Text      1 Peter 2:19-25; Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 23; John 10:1-10

       Theme      Flock Management

      Subject      The Example of Christ’s Suffering

   Occasion      Easter 4 (Shepherd Sunday) – 4/13/08 – Zion – Iowa City

 

Grace to you and peace from our living Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

 

Following the resurrection of Jesus from the dead,

          The apostles scrambled to make sense of it and to provide some order for the fellowship of the believers

So we heard this morning these words from the 2nd chapter of Acts

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. (Acts 2:42)

 

The New Testament is a package of apostolic teachings

          Likely beginning with 1 Thessalonians about 50 CE

          We suppose the accounts of Jesus (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) were written after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 CE

                   As if the Holy Spirit inspired a reality check:

“Well Jesus hasn’t come back yet; now the temple is gone and most of the eye witnesses are gone too; write down the story before you forget anymore of it”

Scholars believe the first letter of Peter was written about 64 CE

(Peter died by inverted crucifixion in 67 CE)

 

First Peter is among the letters in the New Testament known as “the catholic epistles”

          Letters written to a universal Christian audience rather than a specific congregation

Readings from this first letter of Peter are assigned to these 6 Sundays after Easter

          Pastor Jan and I are basing our sermons on these readings

 

Supposing the author is the one whose name was Simon when Jesus called him from a career as a fisherman to be a follower of Jesus

          In the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke we read that Simon recognized Jesus to be the Messiah

                   According to Matthew’s report this is the reason Jesus changed Simon’s name to petros: the Greek word for Rock (or in Latin Cephas)

And I tell you, you are Peter (Cephas or Rock), and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it." (Matt. 16:18)      

In Ephesians we are told

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles (like Rock) and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. Eph. 2:19-20   

 

Good then that the early church devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers (Acts 2:42)

 

So First Peter is apostolic teaching from the leader of the apostles

          Men who are members and friends of Zion have been meeting each Tuesday morning at 6:30 for Bible study.

                   These past several weeks we’ve been studying First Peter

                             When we began this study, there was the usual zip among us:

“gonna read another book of the Bible”

                   But we quickly recognized that we wouldn’t be able to sprint through it

 

But of course – consider all that we know about Peter

          He’s so much like all of us – yet so exceptional

                   Barbara Brown Taylor, an Episcopal priest on the faculties of Piedmont College and Columbia Theological Seminary has observed that Peter

                             Gets it right – names Jesus as Messiah

                             Then gets it wrong – rebukes Jesus for naming his path of suffering

                             Gets it right – determined not to deny Jesus

                             Then gets it wrong – denies him 3 times in an afternoon

          This Peter is important to Jesus

                   After a resurrection breakfast on a beach, Jesus asks him 3 times, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" (Jn. 21:16)

                             3 times Peter says “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” (15-17)

                   And the absolution comes in 3 imperatives to Peter from Jesus

                             “Feed my lambs,” “Tend my sheep,” “Feed my sheep”

 

So when we read First Peter, we are reading about Flock Management

          A good topic for this 4th Sunday of Easter, this Shepherd Sunday when we hear again the 23rd Psalm and Jesus teaching that he is the gate to the sheepfold (John 10)

So then Flock Management according to St. Peter, the 2nd chapter

For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls (1 Peter 2:25)

 

The passage before us is the first of 3 groupings

          This one is to slaves – you wouldn’t know it based on the reading

                   But the previous verse was omitted makes it clear

Slaves, accept the authority of your masters with all deference, not only those who are kind and gentle but also those who are harsh.  (1 Peter 2:18)

 

Peter, the shepherd, gives guidance to slaves (sometimes translated servant):

          A slave in Peter’s era was an employee: had a family, a home and a place to work

Nothing like what happened in America in the 19th century

                             But no labor laws – so work could be very difficult

Peter tells Christian slaves

Accept authority

          Endure pain, especially when it‘s unjust

          Follow Jesus’ example: No sin, no deceit, no returning of abuse, no threatening

          Live for righteousness

They were suffering like prophecies in Isaiah 53 – fulfilled in Jesus and then in the Body of Christi then and now

These instructions for Christian slaves are a preface for two shorter sections

          One for wives (3:1-6) and one for husbands (3:7)

                   These sections are not included among the assigned readings

but it is important for us to acknowledge and study them

and pray the Holy Spirit to guide us through them

          I’ll admit that these sections of Peter’s Flock Management challenge me in this day

                   Especially when this living word of God is ripped from its context

But consider this verse that closes this section of there teachings:

          Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind. (1 Peter 3:8)

 

Foremost in Peter’s Flock Management methodologies is this unifying principle

          As if to say, “Oh, Christians, you are safest when you are together”

                   In 1986 Robert Fulghum published a little book entitled All I Really Need to Know, I Learned in Kindergarten – a little like Flock Management

                             Some of Fulghum’s observations are

Share everything

Don’t hit

Put things back

Clean up

Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody

Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you

Learn some and think some; & draw & paint & sing & dance & play & work every day some

When you go out in the world

Watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together

 

Pastor Jan and I are in the lineage of St. Peter

          By the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit, we have been called to be pastors (the Latin for shepherds) of Zion

I did Google “Flock Management” in preparation for this sermon

          Lots of information about raising chickens and ducks

                   Finally I went to sites that market products to Australian sheep herders

                             Shepherds in Australia today can sit at computers with the aid of implants under the skin of their sheep that link to their GPS

                                      These same chips can be used with the data base to track information on ewes, rams, feeding, sheering and the like

          But Pastor Jan and I will not use implants or GPS

 

When I was 10, my Uncle Don, now one of the patriarch’s of Zion (Muscatine), told me to move a flock of sheep from the barnyard to a pasture on the other side of a wooded ravine

          He gave me a bucket with about an inch of corn and sent me on my way

                   As I walked, the sheep followed

                             I got to that pasture and opened the gate

                                      They didn’t move until I walked in

                                                Once they were all safely in, I emptied the bucket, shut the gate, climbed the fence and left

Sheep follow where the shepherd leads

          Just like the picture on the cover of your worship folder

                                                         

Pastor Jan and I are obedient to the teaching from Acts so that the people of Zion are devoted … to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 

          Plans are in the works for more learning opportunities for every age

Small group ministries are also on the horizon to increase our fellowship and study

          Our growing attendance is a great encouragement to others

          We are so grateful that Zion is a praying people

                   Two weeks ago I was a with a couple preparing for marriage

                             I had encouraged them months ago to begin praying together

(I know it is difficult for couples to do this; good to begin early)

They were so happy to tell me of how increasingly comfortable they are in their shared prayers that have grown from memorized prayers

and how they now talk freely to God

and are more aware of God’s presence in their lives

 

Peter’s Flock Management was designed for two purposes:

          To sustain the community of believers

          To strengthen the Christian witness in the world

This continues to be the pastoral calling of every shepherd

To sustain the community of believers

          And to strengthen the Christian witness in the world

This likely sounds familiar here at Zion – a lot like

          Gathered to grow; sent to shine

 

Thanks be to God