The Good Shepherd
Ezekiel • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Transcript
A group of business leaders were touring a mental hospital, with one of them making some very insensitive and insulting remarks about the patients.
After the tour was completed, the group met with various members of the mental hospital staff in the cafeteria. The unkind visitor chatted with Bill, a kind and wise ex-policeman, who was on the security staff.
“Are they all sick and crazy loonies in here?” the insensitive and rude visitor asked.
“Only the ones who fail the test,” replied Bill.
“What is the test?” asked the man.
Bill replied, “Well, we show them a bath filled with water, a large bucket, a large cup, and a spoon. We then ask them what the quickest way to empty the water in the bath would be.”
The man said, “Oh, I see… that is pretty simple – the ‘normal one’ knows it’s the bucket, right?”
“No” replied Bill. “Actually, the normal ones say pull the plug. Should I see if there is a bed free for you?”
I’m sure we all know leaders like this and most of us have worked for some of them. They’re self-righteous, insensitive, ignorant people.
It’s difficult when they’re our bosses at our workplaces outside the confines of the church. But what are we supposed to do when they are the leaders in the church?
We might think that having corrupt leaders in the church is some new spiritual pandemic. It’s worse now than it has ever been.
In Ezekiel chapter 34 we’re going to see we’re not even close to the worst it’s ever been. And we’re going to look at what God says we’re supposed to do when corrupt leaders are abusing and exploiting His people.
We must reject selfish leaders and instead trust in Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who offers genuine care, justice, and eternal hope to His flock.
I want to look at three promises we should trust God to fulfill.
God promises to:
Reject Corrupt Shepherds
Provide Divine Rescue
Bring Peace and Unity
Reject Corrupt Shepherds
Reject Corrupt Shepherds
If you have your Bibles and want to follow along, turn to Ezekiel 34:1 where God addresses corrupt leaders, publicly in front of their followers, who were suffering from their abuse.
1 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 Lord God says to the shepherds: Woe to the shepherds of Israel, who have been feeding themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed their flock?
3 You eat the fat, wear the wool, and butcher the fattened animals, but you do not tend the flock. 4 You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost. Instead, you have ruled them with violence and cruelty.
5 They were scattered for lack of a shepherd; they became food for all the wild animals when they were scattered. 6 My flock went astray on all the mountains and every high hill. My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and there was no one searching or seeking for them.
7 “ ‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. 8 As I live—this is the declaration of the Lord God—because my flock, lacking a shepherd, has become prey and food for every wild animal, and because my shepherds do not search for my flock, and because the shepherds feed themselves rather than my flock,
9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord! 10 “ ‘This is what the Lord God says: Look, I am against the shepherds. I will demand my flock from them and prevent them from shepherding the flock. The shepherds will no longer feed themselves, for I will rescue my flock from their mouths so that they will not be food for them.
Throughout the bible Kings and high government officials are referred to as “shepherds.” They were responsible for the protection and care of the sheep, God’s people.
But they didn’t manage the nation’s affairs for the sake of the sheep. Rather, everything they did was for their own profit.
Judah’s kings were exploiting and abusing their people for their own gain. And in their own self-righteousness they led their people into idolatry.
We’re seeing the same happening today. So called pastors twist Scripture if they use Scripture at all and preach messages that glorify their idols for their own profit.
We have the prosperity gospel, you can’t out give God, He returns tenfold what you give. Poor people have given their entire life savings with nothing in return.
We have what I call the “God is love” gospel. They preach messages about alternative lifestyles while openly living in a sin that worships their idols.
We even have some so called pastors who are preaching that abortion is okay.
Our English word pastor comes from the Latin word pastor which literally means “shepherd.”
Stop listening to those shepherds who are exploiting us.
Jerome of Stridon, a contemporary of Augustine and the author of the Vulgate, once said, “shun, as you would the plague, a cleric who from being poor has become wealthy, or who, from nobody has become a celebrity.”
Stop listening to pastors who have gotten rich at the expense of their poor donors. Or pastors who preach a false gospel idolizing sin to fill their pews.
God says He’s taking His sheep back. He’s rejecting these cruel, self-righteous leaders, pastors, shepherds. If we are to be God’s sheep we must reject them as well.
Learn to hear the Good Shepherd’s voice. Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd, set the prime example by laying down His life for His flock. When Jesus died on the cross, God took full control of His flock.
He promises to rescue and restore His people.
Provide Divine Rescue
Provide Divine Rescue
Look at Eze 34:11-16
11 “ ‘For this is what the Lord God says: See, I myself will search for my flock and look for them. 12 As a shepherd looks for his sheep on the day he is among his scattered flock, so I will look for my flock. I will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and total darkness.
15 I will tend my flock and let them lie down. This is the declaration of the Lord God. 16 I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bandage the injured, and strengthen the weak, but I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will shepherd them with justice.
The leaders exploited and abused the flock. God says He will take care of the sheep Himself now. The House of David line of leadership was suspended.
God is promising His personal intervention. He Himself will shepherd His people. He’s pointing the Jews to the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ, fully human, fully God.
And if you’ve never been around sheep or tried to do anything with sheep you’ll understand when I say. Sheep have got to be the dumbest animals on the planet.
Show Videos of Sheep in ditches.
The lead sheep that leads the flock still needs a shepherd to guide them. Otherwise all the sheep would stray off into danger or be lost.
God promises to bring back both the straying and the lost Himself. All of heaven rejoices when God rescues His sheep. Look at Luke 15:4-7
4 “What man among you, who has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open field and go after the lost one until he finds it?
5 When he has found it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders, 6 and coming home, he calls his friends and neighbors together, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’
7 I tell you, in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who don’t need repentance.
We all wander off and even get lost at times. It’s important to recognize that we don’t suddenly stop, look around and go oh wow, I need to get back to the flock.
Something happens, we see something that brings us back to Christ. Or some event happens or we meet someone that brings us back to Christ.
You see, only God can bring back stray sheep and seek the lost. Only God can restore the strays and save the lost.
We see that in Luke 19:10
10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”
All the “shepherds” who exploited and/or abused the sheep were pointing them to idols. It’s the same today in the church. All the “pastors” who preach prosperity gospels or “God is love” gospels, are doing nothing more than pointing their followers to idols.
In verse 16 Ezekiel switches the allegory from “shepherds” to the fat and the strong. The leaders have gotten rich and powerful at the expense of the people.
God says He will enact His perfect justice upon all who claim to be His people. In Jn 10:9-10 Jesus says,
9 I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.
Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Anyone who places their faith in Him will be saved and have eternal life. A thief is Satan, or anyone who works on Satan’s behalf.
The “shepherds,” the fat and strong are the thieves who steal, kill, and destroy. Jesus wants us to have life and have it abundantly.
God will provide divine rescue Himself, which brings peace and unity to His people.
Bring Peace and Unity
Bring Peace and Unity
If you’re a person who has been hurt by the church, someone in the church or if some pastor has used you or abused you, I want you to understand, it’s only Jesus, the Good Shepherd that we can trust to bring us home.
Don’t let the bullies in the church ruin your faith in Jesus, because they don’t represent Jesus. Learn to hear His voice.
Because, it’s only by our trust in Jesus that we have a promised eternal life. It’s only by trusting Jesus that we have peace and unity.
I can make a lot of promises to you. I might even keep many of them. But sooner or later I’m going to fail to keep a promise and I’ll let you down.
I don’t want anyone to put your faith in me. I want them to put their faith in God. He’s the only One who will never fail them.
Let’s look at what God promises in verses 20-31
20 “ ‘Therefore, this is what the Lord God says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. 21 Since you have pushed with flank and shoulder and butted all the weak ones with your horns until you scattered them all over,
22 I will save my flock. They will no longer be prey, and I will judge between one sheep and another. 23 I will establish over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will shepherd them. He will tend them himself and will be their shepherd.
24 I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David will be a prince among them. I, the Lord, have spoken.
Far too many Christians and even more who are seeking what Christ offers have been hurt by the church. They have been pushed out and away from Jesus.
If that’s you, I ask you not to judge Christianity because of some broken, imperfect people. Instead trust God when He says He will judge all who claim to be His sheep for their individual actions.
God promised to establish over His people one Shepherd. That Shepherd is Jesus Christ. Look at Jn 10:14-16
14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep.
16 But I have other sheep that are not from this sheep pen; I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. Then there will be one flock, one shepherd.
Jesus is talking about Jews and Gentiles here. Gentiles who trust Jesus are the sheep from another pen.
We are all united in Jesus Christ. His death on the cross brought Jew and Gentile together reconciling both to God in one body. We aren’t perfect and we will still let each other down.
But our faith and our hope aren’t in each other, it’s in Jesus Christ. He tells us we are to love each other just as He has loved us.
If we love our brothers and sisters in Christ, whether Jew or Gentile, rich or poor, or dare I say even Republican or Democrat, if we love each other despite our differences it draws people to the Jesus we follow.
The more we trust Jesus, the more we realize our identity is in Him. Not in our nation, our money, or our politics. He died to bring us all together to be a testimony to the world.
In verse 25 God says He will make a covenant of peace.
25 “ ‘I will make a covenant of peace with them and eliminate dangerous creatures from the land, so that they may live securely in the wilderness and sleep in the forest.
While some of this is still in the future kingdom when Jesus returns, we can still have peace in Jesus right now. I don’t mean that having faith in Christ suddenly makes our lives rosy and perfectly wonderful.
However, when we know who we are in Christ, we can face the insults and attacks from the world and know they are hollow gestures.
It’s easier said than done, but once you understand no matter what anyone might say about you, it doesn’t change how God views you as perfect and blameless in His sight.
We have that promise in verses 30 and 31
30 Then they will know that I, the Lord their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people. This is the declaration of the Lord God. 31 You are my flock, the human flock of my pasture, and I am your God. This is the declaration of the Lord God.’ ”
In the Old Testament God’s presence among His people was in the Temple. We know God is with us today because our body is the temple. Look at 1 Cor 6:19
19 Don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
We have God the Holy Spirit residing in us. He transforms us by writing God’s Word on our hearts and in our minds.
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
During a tumultuous time in the Middle East, a couple missionaries with Christian Missionary Alliance in Israel wrote the following in a prayer letter:
The result of the fighting and killing has left a profound sense of discouragement that hovers over the country.
Several times we have come into closer contact with this conflict than our comfort zone allowed.
Yesterday a friend shared with us something she observed that was a delightful reminder of God's care for us.
She watched a shepherd caring for his flock near the area where guns are fired. Every time the shots rang out the sheep scattered in fright.
The shepherd then touched each of them with his staff and spoke calmly to them, and the sheep settled down immediately because they trusted the shepherd.
And then another shot sounded, and the same routine happened again. Each time, the sheep needed the shepherd to orient them again and to reassure them they were safe.
We are God’s human flock and that’s what the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ, does for us. He brings peace even when we’re under fire!!
We can trust in God’s promise to reject the corrupt leaders and provide perfect justice.
We can trust in God’s promise of personal intervention to rescue us whether we are lost, straying, or scattered.
We can trust in God’s promise of peace and unity.
There’s an old hymn that says it well:
Earthly friends may prove untrue,
Doubts and fears assail;
One still loves and cares for you,
One who will not fail.
Jesus never fails.
We can have a peace that surpasses all understanding. Just place our faith in Jesus and He will never fail us.
