Beware of Your Pastor
Matthew 7:15-23
August 10, 2025 anno Domini
What were you afraid of when I had the call to Bemidji? If Pastor leaves, how long will we be vacant? What will the next pastor be like? We’re comfortable with Pastor Timm. He’s like an old shoe. What if the new shoe gives us blisters or rubs us the wrong way?
Today Jesus warns of a much greater danger you should fear. Not just when the next pastor shows up, but right now with me and perhaps even more so with me because of the comfort level we have.
Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Throughout Scripture God describes His people as His flock. Pastors are chosen out of God’s flock to be undershepherds of Jesus. Jesus’ warning is that the very man called to lead you, who looks like one of your own, is the very one who could devour you.
There are at least three Scriptural reasons why you need to fear your pastor being a false prophet.
Reason #1. The Holy Spirit works through God’s Word, period. There is no promise and no instance in Scripture where God did His work apart from the Word. God created the world by speaking. He told Noah the flood was coming. He called Moses from the burning bush. He promised Abraham a son with audible words. Saint John tells us that God accomplished our salvation by the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us. Martin Luther was so adamant on this point that he wrote in the Smalcald Articles, “We must constantly maintain this point: God does not want to deal with us in any other way than through the spoken Word and the Sacraments. Whatever is praised as from the Spirit – without the Word and Sacraments – is the devil himself.
God works through His Word alone. This is what you believe and so you have called me to be the servant of the Word – to preach that Word of God faithfully. To deliver you to you the full counsel of God as St. Paul says in the reading of Acts. When Satan goes to work against your faith he works against the Word which means He’s goes after pastors. He can tempt the pastor with comfort – you’re nearing retirement. You’ve fought the battles, now its time to relax. Whatever you do, don’t pick on the elder’s daughter who is living with her boyfriend. Don’t make any sharp points about stewardship. Don’t ask them to give sacrificially. Just keep preaching good sermons, but don’t get specific. When you preach the law, gently tap the hammer so as not to break anything. Whatever you do, don’t pull a Jeremiah and drop the hammer and smash everyone’s pet rocks, that is their petsins.
The second reason that the gate to life is narrow. In the verses right before the text Jesus says, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” It is easier to head toward destruction than to life, even if you have a faithful pastor. A child can be brought to church every Sunday, attend a Lutheran School, get confirmed, have devout and faithful parents, and fall away from the faith and want nothing to do with church.
Jesus speaks a similar warning at the end of the text. Not everyone who says to me , “Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” These last words are spoken about the false preachers, those wolves in sheep clothing, the rotten tree leading to evil fruit. These men, who are many in number, claim to be of the Lord – didn’t we prophesy, cast out demons, do might works in your name? But Jesus responds “I never knew you.” Outwardly they bore the name of Christ, but they are bad trees and the fruit they bear is death.
You need to beware of your pastor. You need to examine him. “Does he baptize in Jesus’ Name? Does he preach in Jesus’ name? Does he commune in Jesus’ name? At a minimum that means you need to know your Small Catechism. You need to know what baptism is, what it does, and what it signifies. Is your pastor preaching in Jesus’ name? Is he dropping the hammer of God’s Law? Is he healing you with the Gospel? If his sermons never sting you, if he doesn’t give you blisters, then maybe he’s too comfortable. You need to understand the Lord’s Supper, that it is the body and blood of Christ. If your pastor isn’t practicing closed communion you need to ask him, “Why?” Does he not believe Jesus’ Word? Is he afraid of the consequences? You need to help him, pray for him, encourage him.
The third reason for this warning is that your old sinful self likes wolves in sheep’s clothing. You’re like your mother Eve in the Garden, the forbidden fruit actually looks delicious. You would rather the pastor leave your sins alone, not upset your relatives who is visiting for the weekend. This is why the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction. It’s easy to sin. It comes naturally. Everyone is doing it. To believe requires a miracle of the Holy Spirit to bring you to faith, and once in the faith, you’re in a battle with your sinful flesh. It’s easier not to fight, not to exercise your faith, not to confess with your lips what you believe in your heart. It is easier to remain sin than to live a life of repentance.
Jesus commands us to “Beware.” That command comes from His love. He doesn’t want us to lose what He won for us and what His Spirit has given us.
His warning also means that you can know His Word. Twice Jesus says, “you will recognize them from their fruits.” Even a novice gardener would know you don’t gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles. I’m going to give you a big word to take home today so you can sound smart. We believe in the perspicuity of God’s Word. Perspecuity means God’s Word is clear. It is understandable. You don’t need a Ph.D. in theology to understand it.
God’s purpose in giving His Word is clear. He wants to deliver us from our greatest problem. We are sinners destined to die. The way of salvation is that the Father sent His Son into the world, in the flesh of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus is the final revelation of God’s Will. Jesus’ greatest work was dying on the cross for the sins of the world. He rose again three days later to prove His work and His Word. He sent His men, the apostles, into the world to baptize, to forgive, to preach, and to administer the Lord’s Supper.
The fruit of God’s Word, of hearing it, believing it, being baptized into Christ, is repentance. Repentance is the fruit you are looking for from your pastor’s preaching. If you’ve heard three or four sermons from your pastor and he hasn’t convinced you that you have any sins, or that you need forgiveness, or you should cling to Christ, you should talk to your pastor. If he hasn’t warned you of the dangers and evils of the world, or told you to fight your sinful flesh, or proclaimed Christ as the one thing needful, call him to repent.
Now, I know this is a big ask. You are pious Lutherans. You have a high regard for the office of the ministry. The last thing you would ever want to do is criticize your pastor or correct him. But remember this – he is your brother. You are to love him as God has loved you. God does not shrink from pointing out your sins. God does not hesitate to rebuke or correct. Why? Because he loves you and he doesn’t want to lose you to the Devil. If you love your pastor, you cannot be silent when he errs or when he gets comfortable or when he loses his courage. For his own salvation and for the sake of the congregation, you must speak. Just as he, if he is a true prophet, must speak to you the full counsel of God, even if you don’t like it.
Why? Because God works through His Word. Because the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life. Because it is easier to sin than to repent. Why? Because God does not want you among the many headed for destruction, but among the few who enter into life. In the name of Jesus. Amen.