"I Seek out My Sheep"

Ezk.34:12

In the days of Ezekiel, the prophet, Israel who was known to be people of God went out of their ways and they were overcome by idolatry and other wills of the flesh. Yet, there was no shepherd who ventured to bring them to the right track. The Lord of Hosts had, therefore, to speak through Ezekiel. If we read the whole chapter, we could see that the message is delivered for both the shepherds and the sheep.

1. The Shepherds

The Lord God tells Ezekiel that the shepherds have forgotten their responsibility of catering for the sheep. Rather, the so-called shepherds have been totally self- centered. They cared for their own glories. Whether the sheep are discomforted or not, it has become none of their business though they nominally keep claiming that they are playing the role of the Good–shepherd. The Almighty God says, “Woe to the shepherds… who feed themselves.” Ezk.34:2.

The word of God is timeless and undying. As it worked for shepherds who lived then, it so well works to the spiritual and secular shepherds of our time. Shepherds who lived by the time of Ezekiel were accused of many things. They have no fed their sheep, they have not strengthened the week, they have not healed the sick, they have not bound up the broken, they have not brought back the driven away, etc.

Instead, they resorted to meeting their glories at the expense of their flock. They ruled them with force and cruelty. This forced them, to scatter. This made them susciptible to becoming preys for all sorts of beasts. They were scattered through out the earth with no one to look for them.

The shepherds are the leaders. The spiritual and secular leaders of our time should stop and ask themselves if they have drawn a lesson from this reprimand of God. To begin with the spiritual leaders, they should keep asking themselves if their sheep are being well-fed. They should nurture them healthily by feeding the word of God. Otherwise, their flock will be spiritually starved. They should also strengthen the morally weakened. We live in a very testing world. People may fail in their efforts and this might make them hopeless. It is the duty of the spiritual leaders to boost the moral of such people. They are expected to heal the sick through the life-giving word of God.

They have to visit patients and pray for them. There may also be cases in which the sheep are a victim of heresies. The fathers need to heal them; they shall help them to stand firm. They should bound up the broken. There are many things that are disuniting people. Intolerance and disunity seem to be reining our world. This might be rooted in ethnicity, creed and other factors.

Fathers should work to heal this ailment as well. They should also help gather the driver away. Many have left and are leaving their homes because of social, political and economic harassments. Still, there are many spiritual migrants. Though they may be physically noticeable, they are not with God and their church by heart. The fathers are expected to bring them back. Instead of this, if they keep ruling their sheep in cruelty by denying them whatever they deserved, they are in no way different from the condemned shepherds who lived by the time of Ezekiel.

This works for the secular shepherds /leaders/ as well. They should create a socially, politically and economically comfortable atmosphere for their sheep /citizens/. The responsibilities attributed to spiritual fathers are, in their own secular fashion, executable by the secular leaders. If there is sickness, for instance, they have to work to heal it. Ethnic and religious intolerance is, for example, on type of sickness to be healed. Rather than fuel it, they should work to get it short lived. If there is breakage, they should mend it by good –governance.

But, if they rule their people in cruelty. They are in their own ways, repeating the history of those so-called shepherds who were contemporaries to Ezekiel. Thus, they should ask themselves if they are really living up to the lofty role expected to be discharged by them. They should save themselves from the wrath of God which says “Woe to the shepherds who feed themselves” by totally forgetting their people.

In sum, the shepherds need to hear the word of God and protect their flock before He comes against them because of their responsibilities. Ezk.34:7-10; Acts.20:28.

2. The sheep

The Lord of hosts has a message of consolation for the sheep who have been forsaken by shepherds. He says, "…. Indeed, I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day". Ezk.34:11-12.

So, in case we are not having shepherds who have the will to protect and nurture us, we should not be hopeless for we have God who is always seeking us out. We might be starved, sick, broken, driven away due to lack of spiritual and secular protection. We have to be hopeful for we worship the lord who will never leave us scattered in the cloudy and dark life. He will lead us to the brightest one which we could ever imagine. He says he will gather us, feed us and bring us back to our land. “I will feed them in good pasture and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel,” says the Lord. Ezk.34:14. This evergreen pasture which is promised unto us the sheep is the word of God which we are fed with by the industrious service of the high mountain, the church. Our Lord is always looking for us to be boarded in the bossom of the church. We have to listen to His calls. Jer.50:6.

If we remain lost, our fate will be that of the lost sheep-lions will drive us away, the king of Assyria devours us and Nebuchadnezzar breaks our bones. Jer. 50:17.

But, our God says He will deliver us. His mercy is in the church which is our safest heaven. Out of this premise, we shall know that our “adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour”. 1 Pet. 5:8. Thus, we have to be sober and vigilant. This manifested by our strong attachment with the church. We shall know that our lord is so merciful. We might be prodigals. Yet, He receives us so warmly if we repent. Our return will please Him very much.Lk. 15:1-31.

According to st. Luke's Gospel, we have a lord who values a single sheep, a single coin and a prodigal son. He would say, “You were like sheep going astray but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls”. 1 pet. 2:25. He also says unto us the sheep that we shall listen to Him. As He was upholding us from birth and carried us from birth, He will do so in our old ages. Isa.46:3-4.

So, let us always feel that we have God with us who are our trustworthy shepherd.

"I will vomit you out of my mouth!"

Rev.3÷16

Through His various agents of righteousness, God the Almighty is trusted to show man the right way he should follow and the wrong one he should not. Of these messengers of life, one has been the revolutionist St. John who is also known for his Gospel and Epistles.

The revelation is a prophecy given to John by the lord God to show "Servants [the] things which must shortly happen." Rev.1÷1. In view of this, there are seven churches it primarily addresses. These are the Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicia churches. Rev.1÷11.

The message delivered to the Angel (chief) of the church of the Laodiceans was this:

I know your works that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, will I vomit you out of my mouth. Rev. 3:15-16.

In this message, we get three cardinal words which are meant to signify what our lives as Christians might look like-Hot,cold or Lukewarm. Our Christianity, that is, the Christian life we are leading as groups and individuals, surely falls on one of these three categories. This Epistle we are writing to you tries to briefly highlight what sort of Christianity these three categories stand for.

1. COLD

This is the Christianity that is primarily marked by stability. A Christian who has given all his worries to his creator and is purposefully leading his life with utmost serenity is, Metaphorically speaking, cold. Neither the turmoil nor the glitter of this ephemeral world will shock him. Since he very well knows what he is meant for, he is so organized in this utterly disorganized world. He is tested, but, he never surrenders. He would rather tell himself that he "could do all things thought Christ who strengthens" him. Phil.4÷13. What soever bad happens, such a Christian never loses his values. He keeps himself in love, peace, mercy and other assets which testify that he worships the Lord who never changes. Thus, a Christian shall firmly adhere to the lofty values that have been preached through the priceless blood of Christ. The flush flood that comes with time should not push him off the track of salvation.

2. HOT

This epitomizes Christians who burn with the love of Christ and his church. The price the Lord paid to redeem them always flames in their hearts and keeps them moving. They always see him crucified on their faces.

If they are called for martyrdom which glorifies Christ and their faith, they would have no fear at all. They know that nothing be it hunger, thirst, displacement, or what soever shall detach them from the love of Christ.

This was of course the life of prophets and martyrs who were given to the fire, sword and other harassment of infidels. There were two alternatives in front of them to suffer in this world and win the kingdom of God or to sing to the tunes of the world and be condemned in hell. They preferred the former since they knew whom to fear. They had to fear the one who could kill both the flesh and the soul they were not scared by the threat of those who could kill the flesh but could do no harm to the soul.

3. LUKEWARM

This is a life of swaying here and there. It is a life marked by attempting to serve two masters. At one time, they vow to live up to the very purpose of their being created - to praise the lord. To this end, they start to serve the church and their souls like by singing and other ministerial services. But, the fruit of their Christianity never blossoms.

They are soon trapped by the will of this world and they change their ways. It is to these sorts of Christians that the lord says "I will vomit you out of my mouth!"

We are destined to be either cold or hot. Life other than this is one of failure. Our Lord has unequivocally told us that we could never serve two masters. One says serve the sanctity of the soul through prayer, thanks giving, love and other blessings. The other says dirten your soul and flesh through fornication. How can we reconcile these two? They are irreconcilable. That is why the lord of justice says "I will vomit you!"

This shows us the life we have to opt for. We had and still have fathers and mothers who live up to the will of God by never becoming Lukewarm. What do we learn form our nuns and monks who devote themselves to God without losing hope? They teach us that patience will definitely pay off in Christ for he is trusted to fulfill his promise. What do we learn from our martyred mothers and fathers? What do we learn from his Grace the late Abune Petros/Ethiopian Bishop/? What do we learn from fellow Christians who have been murdered by extermists just this month?

The answer is we have to be either cold or hot. The profit we reap from lukewarm is being vomited out! And, we say a way with this destructive alternative! What we have to do is pretty clear. We shall stand firm as our fathers and mothers have done. In love, in peace, in Justice, we need to serve God. And, any transgression engineered by our restless enemy, the devil, to weaken us and our church shall be our most burning issue. Otherwise, we are still lukewarm and we will be despised by God as he did to Saul. 2sam.15÷23. This is nothing but a life of gracelessness.

Our Lord and savior never want his creatures to be graceless and despised. That was why he, through John the revelations, delivered such a life saving message to the church of Laodicia we realize how merciful he has been to the angel of the church and his congregation when the Lord says, "as much as I love, I rebuke and chasten. There fore, be zealous and repent." Rev.3÷19. And this is what a kind father does to his children.

So, the question is to which of the three does our life fall in to? To the cold? To the Hot? Or to the Lukewarm? We have to answer it now since, as indicated at the beginning, it has to do with what is to happen shortly the judgment of the Lord. Rev.1÷1.

If this is the divine truth, the repentance must also happen so shortly.

O Lord, help us live up to your love and rebuking. Let the vomiting never happen. Let is happen to none of us all. Amen!

May God Bless us, Amen.