Take Heed to Yourselves and the Flock: A Meditation on Acts 20 for the 4th Sunday after Easter

 

Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia,

after what manner I have been with you at all seasons,

Serving the Lord with all humility of mind,

and with many tears, and temptations,

which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews:

And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you,

but have showed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house,

Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks,

repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ…

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock,

over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers,

 to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

For I know this, that after my departing

shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.  

Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things,

to draw away disciples after them.

Acts 20 begins what could be counted as St. Paul’s beginning of the end of his missionary journeys.  Among other details, he has arrived at Ephesus and gathered together the elders (Greek word underlying the English presbyters, and in the later church divided into what became known as bishops and priests/presbyters, or in some modern Christian circles now known as simply pastors) to give them a final exhortation.  He begins by reminding them of the manner in which he served among them, the Word of God which he faithfully delivered to them, and the duty they had as pastors to continue doing the same.  He also warned them that others would arise from their ranks once Paul was gone—not just from the ranks of the church at large, but specifically from the clergy—who would toss aside the Word of God so as to gather their own disciples by their own perverse teachings.  St. Paul would eventually face imprisonment and martyrdom for his witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the churches which once had the blessing of his presence as he taught them God’s Word, would soon come to have only his written letters and remembered traditions.

The early decades and centuries of the church were constantly plagued by the emergence of false teachers, particularly among the pastors, teachers, and theologians.  Such false teachers gathered disciples to their own cause, setting aside the Word of God given by His Prophets and Apostles in the Old and New Testaments, disrupting the harmony of the broader church and undermining the people’s faith in Jesus as their Savior.  In various times and places, the faithful pastors of the church gathered themselves together and held councils to debate the false teachers, judging their false teachings under the Word of God.  If someone claimed to “remember” or be given some strange doctrine or tradition, all traditions and teachings were judged by God’s Word.  This was the duty of the faithful pastors, to take heed of the flock of God entrusted to their care, and to emulate St. Paul’s (as well as the other Apostles’) model of feeding and tending to them in and through Christ’s Word.  In this way the bishops/presbyters/priests/pastors followed in the Apostolic train, refuting error and faithfully handing on the Gospel to each successive generation.

This same task remains ours today.  1900 years have passed since St. Paul finished his earthly mission, and there have been no lack of false teachers arising to delude and lead astray the flock of God.  Time and again, it is from the ranks of the theologians and scholars, bishops and pastors, that new voices of heresy emerge—voices which call for discarding the Word of God through His Prophets and Apostles wherever it conflicts with their desire, ambition, or prestige. Don’t like God’s perspective on family and sexual ethics?  No worries, there’s a theologian and pastor for you!  Don’t like God’s curbs on your pride, gluttony, covetousness, or greed?  No problem—a prosperity gospel teacher has a place for you!  Don’t like God’s exclusiveness regarding Himself as the only true God and Jesus as the only means of salvation?  Don’t worry your little head about it—there’s a polytheistic universalist in Christian garb with a pew waiting for you, too!  Take a long walk along the social boardwalk, and you’ll find someone hawking whatever you’re looking for… easy answers for your hard situation, custom crafted for your own spiritual path.

Of course, none of those paths or teachers will do you any real good, because apart from Christ and His Word there’s no life, salvation, forgiveness, or hope.  The hucksters who proffer their own opinions as salve for your wounds are no different than the snake oil salesmen of years gone by.  They can’t heal you, because they are as fouled up as you are.  These pompous windbags who can roll out a scroll of degrees and academic accolades, dress in exquisite finery, and talk in a lofty language only their cabal really understand, are just as lost and powerless in the face of sin, death, hell, and the devil as you are.  Because God has taught us that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, we know that all mankind is incapable of saving themselves from the just fate which awaits them in the eternal fires of perdition.  No man can save himself, and no man’s word can save you, either.  Your problem of death and hell only God can solve, and He’s given that resolution to us through His Word:  the forgiveness of our sins, life and salvation by His grace through faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

That’s the difference between man’s own words, which might gather disciples unto themselves in societies and polities with simply human ends, and the Word of God which calls, gathers, enlightens, enlivens, and sanctifies people unto Himself.  Man’s words might cater to your fallen depravity and selfish proclivities, but God’s Word calls you to repent of your deadly evil and cling to His living Gospel of forgiveness.  And the ends of each couldn’t be more distinct:  man’s words lead inexorably to death and hell, while God’s Word leads to eternal life in His blessed fellowship forever.

If you are a pastor who has become enamored with the words of men, God’s Word calls you to repent and return to the Word of Life, that both you and those who hear you might live.  If you are a lay person who has sought water in the empty wells of false teachers, God’s Word calls you back to the springs of living water He pours out for you without measure.  If you are a Christian who has grown discouraged by the multiplicity of false doctrines and false pastors, God’s Word calls you to take heart in His promise of salvation against which the gates of hell with all their denizens cannot stand.  If you are not a Christian, and stymied by the inconsistent multitude of those who call themselves bishops/priests/presbyters/pastors/chaplains/theologians/teachers/etc., God’s Word calls to you and gives you His objective measure against which all those who presume to teach in His Name are eternally judged.  No matter who you are, your education, your social standing, your age, your race, or any other earthly distinctive, God’s Word calls to you to give you life, joy, peace, and reconciliation with your Creator and your Redeemer.

Jesus the Word spoke to and through the Prophets of the Old Covenant, gathering His people in faithful expectation of His saving work to come on Calvary.  Jesus the Word came and walked among us as the incarnate Son of God, accomplishing for us our salvation through His life, death, and resurrection.  Jesus the Word called and sent His Apostles to bear His Word of repentance and the forgiveness of sins to all the world, and has abided with His people by His living Word ever since.  Jesus the Word will come again at the end of the age to judge the living and the dead, gathering those who abide in His Word by faith into life everlasting, and casting those who reject His Word into eternal fire.  From before the Creation and unto timeless ages of ages, Jesus the Word of God is the Alpha and the Omega, our beginning and our end.  He has been the salvation of every soul who has trusted in Him from the foundation of the world, and He is our salvation today, as much as He will be the salvation of every trusting soul who clings to Him by grace through faith to the end of the world.

Take heed to yourselves, and those entrusted to your care:  Jesus the Word has come as our salvation, and there is no other word—no other Name—given under heaven whereby we might be saved.  Hold fast to the Word which holds fast to you.  Repent and believe, that you also may live.  Amen.