Coming Back to God's Fold

Jeremiah 23:1-6New International Version (NIV)

The Righteous Branch

23 “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. 2 Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,” declares the Lord. 3 “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. 4 I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord.

5 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
    “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
    and do what is just and right in the land.
6 In his days Judah will be saved
    and Israel will live in safety.
This is the name by which he will be called:
    The Lord Our Righteous Savior.

Have you ever temporarily lost a pet?  When Mater would slip his collar and run away I often thought that this was the time that he wouldn’t come back.  But every single time he returned.  Without fail he would somehow make it back.  I don’t know how he managed to make it back or where he went on his adventures but there were even times he would be gone overnight.  And while he was staying out at my mom and dad’s, he had been missing for a couple days, only to somehow figure out how to get all the way to Knoxville... via a cop car.  That dog caused my parents and I a lot of unnecessary headaches but we loved him.  We welcomed him back with open arms... just as God does to us.  We too are often like Mater, we slip off the collar and run.  We may think we are putting distance between God and ourselves.  But just as we did with Mater, God welcomes us back.

I don’t know why Mater wanted to run so badly.  We can all come up with some logical reasons as to why he might want to take off.  Just like with Mater, we don’t always know for sure why people choose to leave the church but the best thing we can do is welcome them back.  The truth is that there are shepherds out there destroying and scattering the sheep of God’s pasture.  The analogy that Jeremiah is using here is important.  A shepherd is someone who is supposed to take care of the sheep.  Someone whose job it is to take care of God’s people.  Under the guise of being a shepherd there are many who lead God’s people astray.  There are a few of these “shepherds” who deliberately misguide their flock.  But for the most part, most of them believe they are doing the work of God.  By using fear and manipulation there are groups who indoctrinate believers into thinking they must somehow earn God’s love.  The prophet Jeremiah says that God will take care of these people in due time but they can do a lot of damage before that happens.  These shepherds can come in all walks of life.  They can have any range of beliefs.

The New International Version uses the word pasture in verse three but other translations use the word fold.  Hence the name of the sermon this morning.  For whatever reason people leave the fold.  Some have been scattered by shepherds, some have slipped the collar and ran and others have faded away from their faith.  We want to know so badly why some leave.  We think knowing why they were scattered in the first place will help us to understand.  We think we can fix it.  The truth is that it is just really our curiosity.  When we strive to find the answer of why, we will most likely be looking for quite some time.  Our concentration should not be on figuring out the why, we should be focusing on the welcome back.  Just like the story of the prodigal son, the father did not care as to why he left, but he threw a heck of a party when the son returned.  God Himself will gather the remnant of the flock.  He  Himself will place shepherds who will tend them so they no longer will be afraid or terrified.  God will gather us in the fold and it is our job to welcome those who have left back with open arms.  

The best way to figure out if a shepherd is trying to lead some of his flock astray is to look at their tactics.  If fear, terror and manipulation are evident then it is likely that they are not a Godly shepherd.  This scripture was written down somewhere around 604 BC.  600 years before Christ.  600.  We often say that through Jesus we are able to see God differently.  The God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament often seem very different.  I, myself have been guilty of this.  I remember one of my first religion classes at Central my freshman year when I took the bait from the professor.  He asked about this difference, he made me feel that they possibly could have been different gods so I took the bait and said they must have been different only for the professor to make me feel like I couldn’t have been more wrong.  I now see the point the professor was making but I didn’t at the time.  If we think the God of the Old Testament is different than the God we think we now in the New Testament, we couldn’t be more wrong.  There are stories and things said in the Old Testament that may rightfully give us that impression but scriptures like this one prove that God has always been about love.  We often view God as vengeful in the Old Testament but one look at verse four of our scripture for this morning tells a completely different story: “ ‘I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,’ declares the Lord.”  God is not out to scare us into conforming and anyone who does, is not of God.  Look at the tactics behind the teachings to help you figure out what kind of shepherd someone is.  

Jeremiah often dealt with an issue that still weighs on our hearts and minds today.  Jeremiah himself struggled and wrestled with the challenge of other prophets.  In other words, there were people, under the title of prophet, who spoke of things much differently than did Jeremiah.  There were prophets who told monarchs exactly what they wanted hear.  There were prophets who spoke of a vengeful and bloodthirsty god.  There were prophets who painted God much differently than did Jeremiah.  There are preachers who will paint for you a much different God than I do.  How do we know who is correct?  I would guess that Jeremiah was not much different than myself in doubting sometimes.  How do we know?  First, I have made it clear that God does not want us to be afraid or terrified when we follow Him.  And second, any person or group who thinks they, and they alone, have God’s answer to the problems of Church and society are not what God is calling us towards.  Be leary of anyone who thinks how they go about faith is absolutely correct while everyone else is wrong.  God is an absolute but faith is not.  Be willing to keep learning and growing.  It is so easy for us to think that our way of faith is the most correct.  That may be true for you as an individual but that same faith does not work for everyone.  Knowing and understanding that faith is a unique bond between God and the individual is what draws us closer into fellowship with one another if we are willing to see one another as sheep all apart of God’s fold.  Our individual faiths only tear us apart from one another when we think our faith fits for everyone.  

It can be a real struggle to differentiate between those shepherds looking to unite versus those who are trying to divide.  This struggle has existed through time and will continue to exist as long as we keep trying to make others see God how we see Him.  Why on earth would God create so many different individuals and only one way to go about faith?  It doesn’t seem logical.  God delivered on his promise of a “king who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land” through Jesus Christ.  And God will deliver on his promise of gathering the remnant of his flock and bring them back to the fold where they will be fruitful.  Go out into the world, be fruitful, be welcoming, but most importantly be accepting and understanding through the love and grace of God. Amen.