It applies to the bishops, the shepherds of their Episcopal areas; and not only to the pastor who is shepherd of the parish to which he is assigned, but also to all who assist him in his shepherding by dispensing the sacraments, or teaching the truth of our faith. All are called to model themselves on the Good Shepherd.
The United Methodist Church is a world-wide organization like a multinational conglomerate. But it is not supposed to conduct its affairs in the impersonal fashion we expect from the overseers of General Motors or Lapanday Corporation. Its leaders are not business executives; the people they lead are not collection of paying consumers. What holds the entire structure together is Jesus Christ, present among us through the Holy Spirit. He should also be recognizable in our leaders, the shepherds he has placed over his flock.
Making the duties of a pastor the topic for Sunday homily is a delicate matter. These are usually the responsibility of the bishop to instruct his pastors on their needs for shepherd-like-behavior. But I believe that as we celebrate the retired pastor’s Sunday, it is not a bad idea to think for a while about the kind of person Jesus wanted his pastor-shepherds to be. No human will live up to this ideal perfectly, of course. An ideal by definition is a goal one aim for but never fully attains. The prayers and cooperation of parishioners, however, can help our shepherds come closer to this ideal.
In describing the ideal pastor, Jesus stresses three points:
First, the good pastor is not a hired hand whose overriding goals are his comfort and his paycheck. The hireling of Palestine scurried for safety if his flock was attacked by wolves or menaced by thieves; he turned back if his duties became too demanding. The good shepherd on the other hand, labored out of his concern for his flock, with no eye for comfort or gain.
The Church needs leaders with that selfless dedication. When her shepherd acts like hirelings, all her members suffer. The sheep are rarely fooled. They are quick to sense when their shepherds put his ease ahead of the needs of his flock.
Second, as far as possible the good shepherd knows each member of his flock intimately. “I know mine and mine know me” says the Jesus the good shepherd. Those of us who have never lived on a farm or become close to animals find it hard to comprehend the affectionate familiarity a human can have for an animal. It was this kind of affection that moved the Palestinian shepherd to tend his sheep that were sick, to rescue those who were caught in thorny bushes or found at the bottom of the ravine. The bond between the shepherd and the sheep was legendary. Both the Bible and secular attest it.
During World War 1, some Turkish soldiers tried to steal a flock of sheep from a hillside near Jerusalem. The shepherd, who had been sleeping, suddenly awakened to see his sheep being driven off on the other side of the ravine. He could not hope to recover his flock by force single-handedly, but suddenly he had a thought. Standing up on his side of the ravine, he put his hands to his mouth and gave his own peculiar call, which he used each day to gather his sheep to him. The sheep heard the familiar sound. For a moment they listened and then hearing it again they turned and rushed down one side of the ravine and up the other toward their shepherd. It was quite impossible for the soldiers to stop the animals. The shepherd was away with them to a place of safety before the soldiers could make up their minds to pursue them- and all because his sheep knew their master’s voice.
Such affection cannot be faked. If even dumb sheep can detect its presence or absence in their shepherds, certainly parishioners can in their pastor. Those who have business in the parsonage have a right to expect this kind of bond between themselves and the shepherds who stand before them.
Finally, the good shepherd “lays down his life for the sheep.” This was literally true of Jesus Christ. The lesser shepherds who inhabit our bishop’s house and local church parsonage may not actually shed their blood in the line of duty, but they should be willing, if called on, to die for their flock. The test is how hard they work Selfless labor for others is a daily martyrdom We have all seen such selflessness in many shepherds of the Church.
When a young man enters the ministry of the United Methodist church, he is asked the question: “Are you willing to be sent anywhere?” The answer is an unconditional YES. In the United Methodist Church, the minister does not choose his church. He goes wherever he is sent.
The prophet Jonah wanted to choose his congregation. He did not want to go to Nineveh – where God was sending him. But God used a whale to take him to Nineveh, and by his preaching, repentance and salvation came to the people of Nineveh. This is the principle behind the ministry of the United Methodist church. Ministers re bei9ng sent to instead of being called by the churches. The annual conference will be held this week and the appointment of the workers will be read. Surely, some will be crying when after the reading of the appointments. The reason, their church appointment have a record of giving only two thousand pesos in support of their pastor or the place of their church appointment is too far away from the school of their children. Logically going to the church where they are being sent is like “laying down their life.” Yet after the crying, prayer overcomes their fear and they bravely go to their church appointment.
In other Protestant denomination, ministers are being called by local churches. Local churches choose their ministers from among number of applicants. The result is that many ministers who are not called by the few big churches leave the ministry, and many local churches have no full time pastors.
This is not so in the United Methodist church, Methodist pastors do not choose their congregation. In the same token, local churches should choose their pastors. God send the pastors, and when God sends, he sends only the best for the situation – the best under the circumstances. He send what is needful. And pastors go, not in their power, not in their own special terms, but in the power and in the terms of God, in the faith similar to that of the apostle Paul when he said, “not I but the grace of God.”
When churches become choosy of their pastors, they sometimes depend on the power of the minister and perhaps block the full flowering of the grace of God. God calls the ministers; let God send them where he may, just as he said to Jeremiah: “for you must go wherever I send you.” (Jer. 1:7). Yes, Methodist pastors go to their local church appointment even if it meant laying down a part of their lives or their whole family life.
In conclusion, a word about the parishioners, the members of the flock. We have just examined what they can legitimately look for in their pastor. But what can their pastor expect in return. If pastor means shepherd what does parishioner mean?
It comes from a Greek word meaning neighbor. If the parishioners have the right to demand that their pastor live up to his name and be a good shepherd, then the pastor has the right to ask that they do the same. And so – live up to your name, you parishioners. Be good neighbors to your pastors.