We live in a very pluralistic society. That means that we live in a world in which there are many religions, philosophies, cults, sects, faiths, and the like. We live in a country in which we cannot declare that we are the only ones who have the truth and all the other religions are roads to hell. We live in a country where we are free to believe and teach whatever we want. And that is just what happens. Open a book, turn on the radio, turn on the TV, open the newspaper, go into any church and you will be inundated with many, many, many views and opinions about God and religion. Unfortunately what happens is that we get so caught up in listening to the views of the world that we forget to listen to what God has to say. Oh, we think we remember what God says, but often we tend to get the philosophies of the world enmeshed with God’s Word and we come up with something other than God’s Word. Yes, it even happens here at St. Matthew. Someone will state what they believe the Bible says, but instead of actually quoting the Bible, they end up quoting some movie or TV theology they have learned. You know how it is, we all know that God looks like George Burns and Moses looks like Charlton Heston. Instead of going back to see what God says, we are determined that our TV theology is what the Bible says. This is how false prophesies are started and continued. And this is a reminder of how we are a lot like the children of Israel.
Getting into our text for today we begin with a woe, that is a warning, to false shepherds. We begin reading at verse one, “1‘Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!’ declares the Lord. 2Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: ‘You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord’” (v. 1-2).
The Lord brings a word of warning to false prophets, kings, and rulers who lead the people astray into idolatry and immorality. The danger here is that, not only does the false prophet, king, and ruler bring judgement upon themselves, they are in positions to lead many others astray. Thus, they are accountable for many lives, not just their own. In a very similar way, we too are held accountable for our faith and lives and for how our witness has an affect on others. Are we, through our lives, leading others to the Lord or driving them away? How do you know? One indication is this, think about what would happen if you invited your family, friends or co-workers to church? Would they accept your invitation, because you have spoken well of our congregation, or would they decline your invitation, because you have spoken harshly concerning our congregation? If you are not sure, ask them and see, see if you are giving a good witness or a not so good witness.
The Lord’s Word is that the false prophets will be punished. They will not be punished with a hand slap, but with an eternal punishment. They will be punished with eternal damnation in hell. Here again, the problem is not that they themselves have been lead astray, but the fact is that they are in positions to lead many others away from the Lord.
False prophets, kings, and rulers will be held accountable, yet, the fault does not lay just with the false prophets, kings and rulers. The fault lays also with those who have been lead astray. Our Lord tells us over and over again to test the spirits, to check out what the prophet is saying, to make sure that what we are hearing is the Word of the Lord. We are responsible for what we hear and what we listen to. We are responsible for our own faith. We cannot blame our unbelief on anyone other than ourselves.
As we continue in our text we read the Lord’s plan to bring back His people. We pick up at verse three, “3Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord” (v. 3-4).
The Lord’s promises are true and comforting. Those that have remained faithful will live. And it is the Lord who will gather those whom He had driven out, those whom He has driven out to protect them from false prophets. Those who have remained faithful are those who continually check what the prophets say against God’s Word to make sure that what they believe and pass on to others truly is God’s Word.
The Lord’s promise is that the faithful will prosper. Of course they will prosper, they will prosper as they grow through the means of grace, which is the way the Lord has given for His church go grow. The Lord has given us the Word and the Sacraments as the means of grace, that is as the means through which He comes to us to gives us all His good gifts and blessings. Notice the Lord does not speak of success, but instead He encourages us to be faithful, to hold fast to His Word. He encourages us to make regular and diligent use of His means of grace and to be discerning in our hearing and reading of His Word.
The Lord’s promise is that there will be no fear. John reminds us that perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). Perfect love is that love that only God can have for us and is that love which, because it is a love from the Lord, does cast out all fear.
Finally, in our text, we read the promise of a Messiah. We pick up at verse five, “5Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness’” (v. 5-6).
The Messiah is coming. The days are coming of the promised Messiah. We know that the promised Messiah is Jesus. He is the One promised, true God, conceived by the Holy Spirit, and true man, being born as a human being, of the human woman, the virgin Mary. He is true God and true man. He came to die on the cross for our sins, but not ours alone, but for the sins of all people, of all places, and of all times. That is what God’s perfect love is all about. God’s perfect love is such that He gave His one and only Son so that He might give His life for ours so that we might have forgiveness of sins. And so that we might not fear.
What is there to fear? Days are coming when the Lord will judge according to His righteousness. The Lord’s righteousness is pure righteousness. If we are judged according to His righteousness then, in and of ourselves, we have no chance, no chance at all, to expect to be saved. Yet we are not judged according to our own righteousness. We are judge according to Jesus’ righteousness, which is our by grace through faith in Jesus our Lord.
Thus, as Christians, we eagerly await the days that are coming. We eagerly await the coming of the promised Messiah, Jesus, when He will come to take us from this valley of tears to be with Him in heaven.
Our text comes with many warnings. Personally, I am reminded, as a pastor, that I must be careful what I preach. The Lord will hold me accountable for what I preach, to make sure that I am preaching His Word, not my own opinion. That is why you see me with my Bible and that is why I am constantly quoting from God’s Word, because I am here to deliver to you God’s Word, not my own.
At the same time, you must be careful what you believe. As the Lord in His Holy Word urges you, so I continually urge you to be in God’s Word, to search the scriptures daily. Search the scriptures, as Paul tells us of the Bereans, they searched the scripture to see if what Paul said was true. I urge you, search the scripture to make sure that what I tell you is true. And to make sure that what you read in the paper, in other books, what you hear on the radio and television, are also the truth, according to the Word of the Lord.
The Lord is coming again, and this time He is coming to take us to be with Himself in heaven. We are to ready ourselves for Christ second coming. We ready ourselves by making regular and diligent use of the means of grace, those means He uses and through which He comes to give, strengthen and keep us in faith. We are to remember our Baptism, that we have been washed, forgiven and given faith. We are to make use of confession and absolution, repenting our sins and hearing God’s Word of absolution, that our sins are forgiven. We are to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest His Word through our reading and hearing His Word proclaimed. We are to eat His body and drink His blood in His holy Sacrament, again, for the forgiveness of sins and strengthening of faith. And we are to do this regularly and diligently. Just as we would not miss a meal, just as we would not refuse or reject gifts and presents on our birthday and at Christmas, so we are not are refuse and reject His gifts on any Sunday morning. When we absent ourselves from divine service, from making regular and diligent use of the means of grace, this is suggesting to the Lord that we do not need any of His gifts this week so we decide to skip a week or two of divine service. This is gift refusal. As a Christian, our desire, more than anything else, is to be when and where the Lord gives His gifts, in divine service, in Bible Class, making use of His means of grace.
I do not know about you, but as a pastor, I sometimes wonder if God has not abandoned, or if He has almost abandoned, His church here in the United States. At times it gets discouraging fighting the good fight. It gets discouraging when so many people refuse the gifts God has to give by absenting themselves from where He gives His gifts. It also gets discouraging when so many people have an opinion about God’s Word, but do not want to take His Word for what He says. In other words, they would rather propagate their opinion, as God’s Word, rather than letting God’s Word speak for itself.
It is at these times, these times of discouragement, that I go back to God’s Word which reminds me that God will never abandon us. Never will He leave us, never will He forsake us. Certainly, He has every right to abandon us, but He has not and He will not. And yet, even though He will not abandon us, He did abandoned His only Son on the cross. He abandoned Jesus for your sins and for mine. He abandon Jesus so that He might suffer the brunt, the punishment for our sins. Thus, I am secure in my faith, in my preaching, in my living. Because of the love of our great God, we are secure in our faith, we are not afraid, we are loved, we live boldly and lovingly, bearing witness of the faith that is in us. Thus, we cling to the Lord, holding on to Him and to His promises which we know are faithful and true, because they are His promises. To Him be the glory for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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