shepherding the shepherd
from PreachingToday.com
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.
So… So Human
It’s a wonder to read that Jesus took on humanity when we ourselves, blessed with humanness since birth, are so reluctant to own it. Pastors especially seem bent on being superhuman at least part of the time, lifting more than we were intended to carry, working well past exhaustion, and trying to serve never-ending cups of cold water from a bone-dry well.