The frustration of non-understanding

Don't we all sometimes feel frustrated? Some of us find that frustration builds and builds and all of a sudden we go of on a rant. For others, the frustration builds and then we just turn away and give up. The sometimes, not often, but sometimes frustration leads us to a breakthrough in understanding as we approach the issue from an alternative viewpoint. I am not sure what Peter does with his frustration but you can see the levels increase as Christ asks him the same question and gives him different answers (Jn. 21.15-17). Yes, they all appear to be much the same but there are differences and I think that those differences matter as does Peter's growing frustration. If they matter to the writer of the gospel then they should matter to us. The gospel was written some years after the events so is not an accurate portrayal of events and yet they are important to us as they reveal views that were important to the followers of the Christ at an early stage in the burgeoning ministry of this new faith.

Whilst for us sheep and lambs would appear to be very similar there are differences, which we often interpret as being differences between children and adults. This anthropomorphic thinking I believe actually hinders us and in the end dregs up those feelings of despair that we see in Peter. However, as any good person who has handled a farm knows the feeding pattern for lambs and sheep are different but most importantly Peter was instructed to tend the sheep not the lambs. In deed the tending of sheep comes prior to their feeding. I suspect that all of our missionary thinking has been appallingly carried out in our over anthropomorphisation of this passage. Yes, I  can well believe that this is parable at its finest and yes I am sure that a certain amount of anthropomorphic interpretation needs to be done but not in such a fashion that we blind ourselves to the underlying realities of the parable.Peter is so lost in this dialogue that it is no wonder he has a rising frustration with the whole interlude.If we are perhaps to look at this passage with any relevance for society today then perhaps by looking at it at an oblique angle so to speak will help.

Where is the shepherd who tends these sheep?

It is for me the central phrasing of this passage that is relevant and important. In the story Christ says "tend my sheep". This is an important message for us. Before Paul becomes Paul he is full of zeal and encounters the risen Lord in a vision that leaves him blinded (Acts 9). Before he continues he needs the acceptance of the community. The starting point is the community...he does not go out into the world to teach until such time as the community has become known to him and he to the community. This like Christ reminds us that we are beholden to the community first and foremost before we can even attempt anything else. Not our own community but the community in which we are embedded. Sheep are herd animals and if the flock is maintained i.e. not disturbed, driven or led, housed, kept free of predators etc., it will survive. There is no need to teach or feed for the community does this as it nurtures the group, leading the young to water and growth.

So why teach. We teach by and through the community. Peter's injunction to teach must be seen in this light. By tending the flock we teach the lambs the requirements and positive effects of community. Teaching the sheep we teach them where the good feed is and where the still waters are. This is not an indoctrination lesson but rather a leading and tending of the flock so that the communal fundamentals are taught. Not the individuality that we have come to express in western culture but the communal culture of the good society. In our failures to understand this we become increasingly frustrated as our teaching does not appear to have any influence on those around us particularly the young. However, if we place ourselves as a community within a community we will begin to lose our frustrations. In this we just have to look at a few different organisations around us and see that this is how they grow and how the church is growing in other places...it becomes the community.