Easter 4 C / Sheep, Shepherds, and Wolves / Acts 20:17-35
21 April 2013 – Redeemer
Sheep are weak and sheep are precious to their Shepherd and you are a sheep. That is what God’s Word preaches to us this Fourth Sunday of Easter. We call this Sunday “Good Shepherd” Sunday and unless you were daydreaming during the readings you heard that sheep and shepherd language. Traditionally this Sunday was called MISeriCORdias Sunday, which is Latin for “pity of the heart” Sunday which we translate “mercy.” The Lord pities us in His heart. He looks down upon us sheep and He knows we are lost without a Shepherd. He sees that our enemies are far more powerful and wise than we are and in His mercy He takes on our enemies. He sees that we are weak — so weak that whatever temptation comes along in the pasture of this life we’ll follow it. We’ll nibble any new dish before we realize it’s poison. We’ll wade right into the latest stream of technology before we realize that it is sweeping us away to death. We leave the safety and boredom of His green pasture seeking adventure and soon come face to face with our enemies. And if it weren’t for the Good Shepherd, if it weren’t for the mercy of His heart we would be lost, alone, and facing certain death.
In today’s text from the book of Acts Saint Paul is preaching to the pastors of the congregation at Ephesus. He is speaking to the undershepherds, to those who serve the flock under the Good Shepherd. His Words are for me, but they are words you should overhear, for one of the most dangerous enemies to the flock can be her shepherds, her pastors.
Jesus warns us, I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Enemies from outside – fierce wolves. Enemies from inside – from among your pastors. In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus draws these two enemies into one “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”
Who is your greatest enemy? An enemy who looks like a friend. A terrorist walking down the street in Boston looking like any spectator. An enemy who is camouflaged. Who does the greatest damage in our lives? A teacher whom we like who tells us lies. A father, friend or sibling whom we love who abuses us. A spouse to whom we are faithful who commits adultery against our marriage. The greatest damage to the flock comes from a pastor who stands in the place of the Good Shepherd, but who is false prophet, a wolf in sheep’s clothing who speaks twisted things. Nearly all Christians have a high regard for their pastors and this is good, for pastors stand under Christ, but the sheep also need to be on guard that their undershepherd is under the Good Shepherd, speaking God’s Word and not his own word.
Remember! Your life in God’s flock, your hope of forever enjoying the green pastures of paradise where you will lack nothing is based solely on God’s Word. Sola Scriptura Lutherans declare, Scripture alone. By His Word God told Adam and Eve He would give them a serpent crushing Son to undo their sin and death. By His Word God commanded Noah to build an ark by which the promise of this Son of Salvation could be kept alive. By His Word God promised Abraham a descendent through whom the world would be blessed. By His Word Mary conceived Jesus in her womb and God’s Word spoken to Eve became God’s Word made flesh. By the Word made flesh, by Jesus the commandments were kept for us. Jesus came in our place, a weak and vulnerable little Lamb – the Lamb of God. But He never wandered, never ate the greener grass of selfishness, never drank the poison water of sin. By the Word of John the Baptist we have all heard who our Savior is – behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. By the Word of Jesus we hear that our salvation is complete, “It is finished.” The Lamb of God went in our place, got tangled up with our sins, let the wolves of death and hell devour Him, took the rod of His Father’s anger and was beaten to death for our sins.
And how is it that you know all of this today and cling to Jesus by faith? By the Word, spoken in your Baptism together with water. Taught into your little ears by your parents and Sunday School teachers. Preached into you by your pastor’s sermons and confirmation classes. By the Word, along with a wafer and some wine, Christ’s body and blood offered at a cross, is given to you here and now. And that Word is not just some news from the past. It is God’s Word and by the working of the Holy Spirit that Word brings you what it says. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” In heaven the faithful cry out, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the Throne and to the Lamb.” Who are those in heaven? The Word tells us, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made the white in the blood of the lamb.” Who are you? You are God’s own flock. You are His sheep which He obtained with His own blood. Thus says God’s Word and so it is.
Which leads us back to the greatest threat facing you sheep — a shepherd who lies. A pastor who preaches something other than God’s Word and when I say God’s Word I mean Jesus Christ and Him crucified. You need to be on guard. For this preaching will be camouflaged – hidden, perverted, twisted.
The wolves dressed in pastor’s clothing will direct you to your hands instead of Christ’s hands. They will bait you into judging God’s mercy by looking at what is in your hands. If your hands are full of the treasures of the earth, if your life is overflowing with health and calm and prosperity well then God must be merciful. And if your hands are empty well then God doesn’t like you. He has no compassion on you. Or these perverse preachers will tell you that your hands must do the work and not Christ’s hands. A Christian is one who obeys, one who loves, one who forgives, and if you obey, love, and forgive enough, well then God will bless the work of your hands. There’s only one problem. Your hands cannot do enough of what God requires – for He requires holiness and righteousness, He expects you to always love, always forgive, always obey. There is only One whose hands can work what God expects – the hands that always obeyed the Law, the hands that carried your sin, the hands that were nailed to the tree, and the hands put on display for Thomas to touch.
If these wolves of waywardness cannot distract you with your hands they try to direct you to your heart. If God really loved you you would feel it. If you are really forgiven there should be joy in your heart, a spring in your step. You would bounce out of bed on Sunday morning with a burning desire to be in His house. Church would excite you. The pastor would inspire you. But you don’t feel it therefore God mustn’t be there. Some Sundays you simply want to roll over and worship at Saint Mattress, patron Saint of those who stay out too late on Saturday night. Sometimes church is no more exciting than the third night of leftovers – same thing we had last week. Once again the problem is where you are looking – God has created a new heart within you, but until that day when Christ returns your old sinful heart and your new living heart beat side by side. The only heart that is pure and good and true is God’s heart, His heart for you, proven in the reality that His heart stopped for you at the cross. God’s own heart, beating in the person of Jesus Christ, was stopped, put to death for you. His blood was shed for you and now His blood lives and flows for you.
Sheep are weak. Sheep need a Shepherd. And thanks be to God you have one. Don’t look at yourself, look to Christ. Don’t look in your hands, but look to His hands and behold what He delivers into your hands – forgiveness for your sins. Don’t look to your heart, but look to His, loving you with the still water of baptism, with the delightful voice of His Word, with the green pastures of His body and blood. And have no doubt – sheep are precious. You are precious to God in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Pr. Bruce Timm
20 April 2013 anno Domini