The Good, The Bad and the Sheep

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE SHEEP Ezekiel 34:1-16 August 2, 2020 What's the difference between a good Pastor, and a bad Pastor? You hear people evaluate their Pastors all the time. She's really good, or I don't care for him at all. Rarely, do you get a specific reason. But, there must be something that makes the difference in how people feel. What is it? Is it whether they visit you every time you're in the hospital? That's impossible right now. Does that make all Pastors bad? Is it whether they're benevolent; either using the church's money or their own to help you through difficult times? Maybe it's their ability to administer the church. Running an efficient and effective church is one of Paul's gifts of the Holy Spirit. Do you judge them based on whether they inspire community outreach, like Pantry Express? Or, maybe you believe a good Pastor is constantly working for social justice. A good Pastor should be on the front lines protesting for Black Lives Matter. I'm sure some evaluate the Pastor based on numbers. How much money did we bring in, did it cover the budget? How many baptisms this past year? How many new members and professions of faith in the last 12 months? Maybe you judge the Pastor based on meaningful worship. If the service is too academic, and doesn't touch you emotionally, that's a bad Pastor. Or, if the service is all emotional fluff and no substance, that's a bad Pastor. I'm certain most Pastors are judged based on their sermons. Paul says a good Pastor must be good at preaching and teaching. But, then along comes James the brother of Jesus, and he warns us those who teach - and especially Pastors - will be judged more strictly by Jesus himself. Yikes! After the Resurrection, but before he ascends to Heaven, Jesus reinstates Peter as the leader of the new Church. Jesus challenges Peter three times - if you love me, feed my sheep. Not just the good sheep.1 All the sheep. Feed the ones who keep wandering away. Feed the ones who keep injuring themselves. Feed the ones who get lost, then get angry at you for letting them get lost. Yes, you will spend more time with the broken and damaged, than you do with the healthy and obedient. But, that's the job. Take care of all my sheep, especially the ones who cannot take care of themselves. Every Pastor wants to be liked, appreciated, valued. But, that's not the calling. The Holy Spirit calls Pastors to serve God, by feeding the sheep. The Pastor demonstrates their love for Jesus, by loving the sheep which have been placed in their care. All of the sheep which have been placed in their care. And, in the final test, Jesus will judge the Pastor - not the congregation. In Ezekiel's day the king, and the high priest, and the permanent Temple priests ran the religion of the nation. It was impossible to separate where the government ended, and the religion began.2 Unfortunately, all three of those groups were only in it for themselves. They only ministered to the sheep for what they could personally get out of it. Through Ezekiel, God tells the church officials, you have done nothing but take, take, take. He uses the products of a sheep as a metaphor. He says, you're supposed to feed the sheep; that's the job. Instead, you're consuming the sheep. You drink the milk, you wear the wool, and you eat the rest. Meanwhile the sheep themselves are starving. You were supposed to teach the sheep to love God. You were supposed to give them the tools to love God, and be nice to people. But, you failed them. In particular, you failed the wounded and damaged sheep. You were great to the important and wealthy men; men who could do you favors in return. You were great to the people who brought their tithe, and never asked for anything in return. But, the people who were beat up by life, and struggling just to make it through another day - you pushed them down and walked on them to get to the better sheep. Something the religious authorities misunderstood, and something I think many Pastors today forget, is that your sheep are a gift from God. Jesus doesn't tell Peter feed your sheep. He says feed 'my' sheep. Because the sheep are a gift from God. Two weeks ago God took away Ezekiel's wife, and the families of most exiles. The point was, your family is not your own, it is a gift from God. Do you love your wife? Do you love your husband? Then love God even more. Because your spouse and children are a gift from the God who loves you. The people who walk through the doors of this church (or watch us on TV at home) don't belong to me. You are a gift to me from God. If I really love God, I will do everything I can to cherish and care for you. All of you. The ones who never ask for a thing, and the ones who need help every week. You have been gifted to me by God, and if I love God, I will feed you. Ezekiel spent 32 chapters of his book pointing out the sins of the people, and the inevitable consequences. All his prophecies came true. And the consequences were drastic. All the wealthiest, healthiest, and most educated people in Jerusalem have been brought to Babylon as slaves. The Jews call this the Great Exile. But, when Jerusalem came under attack, the residents of all the other cities in southern Israel fled. People scattered everywhere. Now there is no home to go back to. They are foreigners in a foreign land - with no place to go. This is called the Diaspora. The great dispersal. The Exile, and the Diaspora, are considered the two greatest tragedies in Jewish history. By comparison, the Holocaust, inflicted by Germany, is only considered number three. In the midst of the two worst tragedies Ezekiel speaks words of comfort. He says to the people, you who are wounded, broken, damaged, lost - you are in fact - the most loved by God.3 It might look like he loves the king more than you. It might look like he loves the priests more than you. Not true. God loves the needy, the poor, and the disenfranchised the most. When everything in your life falls apart - God is there. When you've done something wrong, and you feel completely unlovable - God is there. When you've wandered away from God, when (like a prodigal son) you have deliberately run away from God, and you don't know how to find your way back home - God is there. And, he loves you. Ezekiel tells the exiles - the government failed you.4 Your king was terrible and he failed you. Your high priest failed you. All he cared about was money in the bank and food on the table. The Temple priests failed you. They were supposed to teach you to love me. Instead, they used you to get respect, and attention, and money. And, the Covenant of Law failed you. The people begged Moses - give us rules. If we know the rules we will follow them and work our way to Heaven. But you can't. Every one of you is damaged, and broken by original sin. You never had a chance to follow the rules. So, the Covenant of Law offered you a prize you could never win. It was kind of like a carnival game. You were never going to get the hoop over the bottle. So, here's what were going to do. I myself will be your shepherd. I myself will feed you. I myself will look for the lost, bandage the wounded, and carry the sick back home. I myself will save you. It doesn't matter where you go. It doesn't matter how far lost you are - I will find you. And, I will bring you back home. Ezekiel promises the exiles - God himself will find the lost and bring them back home. The Jews of the Exile and Diaspora take this to mean God will kick the Babylonians and Assyrians out of Israel, and give us back our country. Their interpretation is this - Ezekiel told us God has promised to bring us physically back home. The exile will end. The Diaspora will end. We will get our land back. And, in fact, 50 years later that's exactly what happens. But, for you and me there is a very important phrase in this verse. When will God bring his children back home? On that dark and cloudy day. Every Jew who knew Scripture understood that phrase as a reference to Armageddon.5 That exact phrase appears in the prophecies of Joel, Hosea, and Amos. Each time it is a direct reference to the great and terrible Day of the Lord. The end of time. It means the day when God himself comes down into the world and ends history. Well, as Christians, what do you and I believe about the day when God himself comes into the world and ends history? We call that the Parousia, the return of Jesus. When we read Ezekiel we see this verse as a direct reference that 'we Christians' will be gathered home, from wherever we have wandered, on the day Jesus returns. Did you know the book of Ezekiel is the most quoted book in the New Testament book of Revelation? When John saw his revelation of the return of Christ, and the end of time, he quoted Ezekiel 48 times to validate his vision.6 John, the Apostle who walked with Jesus, is convinced this verse from Ezekiel speaks about Jesus returning at the end of time and bringing every wounded, broken Christian into Heaven. Ezekiel sees the future. And, he sees the advent of the Covenant of Grace. No human can save themselves. We are too sinful. And, no human Pastor - no human shepherd - will ever be good enough. Pastor's are people too. And, we are too sinful. If anyone is ever going to make it to Heaven, God himself must make a way. Jesus is the good Shepherd. He's the only one who can save us. Fortunately, Ezekiel sees that Jesus will willingly take on this responsibility. We will lie down in pleasant places and feed on the lush pastures of the hills. That's code for Heaven. The Lord is my shepherd, and I am the sheep of his pasture. And, he has promised good to me. God always keeps his promises. So, I can trust Ezekiel, and I can trust John. Jesus is coming back, for me. Because he is the Good Shepherd, and he loves me. I love the way Ezekiel writes when he quotes Jesus. He says in verse 16, "I will search for my lost ones who strayed away, and I will bring them safely home again. I will bandage the injured and strengthen the weak." We live in a broken world. And, I know bad things have happened to you. I know many of you are suffering financially right now. I know many of you are suffering with your health right now. I know some of you are suffering with family and loneliness right now. You are not forgotten. You have not been abandoned. I will do my best to feed you - whatever it is you need. But, I am not the Good Shepherd. Jesus knows you. He knows your life, and he knows your heart. In the midst of your most broken moment, Jesus has his arms wrapped around you. And, he will never let you go. On the last day, the day the world ends, Jesus will gather you home. Everything wrong will be made right. You will enter a perfect eternal rest. Ezekiel said so. John agreed with him. And, Jesus keeps his promises. 1 John Paul Heil, "Ezekiel 34 and the Narrative Strategy of the Shepherd and Sheep Metaphor in Matthew," The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 55 no. 4 (October 1993), 698-708. 2 NIV Cultural Background Study Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016), 1388. 3 Samuel L. Adams, "Ezekiel 34:11-19," Interpretation, 62 no. 3 (July 2008), 304-306. 4 Gordon Matties, New Interpreter's Study Bible (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003), 1207. 5 R. C. Sproul, general editor. New Geneva Study Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 1307. 6 Raymond B. Dillard & Tremper Longman III. An Introduction to the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994), 325-326. --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ 2