"I'll Shepherd Them Myself"
A sermon based on Ezekiel 34:11-16, 23-24
Sunday, November 20, 2016 – Christ the King A
"I'll do it myself." That's what the perfectionist boss said as he took the project he had delegated back. It wasn't done to his standards. And he came to the conclusion that if the project was going to be done right, then, well, he would have to do it. No one could do it as well as he could.
That's sort of what's going on in our text for this morning. Jesus is a perfectionist. Literally! He demands nothing but perfection. But the people that he had delegated the job to weren't just doing a less than perfect job, they were doing a horrible job.
And Jesus, knowing that no one could do it as well as he could, that no one could do the job at all, except for him, stepped in and said, "I'll do it myself."
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
The leaders God had appointed to shepherd his people weren't just crying wolf and abandoning the flock when real danger came. No. They were far worse shepherds than that. They fleeced the flock.
Imagine a shepherd hired to watch the sheep, who regularly sheared one or two without the owner's knowledge, taking the fleece home for himself. Or 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.
This is 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. 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—to put it mildly. They weren't meeting God's standards. And God loved his people too much to let the abuse go on. So God would fix the problem. He would remove these wicked leaders from their positions of leadership and God would do the job himself.
What a strong warning for me, who's title, Pastor, means "Shepherd," who has been called to shepherd you! What a strong warning for our councilmen and elders who have been called to assist with that task!
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.). What 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 once read 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 not just fire us, but 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?!
We only need to look at the promise that God made to David in 1 Chronicles 17(:10-14) to find the answer to the riddle. 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! But you know who's reign does last 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-King he is!
Jesus, the King of Love, my Shepherd is because he 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-King 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 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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