The following teaching was presented by the Reverend John W. Howe, Rector of Truro Episcopal Church, Fairfax, Virginia, at the Friday night prayer and praise service held on July 8, 1983. The title is Jethro's Advice, and the scripture reference is Exodus, chapter 18, verses 13 through 23. 

Exodus, for one more time. In fact, to the very same passage that we were looking at a few weeks ago, I want to just focus on another aspect of it. We were in chapter 18.

And you may remember that three weeks ago we were considering this passage from the point of view of Jethro giving advice to Moses. You remember the relationship between Moses and his father-in-law, Jethro. And I had commented that although Moses had, in a very real sense, become the most important man in his generation, still remarkably, when he meets his father-in-law, he does obeisance before him.

And we were reminded that we never outgrow being our parents' children. We never outgrow that relationship. We never outgrow being our in-laws, children-in-law for that matter.

And I don't want to push the point, but I think it may not be irrelevant that Jethro's response to the God of Israel is so positive. I think you could almost say he becomes converted. He ends up saying, now I know that the God of Israel is greater than all the gods.

I don't think that's irrelevant to the way in which his son-in-law treats him. He was won over to the God who is God by his son-in-law's willingness to be in that role of honoring the father-in-law. That's the point of view we were looking at last time.

And remarkably, that then Jethro went on to give Moses advice. I don't know how you'd feel about giving advice to Moses, but that had to be a fairly heady thing. Jethro gives advice to Moses, and wonder of wonders, Moses accepts it and changes the structure of his whole ministry.

Bill Gothard, who, by the way, is in the Washington area again this coming week, and if you've never been, you really ought to consider going to Gothard's seminar. He meets every evening for four nights at the Capital Center and then all day Friday and all day Saturday. And it is a wonderful teaching.

You won't be able to buy all of it, but that's okay. There's enough good there that will bless you and instruct your life that if you haven't already gone, I'd like to just commend that to you. Gothard has a concept which comes right into play at this point.

He talks about the chain of command that God deals with us when we're little children through the command of our parents. He puts authorities over us, and that's primarily how he relates to us. He relates through our parents, and he shapes our lives through our parents.

But then he adds this comment. He said, as you become an adult, and you outgrow that commanding relationship, the chain of command needs to become a chain of counsel. The chain of command needs to become a chain of counsel, where we're willing to believe that God still deals with us.

through our elders. No matter what great honors we attain, no matter what marvelous things God may bless our lives with, I'm still my father's son. I'm still my father-in-law's son-in-law and I need to heed their counsel.

I need to weigh it seriously and consider that God may very well be speaking to me through them. So that was the point last time. We skipped rather quickly over the content.

of what Jethro had to say. We were simply looking at the relationship. I want to come back for just a few minutes to the content.

Could you turn off that blower again, please? Thank you. We're in Exodus 18, and I want to pick up at verse 13.

On the morrow, Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood about Moses from morning till evening. When Moses' father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone and all the people stand about you from morning till evening?

And Moses said to his father-in-law, Because the people come to me to inquire of God. When they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between a man and his neighbor. And I make them know the statutes of God and his decisions.

Moses' father-in-law said to him, What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will wear yourselves out. I find that interesting, that he doesn't only say you will wear yourself out, but this is going to wear out the people too.

When you get strung out, it's going to have effect on the other people around you. He says, the thing is too heavy for you, you are not able to perform it alone. Listen now to my voice, I will give you counsel and God be with you.

In other words, I will give you counsel, but I know that you are responsible to God. Way what I have to say before him. He understood what Gothard was talking about.

There's a chain of counsel here. He's not presuming, but he's giving his wisdom. And Moses does.

Listen to it. It's very basic, very obvious wisdom. He says, you shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, and you shall teach them the statutes and the decisions, Make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do.

Moreover, choose able men from among all the people, such as fear God, men who are trustworthy and who hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as rulers of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves, so it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you.

If you do this and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace. And as you know, as we saw last time, Moses did heed that, and it was a great blessing. In fact, it becomes the basis of the whole system of elders, which is not only central to the Old Testament, carries right over into the New Testament, that in every place there was a council of elders.

It wasn't just one person who was over the flock, but it was a council, a community of elders, shared ministry, shared leadership. Well, as I say, it's very basic and it's very familiar to us, and most of us have thought about that from time to time. In one sense, that concept is at the heart of everything we're about here at Truro.

but I want to just press the point because we've been thinking along a particular line for the last several weeks and one of the things that has been very much in my mind and heart has been our shepherding ministry and I want to just press the point a little bit this evening primarily for your prayers primarily for us to wait together on the Lord to be in prayer together and as you sense that he might be speaking to you about this question, you might share that with others, and that we would know how God would have us apply this principle to us in our shepherding ministry. I've been commenting on the ministry at St. Luke's in Bath, Ohio. Some of you heard me talking about this on Sunday.

Interestingly enough, the tape that I've been commending to you, Ron Jackson is the associate rector at St. Luke's. He gave this talk when we were together in New Zealand, and I just got very excited when he gave it. And that's the tape I've been promoting, and some of you have already heard that tape. Interestingly enough, Rick Wallace told me, because he's from St. Luke's before he came here, he told me that Ron was sitting next to Chuck Irish as I gave my talk about what God has led us into here at Toro.

And I commented on our shepherding ministry. And when I got done, Ron turned to Chuck Irish and he said, what more is there to say? And Chuck said, Ron, just say what's on your heart.

And it blessed me out of my socks, I've got to tell you. And I'm sharing it with all of you now. So he felt like there wasn't anything more to say, and yet God used him to really challenge and encourage me, and I hope you as well.

I told the vestry last weekend that there were four things in particular that Ron shared. And if you've heard the tape, maybe these have struck you. If you haven't, I hope you will.

Let me just summarize them and reflect on them for a minute. First of all, this. At St. Luke's, nobody becomes a member of the parish unless they're willing to be committed to a house church, a shepherd group as we'd call it.

You can come, you can come and worship, you can be involved in the activities, but you're not a member unless you're committed to a house church. And I referred to that on Sunday. I don't know how that might translate here.

I think we're in a different demographic situation. Many of our people work very, very long hours and would find it extremely difficult to make a regular commitment. Some folks simply aren't there.

That's not what they're looking for. But I am challenged by that thought. I want to know how God might apply that to our situation.

What does it mean to be members? I mean, it is so easy. You say, I want to join the church, and we transfer your letter, and you're a member.

and in one sense that's great you know we welcome you if you sense that God is calling you to be here we welcome you we're glad of that but what does it mean to be a member to be a member means I'm committed to you and you're committed to me that's what it means we're members one of another we're not just coming along for you know an interesting hour an entertaining hour once a week we're committed to each other that's what membership means and how do you work that out when you've got several thousand people in a parish? What does commitment mean then? What does it mean to be committed to each other?

I'm intrigued at that. When somebody wants to join St. Luke's, Chuck Irish will say, no, no, no, it's too early. Now you wait six months, and you really get involved in the life of this parish, and you test whether God is calling you to be here and to make that kind of commitment.

Maybe He isn't. Maybe He wants you to go to some other parish. But if He's calling you to be here, that means a blood and guts commitment to the other members of the body of Christ. And one of the ways, the principal way in which that gets expressed, is that we have been led of God to break the parish to small fellowship groups, neighborhood groups.

We call them house churches. They meet once a week and we expect you to be involved, actively participating, committed to the folks in your house church. How would God have us apply such a principle as that?

If you didn't hear me mention it on Sunday, there's a corollary, there's a footnote to that story and this one really made me sit up and listen that in ten years of such a program they have experienced three divorces in the whole parish. And there are probably lots of reasons for that but I think the principal one is just this that level of commitment to the other members of the body of Christ. Listen, if Karen and I have a problem between us and I'm meeting regularly we are meeting regularly with a small group of people who really get close enough to know us and care about us and we let down our hair and we share our guts.

There's no way we're going to hide that problem. And they're going to come alongside of us and they're going to help us find God's solution to that problem if they really care about us. Now you can't do that in 2,800 people.

But you can do that among a dozen. Right? If there is a horrific problem between parents and children.

And you've got a half a dozen people who really, you know, they're not nosy. They're not busybodies. It's not a matter of the whole church buzzing about this.

There are few people who know you well enough to care about you and pray for you and be committed to you and want to help you walk through that problem. You're going to find some help to overcome that problem between parents and children. It may not be a panacea to answer every single problem, but what an incredible resource from the Spirit of God that simply isn't possible in the huge meeting.

So that's the first thing. Joe Kitts suggested to me this week, maybe what we ought to do is think about raising the level of commitment for those who want to become members in the future. We can't just arbitrarily say, well, here's now what membership means.

And all of those of you who don't want to be involved in shepherd groups, you're no longer members. We can't do that. You know, there has to be sort of a grandfather clause.

If you got in under the old rules, you're in, right? But maybe the Lord would speak to us about ways of raising that level of commitment to the other members of the body, so that from here on out, or from some point on out, we begin to live out what that commitment level means. And as I said Sunday, at the same time, we make it our goal to make shepherding groups so attractive that folks who haven't yet gotten active won't be able to stay out.

They'll want to get in. That's the first thing. Second thing was that every shepherd group, or they call them house churches, they meet every week, and every meeting consists of at least four elements.

and they are, number one, worship. Number two, sharing or testimonies or witnessing. You know, just as we had a few people come and tell us a little bit about ways in which God was moving in their lives.

You know, that's kind of hard, even in a group this size, you know. Some people are very nervous about getting up and speaking to a group this size, let alone 2,800 people. Much, much easier to do that with half a dozen, right?

But it blesses both the one who shares and the ones who hear. God is moving. God is answering prayers.

God is meeting needs. God is healing bodies. God is sorting out relationships.

And as you begin to hear about that, it builds your faith. And as your faith is built, then you pray more powerfully and you see even more of it. And so there's witnessing every week.

That's part and parcel of the shepherd group experience. It's just to share together ways in which God is moving in our lives. Then thirdly, teaching from the Word of God.

Whether it's done as we do it sort of inductively or whether it's done as somebody gets up and exposits the Scripture, that's the basis for everything. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. We need the whole counsel of God declared to us and so teaching.

And then thirdly, fourthly, intercession for each other and for others as God brings needs. Now, I would say that by and large we have those elements represented in our shepherd groups. But we've never put it quite that way.

We've never said those four things are absolutely critical. And so some groups have all four and other groups have some of the four but not all. And a number of our shepherd groups are particularly weak at the point of worship because they say nobody in our group plays a piano or plays a guitar or sings all that well.

And so we just don't do that. That's a tragedy. That's a tragedy because God is enthroned on the praises of his people.

And he didn't say that you have to be a great concert pianist or a metropolitan opera star. He said make a joyful noise. and you can do that I mean if Billy Hutchison can do that you can do that he blesses me he gets up there and he sings out at his one note and blesses me and I praise God for him and see that forces me to sing louder and if that's all you can do you sing your one note to the glory of God and other groups kind of skid past the business about witnessing.

They say, well, people are kind of nervous about sharing. They're willing to come and study something, but they're a little reticent about getting personal and sharing what's really going on in their lives. In other words, we are excusing ourselves in some of the groups, some of the times, from some of those things.

I am deeply challenged as Ron articulates those four things and I bear witness, I say, yeah, you're absolutely right. Those are critical. And we need to affirm that together and in the existing shepherding groups as well as in any new ones, we need to say that's what we're about.

At least those four things. Maybe some other things from time to time. There may be socials and potlucks and who knows what.

But on a regular basis, those four things are absolutely central to our life. You know, it's in those small groups. If we dare, as I said earlier in the service, if we dare to take the risk that most of us are going to begin to develop some facility for using the gifts of the Spirit.

You know, I mean, it's scary to give a prophecy in a congregation of this size, isn't it? Anybody nervous about that? But, you know, in a very small group of friends who really know each other and trust each other and love each other, it's much easier to say, I think that I have a word from God and I'm not sure if this is right, but I offer it to you and ask you to confirm it.

If your spirit bears witness to this, then you confirm it. And if I'm wrong, please correct me. And you try out the gifts.

And you begin to get bolder as you find out God is giving gifts. Right? And most of that takes place in the context of worship.

If you don't have any worship, It isn't going to happen. We had a whole seminar last year on the gifts of the Spirit and urged that the shepherd groups would make opportunity for that. We need to insist.

That's what our shepherd groups are about. This is where we're going to begin to develop gifts and begin to mature in the using of them. And the third thing that intrigued me about what they're up to in St. Luke's that if a parishioner wants to see one of the clergy about a personal problem, the answer is no, until you've seen your shepherd first.

I really like that. Not, please don't misunderstand, not because I don't want to sit down and chat with you. That is one of the great joys of my life.

You know, I did a little figuring the other day. Do you know that if I spent eight hours a day, five days a week, which is a normal 40-hour working week, right? Fifty weeks a year.

If I gave one hour per person, it would still take me a year and a half to see each one of you. I can't do that. Joe can't do that.

That's not what we're about. That's exactly what Jethro was speaking to Moses about. That it isn't good.

You're going to destroy yourself and your people. And that was really the original reason for ever instituting the shepherding ministry here. It came in at a time when Steve Knoll was priest in charge and could not possibly do it, and so he got some folks to help him.

And then it began to evolve from there. Now, I don't know. I don't know that we make that an absolute, but just think about what that means.

That here is a resource that God has given. He's given to every single one of us a group of people. And He's given us a shepherding couple.

And there's somebody right there in my neighborhood who is responsible for no more than ten or a dozen folks, has the time to chat with those ten or a dozen folks. And so before I take my problem anywhere else, I'll take it to that local shepherd, that one who's responsible for the ten. And see if maybe God would deal with me through that resource right there at the local level.

Maybe it's something that would need to be shared with the rest of that shepherd group. And then we all get excited about seeing God minister through us to meet that need. If we run out, you know, they come to the shepherd and the shepherd says, this one is too big for me, then we'll get a hold of the clergy or we'll go and see Jim Osterhaus or whatever it might be.

Again, I'm not saying we're going to just adopt that. I don't think we could. but I'm challenged by it.

I want to know how that principle applies to us. One of the things that they've done and also St. Paul's Darien has done is they've made use of some teachers who have come in to really train the shepherds in depth in counseling far more than we've done here. We've done a little bit of that but far more than we've done here in depth, not primarily in how to become an amateur psychologist, not in those kinds of techniques, but in this, how to hear the Holy Spirit speaking.

How to hear the Holy Spirit speaking. Boy, I want to learn about that, don't you? I mean, I've had a few experiences like that one that Mary shared about yesterday, but I want to know so much more about that.

As the Holy Spirit begins to speak, it's not human wisdom that sorts out the problem, but it's God speaking to us. And so I've begun trying to get in touch with some of these folks, and I've also asked Jim and George and Nancy at the Biblical Counseling Center if they also would think through some ways that they could not only do counseling, but could equip others in the area of counseling. God is beginning to do this among us.

many of you are already aware of it Sally Blankenship and Betty Yates have been given a ministry from God it's very quiet it's very beautiful and it's happening virtually on a daily basis where folks are coming to them and sharing concerns sharing problems and it's not that they're answering those problems out of their great wisdom but simply that they're sensitive to the Holy Spirit and He's speaking through them and sorting out some of those things healing memories and blessing people and straightening out problems. That maybe that Sally and Betty need to share some of what they're learning with many, many others of us. But that's the third thing.

That we wouldn't just have this as a kind of an option for those who are interested, you see. But that God would give us a structure that would release the resources of His Spirit right across the whole parish. And that you would know, here's my place of belonging.

here's a group that God is calling me to be committed to and who are committed to me, and we're going to work it out at that local level. And if I've got a problem, I'm going to go to the local shepherd and ask for some help and see if God would meet me at that level. And then if we need to take it further, we'll take it further.

The fourth thing was that the clergy at St. Luke's meet with their house group leaders, their shepherds, once a month. We don't do anything like that. We don't do that by mutual agreement.

We've asked the question several times and our shepherds have basically said, you know, we don't want to add meetings to meetings and it's already a fairly heavy commitment to be a shepherd and then to come to meetings about shepherding on top of that becomes a burden and I don't want to lay a burden on people but again, I'm very intrigued by that and very challenged by that. We meet about twice a year with all our shepherds. they meet once a month and it's a tremendous time of sharing and all the shepherds as a kind of a shared leadership become aware of what's happening throughout the parish again it's not a gossip session it's not a matter of even sharing names unless there's a reason to but just this sort of thing is happening in our group God is leading us into this ministry God is giving us a vision for this particular thing We've been praying and we sense that God is speaking about this.

And they share together. It's a tremendous vehicle of communication between the clergy and the shepherds and through them between the whole flock. We're in the process of starting a new ministry here.

I mentioned it Sunday, the Shared Burdens Ministry, Shared Burdens Committee. just think of what it would be like to have a group of people say some with legal expertise some with financial expertise some with solving of relationships expertise such as Christian conciliation services the thing that God has raised Matt Archer up to do available meeting regularly with all the shepherds so now if there is something that has come up that you feel you're out of your depth with as a shepherd you've got a board of resources so to speak to immediately turn to especially for folks who are in financial difficulty a place to turn and not just get some money to throw at the problem but sort out the problem if you need financial counseling if you need somebody to help you work out your budget there's a resource right there those four things have spoken very, very deeply to me. And I'm repeating myself, but I need to.

I don't want you to go out of here and say, oh, well, we're going to do what St. Luke's... No, no, no, we're not going to do that. We're not going to just adopt that and kind of laminate it onto our situation. You can't do that.

But I'm praying about those four things. The vestry's praying about it. The staff is praying about them.

I'm asking the shepherds to pray about Him. I'm asking you, as the people of God, to begin to pray, to think, to seek God's wisdom for us as to how He could strengthen the ministry that He's given us thus far and extend it and expand it and make it a much stronger net of caring, a net of compassion and support for each and every member of the body of Christ. You know, it says in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, it says, If one member suffers, all suffer together.

If one member is honored, all rejoice together. It says in Galatians 6 verse 2, Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. What does it mean to be a member of the body of Christ?

How does that get translated? I remember when I was a little boy in school one day, I was going down the stairs and we had a long oak banister. And I was just going down the stairs and I was running my hand upside down on the banister.

You know, I wasn't holding. My hand was gliding along the banister upside down. And halfway down the banister, all of a sudden there was the most awful pain in my ring finger, one of the most awful pains that I have ever experienced.

And I shrieked and I looked at it and an oak sliver had gone in under my nail the whole length so it was into the living flesh, into the quick of the nail. And they took me right out of school, took me to the doctor. I had to have anesthetic and he had to cut away the nail and pull that thing out.

And there was no big damage. But you know, what a little thing. A splinter in one nail.

And do you know that the rest of my body did not say to that finger, that's your problem. I mean, the whole rest of my body was concerned about that thing. Okay?

The whole rest of my body wanted to come to the aid of that hurting fingernail. And I suggest to you that's what it means to be a member of the body of Christ. You know, do you remember those of you who are here, God gave me a word at the very beginning of last week's service.

And I thought that I knew what it meant. It was that all the resources of God are available within His body. And I thought that that meant for our worship that night.

You know, that here, among the people of God, all the resources so that if he wants to give any of the gifts of his spirit were available to them. That's not what he meant. All the resources of God are available in his body and he means those to be continually available so that if one member suffers, the whole body comes to the aid of that member in whatever way it needs to, in whatever way it needs to.

The whole body cares about the hurting fingernail. Right? That has to be translated.

How do you do that? You do it in lots of ways, but one of the critical ways, I believe, is right here in the advice of Jethro to his son-in-law Moses. I think that God has already given us the basis for translating that principle of body membership into reality.

And it's a matter of fleshing out the vision. So that's where I'm at. That's what I'm praying for.

I want to see how God is going to speak to us along those lines to strengthen a ministry that He's already given and to apply it to our unique situation. Amen. The peace of the Lord be always with you.