A Wolf In Shepherd's Clothing
Stories
Lectionary Tales For The Pulpit
62 Stories For Cycle B
Jason Drexler was good with sheep. He enjoyed caring for the sheep on his father's farm. At the age of eight, Jason's father gave him an orphan ewe lamb to raise as his own. Jason bottle-fed her and kept her warm and safe. She grew into a fine, mature ewe, with all of the best features of the Cheviot breed.
When Jason joined 4-H the following year, it was only natural that he chose sheep-raising as his project. He acquired another ewe from his father, had both ewes bred to his father's best ram, and began to raise a flock of his own. Jason's father encouraged him to show his sheep at the County Fair. He taught him how to trim and block the wool so that the sheep's best attributes could be seen by the judges when they were shown. And Jason's father taught him the proper way to handle sheep when showing them in competition: how to set their feet, how to hold their heads up and how to move them from one place to another at the judges' signal. Paying attention to the judge is the most important part of showmanship. Jason became very good at showing his sheep - so good that he took home the showmanship trophy at the age of thirteen. It was Jason's proudest achievement. He didn't have many friends and he wasn't big enough for competitive sports. Seeing his picture with the showmanship trophy on the front page of the newspaper, and knowing his classmates would see it, too, made Jason feel very good about what he had accomplished.
Jason felt very good, too, when the new pastor at their church took an interest in his sheep project and praised him for his achievements. His parents invited Pastor Jim over for lunch one day, and afterwards Jason showed him around the sheep pens, proudly pointing out each ewe and lamb in his own little flock. Pastor Jim said he wanted to learn more about showing sheep, so Jason invited him to come by some time when he was getting ready for a show at the fair.
The pastor stopped in often after that. He soon became a good friend of the family. Pastor Jim helped Jason prepare for the fair and sometimes drove the pickup truck to get supplies when Jason's father was busy. Jason enjoyed the pastor's friendship. Pastor Jim was much younger than Jason's father, and Jason discovered he could talk about things with Pastor Jim that he could not bring himself to discuss with his father. Jason was very proud to have such an important man as Pastor Jim as his friend.
On the day before the fair was to begin, Jason mentioned to Pastor Jim that he planned to stay overnight at the fairgrounds so he could keep an eye on his sheep. He said he always took a sleeping bag and slept in the hay next to the pens. Pastor Jim volunteered to keep Jason company, and so that night the two of them kept vigil beside the sheep. Jason thought it was great fun to have his special friend share in this important event in his life. He couldn't wait for the competition to begin the next day so Pastor Jim could see him showing sheep. Jason was so excited that he found it difficult to go to sleep. When Pastor Jim offered to give him a back rub to help him relax, Jason felt even closer to his special friend. But when Pastor Jim continued the rubbing over more private parts of his body, Jason didn't know what to think. It made him feel very uncomfortable, but Jason decided it must be all right. Pastor Jim would never do anything to hurt him.
Jason put the evening's events out of his mind and did his best to concentrate on showing his sheep the next day. It all went well enough, but things just weren't the same after that. Jason couldn't figure it out; he couldn't get excited about anything, least of all caring for his sheep. Jason tried to talk to Pastor Jim about his feelings. The pastor assured him that he was going through a normal adolescent phase. "It will pass," Pastor Jim said. "Don't worry about it."
A few months later, Jason was helping the pastor put away the communion cups in the sacristy after the Maundy Thursday service, when Pastor Jim again offered to give him a back rub. "You've been looking uptight lately," the pastor said. "You need to relax more." This time Pastor Jim was rough with Jason and made him do unspeakable things that Jason immediately tried to put out of his mind. Again Jason didn't know what to think or do. He told no one what Pastor Jim had done to him.
In the spring of the same year, it was announced that Pastor Jim was leaving the congregation. There were rumors that the pastor had been accused of molesting several children in his previous parish, but no one knew for sure.
Jason was very sad for a long time after Pastor Jim's leaving. One night, after a youth fellowship meeting, his mother found him sitting all alone in the back pew of the church sanctuary. She could tell that he had been crying and she instinctively reached out and put her arms around him. Jason let his mom hold him for a long time. After a while, she said to him, "Did someone hurt you?" Jason nodded. "Was it Pastor Jim?" Again Jason nodded. "It wasn't your fault," Jason heard his mom say through her own tears. "It wasn't your fault. It should never have happened to you."
That was the beginning of Jason's healing. In time, he was able to let go of the trauma of his pastor's abuse, although he would carry some of the emotional scars all of his life. Jason is grown now and has a daughter and son of his own. He is the shepherd of a flock of several hundred Christian souls at a church in the midwest.
____________
Author's note:
Some commentators suggest that the image of the hired hand in this passage may allude to the image of the bad shepherd in Ezekiel 34:1-10, Jeremiah 23:1-3 and Zechariah 11:15-17.
Thus says the Lord God, I am against the shepherds; and I will demand my sheep at their hand, and put a stop to their feeding the sheep; no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, so that they may not be food for them.
- Ezekiel 34:10
For more information about clergy sexual abuse, contact CASSANDRA, a support group for clergy abuse survivors in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Phone 414-257-1228 or 608-251-5126. Write to: The Rape Crisis Center, 128 East Olin Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53713.
When Jason joined 4-H the following year, it was only natural that he chose sheep-raising as his project. He acquired another ewe from his father, had both ewes bred to his father's best ram, and began to raise a flock of his own. Jason's father encouraged him to show his sheep at the County Fair. He taught him how to trim and block the wool so that the sheep's best attributes could be seen by the judges when they were shown. And Jason's father taught him the proper way to handle sheep when showing them in competition: how to set their feet, how to hold their heads up and how to move them from one place to another at the judges' signal. Paying attention to the judge is the most important part of showmanship. Jason became very good at showing his sheep - so good that he took home the showmanship trophy at the age of thirteen. It was Jason's proudest achievement. He didn't have many friends and he wasn't big enough for competitive sports. Seeing his picture with the showmanship trophy on the front page of the newspaper, and knowing his classmates would see it, too, made Jason feel very good about what he had accomplished.
Jason felt very good, too, when the new pastor at their church took an interest in his sheep project and praised him for his achievements. His parents invited Pastor Jim over for lunch one day, and afterwards Jason showed him around the sheep pens, proudly pointing out each ewe and lamb in his own little flock. Pastor Jim said he wanted to learn more about showing sheep, so Jason invited him to come by some time when he was getting ready for a show at the fair.
The pastor stopped in often after that. He soon became a good friend of the family. Pastor Jim helped Jason prepare for the fair and sometimes drove the pickup truck to get supplies when Jason's father was busy. Jason enjoyed the pastor's friendship. Pastor Jim was much younger than Jason's father, and Jason discovered he could talk about things with Pastor Jim that he could not bring himself to discuss with his father. Jason was very proud to have such an important man as Pastor Jim as his friend.
On the day before the fair was to begin, Jason mentioned to Pastor Jim that he planned to stay overnight at the fairgrounds so he could keep an eye on his sheep. He said he always took a sleeping bag and slept in the hay next to the pens. Pastor Jim volunteered to keep Jason company, and so that night the two of them kept vigil beside the sheep. Jason thought it was great fun to have his special friend share in this important event in his life. He couldn't wait for the competition to begin the next day so Pastor Jim could see him showing sheep. Jason was so excited that he found it difficult to go to sleep. When Pastor Jim offered to give him a back rub to help him relax, Jason felt even closer to his special friend. But when Pastor Jim continued the rubbing over more private parts of his body, Jason didn't know what to think. It made him feel very uncomfortable, but Jason decided it must be all right. Pastor Jim would never do anything to hurt him.
Jason put the evening's events out of his mind and did his best to concentrate on showing his sheep the next day. It all went well enough, but things just weren't the same after that. Jason couldn't figure it out; he couldn't get excited about anything, least of all caring for his sheep. Jason tried to talk to Pastor Jim about his feelings. The pastor assured him that he was going through a normal adolescent phase. "It will pass," Pastor Jim said. "Don't worry about it."
A few months later, Jason was helping the pastor put away the communion cups in the sacristy after the Maundy Thursday service, when Pastor Jim again offered to give him a back rub. "You've been looking uptight lately," the pastor said. "You need to relax more." This time Pastor Jim was rough with Jason and made him do unspeakable things that Jason immediately tried to put out of his mind. Again Jason didn't know what to think or do. He told no one what Pastor Jim had done to him.
In the spring of the same year, it was announced that Pastor Jim was leaving the congregation. There were rumors that the pastor had been accused of molesting several children in his previous parish, but no one knew for sure.
Jason was very sad for a long time after Pastor Jim's leaving. One night, after a youth fellowship meeting, his mother found him sitting all alone in the back pew of the church sanctuary. She could tell that he had been crying and she instinctively reached out and put her arms around him. Jason let his mom hold him for a long time. After a while, she said to him, "Did someone hurt you?" Jason nodded. "Was it Pastor Jim?" Again Jason nodded. "It wasn't your fault," Jason heard his mom say through her own tears. "It wasn't your fault. It should never have happened to you."
That was the beginning of Jason's healing. In time, he was able to let go of the trauma of his pastor's abuse, although he would carry some of the emotional scars all of his life. Jason is grown now and has a daughter and son of his own. He is the shepherd of a flock of several hundred Christian souls at a church in the midwest.
____________
Author's note:
Some commentators suggest that the image of the hired hand in this passage may allude to the image of the bad shepherd in Ezekiel 34:1-10, Jeremiah 23:1-3 and Zechariah 11:15-17.
Thus says the Lord God, I am against the shepherds; and I will demand my sheep at their hand, and put a stop to their feeding the sheep; no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, so that they may not be food for them.
- Ezekiel 34:10
For more information about clergy sexual abuse, contact CASSANDRA, a support group for clergy abuse survivors in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Phone 414-257-1228 or 608-251-5126. Write to: The Rape Crisis Center, 128 East Olin Avenue, Madison, Wisconsin 53713.
