Sheep without a shepherd

by Lydia Wassermann

John 10:14 - "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me."

“Mom, when pastor leaves, will we have to go with him?”

This question was asked by a young boy whose pastor was going to be leaving their church in the near future to go to a new calling. He was the only pastor the child had known at their church. His pastor was always the one there, and they would follow what he told them from God’s Word.  Now he was leaving. It made the boy wonder.

We refer to our pastors as our shepherds, and the congregation members are the flock of sheep a pastor leads. Sheep would follow their shepherd wherever he would lead them, so of course the congregation members would follow their pastor, right?        

Well, that may be what they would want to do. For years, they leaned on that pastor; they went to him for advice and comfort; they became friends. And now all of a sudden, he was going to be leaving them. It came as a shock to everyone. If the congregation were actually sheep, they would be feeling so incredibly helpless and alone, and not know where to turn. Thankfully the members were not actually sheep, but they did feel incredibly alone and almost helpless as they thought of their life without their dear pastor. 

There will come many times in our lives when we will not know to whom or where to turn, and times may seem bleak. Friends or family members may move away from us, or they may even pass away. But, even if people on this earth leave us, we always can turn to our Father in heaven. From before time began, God loved us and had plans for us.  Even though we were sinful and far from God, because he loved us so much, God sent his eternal Son to die on the cross to save us. What a great hope and comfort that is to us all! It is also a great assurance that we can go to God when we feel alone, when we feel helpless, and he will always be there, speaking to us through his Word.

For the church without a pastor, yes, for a time they will feel alone. They will miss their pastor, and be torn between wishing him to come back, but also being happy for this new chapter in his life. We can pray that they are strengthened by the assurance of God never abandoning them, by knowing that he has a plan for them, his people. Their Good Shepherd, Jesus, will always be with them.

Jesus was dearly loved by his disciples when he was on earth. They grew to love him as their teacher, and were full of fear when they thought they had lost him forever. But not even death could keep Jesus from them, and he promises us the same.  Recall the promise Jesus has made to us: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5).  The congregation missing its pastor--and we ourselves all through our lives--can  take comfort in this.

Prayer:  Dear heavenly Father, thank you for always being with us. Thank you for sending your Son, who was with us on earth for a time, promises his presence with us always, and who will be with us also in eternity.  Grant us strength to trust in your will for us, even when we don’t understand. Help us to lean on you and your love for us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

A letter to my son

Author's name withheld for privacy

A mother penned this letter to her son, a young adult who has been through much and has pulled away from church.  May we all heed this appeal to love -- and forgive -- one another more fully in the church.

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My dearest son,

Many years ago, before you or your sisters were born, your father and I took a Bible class through church.  I am not sure what the topic was, but I will never forget the statement the pastor said. He said, "I can't wait to get to heaven, as I have so many questions for God." All I could think was there must be something wrong with me, as I have no questions. I felt that when I get to heaven all I will say is, "Thank you." ... Boy has that changed.

We have been through so much, and life has certainly not been easy for you, most of all.  My question for God now would be, "Why did my beautiful children, especially my son, have to suffer so much?"  I know that we were never promised a 'charmed' life as Christians.  In fact, we were told the opposite. As Christians we will suffer for our faith.  But why you, my sweet boy?

When your Christian friends were cyber-bullying you, and a Christian mother was talking about you negatively to others, it was nearly backbreaking. You chose then to stop going to church.  You felt that if this is how Christians act, then you didn't want any part of it.  It is hard to argue with that; but blaming sinful people for their sins is one thing, blaming God is another.

I know that you have faith. We still talk about God, but not enough. You know that God loves you. You have gone through hell and back ... but the main point is that you came back. You couldn't have done that without God's help. God has given you a new life, a new outlook, a new hope. He has never left you. You have started over with so many things in your life to get to this point; it is time to start over with your attitude about those people that hurt you. Yes, they were and still are Christians; but they are also sinners. God has forgiven even the worst sins that you and I have ever done. Don't you think that it is time to forgive them?

I was angry too. But, that anger is sinful when we hold onto it, when we use it as a punishment. Forgiveness may be selfish, a way to make ourselves feel better, but it is also necessary to show love to God's people.  Jesus' beloved disciple John said, "Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters" (1 John 3:15-16).  My only real job on this earth was to make sure you and your sisters get to heaven. I want to be with you someday in eternity. Find forgiveness in your heart and come back to church.

All my love,

Mom

Entre Mundos

("Between Worlds")

Photograph and article by Nicole Wood, from travels in Peru

Concrete stairs. Barren walls. A dirt floor. A mostly empty room. Plastic chairs. A rickety table. An unadorned red tablecloth. Plain food - giant corn, baked potatoes, fresh goat cheese, warm milk. No utensils. Shared plates. A smartphone and a digital camera.

It felt off, this clashing of worlds. As I sipped from my mug and munched on salty cheese, the iPhone in my pocket felt more like a brick. I was on vacation with my Peruvian host family. That morning, we had ridden in a fifteen-passenger van to one of the remote villages in the mountains of Abancay. We were there to visit their family, people who did not even speak Spanish, let alone English. While our visit with them was brief, it greatly impacted me.

At this point in time, I had already been living in my small apartment outside of Lima for months. I had limited furniture, sporadic wi-fi, and a shower that often would stop working mid-shampoo. I naively thought I understood what it meant to live simply.

Yet, here were people surviving off of the food they grew and sharing padded cushions for beds on an earthen floor. They were so secluded that they only spoke the indigenous language of Quechua and rarely interacted with people outside of their village.

But, they had a church. They knew their Savior.

It was refreshing to be reminded of God’s blessings, both physical and spiritual. His message to me was clear - God will provide all that I truly need; physical blessings do not correlate to spiritual blessings. These villagers knew that, and they laughed and smiled with us despite our communication barriers. They were content with God’s grace.

And, as we left, an elderly farmer pulled out his flip phone to take a picture of us. 

To change a nation, you must change souls

by David Sellnow

Blessings to you as we celebrate Independence Day in the USA.  Political turmoil has abounded in recent months.  For a holiday installment of The Electric Gospel, I thought I'd dig out a bit of a sermon I once preached on 4th of July weekend.  I'll just post a snippet from the sermon here, but enough to make the point.

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There were two men from two countries.  Both men were married.  Neither man loved his wife.  In the one country, the divorce laws were very lenient. Divorce was a casual affair.  So the man in that country summarily divorced his wife and gave the matter no further thought. 

In the other country, laws were stern and severe.  Divorce was almost unheard of; it was only rarely granted.  Only with strong proof of infidelity or deadly abuse could a divorce be obtained.  So the man in that country did not bother going to court.  He knew the law. He stayed married to his wife. But he never loved her or showed her any love.

Which wife was happier? Neither. One was unhappily divorced; one was unhappily married.  What would have made a loving wife happy in either country had nothing to do with the divorce statutes.  It had everything to do with her husband.  A change of heart and soul in him was needed, not just a different set of laws.

As we look at the country we live in, we see plenty of problems and moral decay.  Christians wish their society would remain more in line with the commandments of God.  Sometimes we think the solution is to legislate stronger city and state ordinances,  enact constitutional amendments, insist that what the Bible says is godly must be enshrined as the law of the land.  But you can't change a nation's character with laws any more than you can make a law that makes a husband love his wife.  To change a person, you must change his soul.  The change a nation, you must change the souls of the people within it.

Whatever ungodly messes we see around us in society, the way to effect change is not merely through political action but spiritual activity.  We're not going to save souls by picketing city hall or state capitols to try to force everyone in town behave as we would like them to behave.  Besides, if we're honest, we each must admit that our own behavior isn't pure and perfect either.  We ourselves have needed a Savior just as much as any of our neighbors need him.

Our calling in Christ is to get out and speak God's truth.  His "word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart" (Romans 10:10).  The Lord "richly blesses all who call on him" (Romans 10:12). So we make it our mission to represent Christ as his ambassadors in the world, "as though God were making his appeal through us," imploring people on Christ's behalf: "Be reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:20).   And if the world around us puts pressure on us because of our Christian  confession, we take that all in stride, heeding what Christ's apostle urged us:

• "Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. ... Even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed.  Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened. But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander" (1 Peter 3:9,14-16).