8/6/06 - Pentecost 9 - Jer. 23:1-6 - The Lord will Gather His Flock

THE LORD WILL GATHER HIS FLOCK
- To the pasture
- Around the Branch

587 BC. 587 years before Christ came into the world, the prophecy came true. Jerusalem was destroyed. The temple was burned to the ground. Israelite kings would never sit on the throne again. The Israelite people were taken into exile. And the prophet who was unfortunate enough to serve the people during this time was Jeremiah. He must have had a miserable ministry. Not only did God promise that the people wouldn’t listen to him, not only did the leaders try to kill him on a number of occasions, not only did the Lord allow him to preach only the law almost exclusively, but on top if all that the people Jeremiah was trying to serve kept being shipped off into exile! During the reigns of the last three kings of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon came in three separate times and took the Lord’s people away. And after the fall of Jerusalem Jeremiah was left there with just a handful of stragglers. What was he supposed to do? All the people that he was responsible for had been scattered to a far off country.
And how do you think the people who were left felt? Their family, their friends, their relatives were gone! They could no longer worship with them or live with them or even see them. And even though Jeremiah was still there, they must have been losing hope. They must have wondered if they would ever see their family and friends again – if they Lord would ever bring them back, if they would ever be united again with the ones they loved. They were tumultuous times during the ministry of Jeremiah. Times of instability. Times of little hope.
Let’s be frank. Let’s not beat around the bush. Living Word Lutheran Church, and you, the members of Living Word Lutheran Church, have gone through some tumultuous times lately. Times of instability. Times of little hope. People have been scattered. Your family, your friends have been scattered to different churches in different towns. And many of you may have begun to wonder: will I ever see my friends in this church again? Will the Lord gather us together again to worship? Will the Lord bring the remnant of his flock back to the pasture?
Friends are gone, membership has dwindled, but that’s no reason to lose hope. Because our Lord, the Good Shepherd, speaks to you just as he spoke to the Israelites. Listen closely to these words God has meant for you right now: “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the [places] where I have driven them and I will bring them back to their pasture.” The Lord is in control now just as he was back then. He knows who his sheep are no matter where they may be. He tends his flock with unparalleled care. And he promises that he will bring those who are scattered back to the pasture.
Or course, you have to realize that it doesn’t necessarily mean the pasture here at Living Word. It could include that – God is perfectly able to bring friends and family members back here into the fold. But that’s not what God promises. And that’s not what God promised the Israelites either. He said that he would bring his flock back to their pasture, but remember, the Israelites were in exile for 70 years! That means almost all of the people that went into exile never made it back! Their children made it back and may have been reunited with the children of other families. But the people themselves who originally went to Babylon never made it back to the pasture. That’s because God didn’t promise to bring them back to an earthly pasture. He promised to bring them to the pasture of heaven.
And that is a promise to you. That is where you will ultimately be reunited with your friends and family members. Even if they never show their face at this church again, you will see them face to face in the eternal church. And really, that’s what matters the most. In the end, it doesn’t matter if they come back here. In the end it doesn’t matter if our membership numbers grow. In the end it doesn’t matter if we ever move into a new church building. What matters is that we will one day be gathered together with all believers in heaven. And that which matters most, is the very thing that God promises. The Lord will gather his flock. And we his sheep long for the day when we will graze forever in the pastures of Paradise.
But we aren’t there yet. We aren’t there yet. For now, we must live on this earth, and struggle, and battle, and fight for the faith – even if the circumstances here at Living Word are not ideal. But hey, the circumstances were not ideal for the Israelites either. Not only were the people being exiled, but they were also spiritually malnourished. The Israelites did not have a steady diet of the Word. All of the other prophets besides Jeremiah were telling them lies, the priests were neglecting their spiritual duties, and the kings were failing to nurture the souls that God had placed under their care. The Israelites were dying – from the inside out, and their leaders didn’t help at all.
And so God gave them one. God promised them a leader who would care, who would tend his flock with love. In a rare gospel section of Jeremiah, the Lord promises them, “The days are coming when I will raise up [from] David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.” This “Righteous Branch” from the line of David is none other than Christ himself. And this promise of a Savior must have sent shivers down the spines of the Israelites as well as the prophet Jeremiah. Because now as they waited for the Lord to gather his flock to the pasture, they could be content with the Lord gathering his flock around the Branch. And even though this prophecy would not be fulfilled for almost 600 years, this promise of the Branch is what gave every Israelite hope in any situation. It was that on which their faith rested, it was that which the Lord’s flock gathered around for generations to come.
We have an advantage over the Israelites. For them, the days of the Branch were still coming. For us, the days of the Branch have already come. We don’t need to look into the future at a few random details about Christ because we have the works and words of Christ right here in front of us. We are able to see that these wonderful words of this prophecy have already come true. We don’t have to wait for the Lord to gather his flock because he is gathering us together right now around the Branch.
Look at this! The Lord has gathered us together today around the Branch! And it is an incredible blessing from the Lord that we can do so – that we can gather together as fellow sheep in his flock. We are fellow sheep. We are fellow Christians. We are brothers and sisters in Christ gathered around the Branch. It is a disgrace to the one who gathers us when we don’t treat each other like it. And we don’t always treat each other like fellow sheep, do we? We complain about others. We argue with others. We gossip about others. We give up trying to get along because the cut has been too deep, the bruise has grown too dark, the wound has festered for too long.
Is that really a legitimate excuse? Because Jesus felt those same cuts, he experienced those same bruises, he took on those same wounds – and he has forgiven them all. He has forgiven everyone of every sin. He looks at us here at Living Word and considers us one flock. He sees everyone in this room as his sheep. And if that’s the way the Lord looks at the person across the aisle, shouldn’t you? Shouldn’t you treat everyone here as fellow sheep and fellow members of the body of Christ?
And, I know, it’s easier said than done. But don’t think for a second that it was easy for Jesus to forgive you! He was tortured on the cross because of you! He went through hell itself because of you! It’s not easy to forgive! It’s not easy to treat others as brothers and sisters in Christ. But it’s possible with the Lord’s help. And it’s necessary. And it starts right here. Gathered around the Branch. Because no matter how many differences you may have with someone else, the Branch is our common ground. The Branch is our common Savior. He is our common Righteousness! “The Lord Our Righteousness” – that is the name by which he will be called God said. Our Righteousness. Not just yours, not just somebody else’s, but our Righteousness. The Lord gives his perfection and forgiveness to all of us, as his flock, as his people, as his children, as his sheep. That means when you look at anybody in this congregation, you are not looking at a sinner, you are looking at one of God’s own children, at a sheep in the Savior’s arms. Because that sheep has been washed clean in Christ’s forgiveness. You have been washed clean in Christ’s forgiveness. And together, the Lord has gathered all of us around the Branch, around our Righteousness, so that we can grow together in faith and live together as one flock in our Savior’s care.
Life won’t be perfect. Unity will be a long road. And there will be tough times ahead. That is why we need to continue gathering around the Branch. Read your Bibles on a daily basis – that’s where you find the Branch. Come to worship regularly – that’s where we have the opportunity to worship the Branch. Come to Bible Class – that’s where we can dig in and find out all of the wonderful little things that the Branch does for us. And if you are having problems, if you are having struggles, if you are having a hard time living with the sheep of God’s flock – talk to me. And together we will gather around the Branch so that he can guide us and comfort us through his holy Word.
My brothers, my sisters, my fellow sheep. I ask you today to think of your fellow sheep before you think of yourself. Do things and say things for their sake and not for your own. And yes, I’m talking to you – don’t think I’m only talking to someone else. Forgive, encourage, and gather around the Word. Because that is where the healing starts. That is where the Branch is. That is where the Lord Our Righteousness is. And with the Lord at the center, with his love for us guiding our love for others, we will grow closer. We will overcome the attacks of Satan. We will live in peace as one flock under Christ. May the Lord strengthen us as he gathers us around the Branch, and may he comfort us as we await the heavenly gathering in the pastures of Paradise. I pray this for our sake and in the name of Jesus our Savior.
Amen.


“The Lord will rescue us from every evil attack and will bring us safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

- 2 Timothy 4:18