Sermon January 24, 1999 Caring for the Sheep based on John 21:15-17.

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

January 24th is the date chosen long ago for the commemoration of St. Timothy, Pastor and Confessor. There are about 30 different special days like this in the calendar which the Missouri Synod uses for worship. Some churches would celebrate them if they fell on a Sunday, but probably most churches did not celebrate these special commemorations. In the last year the publishing house of our Synod has started moving towards including these special commemorations, rather than the regular Sunday observances. They print our bulletin covers and so the covers would come out with the readings selected for these special days. The publisher ended up making a mistake in the printing of this week's cover. To correct this error, they sent out the extra insert which you have with correct readings for Day of St. Timothy.

Now, just who was Timothy? You might expect to find the answer in the readings for the day. It is strange how they do not give us any information about Timothy. Instead the readings bring us to the subject of pastors in general. Since Timothy is remembered as a pastor, the readings refer to what Timothy did. It is probably good, then, to first review this person Timothy.

He had been raised carefully in the Jewish teachings by his mother Eunice and grandmother Lois. These two who taught him the Scriptures of the Old Testament are specifically mentioned in the Bible. Timothy was converted to Christianity through the Apostle Paul sharing the Gospel. The people in the area where he lived in Asia Minor, what is Turkey today, spoke well of him as he worked in the churches there. On a return trip, Paul then took on Timothy as his companion and set him apart for church work. According to tradition, Timothy was later a bishop at the church in Ephesus.

Paul called Timothy his "beloved and faithful child in the Lord." Paul frequently mentions him in his epistles. He wrote two letters to Timothy which we have in the Scriptures in 1st and 2nd Timothy. In these two epistles, Paul encourages and counsels Timothy as he serves as a young pastor. Paul entrusted the missions in Thessalonica and Corinth to Timothy at different times. Later, Timothy seems to have settled in Ephesus, which is where he was when Paul writes him the two letters we have in the Bible.

So, Timothy served as a pastor and on this day we honor his work. We look to his service to the Lord and seek to follow his example for us. We want to avoid worshiping or venerating the saints however. This failing of the Roman Catholic Church leads them into the practice of praying to particular saints rather than praying exclusively to the only One who can hear and answer our prayers.

The readings for this Day of St. Timothy draw our attention to the work of pastors in general. We commemorate the work of pastors among us. Pastors serve the Lord by tending to His sheep. The gospel lesson from John brings out this role of a pastor to tend the sheep. In this lesson, Peter is asked about his love for the Lord. Answering that he does love the Lord, Peter is directed then to demonstrate that love by caring for Jesus' sheep.

Peter has the unfortunate distinction of being the one known for his denial of Jesus. All the disciples ran when Jesus was arrested, but Peter was put in a difficult position to which his sinful nature responded by denying Jesus. Three times Peter claimed not to know Jesus. Three times Peter was asked, and three times he denied. Then the rooster crowed.

Following His resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples on several occasions. It was the third such occasion in which Jesus ate with them. Not being just a ghost or illusion, Jesus in a resurrected human body was to consume bread and fish with His disciples. Then Jesus asked Peter His questions. Three times, Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him. The first time, Jesus specifically asked if Peter loved Him more than these things. "These things" was most likely a reference to the fish and bread they had just eaten. Peter's response is "Yes, Lord, You know that I love You." He alludes to Jesus' divine power to know all things. He would have known that Peter loved Him without asking. Jesus then commanded Peter, "Feed my lambs."

The second time Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him and Peter replied the same way, "Yes." Jesus commands this time, "Tend my sheep." Finally Jesus asks the third time. This caused Peter to be sad. It may have been the fact that Jesus asked three times which made Peter sad, or it may have been that Jesus used a different word for "love" this third time. Peter's response this third time shows that he is puzzled as to why Jesus didn't know the answer. Jesus Christ, true God, knows all things. Why did He need to ask? Then Jesus commands Peter a third time, "Feed my sheep."

The fact that Jesus asked three times quite possibly has meaning. Three times Peter denied Jesus. Now Jesus asks three times for Peter to confess his love for the Lord. Some editions of the Bible put labels on this text, calling it "The Restoration of Peter." We should always remember that these labels are not part of the Bible. This label, "The Restoration of Peter" may lead us into believing that Peter needed to earn his restoration by confessing his love for Jesus three times. Actually, Peter was restored to Jesus when Jesus died on the cross. It was there that He paid the price for Peter's sins. It was the crucifixion which reconciled and restored Peter. This public questioning and confession by Peter could be understood as making the restoration known to the world. It made it public knowledge that Peter was forgiven and restored to a right relationship with God in Jesus Christ. The dialog with Jesus communicated the restoration, but it happened at the cross.

As one who is restored to a holy relationship with God and confesses His love for the Savior, Peter was called to serve as a pastor. He was commanded to feed and tend to the sheep. Timothy was also called to feed and tend the sheep. Today, Pastors serve you by feeding and tending you.

It is always important to consider the question of how a pastor should do this. What should he feed the sheep? What food is good for the sheep and what is not good? We might ask, in the manner of the reading from Ezekiel, "Where is the good pasture and where is the bad?" Pastors should be feeding their sheep good food, and leading them to good pastures. They ought to warn them about bad food and lead them away from bad pastures.

What do the sheep want, however? Yes, that is an important question! What do the sheep desire? People who raise sheep tell me how the feeding habits of these animals can quite often lead them into trouble. They seem to want the pastures on the other side of the fence. They can trample and suffocate each other in trying to get to their food. Sheep have their own ideas on what they want to eat, and those ideas can get them into great trouble.

Pastors are called by God to feed the sheep good food. That good food must contain the nutrition of God's Word. The good food includes the sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. These are good food, food for the soul, food for eternal life.

As sinful sheep, however, you may not always desire God's Word. You may not thirst and hunger for the Lord to feed you. Instead, sheep may believe the food elsewhere is better. They may be led to look to other sources for nourishment, rather than the Lord. They may not honor and cherish the good food the Lord provides.

It is often a matter of control and self-service. The sheep want to make their own choices. They want to choose what they think is best, rather than what God desires. This leads us today, for example, to the situation with abortion. We remember the 1973 Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision at this time of the year. This decision "legalized" abortion in the laws of our country. So, more than a million sheep flock to have abortions each year, and little lambs are killed before they are born. Thirty-five million have been killed since the 1973 decision. This practice of murder seems right to sheep who want to be in control and make their own choices. It is what seems best to them, at the time. Later, many women who killed their unborn children are faced with unending guilt and prolonged stress over their attempt to control things. They need to come to know God's forgiveness also. Christ did indeed die for all sins. Though we hate the sin, we offer forgiveness and comfort to those who recognize that sin in their lives.

This sin of the sheep to attempt to control their lives with abortion also leads to the practice of euthanasia or mercy killing. Many elderly, ill, or disabled people are killed each year under the claim of "compassion." In reality, it is sheep trying to control their lives, rather than confessing that the Lord is in charge.

Sheep want to feed on the junk food of self-control and self-centeredness. They want to pasture in the fields of sin. It is not limited to sins of abortion and euthanasia. Each of us can look into our lives and see where we have gone astray from God's wishes. We can see where we wandered away from God's Word. We can see where we went to feed in bad pastures. This is the kind of food sheep will desire on their own-food that is bad for them.

Pastors are sent by God to lead the sheep away from their sins and the food they desire. Pastors are to lead the people into good pastures and to feed them with good food. The good food we have is Jesus Christ, the one who offered Himself for our sins. He is the one who rose again from the dead to lead us into eternal life.

This good food is the Gospel. A good diet is being fed with the knowledge that, in Christ, all our sins are forgiven. In Christ, all our wanderings and self-centered feeding on junk food are erased. The marks against us are removed. So, we lost and wandering sheep are brought back to the Lord. He bandages our injuries and strengthens our weakness. Through Christ, this gift of forgiveness, life and salvation is offered to all people.

This is the good food that pastors are to offer to their sheep. The good news is good food for all people. We ought to cherish this food. We ought to prize it so much that we will do anything to protect it. Many will refuse the good food, however. They will turn away from their pastor who is offering the nourishment they need. They will continue to feed on the junk food of self-centered living. They will fatten themselves on the need to control their lives. They will stuff themselves on what they believe is greener grass elsewhere. They will turn away from the good food and feed themselves on the bad. How sad it is that these people will walk away from the good food they need.

By the grace of God, we will continue to offer good food here. This will be a place to feast on the delights of our Lord. His grace is given to us. Today, we have the special gift of the very body and blood offered for your sins. Come, sheep, and receive God's good food for you. Come to the source of all grace and forgiveness, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.