Day 34—Saturday, March 28

Acts 20:28-33

Keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock, of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God that he obtained with the blood of his own Son. I know that after I have gone, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Some even from your own group will come distorting the truth in order to entice the disciples to follow them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to warn everyone with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the message of his grace, a message that is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all who are sanctified. I coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothing.

I have been leading a Bible study class on the Nicene Creed for some months now. It has made me particularly attuned to the language used about Jesus in the Bible, because grappling with the implications of that language was a big part of what the Church Fathers of the Fourth Century were doing (and arguing about). This passage is rich in subtextual connotations that speak to our current church and world.

Acts is an interesting book, because it relates the events in the very earliest period when the apostles and their immediate successors were trying to figure out how to have a church. The second half of the book—which includes this passage—is preoccupied with the ministry of Paul of Tarsus, the first highly successful evangelist to the Gentiles (i.e., us). His advice on how to have a church, to structure it, to maintain and build it over time, has continuing relevance to how we do what we do and why.

Paul’s first statement—that we must be “overseers” and “shepherd the church” is a call to each of us to do (1) practical things to build the church, and (2) to build up our brothers and sisters in Christ. The term he uses for “overseer” is the word in Greek that refers to anyone who organizes things, particularly civic activities—think of the person who plans events, convenes committees, plans activities and lessons, and sets up and takes down the room. The call to shepherd is more clear: build people up.

Following on this, Paul tells us to fear those who would act solely in the interest of increasing the number of the disciples that follow them. Growth is not a goal, because it distorts proclamation and doctrine in the interest of seeking to do what is popular; rather, as the next verse makes clear, proclamation and teaching the message itself is the goal. Disciples will be formed by the Holy Spirit if right doctrine is actively proclaimed.

Finally, the word used here for “message” is a fascinating choice. There are a lot of good Greek words for “message.” One of the most common ones in the Bible is euangelion, “good news” or “gospel.” Another great one is kerygma, or “proclamation,” which is what we do every Sunday. But the author of Acts uses the word logos, the “word,” or perhaps more properly, the “Word,” the Second Person of the Trinity, Jesus himself. Paul is telling us to proclaim the Word—Jesus Christ. And the Holy Spirit will do the rest.

My tendency is always to take the confession—the first part of our Sunday service, and a central part of Lent—to heart, and look first to my own (and our own) failings. Last month, on Music Ministry Sunday, the sanctuary was filled to the brim at 11 am, as it often is, and many Sundays following the pews have been filled … but the question is what is outside the sanctuary. But I wonder about proclamation. Are we building up each other? I honestly don’t know. But I do know we are being tested. I hope each of us can live through our interesting times with fairness and integrity.

May this be heard as a shepherding word, not from an expert, but from a fellow sheep walking the same pasture, seeking the same Shepherd.

-Mike Lockaby