“I’ll Shepherd Them Myself”
A sermon
based on Ezekiel 34:11-16, 23-24
Sunday,
November 23, 2014 – Christ the King A
“Wolf! Wolf! There’s a wolf
attacking the sheep!” cried the shepherd. But when all the townspeople showed
up at the field ready for a fight, the boy just laughed and laughed! “Hahaha! I
tricked you! There’s no wolf!”
The next day, he cried out again,
“Wolf! Wolf! This time I mean it! There really is a wolf!” But again he laughed
at the gullible people, “You suckers fell for it again!”
But on the third day a wolf really
did come. And this time, when he called for help, the “boy who cried wolf” was
ignored. The scared boy ran and the wolf ravaged the sheep.
Now, what would you do with that
foolish boy if you were the owner of those sheep who’d hired him to keep them
safe? Or consider another shepherd:
When hired to watch the sheep, he
would regularly shear one or two without the owner’s knowledge, and would take
the fleece home for himself. On occasion when he had something to celebrate, he
would slaughter one of the sheep without the owner’s knowledge, and enjoy a
nice mutton dinner.
Now, what would you do with that
dishonest shepherd if you were the owner of those sheep who’d hired him to keep
them safe?
This is the situation God found himself
in. He had called shepherds—prophets, priests, and kings—to guard his flock—his
people Israel—keeping them safe, feeding them with the promises of his Word,
caring for them with the utmost care remember that they were serving God.
But these despicable shepherds were
fleecing the flock. Rather than caring for the people, they were just using
them to fill their bellies and their purses, to pad their couches and their
bank accounts. And God had had enough. He loved his people too much to let the
abuse continue. So this is what he promised in Ezekiel 34 (:11-16, 23-24)…
11 “‘For
this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and
look after them. 12 As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock
when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from
all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. 13
I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the
countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on
the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land.
14 I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of
Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing
land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. 15
I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the
Sovereign Lord. 16 I will search for the lost and bring back the
strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the
strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
23
I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them;
he will tend them and be their shepherd.
24 I
the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I
the Lord have spoken.
I.
Out with
the Old
So why did God say that he would step in and shepherd his
sheep himself? Because the leaders he’d appointed weren’t exactly doing so
great a job. In the opening words of Ezekiel 34 this is what God had to say:
“The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man,
prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘This is
what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care
of themselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock? 3 You
eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice
animals, but you do not take care of the flock. 4 You have not
strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not
brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly
and brutally…
7 “ ‘Therefore, you
shepherds, hear the word of the Lord…
10 This is what the
Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable
for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds
can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it
will no longer be food for them.” (Ezekiel 34:1-4, 7, 10)
The shepherds were doing a pretty bad job. And God would fix
the problem. As a result of the bad shepherds and the mismanaged flock, the
Israelites were led into captivity in Babylon, where Ezekiel now was,
ministering to the people there. They were being disciplined just as God had
warned they would be.
What a strong warning for me, who’s title, Pastor, means
“Shepherd,” who has been called to shepherd you! What a strong warning for the
leaders of our nation who have been called by God (for it’s he,
not just some election, who has established them in their position. See Romans
13.). And it’s a stern warning for the pastors of our nation who often abuse
that position of shepherd to line their pockets and fill their bank accounts,
who tell their flocks that God wants them to have their best lives now if only
they’d give enough, who fleece their flocks and butcher their souls as they
lead them to look at their efforts and not to Christ.
What will be the result for our nation? Will God let us be
taken captive as a way to discipline us? Will he strip us of our blessings and
punish us by some foreign nation? I don’t know. But seeing the way that leaders
abuse their power can sure be frustrating, can’t it?
Are you frustrated with the leaders of our nation? Are you frustrated
with the clergy of the United States? Are you frustrated with… yourself?
“Wait? What? Where did that come from?” you might object.
“I’m no leader!” No? Who is a leader? Anyone who leads others. “Well, that’s not
me!” you say? Well, if that’s true, then that’s to your shame! We are all
called to lead others. In a leadership book I’m reading it says this: “Anytime you influence the thinking, beliefs, or
development of another person, you’re engaging in leadership.”[1] That’s absolutely true. And that means that you
can (and should) lead whether you’re the CEO or manager, or the bookkeeper or
janitor.
“Are you your brother’s keeper?” Yes! You are! You are responsible
for those in your life. You are responsible to lead others to Jesus: your own
family, your friends and co-workers, complete strangers by the way you support
the church at large. You are responsible to lead by the example that you set in
the way you live your life. You are responsible to lead by the words you say.
You are responsible by the way you not only behave, but in your attitudes.
Are you a good leader? Always? … Me neither. And for our
selfish abuse of the positions that God has put us in, we deserve to have God
say of us, “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am
against [you] and will hold [you] accountable for my flock. I will remove [you]
from [your position] so that [you] no longer feed [your]selves. I will rescue
my flock from [your] mouths, and it will no longer be food for [you].” (Ezekiel
34:10, paraphrased)
In fact, we deserve to have God punish us severely for our
failure to lead others, just as he had once warned Ezekiel: “When I say to a wicked man, ‘You will surely die,’ and
you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to
save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you
accountable for his blood.” (Ezekiel 3:18)
That’s what we deserve. But instead, God stepped in to care
for his people. He would shepherd them himself…
II.
In with the
New
Hey, did you guys hear about the
man who ran over himself? He asked his wife to run over to the store to get him
some snacks to eat during the football game. But she refused, saying she was
too busy. So he grabbed his keys, got in the car, and ran over himself. J
But seriously, you’ve heard the
maxim that if you want something done right, you’d better just do it yourself.
That’s how God felt in dealing with his people. He had appointed shepherds to
care for his flock. But they weren’t doing a very good job. And God cared too
much for his flock to let them all die a slow, spiritual death, so God would
take care of this himself.
11 “‘For
this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after
them… I
[will] look after my sheep. I
will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered… I
will bring them out… I
will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them… I
will tend them in a good pasture… I myself will tend my sheep… I
will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I
will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak… I
will shepherd the flock…
23
I
will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he
will tend them and be their shepherd.
24 I
the Lord will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I
the Lord have spoken.
But wait a second! If God would
shepherd his people himself—which he said he’d do 10 times in 6 verses!—then
why does he end saying that he’d have David
shepherd them? Why does he call David
their prince when he would rule?
And remember your Old Testament
History? When did David live? About 1000 BC. When did Ezekiel live and write?
About 400 years later, around 600 BC! So how could Ezekiel say that David, who
had been dead for 4 centuries by now, could be their Shepherd and their prince?!
Well, if you’ve been coming to
Bible Class lately, you know the answer to the riddle already. You know the
promise that God made to David in 1 Chronicles 17(:10-14). There he said to
David, “I will raise up your offspring to succeed
you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom… I will establish
his throne forever… I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his
throne will be established forever.’ ”
You know the fulfillment wasn’t
just in Solomon—for his reign didn’t last forever, which God promised
David 3 times! You know who’s reign lasts forever. You know that this promise
really referred to Jesus just as it’s explained in Luke 1(:31-33) when Gabriel
said to Mary, “31 You will be with child and
give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He
will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will
give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over
the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”
So when God told Ezekiel that David would shepherd his people he was
really referring to Jesus. And all
the things Ezekiel described, Jesus has done and still does for us! What a
perfect Shepherd he is!
Jesus perfectly cared for his
flock, even laying down his life for his sheep. See John 10:11 and, really, all
of John 10, the “Good Shepherd” chapter. And that payment the God-man made with
his life on the cross still counts for us. We are forgiven for our failure to
lead others, for our selfishness in using others, and for every sin. And we are
forgiven because Jesus went after the lost sheep with a passion that left 99
others behind to save that one. See Luke 15:4-7, and really, all of Luke 15,
the “Love for the Lost” chapter. He came after us.
But his work as Shepherd still
isn’t done. Now Jesus rules all things for the good of his Church and for us
who are in it. See Romans 8:28 and Ephesians 1:22. He still leads us to the
quiet waters of his Word where he gives us peace. See Psalm 23. And one day
soon he will lead Shepherd us into his heavenly pasture as he’s promised in
Revelation 7(:15-17): He who sits on
the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never
again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching
heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will
lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from
their eyes.”
So we praise our perfect Shepherd
King. We live, no longer for ourselves only taking more for us, but we live for
him. And that means we live for others, doing all we can to lead them to our
Good Shepherd.
In other words, we strive to be the
leaders he’s made us to be! We strive to be faithful shepherds for our King! After
all, the King has made us not only his sheep, but his sons and
daughters—princes and princesses! He’s given us the authority to speak on his
behalf. He’s given us a mission to carry out for him. So it’s time to step up
and lead!
No more “crying wolf” with our
excuses! No more fleecing the flock by using others for our selfish ends. No!
Now we do all we all we can to “influence the
thinking, beliefs, or development of [others]… and [engage] in leadership.”
We lead, not because we must, or because we’re afraid the King will punish us
if we don’t, but because we long to thank him for the way he has served us
himself as the perfect Shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep, who rules
all things for our good, who promises to take us to be with him soon. In Jesus’
name dear friends, go lead! Amen.
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