Christ the King Sunday / November 20, 2011
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
I
find comfort and joy in the Biblical stories of shepherds and sheep. When I hear a scripture passage like
today’s in Ezekiel I imagine pastoral scenes, with sheep grazing on good grass
and shepherds sitting idly by. I
recall those portraits in the Sunday School classrooms of my youth of Jesus
carrying a lamb – his face tender and full of compassion. I smile as I remember our children
dressed as shepherds for last year’s Christmas Pageant, eager to come see the
baby Jesus in the manger. The 23rd
Psalm rings in my ears: “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.”
Somehow
I forget just how hard the life of a shepherd can be. In a land where there was not much water, Rachel and the
other shepherds gathered their sheep each day and drew water from a well for
the sheep. This must have been
hard work! The young lad, David,
was not afraid to confront Goliath because he had killed both lions and bears
with his own hands while protecting his flock (1 Sam 17:36). What bravery! Jael, a shepherdess who lived in tents, fearlessly drove a
tent peg through Sisera’s head, killing this enemy in his sleep (Judges 4:21). Imagine being that strong and
fearless. Shepherding was hard and
dangerous work – shepherds had to be courageous and resourceful. But above all, shepherds had to know
and love their sheep.
Unfortunately,
the shepherds of Ezekiel’s time had been anything but courageous and compassionate. The leaders of the Israelites had been
feeding themselves – setting their own needs and desires ahead of the
sheep. King after king had done
evil in the sight of the Lord. As
a result, the “sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with no one
to search or seek for them” (Ezek 34:6).
God’s people had been exiled from Judah and Israel to far flung places
like Assyria and Babylon and Egypt.
Like sheep without a shepherd, God’s people felt like they had been
abandoned. We understand the Psalmist’s
cry: “How can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” (Ps 137:4). A land so far from home.
Ezekiel
was a prophet and priest in this foreign land. He had been among the first wave of exiles from Judah and
had been living in Babylon for twelve years, seeing visions and performing sign
acts and calling people to turn back from their evil ways. A glimmer of hope remained throughout
this time because Jerusalem had not fallen into the hands of the enemy. The city on a hill still belonged to
the line of David; Solomon’s temple was still the home of the Lord. The people had not hit rock bottom;
there was still hope. And then
Ezekiel heard the devastating news that Jerusalem had fallen and, as if that
wasn’t enough, the temple had been destroyed. As our hearts sink with theirs at this horrible news, we cry
with the Psalmist: “Where is their God?”
Where
is the God who promised David, “I will establish the throne of [your] kingdom
forever” (2 Sam 7:13)? Where is
the God who said, “I will not take my steadfast love from [you]... Your house
and your kingdom shall be made sure forever” (v. 15-16)? Where is the God who made a covenant
with the people of Israel? With
the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple – the very dwelling
place of the Lord – it seemed that God had abandoned them completely.
It
is into this void – this utter despair – that the Lord now speaks: “For thus
says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep... I will rescue them from
all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick
darkness... I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep... I will seek out the
lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I
will strengthen the weak.” God
will no longer leave the sheep in the hands of selfish and power-hungry and
incompetent shepherds. God makes
it very clear that God’s self will be the Good Shepherd and we will be God’s
sheep.
Perhaps
you are wondering, why sheep? We
are not really like sheep, are we?
We can find our own food and we can bind up our own wounds. We can clothe ourselves and protect
ourselves from predators. We are
not really like sheep who need a shepherd to lead them to clean water and good
grazing land. We are created in
God’s image – we have been given care of creation – we can do these things for
ourselves.
True. We can do these things for ourselves,
but there is one thing we cannot do for ourselves; we cannot save
ourselves. We are utterly unable
to turn back to God on our own. As
the prophet Isaiah said, “All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have all
turned to our own way” (Isa 53:6).
We have turned away from God again and again. We are utterly depraved, and totally lost without God. Only God can seek out those who are
lost and alone; only God can lead us back to good pastures; only God can bind
up the wounds of our sin; only God can strengthen the weakness of our unbelief;
only God can lead us beside the still waters of baptism; only God can restore
our souls. And God longs to bring
each and every one of his sheep back into the fold.
The
Lord says, “I myself will search for my sheep... I myself will be the shepherd
of my sheep.” I, myself, and no
one else. God is taking the
initiative to rescue all of God’s sheep.
God is no longer going to rely on other shepherds to do the job – kings
and prophets and teachers are simply not able to save the sheep, for they are
sheep themselves, utterly unable to save themselves. Threats and prophecies and
punishments cannot turn a people back to God – history has shown this
repeatedly. From Adam and Eve, who
were exiled from the garden, to Ezekiel and the people of Judah, who have been
exiled from their homeland, history has shown that threats and prophecies and
punishments and even miracles are not enough to turn a people back to God. Only God, and God alone, can turn a
people back to God.
So
God promises to seek out his sheep.
Notice that this search and rescue mission is all inclusive – God
rescues the fat sheep along with the lean sheep – God rescues the selfish and
thoughtless sheep who trample the pastures and muddy the waters, along with the
helpless and weak sheep who have been ravaged and scattered. God’s grace extends to all people – no
matter where they have been scattered – no matter what they have done. God’s grace – God’s prevenient grace –
reaches out to all people, offering salvation and hope. God’s grace goes out, like a shepherd,
and searches everywhere until the lost sheep is found. And then the shepherd brings the lost
sheep home, rejoicing (cf Luke 15).
We
are like sheep, utterly unable to save ourselves. Like the sheep in today’s gospel lesson, we do not recognize
the good in our own actions: “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave
you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink?” (Matt 25:37). If we cannot recognize the good in our
own actions, surely our actions cannot save us. Our works cannot save us if we are not even aware of the
times when we are serving our Lord.
We are completely dependent upon God’s grace for salvation. Like the apostle Paul we often recognize
that we are enslaved by sin. He
writes, “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I
do the very thing I hate... I can will what is right, but I cannot do it”
(Romans 7:15, 18). It is only
through Jesus Christ that we can be set free from the law of sin and
death. It is only through Jesus
Christ that we can be saved and restored to a right relationship with God.
God
the Good Shepherd goes out and rescues the lost sheep so that the sheep can be
restored to a right relationship with God. God’s prevenient grace is firmly grounded in God’s deep love
for each one of us – God wants us to be healthy and happy. This search and rescue mission is not
about power or sovereignty – God isn’t a king like other kings. God isn’t trying to manipulate us or
force us to change – God is not a dictator. God is a Good Shepherd who knows how valuable we are. God wants
to restore us and heal us and forgive us.
God wants the sheep to know how deeply they are loved. When we allow God to lead us home we
discover that God’s grace is a gift that inspires us and enables us to resist
temptation. God’s grace empowers
us to repent and be faithful.
But
right relationship with God cannot happen unless we are also restored to right
relationship with one another. Sheep
can be pushy and selfish. Therefore
God judges between the fat sheep and the lean sheep, seeking peace for all; God
wants all of the sheep to have clean water and good food. Those who trample the lush grass and
muddy the water must be punished. It
is in this judgment that we are able to see the error of our ways and grow in
grace. It is in this judgment that we are able to turn toward God, and grow in
holiness. It is God’s justifying
and sanctifying grace that helps us to say yes to God – to do the things God
wants us to do – to seek God’s will in all things.
We
are not there yet, but we are on our way.
On this Sunday that marks the end of the Christian year we look forward
to Advent as we prepare once again for the King who was born in Bethlehem; the
King who longs to live in our hearts today; the King who will come again at the
end of times. And we look back to
the promise the Lord made to Ezekiel: “I will set up over them one shepherd, my
servant David, and he shall feed them... and be their shepherd. And I, the
Lord, will be their God” (Ezek 34:23-24).
This is Jesus, the Messiah, whose kingdom is established forever and
whose steadfast love will never, ever, be taken from us. Friends, this is most assuredly good
news!
Today,
as we look back over the Christian year that began last Advent, I ask: Have you
truly acknowledged that there is absolutely nothing you can do to save
yourself? Or are you still trying
to save yourself or others? Have
you allowed the Good Shepherd to lead you to green pastures and still waters? Or do you still think you can find your
own way? Have you recognized God’s
nudgings and promptings, inviting you to surrender your life completely to
God’s will? Or are you still fighting
to control your own life?
In
Ezekiel’s time, the destruction of the temple opened the way for God to begin a
search and rescue mission; it opened the way for the people to return to
God. Two thousand years ago, the
Lamb of God took on the sins of the world on a cross, opening a way for the
people everywhere to completely surrender to God. Today we gather at this most
Holy Table where Jesus the Good Shepherd feeds us with mercy and love and
healing and forgiveness. Christ
invites us to come to this table, even though we have nothing to offer our king
but our open hands and our very lives.
And God graciously accepts our gifts, feeding us grace upon grace and
inviting us to return once again to the sheepfold of his love and forgiveness.
Thanks
be to God for this amazing gift!
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