Feeding sheep

In this weekend's Gospel reading Jesus meets his disciples on the shore of the Sea of Gallilee and cooks fish for them. Having fed his disciples literally, Jesus moves to metaphor. He speaks to Peter, asking Peter three times "Do you love me?" and three times Peter responds that he does. Each time Jesus tells him "Feed my sheep."

Lutheran pastor Hubert Beck has noted,

"Feed my lambs . . . tend my sheep," Those are not words for pastors or church officials only. They are words for parents and teachers, workers in the lab and those who tend the ground to raise crops, those who sit at computers performing their work and those who nurse the sick and troubled . . . for all of God's people everywhere. God's lambs and sheep are everywhere, and our Lord calls us to "tend them, to feed them, to become his presence among and for them," feeding them with the word that we, ourselves, have heard: "Peace be with you."

What do you think about this? In what ways can a banker be involved in feeding sheep? What about a real estate agent? A mechanic? A housewife? How could they respond to Jesus' call?

What would it look like in your own life if you took Jesus' command, "Feed my sheep" to apply not just to Peter, but to you as well?

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor

To the Lord's one and only question,
Peter had no other answer than I do love you.
And each time the Lord gave Peter the same command:
Feed my sheep.

Let us love one another then,
and by so doing we shall be loving Christ.

—Augustine of Hippo (354-430)