shepherding the shepherd
from PreachingToday.com
‘The Crowning Grace of Old Age’
A seminary student once told me, “When I think of grace, I don’t think of my pastors or youth pastor. I think of the old ladies in my church.” He didn’t mean that his pastors had failed him but rather that those elderly women had brought him a unique gift of grace.
Arborists
A kingdom axiom says the righteous always flourish, “like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.” Considering that, what great work we pastors have been given! We are like kingdom arborists, attending to righteous believers planted in the courtyard of God’s high and holy temple. We are gardeners in God’s re-creation of Eden, his arboretum of saints.
A Song That Sets Us Apart
Our “psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit” trace their lineage back to the Hebrew psalter. There, one psalm, Psalm 92, is designated, “For the Sabbath Day.” It is still sung by Jews every Sabbath morning and evening and at every festival. Why? Because it constantly reminds Israel who they are and what sets them—and us—apart.
‘For the Sabbath Day’
Sabbath/Sunday is our God-given day for head-clearing. Pastors often carve out personal Sabbath times away from the holy hubbub of our Sunday morning work, but we also need those Sunday services together with our brothers and sisters for our own souls’ sake.
Awe
Our challenge is to preach on such texts so that people not only understand them, but their eyes go wide and their hearts leap. Preachers serve as God’s advance awe team.
The Hard Part of Service
There is only one good thing that humans can do that Almighty God cannot: obey. But obeying God does not come naturally to any human being, not even Jesus.