2-16-2025

Good Morning All,

         Proverbs 27:23; “Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds.”

    For many years, I coached baseball.  From little T-ballers through teeners, I coached them.  There are many things which go into coaching kids, patience helps, and a sense of humor helps but probably one of the most important is being able to count.  If you take a team of 12 to a game, you want to bring 12 home again.  You might snicker at that, but I’ve seen it happen.  We were at a midget tournament.  It was for ages 12 and under.  There was a team from about 75 miles away and about an hour after the rest of the team left, we saw this youngster with that team uniform.  This was before cell phones.  I am not sure how it turned out, but the hosts of the tournament were scurrying around trying to figure it out.

     Sometimes, the most important thing a coach can do is make sure everyone is on the bus on the ride home.  Sometimes, you have to bandage up a scraped-up knee.  Sometimes, you have to be sure no one is getting too hot.  Sometimes, you have to buy supper for someone who forgot their money.  Sometimes, you just have to have a pair of ears.  The most important quality a coach can ever have is not how many games he wins; it is to know the condition of his flock.

     The same can be said of the Church.  Many people think that the church is worried about buildings.  Many think the church worries about how much money comes in or about how many people are in the church on any given service.  Many think that the church is more concerned with exercising power and influence or how it looks and ranks in the community.  It may be true that some churches are worried about the image it projects, how many games it wins.  Yet the true Church truly pays attention to the condition of the flock.

     This is because this is what Jesus did; he worried about his flock.  He is the Good Shepherd looking after you.  He is the Shepherd who left the 99 to look for the 1 lost sheep.  He is the Shepherd who gave up his life for the sheep.  He is the Shepherd who knows his sheep and his sheep know him and they know him by his voice.  Isn’t that a wonderful image, knowing someone by their voice?  We know our Savior as we hear him speak to us.  We hear his voice whenever we hear the Gospel expressed when we hear the good news of the forgiveness of our sins.  We hear his voice when we share in Holy Communion with our fellow believers.  This care, this concern, this knowledge of the condition of the flock; Jesus has given to the Church to attend to while we wait for Christ to return.

     So, if you are a member of Christ’s Church, a true believer, God calls on you to know the condition of the flock.  Know how your fellow believers are feeling and what they are experiencing.  Love your fellow believer as Christ loves you.  This is how we help each other to survive and to thrive in God’s loving grace.

Dearest Lord Jesus, you love your flock and call them your own.  Give us the ability to love as you love and move us to care for your flock.  Guard us from all harm and bring your hope to those who do not know it.  In your precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret