I love being a pastor.  Specifically, I love being your pastor!  As I enter my newfound “lame duck” status, it’s a little like being a high school senior who’s taken 13 years to graduate.  In the blink of an eye I’ll be a freshman again, starting all over at the bottom of the heap with a group of folks I don’t know and who don’t know me.  Starting over is scary and, of course, you’re going through many of the same changes, except that you’re the home team.  You’re staying here and you own the field.  Or, I guess it’d be more proper to say that you’re paying down on the field! 

So, I find myself reflecting on what it means to be a pastor.  What’s my role?  What have I done well and what do I need to do differently the next time around?  The one thing that seems obvious to me is that the springboard for my reflections on pastoral ministry can’t help but come from scripture, and the most familiar scriptural description of both spiritual and political leadership is the term shepherd.  The Latin translation, 'pastor,' has tended to associate the shepherd image with ministry, but originally the term shepherd was used as a metaphor for rulers as far back as the Pharaohs of Egypt. It was a way of describing the responsibilities of religious and political leaders who were held accountable for the safety of their people, their flock.  In other words, the shepherd image was the leadership ideal.

This morning we read the beloved 23rd Psalm: "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me besides still waters; he restoreth my soul…" And, from the Gospel of John, we read the words of Christ, "I am the Good Shepherd . . . My sheep hear my voice.  I know my own, and they know me." These are wonderful words of life. The image of the Good Shepherd is one of the most ideal, heartwarming and pastoral portrayals we have of Jesus, conjuring up images of him carrying a lamb on his shoulders, illustrating how the shepherd goes out seeking the one lost lamb that has gone astray.

But as we read the words that conclude with Christ's claim to be the Good Shepherd, we discover that what seems to be a romantic and gentle image is in fact a strongly worded statement about political and theological accountability. The words of warning against the mere “hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep” and who “leaves the sheep and runs away,” as well as "thieves and bandits who come only to steal and kill and destroy" could have been written in this morning's headlines.

The fact is, it's not a particularly good time for shepherds, either in the pastoral or the political arena. Commenting on the relevance of this passage for our times, Sociology of Religion professor, Martin Marty, commented: "Phony grace and false security and make-believe shepherds abound, and so do misleading doorways." Not long ago somebody scribbled these chilling words on a wall in Washington, "Dear God, save us from the people who believe in you."

That saddens me, but I understand it and, unfortunately, we all know exactly what it means. When I’m in a secular group of folks who don’t know me I don’t even like to lead with the fact that I’m a Christian pastor because of the unfair stereotypes that are so often projected onto Christians and pastors.  I am not a rigid and judgmental Christian, and neither are you.  But it seems like whenever the media wants a Christian representative to comment on some breaking news story they trot out Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell.  You hardly ever see someone like Jim Wallis, Marcus Borg or William Sloan Coffin cited, and they’re the ones who would more accurately represent my particular theological and political ideals.

To my way of thinking the term “fundamentalist pastor” comes pretty darn close to being an oxymoron.  I simply cannot understand how a Good Shepherd could ever be so narrow minded - so arrogantly sure they’re right that everyone else has to be wrong.  We United Methodists, like all Christians, have our share of hypocrisies, but I still love the ideal of our motto: “Open Hearts, Open Minds and Open Doors.”  My prayer is that one day we actually grow into the truth of that ideal.  Speaking as a pastor, I believe that an important part of what makes a shepherd a shepherd is that they must listen very carefully for the voice of God and, in my experience, that voice of God is often spoken from some member of the “flock.”  To paraphrase another great scripture: A Good Shepherd listens and loves. A Good Shepherd is not arrogant or proud. A Good Shepherd does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. As for prophecies and politics, they will all pass away, for we know only in part. But the patience, the love and the healing power of a Good Shepherd will never end.  That’s my ideal. 

Fundamentalist intolerance is obviously not just a Christian problem. Nor is it a Jewish or a Muslim problem. To me, it's a hearing problem. I can’t help but believe that too many of the shepherds who have been entrusted with the oversight of their various flocks have allowed their own voices to drown out their Master's voice. Christians, Jews and Muslims all have more than their share of extremists who preach intolerance. The Shepherds of all faiths are accountable for the carnage done in God's name. God save us from the people who believe in you.

I have to confess that I do something that drives Anni crazy.  Actually, I do a lot of things that drive her crazy, but one thing I know bugs her is when I refer to the ministry as a “racket.”  I don’t really believe it, and I just say it because I’m trying to be funny.  But, I got the expression from my dad, and I’m not so sure that he was kidding or trying to be funny.  Another thing I do that I got from my dad is that I often refer to myself as a “preacher.”  Telling people that I’m a minister, or a pastor, would be more gentle and dignified and probably more humble, but dad called me a preacher, and I do love to preach, so there you have it.  Actually, to be honest, what my dad actually said, and you have to get the emphasis right, is:  “You don’t want to be a preacher, do you?”  But, having said that, if there’s one thing I have learned in over thirty years of ministry, and that the past 13 years has impressed ever more firmly upon my heart, it’s that being a preacher is rooted in being a pastor, and that has more to do with listening than with speaking, more with hearing than telling, more with learning than teaching.  To me, a so-called “preacher” must have a pastor’s heart.  A Good Shepherd has a servant’s heart.  That’s my ideal.

So, I’ll close with a story that illustrates my point.  After his death, the wife of a seminary professor collected some of his papers and had them published. In one of them, the man traced the stages of his ministry. He said: "When I began I thought of myself as standing upon the banks of the stream shouting instructions to the swimmers who were down below. I was the expert. The second stage of my ministry I thought of myself as the rescuer. If a I saw someone going down for the third time, I would plunge into the water, rescue them, get them started in the right direction again, then I would return to the bank. But the last 10 years of my life I was in the water, and we were fellow-strugglers with arms around each other, trying to help one another make it to the shore."   Actually, to be honest, I never did think of myself as an expert or a rescuer.  My ideal has always been to be a part of, rather than over my flock.  And, you know what? I think I may have gotten that from my dad as well.

May the Holy Spirit empower us to be Shepherds to one another. Amen.