“Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” - Hebrews 10:24-25
I never much liked chasing pigs when I was a kid growing up on our family farm. It’s a dirty, smelly, frustrating job, much more difficult than herding cattle or sheep. Cattle & sheep aren’t particularly intelligent or curious animals; they tend to go where you want them to go if you spread out your arms, herd them toward your intended gate, and give them space to move slowly and without panic.
This is not what happens when you chase pigs. Pigs are smart, curious, and highly excitable. They do not like being herded, they’re tough, and most of the pigs you chase are fast. The only pigs who aren’t fast are the boars and sows you’re not sending to market in the first place, though a sow can move pretty quick if she decides she’s got the proper motivation (usually plucking a fresh-born piglet out of the nest she’s made in a farrowing yard will do the trick). In the years my dad farrowed hogs while I was growing up, I spent more hours moving pigs through sorting gates and into hog yards with fences held together by baling wire than I care to remember, although I did learn some interesting words on those hot summer afternoons when one pig or two decided they didn’t want to stay in the trailer at the top of the loading ramp before one of us could get the gate shut.
Usually we used sticks or even whips to extend our reach and keep the pigs as much in line as we could, but there were a few times when Dad would try to use a cattle prod in close quarters to get things moving in the right direction. A cattle prod is essentially a lightweight rod with two metal prongs at one end and a battery with a button switch at the other. The battery gives an electric charge to whatever you poke with the prongs - not nearly enough to do permanent harm, but uncomfortable enough to get a large farm animal moving away from it. Prods can work great on cattle. Not so much on pigs, though. Pigs get spooked and jumpy and usually just getting everyone around them worked up, and pretty soon your prod gets the whole bunch screaming and running in every direction except into the gate where you want them to go. Like I said, I never much liked chasing pigs.
Imagine my amusement many years later when one of my seminary professors told us that the word to provoke in the verse above is also used to describe what a shepherd or farmer does to prod their charges forward. The professor referred to it as an “ox goad,” but I know that means “cattle prod” and boy, do I want to be careful when I talk about “prodding” fellow believers to not neglect meeting together as the body of Christ. Some of you are going to take that the wrong way and pretty soon you’ll get spooked and jumpy and there’ll be screaming and running in every direction and…
You can probably sense where this is going. June will mark the beginning of summer, which brings changes in schedules, family vacations, summer sports, and all the wonderful things summer has to offer. It also means Sunday morning attendance drops a bit due to travel and other summer activities. So let this be the one time I will encourage you to not forget about your St. Petri family altogether as the days lengthen, the temperatures rise, and the golf course/ball diamond/lake/campground beckons. We’ll be here every Sunday morning, of course, but there are many other ways to love and do good deeds with us this summer. You’ll read about them in this newsletter and hear about them from Kristin and myself all summer long.
I much prefer this present herd that’s been entrusted to me over the ones I tended as a Nebraska farm boy. You all smell better, for starters, and most of the time I get to work in air conditioning. Consider this your prodding for the summer from me. Make time to come and rest in the loving embrace of God’s mercy for you and I bet you’ll find yourself less anxious and more able to enjoy all the rest of summer as well.
Yours in Christ’s peace,
Pastor Scott
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