Acts 20:28 - [Paul says] "Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which He obtained with His own blood."
This devotion pairs with this weekend's Lutheran Hour sermon, which can be found at lhm.org.
A lot has changed with the Christian church in the last two thousand years. The church now is very different from what it was when the book of Acts was written. At that time, there were no dedicated church buildings, no formal Christian schools or universities, no billion-dollar Christian music industry, no Christian broadcasting networks or publishing conglomerates, no Christian T-shirts or Christian lobbyists or bumper stickers. The church back then was different. Much has changed since. But one thing has been constant: there were pastors—men called by Jesus, appointed by the church, to gather people, to speak to them in the Name of Jesus.
When the New Testament pictures a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ, it's more than just having a personal relationship with God. It's more than having a biblical worldview. It's more than having certain moral values. In the New Testament's way of seeing things, to be a Christian is to have a pastor, or many pastors, pulling for you.
In Acts, we're told that when new communities of Jesus-followers were formed, the people who started those churches, as they moved on to start new ones in other places, they "appointed elders for them in every church" (Acts 14:23b). Later we're told that these "elders" were appointed to oversee the churches, to serve as "pastors," as shepherds for the people there. In our passage today, we hear Paul tell these elders to "care" for the church of God. Another translation renders it as "be shepherds" for the church of God (NIV), because that's what the Greek word in the text means, to be a shepherd. And that's where we get the word "pastor." Pastor is the Latin word for "shepherd."
In the New Testament, these spiritual leaders went by different titles: ministers (see Colossians 1:7), overseers (see Philippians 1:1), stewards of the mystery (see 1 Corinthians 4:1), elders of the church (see 1 Peter 5:1). But the different titles amount to one job, one calling: pastor—shepherd. Of course, this job really only belongs to Jesus. "I am the Good Shepherd," He says, "I lay down My life for the sheep" (John 10:14a, 15b). And by His Spirit, we respond and say, "The LORD is my Shepherd" (my Pastor) (Psalm 23:1a). Jesus is your Chief Shepherd, your Principal Pastor. And He wants to give you a local pastor—someone who knows your name and walks alongside you, an under-shepherd who will give you a call, come looking for you when you're in trouble. That's how much He loves you.
WE PRAY: Dear Jesus, thank You for sending us Your under-shepherds to be our pastors. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Rev. Dr. Michael Zeigler, Speaker for The Lutheran Hour.
Reflection Questions:
1. Who is the first person of whom you remember thinking, "That's my pastor"?
2. Jesus doesn't "need" help being our Pastor, but clearly, He delights to share the work. Why do you think He does?
3. What's something small you could do to help make your local pastor's work less of a burden and more of a joy? (See Hebrews 13:17.)
Today's Bible Readings: 1 Kings 19-20 Acts 13:26-52
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