(Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24; Matthew 25:31-46) J G White
Reign of Christ Sunday, Nov 26, 2017, UBC Digby
Though many of us have very little experience farming sheep, the shepherd and sheep imagery continues to stand the test of time. The Lord God as our Shepherd steps off the page of the Bible in many chapters, and we keep singing it too. Jesus says to Peter, at the end of the Gospel of John, “Feed my sheep.”
If we people on earth are the sheep, there are a lot of us now! And plenty of sheep are scattered or lost or in trouble or sick or in real danger.
One chapter we read from today: Ezekiel 34. Here, God speaks – lots of “I language.” God in action. There is such a strong sense of God doing so much with the people, and in terms of making things right and fair. It leads, at the end, to a human worker – a shepherd God uses. He is named David. King David. Not to be resurrected from the dead really, but a Messiah to come and be in his role. We Christians see Jesus as the best Shepherd King.
Here in Ezekiel 34, Yhwh God says, thru the prophet:
I will search for my sheep
look after them
be like a shepherd
rescue them from where they are scattered
bring them to their own land
pasture them
tend them
have them lie down
feed them richly
search and bring back the strays
bind up the injured
strengthen the weak
destroy the fat and the strong
shepherd them with justice
judge between fat and lean sheep
save my flock – no longer plundered
place over them one shepherd
David
he will tend them
he will be their shepherd
be their God
David will be My prince among them
Before all this, Ezekiel had proclaimed a warning, woe to the shepherds of Israel.
Woe!
Shouldn’t you take care?
You eat, and clothe yourselves
You didn’t strengthen the weak
heal the sick
bind up the injured
bring back the strays
search for the lost
ruled harshly and brutally
I am against the shepherds
will hold them accountable
will remove them
will rescue my sheep
This judgment scene is revisited by Jesus in Matthew 25: the Sheep and the Goats.
We, like other churches, have organized our flock in terms of an Undershepherd Program. Pastors – shepherds. Undershepherds. Sheep. Perhaps the Shepherd, Jeff White, needs to shepherd the Undershepherds more. 😉
Many new sheep come to us, month by month. We see this in the corral here. We need to include them/you.
I’d like, a few times a year, to get the newer people together with some longer-term people for a social time. A meal, followed by some ‘getting to know you,’ and some introductions to the inner life of Digby Baptist. These events should complement our natural welcoming ways.
And with new sheep who come along to our sheepfold from a different one – let’s pay attention. My attitude is always sadness when someone shows up in my pews because they left some other pews nearby. Better for them to stay where they had been.
And it is good to have clear communication about what new people are bringing – their gifts, their baggage, their history from their previous church. I always liked the ministry policy of a Nazarene Pastor in Windsor. When someone started coming to his Nazarene Church who had left some other local church, he insisted that they meet with the former pastor or leaders and tell them why he or she left. “Go and talk with them, if you have not already.” And then, the Nazarene Pastor would call that pastor up to check and see if the person had indeed gone back to explain themselves.
Good, plan, I thought. That Pastor is a wise shepherd.
And some of our sheep go astray. Start to disappear, then are gone. The Shepherds, the Undershepherds, and the Sheep have a loving role to play here.
I get concerned that we don’t miss some of our lost sheep. I’m concerned that those who seem lower on the socio-economic scale are forgotten and we don’t miss them. The ‘middle class’ and upper, lost sheep are missed more as they disappear. The healthier sheep are missed more. Something wrong here.
Remember the picture Jesus paints in Matthew 25. The hungry, the stranger not from ‘round here, the poorly clothed, the ill, the imprisoned or ex-con. Care for them.
I listen for how often names are mentioned. Names of those who are missing, or going missing. I don’t often hear a lot. Don’t hear prayer for these people. Maybe I’m not party to that. I wonder about how almost every one of us can have a role in caring for the rest of the flock, those who wander, and those who do not.
In Jesus’ story from Matthew 25, we see it is the sheep themselves who are judged to have done well. The King, the chief Shepherd, judges them. How did the sheep care for others?
Each of us is often a sheep, yet sometimes a shepherd. Depends on what you’re talking about. In some parts of your life you are a sheep. Your best path is to follow.
So, when I take my car to the garage, I have no idea how my machine works or how to fix things. I am the sheep, my mechanics are the shepherds in this case.
But when I go on a hike in the woods with other avid hikers, they start looking at plants and trees. Now, I get to be the shepherd, and they are the sheep. One hiking friend now calls me “Plant Guy.”
You have ways you are a shepherd, or an undershepherd. And you have other parts of your life where need to be guided. All the sheep in the flock help one another out. Even the shepherds among us, like me, need care and feeding, guiding and leading.
As this year draws to a close, and I look ahead to a whole new twelve months before us, I wonder about focusing upon being a healthy flock – with healthier sheep and shepherds and undershepherds. I’ve been reviewing a little book called The Healthy Small Church. (Dennis Bickers, 2005) I find it quite inspiring. We can seek to be a healthy flock; one that, as this book suggests:
- Has a positive self-image.
- Shares a common vision that creates a sense of purpose and unity.
- Maintains community while still warmly welcoming new visitors.
- Practices the importance of faithful stewardship and financial support.
- Understands ministry to be the responsibility of all the members of the church.
- Encourages everyone to serve according to his or her spiritual gifts — not by seniority or by guilt.
We are a flock with a lot of healthy things going on already. Our next steps can be wonderful too, though some will be challenging.
So, remember that there are two sides to the coin of being a flock of God’s sheep: being shepherded by the Good Shepherd, and shepherding one another. At times we must claim the ancient promises, and hear God still say:
I will search for my sheep
look after them
be like a shepherd
rescue them from where they are scattered
pasture them
tend them
have them lie down
feed them richly
bind up the injured
strengthen the weak
shepherd them with justice
And then we must we ready to help in all this work, and be good sheep.
AMEN.