Do Not Leave Them Shepherdless

Sunday, June 13, 2020

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Do Not Leave Them Shepherdless


Who can stand the heat? One of the challenges of summer is what the heat can do to us? It makes us thirsty. And there are times it can make us irritable. When it’s hot the annoying comments people make become unbearable. The work we do, if it’s in the horrible heat, becomes more work and less workable. When we think back to what happened in the Old Testament, that is what we need to remember: heat. Picture a dry, hot, dusty desert. Picture a people who were thirsty. They needed water. And they didn’t know where they would get the water. They should have known. But they didn’t. They should have known that if they asked the Lord, he would provide for them. Instead, they grumbled and rebelled. And even worse, instead of grumbling agains the Lord, They grumbled against Moses. The Lord has a very unique solution though. He sent Moses and Aaron to have them strike the rock and have it provide water for the people. The Lord meant it to be a preaching of his grace. Instead, Moses and Aaron turned it into a preaching of condemnation. And because of Moses’ and Aaron’s sin, they would not see the promised land. That is the context we need to understand as we begin to read these words in Numbers 27. It was the heat that their sinful hearts grabbed onto to sin. We read: 12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go up this mountain in the Abarim Range and see the land I have given the Israelites. 13 After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, 14 for when the community rebelled at the waters in the Desert of Zin, both of you disobeyed my command to honor me as holy before their eyes.” (These were the waters of Meribah Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin.) 15 Moses said to the Lord, 16 “May the Lord, the God who gives breath to all living things, appoint someone over this community 17 to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”” (Numbers 27:12–17 NIV11-GKE)


Moses is forbidden from entering into the promised land. But what is his reaction? Instead of yearning for and caring for himself, his thoughts turn toward his people. He prays that this massive congregation of Hebrews would not be without a shepherd. And here in these words we see that Moses’ prayer is God’s will. God’s good and gracious will is that each gathering and grouping of believers have its own shepherd and pastor. They need to have a shepherd they can see. They need to have a shepherd they can see cares for them by sharing God’s word with them. And what is so fascinating about these words is this face-to-face nature of the ministry. God’s plan and intention is that every congregation would have a pastor they can physically see with their own eyes so that they would see how much their Lord cares for them. They need to see this guy preaching up here. They need to see him baptizing their children and burying their grandparents.


That is the Lord’s plan. But we see our own temptations to sin. On the one hand, we face the temptation to conclude that having a pastor that we can see face-to-face isn’t really needed. We have to admit that being able to record our services and put them on the internet is a tremendous tool. It is a tremendous tool for those within our church who cannot yet come to our Sunday Services. And it is a tremendous tool for those who are not members of our church, so that they can learn more. But it is not the goal. The goal is that the pastor would know his people face-to-face. And it is a huge failing when we conclude that television or internet ministry can replace congregational, face-to-face ministry.


The other temptation is what happens when we actually have face-to-face ministry. One of the problems about having a man as a pastor is that he is really flesh and blood. He is a sinner. And you can see it. And the more you are around your flesh and blood pastor, the more you can see how human he is, just like you are, sinning daily and repenting daily. And there’s that sinful voice inside of us that says, “I expected more and better of my pastor.”


My dear friends in Christ, look to these words. Moses saw his own sin. He saw how he had failed his people, preaching law when he should have preached gospel. And yet, he still prays that after he would be gone, they would have another flesh and blood shepherd as he was. And that means that the next guy would end up sinning too. That is God’s will. And our sin is either having an internet ministry replace a face to face ministry, or being frustrated with a face-to-face ministry.


But my friends, why was Moses so intent on his congregation having a shepherd—even if he might mess up? That frail shepherd would continually point them to the one, true, real shepherd. He would point them to the Lord. And each of you here this morning has this amazing privilege of looking back. You can think back to the men who have stood up here before me and be thankful of what they did, week after week, they pointed you to your Savior who payed for your sin and forgave your sin.


Moses prays, “Do not leave them shepherdless.” Let them see him. But in the words that follow we see that this prayer that Moses goes in a different direction: 18 So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit of leadership, and lay your hand on him. 19 Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence. 20 Give him some of your authority so the whole Israelite community will obey him. 21 He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring of the Urim before the Lord. At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in.” 22 Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole assembly. 23 Then he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the Lord instructed through Moses.” (Numbers 27:18–23 NIV11-GKE)


The congregation needs to see their shepherd. But notice what we see in these words. The shepherd also needs to see their congregation. This is a scene we need to picture. Picture the Lord choosing Joshua to serve after Moses. Picture Moses laying his hands on Joshua. And picture hundreds of thousands of Hebrew seeing this happen and watching this happen. Imagine Joshua promising to follow and share God’s word with them. And see them promising to follow God’s word and support. Imagine all of that because that is what happened.


And it reminds us that it’s not just the congregation that needs to see their pastor. The pastor needs to see his congregation. There is so much encouragement the pastor receives in seeing his people make it to church when they are able. I remember a lady in my church in PA. She had polio as a child. And so, as an elderly woman, she had pain every day of her life. And whenever she showed up in church, it was a sermon all on its own. The small, pitiful complaints about getting up early and not remembering all of my sermon was washed over by seeing her. For all the hurdles she had to overcome to make it to church was far more than anything I had to go through.


All of this I mention because it wasn’t just the people here who needed to see Joshua taking over after Moses. It was also Joshua who needed to see the people supporting him.


So, my dear friends in Christ, let Moses’ prayer be our own. Let us pray, “O Lord, do not leave us shepherdless.” Let the congregation see their pastor. Let the pastor see their congregation. Amen.


Pastor at Immanuel, Steve Bauer

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