How Does a Good Pastor Feed the Lord's Flock?
Type of Event: Worship Service: Sermon only
Date Recorded: 10 Sep, 2006
Location: Pittsburgh, PA 
Description: "The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them." (Ezekiel 34:4)
The Lord gives a sort of job description to His New Church priests in Arcana Caelestia 10794 when He says that...
"It is their duty to teachpeople the way to heaven and also to guide them. They must instruct them in the teachings of their Church and guide them to lead lives in keeping with those teachings. Priests who teach truths and guide people by means of them to goodness of lifeand so to the Lord are good shepherds; but those who teach yet do not guide people to goodness of life and so to the Lord are bad shepherds."
In Latin, the language the Writings for the New Church were written in, the same word is used for "pastor" and "shepherd". To be a good pastor, then, requires that a priest teach the truths of the Church, not what he believes to be true. But that's not all. These truths are to be taught in such a way that those learning the truths are led to the goodness of life, like sheep are led to green pastures and clear water. Just telling the sheep that there is such a thing as green pastures and clear water is not enough to be a good pastor. As the Lord said in Ezekiel, "The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who are sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost" (34:4). A pastor doing his job justly, faithfully, and sincerely, will be doing all of these things.
Why do you care what the pastor's job is? There may be many reasons, but one of the biggest is so that you recognize what your pastor's goals for the congregation are. Pastors are in unique positions to see the weak, sick, broken, driven away, and lost in the congregation. And it is the goal of a good pastor to strengthen, heal, bind, bring back, and seek, both individuals in his congregation and for the congregation as a whole. And he does this by teaching the truths of the church and leading by them to the goodness oflife. A good shepherd cannot lead "with force and cruelty" but can only suggest, encourage, and challenge. And then get out of the way! People have a direct connection with the Lord, not one through the pastor. The Lord is the door of the sheepfold through which both pastor and congregation must pass.
In the church community of the Pittsburgh New Church, I hear about and see many examples of people who are feeling weak or sick or broken. And I try to bring them the strengthening, healing, binding leaves of the tree which are the Lord's truths. But most of all, I see and talk with people who are feeling distant and separated, people who feel like the sheep are wandering away from each other, or are being driven away from the flock. And this issomething that is not best addressed on an individual level. Instead, it is the pastor's responsibility to teach the whole church community about what holds a community together like a flock, and then to use those teachings to guide the whole into re-strengthening the ties that bind them together. Remember what the bishops told the priests in Conjugial Love: church communities are bound together and filled with goodness by working on bringing forth the fruits of love, that is, doing the Lord's truth. Working as a community to bring the Lord's truths into your individual lives is how congregations are really made because then people are performing a common use: helping each other find the green pastures and the clear waters where they will no longer be prey but will dwell together in security and peace.
To see that this is true, read John 10:1-6, Ezekiel 34, and Conjugial Love 9.
Archived at http://www.PittsburghNewChurch.org/
References: Eze. 34; John 10:1-10; ML 9.
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1How Does a Good Pastor Lead the Lord's Flock? (Amos Glenn, Pittsburgh) - Eze 34:4 (Sep 10, 2006)21m 0s
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