Scripture lessons: Ezek. 34: 8-16 , 1 Pet. 5: 1-4, Luke. 15: 1-10.
“Jesus sent me to witness to the lost” (In India) shouted a Canadian Missionary during a heated discussion between the conservatives and liberals in a Kodaikanal School Church Council meeting. According to him the “lost” are people of all non-Christian faith backgrounds and the liberals, who according to his standards, were not “true Christians”! The Canadian was convinced that he was doing God’s work of preaching the Good News to the “heathen” in India. His aggressive and often inhuman mission incited serious troubles both within the school campus and outside; and his mission did not end up peacefully. The usage of terms such as “lost”, “shepherd” etc. are not uncommon in Christian circles.
The parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin in Luke’s gospel take us right into the context namely, the character of the Shepherd/Owner. God, the Good Shepherd, is concerned about the lost. In this meditation, I want to focus on the first parable and occasionally refer to the one of the lost coin to reflect on the significance of the “shepherding ministry” or pastoral care in India today.
The passage shows that the sheep owner diligently searches for the sheep. The parables are set in a controversial context in which Jesus angered the Jewish religious leaders by welcoming and sharing the table with the outcastes and the wretched in the Jewish society. The two parables use a common theme apollymi (meaning lost) and heurisko (meaning found). The context of the first parable reflects a Palestinian farming setting. In the Old Testament God is described as Israel’s shepherd (Is. 40: 11); by contrast, in the New Testament, the image is limited to Jesus’ parables (Lk. 15: 1 ff). Both in the Old Testament and Christian literature the Shepherd image also represents leaders of the people who did not serve the sheep well. Yahweh denounces such faithless shepherds (Ezek. 34), who for their personal gains, ignored and scattered the sheep and neglected their care. The true nature and character of God manifested through the parables interest all of us. They are examined under three headings.
1. The diligently seeking God:
God the Shepherd is one who searches for the lost and the least. God invests much effort and is genuinely concerned about the search. Should one sheep get astray the Shepherd leaves the 99 secure in the field and brings back to the fold the frightened and disoriented sheep. The lost one is temporarily more important than the rest who do not need care right now. Because of the high value of the sheep it is no token search. In spite of the hurdles along the way, the search is stopped only when the lost one is found. The focus here is on the shepherd’s diligent searching than on the straying. Jesus takes the place of God who performs the acts of God. The seeking of the lost needs certain other qualities as well.
2. The courageous God:
The diligently seeking God is also a courageous God. Here courage does not mean the tough/strong image but the calm, fearless shepherd who is willing to take risks to the extent of self sacrifice for the lost one. The shepherd in the parable took two risks: first, the risk of leaving the 99 behind; second, readiness to face any unexpected event in the act of saving. The diligence and courage sustain the shepherd to continue the search till the lost is found. The obstacles on the way do not block the shepherd from searching.
The shepherd image is a paradigm for God’s care and concern. Jesus who fulfills the ministry as the Good Shepherd is the forerunner of the ministry of shepherding. Alastair Campbell, a British Pastoral Theologian, finds in Jesus’ words, deeds and sufferings the character of a courageous shepherd (Alastair V. Campbell, Rediscovering Pastoral Care,1986). It is inclusive of, but is not limited to, Jesus’ relationship with his parent God, his certainty of the supremacy of love, his courage to move and eat with the outcastes and the marginalized of his time, to share bread and wine with his betrayer and even to allow himself to be tortured until death. The inner wholeness and oneness with God and humanity are crucial to Jesus’ image as the Good Shepherd. The Shepherd’s task does not end with searching and finding the lost one but includes rejoicing and celebrating also.
3. The rejoicing and celebrating God:
When the lost is found there is much rejoicing. The parable describes the joy of the shepherd who finds the sheep which was separated from the company and the host. Rejoicing and celebrating are not private and exclusive ceremonies. The shepherd invites neighbors to join the feast. God takes more delight to celebrate with the repentant outcastes than with the Jewish religious leaders. Their righteousness does not make God rejoice. Because of their attitude, they separated themselves from the table fellowship. The parable of the lost coin has the same ending. There the woman finds the lost coin after a diligent search, and when found, she includes her women friends and neighbors in the celebration!
The shepherd image in the parable of the lost sheep is central to pastoral care. The term “pastoral” which is often associated with the image “shepherd” is not merely a function but a “perspective”, an “attitude” or “point of view” (Seward Hiltner, Preface to Pastoral Theology, 1958). Seward Hiltner, a North American Pastoral Theologian, argues that this “perspective” should govern all activities of the church.
Both the parables calls for a paradigm shift in the way we conceive and practice pastoral care in India. I want to briefly comment on three aspects.
First, if pastoral care and counseling are to be relevant to India they should be informed by the multi-faith, multi-cultural and socio-economic realities of her people. Pastoral Counselling is more than a one to one conversation in the comforts of the counselor’s therapy room. It is facilitating the compassionate encounter of a loving and caring God in the painful moments of the troubled person’s crisis. In this encounter the humans are the “living human documents” (Anton T. Boisen, The Exploration of the Inner World, 1952); in other words, the broken, wretched or outcast bodies become the reference point of the theory and practice of pastoral care. For instance, our ministry among the Persons Living with HIV/AIDS is not to them but with them in the sense that their infected bodies become, in Dr. George Zachariah’s words, “authentic texts” (George Zachariah, “Ethics in the Time of HIV and AIDS: Celebrating Infectious Memories for Positive Living”, Asian Christian Review, Vol 4: No: 1, Summer 2010) or subjects of pastoral ministry. Thus theology is not borne out of the professor’s study or a method of “God management” (K.M. George, The Silent Roots, 1994) using verbal and theological jargons but it is borne out of theological reflections on the raw realities of human lives. It is pastoral theology at its best.
Second, pastoral care is a community task. The man and the woman in the parables rejoice and celebrate the finding of the lost sheep/coin with their neighbors. It is important to note the leadership role of the woman in the parable of the lost coin. Pastoral care and church leadership are not the prerogatives of a group of male clergy. Therefore, they need rethinking along gender equality lines. This is a challenge to churches and institutions which are not even willing to consider women for pastoral ministry and other leadership positions. In spite of the many social services that the church and its agencies are engaged in, many of them seldom share their resources and function exclusively in providing care. As a faith community we need to reflect on how we must go beyond our narrow ecclesial and ethnic clan consciousness and theological differences to minister to people who do not belong to our fold. As a hospital chaplain, I was confronted by many people of non-Christian backgrounds regarding my openness to ministry with them. Often I am spiritually urged to break my ecclesial norms to provide pastoral care including sacraments to people and their families in crisis! Giving a plate of food to a hungry person, a glass of water to a thirsty person, offering a word of prayer where needed, a moment of solidarity with the marginalized, a helping hand to a visually handicapped, all these may not receive recognition in the national or world conference of theologians and church leaders but they too are acts of care in God’s name. I compare my painful experience of being refused drinking water in the cafeteria of a Christian organization in Chennai with the Chennai Jain community’s compassionate act of providing drinking water in clay pots to the public!
Third and last, but not the least, is the narrow understanding of the term “pastoral” in churches and even in theological institutions in India. The term should not be confined to the function of a pastor or those who teach and learn pastoral care but it should govern all our Christian activities. It is a sad reality that in most of the theological institutions, pastoral care is given the lowest priority, be it the appointment of faculty or the motivation given to the students to specialize in this field. But, very recently, there are some optimistic signs from the Serampore Senate (University) to promote pastoral care in theological institutions. My point is that, not only pastoral care and counselling but all activities in churches and theological institutions also need to have a pastoral perspective. With reference to Gurukul College this includes the Gurukul cultural fete and even the finance campaign which will be inaugurated at the end of this week. For me finance campaign is, in addition to collecting money for the college (which is important), our rededication to the bold theological vision and mission of our college. It also includes responsibility and accountability to the donors, the churches and the public who entrust us with their material resources to be used for God’s glory.
Many years ago, our group of theological students from Union Theological Seminary, New York City, visited the United Nations General Assembly hall. Our guide took us to various sections sponsored by each member nation. In one area I noticed that the ceiling was not completed and I asked the guide for the reason. He replied that the European nation which undertook that work intentionally left it incomplete to constantly remind the UN of its unfinished task. Sisters and brothers in Christ, the current realities in today’s world is a reminder of the church’s unfinished pastoral ministry and mission. May the Spirit of God inspire us to follow the great Shepherd, Jesus the Christ, to fulfill God’s ministry and mission. Amen.
“Jesus sent me to witness to the lost” (In India) shouted a Canadian Missionary during a heated discussion between the conservatives and liberals in a Kodaikanal School Church Council meeting. According to him the “lost” are people of all non-Christian faith backgrounds and the liberals, who according to his standards, were not “true Christians”! The Canadian was convinced that he was doing God’s work of preaching the Good News to the “heathen” in India. His aggressive and often inhuman mission incited serious troubles both within the school campus and outside; and his mission did not end up peacefully. The usage of terms such as “lost”, “shepherd” etc. are not uncommon in Christian circles.
The parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin in Luke’s gospel take us right into the context namely, the character of the Shepherd/Owner. God, the Good Shepherd, is concerned about the lost. In this meditation, I want to focus on the first parable and occasionally refer to the one of the lost coin to reflect on the significance of the “shepherding ministry” or pastoral care in India today.
The passage shows that the sheep owner diligently searches for the sheep. The parables are set in a controversial context in which Jesus angered the Jewish religious leaders by welcoming and sharing the table with the outcastes and the wretched in the Jewish society. The two parables use a common theme apollymi (meaning lost) and heurisko (meaning found). The context of the first parable reflects a Palestinian farming setting. In the Old Testament God is described as Israel’s shepherd (Is. 40: 11); by contrast, in the New Testament, the image is limited to Jesus’ parables (Lk. 15: 1 ff). Both in the Old Testament and Christian literature the Shepherd image also represents leaders of the people who did not serve the sheep well. Yahweh denounces such faithless shepherds (Ezek. 34), who for their personal gains, ignored and scattered the sheep and neglected their care. The true nature and character of God manifested through the parables interest all of us. They are examined under three headings.
1. The diligently seeking God:
God the Shepherd is one who searches for the lost and the least. God invests much effort and is genuinely concerned about the search. Should one sheep get astray the Shepherd leaves the 99 secure in the field and brings back to the fold the frightened and disoriented sheep. The lost one is temporarily more important than the rest who do not need care right now. Because of the high value of the sheep it is no token search. In spite of the hurdles along the way, the search is stopped only when the lost one is found. The focus here is on the shepherd’s diligent searching than on the straying. Jesus takes the place of God who performs the acts of God. The seeking of the lost needs certain other qualities as well.
2. The courageous God:
The diligently seeking God is also a courageous God. Here courage does not mean the tough/strong image but the calm, fearless shepherd who is willing to take risks to the extent of self sacrifice for the lost one. The shepherd in the parable took two risks: first, the risk of leaving the 99 behind; second, readiness to face any unexpected event in the act of saving. The diligence and courage sustain the shepherd to continue the search till the lost is found. The obstacles on the way do not block the shepherd from searching.
The shepherd image is a paradigm for God’s care and concern. Jesus who fulfills the ministry as the Good Shepherd is the forerunner of the ministry of shepherding. Alastair Campbell, a British Pastoral Theologian, finds in Jesus’ words, deeds and sufferings the character of a courageous shepherd (Alastair V. Campbell, Rediscovering Pastoral Care,1986). It is inclusive of, but is not limited to, Jesus’ relationship with his parent God, his certainty of the supremacy of love, his courage to move and eat with the outcastes and the marginalized of his time, to share bread and wine with his betrayer and even to allow himself to be tortured until death. The inner wholeness and oneness with God and humanity are crucial to Jesus’ image as the Good Shepherd. The Shepherd’s task does not end with searching and finding the lost one but includes rejoicing and celebrating also.
3. The rejoicing and celebrating God:
When the lost is found there is much rejoicing. The parable describes the joy of the shepherd who finds the sheep which was separated from the company and the host. Rejoicing and celebrating are not private and exclusive ceremonies. The shepherd invites neighbors to join the feast. God takes more delight to celebrate with the repentant outcastes than with the Jewish religious leaders. Their righteousness does not make God rejoice. Because of their attitude, they separated themselves from the table fellowship. The parable of the lost coin has the same ending. There the woman finds the lost coin after a diligent search, and when found, she includes her women friends and neighbors in the celebration!
The shepherd image in the parable of the lost sheep is central to pastoral care. The term “pastoral” which is often associated with the image “shepherd” is not merely a function but a “perspective”, an “attitude” or “point of view” (Seward Hiltner, Preface to Pastoral Theology, 1958). Seward Hiltner, a North American Pastoral Theologian, argues that this “perspective” should govern all activities of the church.
Both the parables calls for a paradigm shift in the way we conceive and practice pastoral care in India. I want to briefly comment on three aspects.
First, if pastoral care and counseling are to be relevant to India they should be informed by the multi-faith, multi-cultural and socio-economic realities of her people. Pastoral Counselling is more than a one to one conversation in the comforts of the counselor’s therapy room. It is facilitating the compassionate encounter of a loving and caring God in the painful moments of the troubled person’s crisis. In this encounter the humans are the “living human documents” (Anton T. Boisen, The Exploration of the Inner World, 1952); in other words, the broken, wretched or outcast bodies become the reference point of the theory and practice of pastoral care. For instance, our ministry among the Persons Living with HIV/AIDS is not to them but with them in the sense that their infected bodies become, in Dr. George Zachariah’s words, “authentic texts” (George Zachariah, “Ethics in the Time of HIV and AIDS: Celebrating Infectious Memories for Positive Living”, Asian Christian Review, Vol 4: No: 1, Summer 2010) or subjects of pastoral ministry. Thus theology is not borne out of the professor’s study or a method of “God management” (K.M. George, The Silent Roots, 1994) using verbal and theological jargons but it is borne out of theological reflections on the raw realities of human lives. It is pastoral theology at its best.
Second, pastoral care is a community task. The man and the woman in the parables rejoice and celebrate the finding of the lost sheep/coin with their neighbors. It is important to note the leadership role of the woman in the parable of the lost coin. Pastoral care and church leadership are not the prerogatives of a group of male clergy. Therefore, they need rethinking along gender equality lines. This is a challenge to churches and institutions which are not even willing to consider women for pastoral ministry and other leadership positions. In spite of the many social services that the church and its agencies are engaged in, many of them seldom share their resources and function exclusively in providing care. As a faith community we need to reflect on how we must go beyond our narrow ecclesial and ethnic clan consciousness and theological differences to minister to people who do not belong to our fold. As a hospital chaplain, I was confronted by many people of non-Christian backgrounds regarding my openness to ministry with them. Often I am spiritually urged to break my ecclesial norms to provide pastoral care including sacraments to people and their families in crisis! Giving a plate of food to a hungry person, a glass of water to a thirsty person, offering a word of prayer where needed, a moment of solidarity with the marginalized, a helping hand to a visually handicapped, all these may not receive recognition in the national or world conference of theologians and church leaders but they too are acts of care in God’s name. I compare my painful experience of being refused drinking water in the cafeteria of a Christian organization in Chennai with the Chennai Jain community’s compassionate act of providing drinking water in clay pots to the public!
Third and last, but not the least, is the narrow understanding of the term “pastoral” in churches and even in theological institutions in India. The term should not be confined to the function of a pastor or those who teach and learn pastoral care but it should govern all our Christian activities. It is a sad reality that in most of the theological institutions, pastoral care is given the lowest priority, be it the appointment of faculty or the motivation given to the students to specialize in this field. But, very recently, there are some optimistic signs from the Serampore Senate (University) to promote pastoral care in theological institutions. My point is that, not only pastoral care and counselling but all activities in churches and theological institutions also need to have a pastoral perspective. With reference to Gurukul College this includes the Gurukul cultural fete and even the finance campaign which will be inaugurated at the end of this week. For me finance campaign is, in addition to collecting money for the college (which is important), our rededication to the bold theological vision and mission of our college. It also includes responsibility and accountability to the donors, the churches and the public who entrust us with their material resources to be used for God’s glory.
Many years ago, our group of theological students from Union Theological Seminary, New York City, visited the United Nations General Assembly hall. Our guide took us to various sections sponsored by each member nation. In one area I noticed that the ceiling was not completed and I asked the guide for the reason. He replied that the European nation which undertook that work intentionally left it incomplete to constantly remind the UN of its unfinished task. Sisters and brothers in Christ, the current realities in today’s world is a reminder of the church’s unfinished pastoral ministry and mission. May the Spirit of God inspire us to follow the great Shepherd, Jesus the Christ, to fulfill God’s ministry and mission. Amen.
[Rev. Fr. Dr. George Varughese, the leader of this meditation, is the Assistant Professor in the Department of Christian Ministry in Gurukul Lutheran Theological College and Research Institute, Chennai,India.]
