ARE YOU A GOOD SHEPHERD OR A HIRED HAND? (11)

TEXT: EZEKIEL 34:1-10

 The word of the Lord came to me:  “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them: ‘this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Woe to you shepherds of Israel who only take care of yourselves! Should not shepherds take care of the flock?  You eat the curds, clothe yourselves with the wool and slaughter the choice animals, but you do not take care of the flock. You have not strengthened the weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost. You have ruled them harshly and brutally.  So they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one searched or looked for them. “‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:  As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, because my flock lacks a shepherd and so has been plundered and has become food for all the wild animals, and because my shepherds did not search for my flock but cared for themselves rather than for my flock,  therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:  This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I will remove them from tending the flock so that the shepherds can no longer feed themselves. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.

In the first part of this message, we read about Jesus as the good shepherd, we defined the meaning of the good shepherd both literarily and scripturally. We also mentioned the characteristics of a good shepherd and a hired hand.

Today, we will continue by looking at the in-depth meaning of what Jesus said in John 10:11 that “I am the good shepherd... this statement shows that there are bad shepherds if Jesus can qualify himself as the good shepherd. The adjective “good” in Jesus’ statement made it known to us that shepherds are of different categories.

Our text above listed the attributes of the bad shepherds:

·        They only take care of themselves. They only cares for their immediate family, they live in the best houses, ride the best cars, wear the best clothes while the members of their congregations are wallowing in lack.

·        They feed themselves and not the flock (selfishness)

·        They did not heal the sick or the injured, no encouragement for the broken hearted (wickedness)

·        Clothe themselves, and eat choice food without meeting the needs of their flock (greed)

·        They did not seek the lost or scattered (lack of compassion)

·        They dominate the flock with force and severity (autocratic leaders)

Jesus as the good shepherd did not manifest any of the attributes listed above. Instead he lived a selfless life, he healed the sick, and bound the broken hearted, and minister to the needs of everybody that came in contact with him.  He looked for the scattered Sheep and brought them back to God. Above all, he laid his life down for his Sheep!

What will be the judgement of the wicked and bad shepherd? The answer is in verse 10 “this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I am against the shepherds and will hold them accountable for my flock. I WILL REMOVE THEM FROM TENDING THE FLOCK SO THAT THE SHEPHERDS CAN NO LONGER FEED THEMSELVES. I will rescue my flock from their mouths, and it will no longer be food for them.”

Now as a shepherd you know if you are a good shepherd, bad shepherd, or hired hands. Make necessary adjustments if you need to, may we not be held accountable for wrong doings in Jesus name. Amen.

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ARE YOU A GOOD SHEPHERD OR A HIRED HAND? (1)

TEXT: JOHN 10:11-13

“I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for the Sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the Sheep. So when he sees the Wolf coming, he abandons the Sheep and runs away. Then the Wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the Sheep.”

A shepherd is a person who takes care of Sheep, he takes Sheep to eat, drink, keep them away from danger and guide them lest they go astray. In summary, a shepherd protects guides and nurtures his flock.

Jesus Christ called his followers sheep and he refer to himself as the good shepherd. As believers are sheep in God’s vineyard; they need shepherds to protect, guide and nurture in the way of the Lord. The shepherds are the pastors that God has given the mandate to protect, guide and nurture His people. Jesus was able to say confidently that “I am a good shepherd” unfortunately, most of the pastors that are supposed to be shepherds to their flock are nothing but hired hands! They care nothing for the Sheep, they leave their Sheep to danger, and they abandon their Sheep in time of trouble and need. They abandon their Sheep because they are not genuinely interested in them, but the benefits they would enjoy as pastors.

Jesus outlined the difference between a good shepherd and the hired hand in our text: A good shepherd lays his life for the Sheep; this is because he is the real owner of the flock, and therefore whatever affects the Sheep will affect the shepherd. On the other hand a hired hand is being hired to watch over the Sheep, and he gets paid at the end of the day for tending the Sheep.

The hired hands nurtures the Sheep not because he loves them or because he does not want evil to happen to them, he nurtures them because of the benefit accrued to watching over them which is the wages he would be paid at the end of the day. Hired hand’s interest is not on the safety and well-being of the Sheep but his wages. You cannot lay your life for somebody you do not love that is why a hired hand would run away when there is danger in the midst of the flock.

Many of the so called shepherds or pastors have no genuine interest in their congregation, but so far you are still useful to them in one way or the other, they would relate with you. As soon as your services or act of kindness to them and their ministry ceases; you will be left and abandoned! This is not Christ like, because it is not written anywhere that Jesus used and dumped anybody. This type of trait CANNOT be seen in a good shepherd but in a hired hand.

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STOP THE CRAVING!

TEXT: PSALM 106:13-15

“But they soon forgot what He had done and did not wait for His counsel. In the desert they GAVE in to their CRAVING; in the waste land they put God to the test. So He gave them what they asked for, but sent a wasting disease upon them” (Psalm 106:13-15)

Many times we tend to have forgotten where God started with us, all He did for our sake (sending His only son to die in our place). The seen and unseen battles He won for us, previous evils He averted for us, unmerited mercy and favour showered on us, providing for us in the midst of scarcity… the list is endless. Instead of giving thanks to God for all these unmerited blessings, people give in to craving and complaining about the things they don’t have. They compare themselves with others, and they ask why unbelievers should be flourishing while they are struggling. God knows you more than you know yourself, those craving may be the things that He knows that could cause problem, destruction, unfaithfulness, even separation from Him! God does not want to lose you to blessing that will destroy you, to avert problems; God may ignore such cravings (request) to preserve your life.

So many people have put God to test and God has been “forced” to GIVE THEM WHAT THEY ASKED FOR, and what did they get in addition to their request? HE SENT A WASTING DISEASE UPON THEM! (V 15).

Many have gotten the blessing that have sent them to their early grave; some have traded their glory because of their craving. Stop that craving and wait patiently for the counsel of God. He has your best interest at heart; He will not forsake or disappoint you if you wait for Him.

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