Saint
Luke Ev. Lutheran Church of Watertown
Sermon
delivered by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz
Ezekiel
34:15,16 November 21 and 24, 2002
Christ the
King
I
myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD.
I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the
injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I
will shepherd the flock with justice.
People
of God—rescued from the flaming lake of fire in hell by the innocent blood of the
very Lamb of God:
A very nice lady named Anne
Geddes—was born in Queensland, Australia. When she first started taking
pictures her studio was a garage. Anne Geddes takes pictures of little
babies—some just days old. Most of them are sleeping—eyes tight shut. Some of
these little babies are sprouting from flowerpots. Some are nestled in little
cocoons. Some have butterfly wings. Some are sleeping like little pixies on a
single leaf bigger than their body. Some of them are smiling so happy that
their pudgy little cheeks reduce their big eyes to little slits. Sometimes
these little people have their small heads held in the hands of their mother or
their father. Some of the pictures are so clear that you can see the little
peach fuzz on the tiny shoulders of little newborns. Why does Jesus put that
soft little fuzz on a baby’s shoulders? So they don’t get little scrapes when
they are being born? Anne Geddes has some pictures of little newborn
people—with the little drops of saltwater that are tears—in the eve trough of
their lower eye lid—then spilling on their cheeks. These pictures make your
chest tight—your heart ache. Anne Geddes takes pictures of little babies—to
raise awareness about child abuse. If you look at her pictures you cannot
escape the fact that babies—little newborn babies are very very breakable.
God’s Word makes it very clear we are not just breakable—we are broken by sin.
We are broken by the sin that is in our heart. We are helpless to save
ourselves. That’s why the Gospel is so precious. It’s not just a matter of life
and death. It’s a matter of eternal life and eternal death! Today—Christ the
King Sunday—the last Sunday of the Church year—God’s Word has this powerful
message of comfort and hope:
The
LORD Is My Shepherd!
- He searches for the lost
- He heals the hurt
- He shepherds with justice
The part of God’s Word we
are concentrating on is part of the scroll of the prophet Ezekiel. Ezekiel is
the prophet who used visual aids more than any other. We will take just one
example—an example of the preaching of the law. The word of the LORD came to
me: “Son of man, how is the wood of a vine better than that of a branch on any
of the trees in the forest? Is wood ever taken from it to make anything useful?
Do they make pegs from it to hang things on? And after it is thrown on the fire
as fuel and the fire burns both ends and chars the middle, is it then useful
for anything? If it was not useful for anything when it was whole, how much
less when the fire has burned it and it is charred? Therefore this is what the
Sovereign LORD says: As I have given the wood of the vine among the trees of
the forest as fuel for the fire, so will I treat the people living in
Jerusalem. I will set my face against them. Although they have come out of the
fire, the fire will yet consume them. And when I set my face against them, you
will know that I am the LORD. I will make the land desolate because they
have been unfaithful, declares the Sovereign LORD. Ezekiel chapter 15
Ezekiel used allegory—a
long teaching story—with point of comparison after point of comparison. He told
the story of a newborn baby. Not a beautiful baby—but a baby that was
newborn—but her cord was not cut. Her body was not washed clean. She wasn’t
wrapped in towels or blankets. She was abandoned in an open field to die. The
Sovereign LORD found her and adopted her. He saved her life and showered on her
blessing upon blessing. And how did she repay him? She not only sold her hugs
and kisses. She became so terrible—that she paid for hugs and kisses. So terrible
was her spiritual adultery—her spiritual unfaithfulness! The soul who sins
is the one who will die. Ezekiel 18:20a Doesn’t that remind
you of Romans 6:23 The wages of sin is death! Let there be no mistake.
God hates sin. He hates it! I deserve God’s blistering judgment because of my
sins! In the state of Washington they now have traffic court by e-mail! You
don’t have to show up bodily—physically in the courtroom—missing work or paying
for a babysitter. You can go to traffic court over the Internet. So—they
say—people e-mail their excuses. The problem is—that’s all they are—excuses!
One lady e-mailed—she was having the worst day of her life. What does that have
to do with anything? She was frustrated. Her life wasn’t going the way she
wanted—so that should mean money off her ticket? Instead of paying $85 she
should only have to pay $63? One guy said he was just going with the flow of
traffic? What’s with that? Everybody else was doing it? Why did the police
officer pick on him? He should get money off—because he wasn’t the only
one—just the only one pulled over? God doesn’t have people plead guilty to
lesser charges. God doesn’t have people plead no contest. I’m not saying I did
it—not confessing guilt—just not fighting it? Or like some big companies—they will
pay damages—as long as they make it clear—this doesn’t mean they are saying
they did anything wrong? The wages of sin is death. The soul who sins is the
one who will die! That’s me and that’s you. We have sinned. It is by grace
alone that God is merciful to me!
The verses we are
concentrating on today are words of comfort and encouragement. I myself will
tend my sheep and have them lie down declares the Sovereign LORD! The
LORD—the Great I AM—the Holy One of Israel—takes care of his sheep. It is the
work of the shepherd to feed and protect his sheep. King David—the Shepherd
King wrote—The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie
down in green pastures. He leadeth be beside the still waters. He restoreth my
soul. Israel is a land of rock and stone—creamy colored rock and stone and
boulders. Wherever there is a little dent—a little depression in the rock and
stone—the scarce rainwater will collect—and some tough little tufts of grass
may grow. How precious to the shepherd and the sheep to find green
pastures—lush sweet moist green grass to nourish the sheep! In the wilderness
where the rock and stone are hot—under the baking sun—how precious to find cool
sweet still waters—where the sheep can drink and be refreshed. How precious to
find nourishment for your faith—not in restaurants—but in the Scriptures. In
God’s Word we have the sincere milk of the Gospel—the Bread of Life—Living
Water. In God’s Word we have the meat and potatoes—the prime rib—the
lobster and the baked potato with lots of butter and sour cream—to feed our
faith! In God’s Word we have nourishment for our immortal soul!
I myself will tend my
sheep and have them lie down declares the Sovereign LORD. I will search for the
lost and bring back the strays… Jesus is the Good Shepherd
who loves his sheep. Remember how Jesus said—if a shepherd has 100 sheep—and
one little lamb is missing—what does he do? He doesn’t say—hey, I have 99
sheep—99%! That’s pretty good! No—he leaves the 99 who are safe—and goes to
find the missing sheep. And when he finds the missing one—he doesn’t pound it
with his shepherd’s staff. No—he puts the lamb on his shoulders and brings it
safely back—rejoicing! Wouldn’t it be wonderful if between Thanksgiving and
Christmas—you could pray for and then talk to someone you love and Jesus
loves—who has wandered and strayed—and walk humbly gently beside them—back to
the Good Shepherd?
I will bind up the
injured and strengthen the weak… People are very
breakable. We have weaknesses and shortcomings and work very hard to deny them
and cover them up. People addicted to drugs or alcohol or tobacco or sex or
gambling—tell themselves I can quit any time I want. Or they comfort themselves
with the false comfort that they know someone—maybe a bunch of people who are
even worse! The Apostle Paul took a look at his own life and said, “Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the worst!” The
Apostle Paul understood his own weakness when he said, “When I am weak—then
I am strong!” He was strong in the Lord. The Lord was his strength—his only
hope! Only Jesus can bind up the wounds—the hurts and the heartache so deep
inside you can’t put a Band Aid there. Only Jesus can make you strong when the
temptations seem so powerful you think you can’t resist. Jesus will make you as
strong as you need to be—to overcome whatever troubles come into your life. The
LORD has promised, “I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak…”
But the sleek and the
strong I will destroy. If money is no object—there is a new car—a
new BMW that they are making—that will make you safer. The car has sensors that
can sense when you are in trouble—when you start to skid out of control—when
you are going 75 miles per hour and slam on the brakes. They say there are
usually 5 seconds between when you realize you are going to be in a horrible
crash—and impact—5 seconds between realizing you are in trouble—and the moment
you actually crunch. This smart car uses that 5 seconds to close the sun
roof—to move your seat just a little bit more upright—and makes your seat belt
just a little more snug—while deciding whether to make the air bag pop. For
$70,000 and up you may be able to afford one of those cars. But what needs to
hold us tight are Jesus’ nail marked hands. It will not matter one moment after
Judgment Day begins—whether you have an expensive SUV or bright and shiny 4X4
or a little rusty beater! There will be people with the whitest brightest
straightest teeth who will be grinding their teeth forever in unspeakable
pain—and people with teeth that once were stained and crooked and missing—that
will have the perfect smile forever—because the Good Shepherd has brought them
home to Heaven! Jesus’ forgiving love—made sure and certain on the cross will
not destroy us—because of His amazing grace!
I will shepherd the flock
with justice. I read the other day about a guy named David—52
years old—two years older than I am. David had never gambled until a riverboat
casino sent him a coupon worth $20 in gambling. David went to the casino—lost
his $20 and went home. The next time he went he lost $800. By the time David
has lost $5,000 he said to himself—if I just win that $5,000 back—then I’ll
quit! One night he won--$5,500! But he didn’t quit. He lost $175,000 and still
he didn’t quit. What he did was sue the casino—saying he was addicted—and they
should have stopped him! Will David win? I wouldn’t bet against him! It’s just
that upside down and inside out in this world. We do something incredibly
hurtful and self-destructive and look everywhere else to place the blame. We
sue fast food restaurants because their coffee is hot—and when we try to
literally drink and drive and spill the coffee the coffee maker is to blame? We
eat fast food and grow pudgy and then blame the restaurant—because their food
looks so good—and the people in the commercials look so happy and healthy. And
our heart isn’t—so it’s the restaurant’s fault? People do horrible things with
weapons—and it’s the weapons manufacture that is to blame. People become
addicted to tobacco products—and it’s the tobacco companies that are to blame
today when 100 years ago—100 years ago—people were calling cigarettes coffin
nails? I am guilty. I am responsible. I am to blame for my sins. I am
without excuse. I deserve God’s eternal punishment. But God’s justice
says—Jesus paid the price in my place. I stand forgiven for Jesus’ sake. I am
Jesus’ little lamb—today and forever! Amen!
To God alone all glory!