This verse is often used to encourage us about God's love and care.
But I want to look at it in the context of the whole chapter. God told Ezekiel to prophecy against the shepherds of Israel. These would be the spiritual leaders of the nation of Israel. Here is a list of what God held against them:
- They fed themselves instead of the flocks
- They eat the fat
- They clothed themselves with wool, but did not feed the flock
- They didn't strengthen the diseased
- They didn't heal the sick
- They didn't bind up that which was broken
- They didn't bring again that which was driven away
- They hadn't sought that which was lost
- They ruled by force and cruelty
When I initially studied this chapter I had just finished reading In the Shadow of the Cathedral by Christine Schneider. This novel tells of a monk who saw the fat of the Catholic church leaders and the starving people, and of his discovery that what the church was teaching was not based on Scripture. In reading Ezekiel 34 I immediately made the parallel between the shepherds of Israel and the Catholic church leaders.
But what about those to whom I minister? How do I perform?
Our church just completed a week of prayer revival. The attendance was good. The altars were full of praying people each night. Testimonies were given about how the sermons touched people's hearts. Some were even saved.
But what is happening this week?
We fed for a week on great sermons . . . but have we fed those around us?
We ate the fat from the hand of a great speaker with a great sense of humor . . . but did we do so at the expense of those who follow us?
We clothed ourselves with the garments of prayer we considered righteous . . . but did we tell those we have influence over how to pray?
Our Lord and our God, forgive us if we have not prayed for the diseased and the the sick and gone out to share with them how their diseased heart can be healed.
We sat under the teachings, binded up our lives which were already bound in Christ . . . but have we gone out and helped the broken-hearted find healing in salvation?
We nodded in agreement and thought of those who strayed from the church . . . but did we bring again those who were driven away . . . perhaps even driven away because of our own words and actions?
We were told of the lost and their great need . . . but have we stepped out of the safety of our own house, knocked on that stranger's door, actively sought the lost? God forgive us.
Have we instead surrounded us with our preferences such that when someone dares to cross the threshold of our church's door they feel forced to comply to our 'cultural' preferences, sensing the cruel snobbery of us because of our preferences? . . . thou shalt not let your wife wear pants . . . thou shalt not go to the movie theater (but its okay to watch the same movie in the luxury of your own home) . . . Dear Lord, have we become like the Pharisees imposing our preferences as principles and precepts upon others? Making the markings of our church culture the letter of the law instead of submitting them to the principles and precepts taught in the Bible? Teaching our traditions as more important than the truths which Jesus taught?
We are well fed in our church, . . . but are we willing to go out and:
- seek that which was lost
- bring back those who were driven away
- bind up that which was broken
- strengthen that which was sick?
Dear Lord, let me not become so comfortable in the culture of my church that I am unable to see how that culture might interfere with the work you have given me.
Dear Lord, give me the love You have for souls so that I might not be like the shepherds of Israel or the pharisees.
Dear Lord, strengthen me and empower me by Your Holy Spirit to seek, and bring, and bind, and strengthen according to Your Word, Your precepts, Your principles and not my preferences or traditions. Please, by Your grace and mercy, enable me to be Your instrument to do the work You have given me to do.
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