Pastoral Imagery in Chaplaincy
By Kate Bradford
Pastoral imagery evokes an idealised view of rural life capturing a charming serene world protected from outside dangers. Similarly the twenty third Psalm captures sheep drinking and resting in a lush green valley inside the protection of their shepherd.
Pastoral care has on a number of occasions been seen as an exegesis of Psalm 23. The few brief stanzas have provided both direction and form for pastoral ministry. Variously harnessed and caught are the images of: guiding, healing, leading, restoring, nurturing, sustaining, comforting and liberating. Pastoral ministry ranges across vast terrains from the heights of the mountains down into deathly valleys, across battle fields opening out onto green pastures and still waters. Times of scarcity and of plenty, solitude and celebration, danger and peace are encompassed.
The enduring Biblical image of the shepherd appears and reappears throughout the Bible; being found in the law, the prophets and the writings, and the gospels, the epistles and the apocalypse.
Pastoral ministry in essence is never a programme that has its end in the material world; it always draws on a transcendent dimension. As people are cared for they are helped transcend their present difficulties; often external circumstances are not greatly changed but they are faced not alone but with the strength of the one who can truly help through prayer. The Pastoral carer draws on the same strength; that of the true shepherd for their inspiration. The Christian pastoral care worker is not any shepherd, but a shepherd after God’s own heart, a shepherd who is led by God’s knowledge and understanding (Jer 3:14-16). These shepherds are contrasted with senseless shepherds who do not enquire of the Lord, and consequently their flock is scattered (Jer 10:20-22).
God himself is pictured as shepherd tending his flock, gathering the lambs in his arms close to his heart; gently leading those with young (Isaiah 40:11-12). Later in Matthew’s gospel account, Jesus had compassion on the crowd, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd (Matt 9:35-37).
The gospel of John (chapter 10) reveals how the idyllic lush pastoral valley of psalm 23 was secured. The apostle John describes Jesus as the good shepherd, the one who calls his sheep by name and leads them out. He goes ahead; the sheep follow because they know his voice. He is not only the shepherd showing the way, he himself is the way. He is the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep.
The Good Shepherd not only cares, protects and and guides in the midst of danger but he comes with authority, and calls his sheep by name. The sheep are called out through the gate that is the guaranteed safe passage into the future: deliverance far greater than a shepherd’s care or protection. He is the shepherd-king, who gave his life for the sheep; the sheep respond to his voice and follow his way. He calls his sheep into eternity.[i]
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