The Pastor
A sermon series
How many hats can one pastor wear?
I have been doing pastoral ministry the better part of 15 years now.
I remember when I first got started. Boy, was I green behind the ears.
I had no idea what I was getting into or how much work it would be.
I went in with the desire to preach. I had no clue how many other things would need to be done.
Or, how much those other things mattered.
What is a pastor?
That is a question I had to figure out for myself. The feeling I get after having done this for these past 15 years is that some lay people are still trying to figure it out also. People come with preconceived notions about things. They think they have some things figured out. Most often, they do not.
Lets answer that question by starting in the most basic of places.
You want to know what a word means, where do you go? You got it.
Definition of PASTOR
: a spiritual overseer; especially : a clergyman serving a local church or parish
— pas·tor·ship noun
Origin of PASTOR
Middle English pastour, from Anglo-French, from Latin pastor herdsman, from pascere to feed — more at food
34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” 25 For “you were like sheep going astray,”[a] but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
First Known Use: 14th century
(I knew there was a connection to food in here!) We will revisit that!!! (Next message)
The origins here are especially important. The word is still relatively new to the lexicon.
Pastor, as in shepherding, feeding, caring for, didn't come into use until the 14th century.
Pastor, as in shepherding, feeding, caring for, didn't come into use until the 14th century.
That means that there was no word for what we pastors do back in New Testament times.
This whole role of the pastor is something truly constructed by the thoughts and desires of men and women looking for something to define the changing role and need they saw in the church.
We need someone who can "feed" us, look after us, take care of us.
We need a pastour, a herdsman.
I don't know that I have ever seen a word take such a dramatic amount of description as this one word, but Webster's went into great length as it covers the historical use of the word.
This whole role of the pastor is something truly constructed by the thoughts and desires of men and women looking for something to define the changing role and need they saw in the church.
We need someone who can "feed" us, look after us, take care of us.
We need a pastour, a herdsman.
I don't know that I have ever seen a word take such a dramatic amount of description as this one word, but Webster's went into great length as it covers the historical use of the word.
Definition of PASTOR
transitive verb
: to serve as pastor of (as a church)
First Known Use of PASTOR
1623
Alright, so, the word gets it's origin in the 14th century, but isn't actually used to describe this person serving the church until the 1600s.
Did you catch the transitive verb part? Hmmmmm. Definitely coming back to that. (Next message)
SO, now that we have opened the door to all this, what exactly is a pastor?
That last couple of Sundays we have looked at the word and tried to understand who this person is and what he/she does in the church.
We have looked at the pastor as part of the big pie that makes up the body of Christ. (Because, some people try to make the pastor the whole pie.)
We have look at what an overseer's role is in this place called ministry. We covered what their personality, or better yet, their attitude and actions should look like as they serve.
When you think of the word, pastor, what's the first thing that comes to mind?
For most, the image of our Savior comes to mind.
This person who stands up front and speaks on Sundays is supposed to somehow reflect the nature of Christ or point us towards Him in some way.
Jesus exemplifies the nature of a shepherd, a herdsman, a person who cares for others.
That last couple of Sundays we have looked at the word and tried to understand who this person is and what he/she does in the church.
We have looked at the pastor as part of the big pie that makes up the body of Christ. (Because, some people try to make the pastor the whole pie.)
We have look at what an overseer's role is in this place called ministry. We covered what their personality, or better yet, their attitude and actions should look like as they serve.
When you think of the word, pastor, what's the first thing that comes to mind?
For most, the image of our Savior comes to mind.
This person who stands up front and speaks on Sundays is supposed to somehow reflect the nature of Christ or point us towards Him in some way.
Jesus exemplifies the nature of a shepherd, a herdsman, a person who cares for others.
Mark 6:34
New International Version (NIV)
The Apostle Peter, himself charged with feeding the sheep after his denial of Jesus, would share words remembered from the Old Testament.
1 Peter 2:24-25
New International Version (NIV)
Jesus is that great Shepherd of the sheep.
When a person accepts this call into ministry we become part of that shepherding.
Animal sheep, for the most part, can't take care of themselves.
In using the illustration of sheep as a description of human beings, Jesus is saying there are times when it seems like we, as human beings, have a hard time taking care of ourselves too.
We need somebody who can rise up and do what many cannot. Lead.
Sheep need someone to guide the way, to keep them safe, to watch over them while they sleep.
Animal sheep, for the most part, can't take care of themselves.
In using the illustration of sheep as a description of human beings, Jesus is saying there are times when it seems like we, as human beings, have a hard time taking care of ourselves too.
We need somebody who can rise up and do what many cannot. Lead.
Sheep need someone to guide the way, to keep them safe, to watch over them while they sleep.
Such is the life that we pastours have been called into.
I think it might be helpful and important to note that there are different ways of shepherding and caring for the church.
Have you ever taken the time to really get to know and understand your church?
Are you truly in touch with what your church needs at this particular moment in time?
Several years back when I was in the Nazarene denomination, I was taking classes for ordination at MVNU in Mt. Vernon, OH
I was in a class that dealt with pastoral ministry. The instructor spoke to us about the different gifts and abilities a pastor can have and how the gifts and abilities can vary from pastor to pastor.
He asked the class, "Now, how many of you here today as called to be pastors?"
Pretty much everybody raised their hand. (There were just a couple of guys who were going into youth ministry.)
Our instructor came back with another question. "OK, now, how many of you are called to preach?"
Amazingly, maybe half the class raised their hand.
Not everyone who accepts this call to the role of pastor has the same gifts and abilities.
It is different for everybody involved.
Paul would go into great description in Romans 12 about our gifts and talents.
(Now, the list he provides here is for everybody.) We all have gifts given to us from Above.
(Which has to do with that transitive verb thing I said we would revisit.)
For the sake of this message, I am narrowing the field to speak of us pastors.
Romans 12:6-8
New International Version (NIV)
My first pastor in the Nazarene church was a man named Jay Hawes.
He spent several years working for UPS before accepting that call to the ministry.
Jay had leadership skills. He knew how to take command of a room and work it.
He was a real likeable guy. Kind of hard nosed. Knew what he wanted to accomplish.
Couldn't preach worth a lick.
And, that's just how it was.
Jay would have been one of those guys back in the classroom at MVNU raising his hand to confirm he had been called to be a pastor and lowering his hand when it came to having the gift to preach.
He had a really hard time developing and putting it all together for messages on Sunday morning.
Some Sunday mornings were painful when it came to the sermon.
Thankfully, there were many other +s to Jay's ministry.
What the Shelby Church of the Nazarene needed at that time was someone who could help them straighten out some financial issues and get the church pointed in the right direction for the future.
What they needed was someone to spear-head the children's ministry and drive that forward, bringing in kids from all over town. His wife, Judy, was a huge help in that area.
This was what Jay did as pastor of the church.
Once those foundations were laid, the next guy in, Lester Champer, picked up the reins.
Lester could preach. He had a different personality that Jay's, but God puts the person in place who can help the church in their moment of need, at that time.
Lester has been there 15 years now. And, the church is stable and going forward.
What kind of shepherd does your church need?
What truly are the needs of your church? Do you know?
Is the great need of your church at this moment teaching and preaching?
If you feel like your belly is full and your soul content, do you need someone to lead you into acts of service and mercy?
If you have those things in place, does someone need to come and lead you into what it means to give?
Do you understand the great mysteries before us in the Christian faith? Maybe prophesying is what is needed in the church.
Many times, a pastor has to wear all of these hats, whether they are truly gifted in any of them.
The Lord stretches us and helps us to grow and be of use in many areas.
Because He is the one who gives the gifts and He is the one who knows where the needs are.
He IS the Great Shepherd.
And, guys like me get to help take care of the flock.
