LETTERS FROM PLEASANT VIEW LUTHERAN CHURCH

Jack Jonas: Shepherd of the Flock A Letter from Pleasant View Lutheran Church December 25, 1985 Michael Loeson was excited about the shepherds. He wasn’t out of seminary a year yet and he was about to preach his first Christmas sermon. In November, he accepted a call to a tiny country parish in South Dakota. Its white frame church building was planted smack dab in the middle of a wheat field. His call committee kidded him, “Well, it’s not the end of the world but you can see it from here.” He wanted to impress them. As the new kid on the block he wanted to relate to them, to be one of them. He wanted to prove to them that they made the right choice choosing him. So, he took down his commentaries and began to read everything he could about sheep and shepherds and the way the religious types of Jesus day felt about them. He was a city boy but he found it invigorating to saturate himself in such an agrarian topic. On behalf of his parishioners, he felt proud to read that the simple shepherds were the first to behold the holy family. He could almost feel the golden light of angels as he imagined these pure and humble folk of the field bowing down before the softly, cooing Christ child. What peace he felt. How exquisite it would be to present this otherworldly vision to the loving, and simple country folk of his parish. He had to admit that he was a bit disgruntled by one liberal commentary that claimed shepherds in Israel were afforded no civic respect. It said that shepherds were such notorious thieves and liars that they were excluded from acting as witnesses in all judicial matters. Those who followed the letter of the Jewish laws were forbidden to buy wool or milk from them because it was just assumed that anything a shepherd had to sell must have be stolen. Pastor Loeson immediately put this less than flattering description out of his head. It posed far too great of a threat to the romantic picture he had already painted in his head. What’s more, some of his own flock raised a few sheep and surely they wouldn’t take kindly to such a rude depiction of their trade. He was too new to risk offended his members. He brushed the warning aside. That was his first mistake. Michael had a plan. He would bring the Christmas story right into the lives of these South Dakota farmers by using a visual aid that was close to them. And what would make a better visual aid than a sheep and a shepherd? But somehow that was not enough. He wanted to surprise them. And what would be more surprising than a shepherd and his entire flock of sheep suddenly appearing right there in the sanctuary before them. He started to look for a shepherd and his flock. To be sure that it would be a complete surprise, he told no one of his plan. That was his second mistake. Now, as the pastor moved from coffee pot to coffee pot he began to hear stories about an old crusty figure by the name of Jack Jonas. As far as he could figure, Jack was the closest thing the county had to a shepherd. So, Pastor Loeson got in his car and headed out into the hills to strike up a deal with Jack Jonas. That was his third mistake. Jack didn’t belong to a church. To hear Jack tell the story, it was difficult for him to get away on Sundays, what with watching the sheep and all. To hear his neighbors tell the story, his Sunday morning absenteeism had more to do with the trips he made to town on Saturday night then they did with his high level of compassion for his sheep. It only took one look at Jack to know that the truth of the matter was something far different. It was a matter of discomfort; Jack’s discomfort sitting in a pew and any respectable church member’s discomfort sitting in any pew in the vicinity of Jack. Jack lived in what could benevolently be called an RV on the extreme edge of some property he rented from the Wilsons. In the summer he drove both it and his sheep out into the hills. When the season threatened snow, he parked it right next a huge pole barn where he wintered his flock. He shared his abode with an assortment of border collies, blue healers, wool ticks and stick tight fleas.