Sermon: St. Cyprian of Carthage - 2020

16 September 2020

Text: John 10:11-16 (Ps 23, 1 Pet 5:1-4, 10-11)

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

St. Cyprian was a shepherd of the flock who served the Good Shepherd.  And like all pastors, he was given the responsibility to “shepherd the flock of God.”  In other words, Jesus is our Good Shepherd – the One who “lays down His life for the sheep,” who knows His own, and His own know Him.  For as we all know from King David’s great comforting Shepherd Psalm: “The Lord is my shepherd.”

The Scripture speaks of the called shepherds through whom Jesus gathers, feeds, and protects His flock.  These shepherds are sometimes called “elders” and sometimes “overseers.”  The “elder” is not like our office of the Board of Elders.  When Scripture uses the word “elder,” – in Greek, πρεσβύτερος (presbuteros) – it means the ordained pastor.  A pastor, regardless of his age, is to be treated as an elder, as one who is a leader of the community.  The Latin version of this word is where we get the word “senator” from.  But lest the pastor let that go to his head, it’s also where we get the word “senile” from.  Presbuteros has made its way into English as “presbyter” and as “priest.”  And the word “pastor” is from the Latin word for “shepherd.”

Another word for pastoral service is translated as “oversight.”  It’s where we get the words “supervisor” and “bishop” in English.  St. Peter exhorts us pastors to exercise this “oversight” in today’s Epistle reading.  St. Cyprian served the church as a deacon, then as a priest, then as a bishop – overseeing the pastors and congregations in his diocese in North Africa.  As a writer and preacher, he wrote in powerful Latin, and his sermons and writings are still studied today.

St. Cyprian was certainly not the perfect shepherd.  Only the Lord is such a shepherd.  Cyprian served in a time of persecution under the Romans.  At one point, as Christians were being executed, Bishop Cyprian went into hiding.  Was this cowardice on his part?  Or was he thinking of preserving the shepherd of the flock for their good?  This is not an easy question, dear friends.  For the church needs pastors.  Should pastors – even bishops – seek to preserve their lives, or should they submit to the sword and leave the flock without a shepherd?

Bishop Cyprian was roundly criticized for his decision to oversee and shepherd the flock from safety.  And when the persecutions of the year 250 under Emperor Decius stopped, there was a lot of anger in the church about those who lapsed from the Christian faith during the persecution.  Some said that this was an unforgivable sin.  Others said that the lapsed should be immediately forgiven and brought back into the flock.  Ultimately, the church took the suggestion of Bishop Cyprian and welcomed in the lapsed, but only after a period of public repentance.

Bishop Cyprian also comforted the Lord’s flock during the time of a great plague, and of course, preached the Gospel of the Good Shepherd, in whose service Cyprian stood as an elder and overseer.  

For once again, the job of the pastor is to shepherd the flock on behalf of the Good Shepherd, and to proclaim the Good Shepherd, who is our Lord Jesus Christ, in his preaching – and to do so in good times and in bad, to continue in this Word and work even in times of plagues, wars, and persecution.  

And having shepherds among them, the flock must remain as a flock, to continue to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd through the proclamation and work of their shepherds in the Holy Office, to continue to gather for worship, to hear the life-saving Word of God, to partake of the Holy Sacraments, and to strengthen one another by being here, together, as a flock.  

For just as the pastor has his calling to gather the flock, the flock has its calling to be gathered.  If the pastor’s job is to pastor, it is the laity’s job to be pastored.  If you want the Lord to be your Shepherd, if you want to lack nothing, if you desire God Himself to provide you with “green pastures” and “still waters,” to “restore” your soul and lead you in the “paths of righteousness” – then you must be shepherded – here in the Divine Service, where the flock is fed the very Bread of Life, and they are watered with Holy Baptism, where the cup of the Lord’s grace in the chalice overflows with His merciful blood of the New Testament, of salvation.

For your shepherd – your pastor, but ultimately your Lord – shepherds you throughout your life in this fallen world, guiding you even “through the valley of the shadow of death.”  You can face every manner of things in this life: persecution, plague, and even death, fearing no evil, for God is with you.  His rod and staff comfort you, and that rod and staff are given to pastors and bishops, to be your shepherd, by shepherding you to the Good Shepherd, who lays down His life for the sheep.

Bishop Cyprian ultimately imitated His Good Shepherd, the Bishop of His soul, our Lord Jesus Christ, by laying down his own life for the sheep.  Another persecution broke out.  Bishop Cyprian did not go into hiding, but continued to shepherd the flock of God.  He was arrested in the year 257 and ordered to sacrifice to the pagan gods.  He refused.  Because of his confession of the Good Shepherd, Bishop Cyprian was sentenced to death by the sword.  His response was “Thanks be to God” – which we sing at the end of the liturgy, just before the final blessing.  St. Cyprian received the final blessing of martyrdom on September 14.  Following the example of centuries of our fathers in the faith, we remember St. Cyprian each year on September 16.

As a theologian, St. Cyprian’s writings are not academic, but deal with real pastoral issues.  For above all things, that’s what St. Cyprian was in his life on this side of the grave: a pastor, a shepherd of the flock of God, a servant of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord.  

To be the flock of God is to willingly follow our Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, in good times and in bad, when we are prosperous and when we are persecuted, when we are healthy, and as we go through the valley of the shadow of death, when we are loved by our countrymen, and when we are hated, when is costs nothing to follow Jesus, and when the cost of discipleship is to bear the cross and suffer even death.  

Let us follow Jesus, dear friends, whether we are called to be a shepherd or whether we are members of the flock.  For ultimately, we are all members of the flock of God, gathered as a church by the Good Shepherd, who provides us with our life, with everything that we need in this mortal journey, with shepherds to lead us, with preachers to exhort and encourage us, with the oasis and grazing grounds of the Divine Service, where we are fed and strengthened so that we too, when our last hour comes, may pray, “Thanks be to God,” and receive the blessing at the end of our service to God in his valley of tears, being gathered by our Good Shepherd into the flock of the Church Triumphant.

Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.