Sheep feed your shepherds!

This last week I went to the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference for the United Methodist church. It was a great time with lots of fun, faith, and rock band. I loved getting to meet with more pastors and chatting about church with them. Far and away the high point for me was getting to see my good friend (and mentor) get ordained.

The whole ceremony was a wonderful celebration. It was one of the few times I got to sit down and actually pay attention to a sermon. A bishop named, Roddy White, spoke and did a wonderful job. His message centered on Jesus talking with Peter about feeding his sheep (John 21: 15-19).

Jesus Reinstates Peter

¹⁵When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."

¹⁶Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?"
He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."

¹⁷ The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."

Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. ¹⁸ I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." ¹⁹Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!"

This passage makes a lot of sense in an ordination as a bishop is reminding those who are entering the pastorate that they must feed the sheep that Jesus has entrusted to them. They are now becoming a shepherd to take care of all those at their churches and in the communities around.

What struck me was that the bishop shifted and told a story of visiting a woman, Mrs. Quinn. In his first church he found out Mrs. Quinn expected him to visit each week. He was nervous going over there the first day. As his time with her ended he prayed for her. He was ready to leave, but Mrs. Quinn stopped him and prayed for him. He told us how amazed and lifted up he was by this prayer. He made sure to visit her every week because she fed him. She fed the shepherd.

We often forget taking care of our shepherds. We have pastors, mentors, ministers, leaders, and teachers that all give so much to all of us. The pour out into our cups and we soak in their wisdom, guidance, and care as much as we can. In the end though who pours back into the servants cups?

Bishop White spent double the time talking to the "sheep" about feeding their "shepherds". It was fascinating to see this stress to the laity to take care of these shepherds. All I could think was "amen" to this line of thought.

As I have worked in youth ministry for three years now I resonate completely with this sentiment. While I worked at Mary, Queen of Peace there were very few there helping to feed me. My shepherds there did not reach out to support or encourage faith. My personal faith was not something of concern. If I knew the right prayers, did all the motions then I must be ok. The stress was program not ministry.

The families there were wonderful, and tried. The stress in the Catholic church is much more on how the leaders are to teach and lead the laity. The laity ends up not seeing themselves as ministers. We are all ministers! We are all theologians!

When I worked with Dj, he constantly taught and told his kids how they were theologians and ministers. He broke down that boundary for the students and had them pursue and grow in leadership. They intern were able to take up the mantel and grow. The families there continue to encourage and feed me even though I was only there for two summer internships.

This is the response we all need to have for our shepherds. I am racking my brain now to think of the other ways I can support my shepherd. She has supported me and ministered to me. I want to make sure I do what I can to represent God to her and help her grow. If that means making it possible for her to leave on a vacation and know that everything is taken care of then that is what needs to happen. If it means taking one of the responsibilities off of her list then we all need to step up and do that for our ministers.

There is an analogy I have heard used many times. It is that ministers come to God to get their cup filled. Then they must pour out their cup into others. Simply put this is how we burn out pastors. It implies that when ever I am low they need to step up and feed me. It takes all the responsibility off of the "sheep".

Instead we should all pull close to God, the living water, so that all of our cups can overflow into one an other's. This allows us to all become full, and for the living water with us to flow back into our pastor's cup.

Feed your Parents!
Feed your Mentors!
Feed your Teachers!
Feed your Shepherd!