Dogs, Children, and God

DOGS, CHILDREN, AND GOD
EZEKIEL 34:11-16

11 “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. 13 And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. 16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.

In the name of Jesus:
How does one in our society explain this text? We know little of shepherds and sheep, who of us have owned a sheep or have been a shepherd? Okay, the Pohlods are exempt, but besides the Pohlods, who else know what God is talking about, who has experienced this relationship? Well, if you are a dog owner, you might be able to relate.
Many of you who have stopped by our home have seen our two dogs. Oreo, who we had put to sleep last year, was notorious for getting lost. Even though we have the invisible fence, Oreo twice, not once, but twice, wandered off through the electric fence and was no where to be found. We were frantic, looking all over the house and all over the neighborhood trying to find her. We called friends, neighbors, and we had a search party looking all over the neighborhood, up and down streets, in back yards searching for the blind, hard of hearing cocker spaniel named Oreo. The one time we found her hiding underneath the big pine tree in our next-door neighbor’s front yard. A huge winter storm was approaching so time was of the essence. Being hard of hearing she couldn’t hear the warning signal, so we reckoned that she was shocked and decided to settle down under the tree.
The second time Oreo wandered off we found her in the neighbor’s back yard. She had crossed the street and, not being able to see, was waiting, sitting under the neighbor’s back window, waiting to be let in, not knowing she was at the window and not a door and also not knowing she was not in her own yard. Both times we are frantic, and uttered a big sigh of relief and said a prayer of thanks to God.
Our other dog, Katie, also was recently lost. I was at church attending a meeting when I got a frantic call from Luann pleading me to come home, that they could not find Katie. Mark had searched the house to no avail; Luann was patrolling the neighborhood by car calling out Katie’s name. Luann found her, by the swing set over at Sanderson School across the street. How she got away, we still don’t know because she has an electronic collar. We surmised that Katie must have seen a cat or squirrel and in her thrill of the chase, Katie sprinted across the fence line chasing whatever it was to Sanderson. Yes, I know that some of you are thinking, Pastor, you need to up the amps on that electric fence. That isn’t the point. We had lost our beloved dog and we rejoiced when she was found.
There is something to be said about the love between an owner and its pet. But there is nothing stronger than a mother’s love for her child. If you have ever had a missing child, you know the heartache, you know the pain, you know that your world STOPS and time is frozen. Your only purpose in life is to find that lost child and bring that loved one home. At King’s Island one year Mark wandered off at the water park. We couldn’t find him through the crowd of people. Fanning out through the crowd, well, yes, we did find him, but we did all we could to search every space of that area to find our son. If you have ever experienced what I have shared today, you know the emotional toll, the physical pain and sickness you feel until that which was lost is found.
In our text for today Ezekiel writes of how Israel wandered from their relationship with God. God had called them to be His people. He made them a nation, brought them out of Egypt, led them to the Promised Land, gave them everything they needed including kings and prophets to lead and guide them in the way that God had desired. But through it all, Israel was unfaithful. Israel wandered off. God’s people ran away from God and sought other gods. God was their Shepherd but they acted like sheep that were led astray.
God is our Shepherd, but we have strayed from Him. The Scripture tells us that all of us are like sheep that have gone astray, we are lost, and we seek our own way. Each one of us has made messes of situations in our life because we have sought our own way. We have not let God be Master or have total control of our lives. We do not trust God, as we ought, we seek to make our own decisions, we do what we think it right, even if that goes against God and His will. We have acted like gods in our own lives, loving our self more than God, fearing what others think instead of what God wills, and trusting in our own reason and strength instead of God. We have tried to live lives separated from God, which really shows that we ARE separated from God. We would be like lost sheep, if not for the love that God has for us.
But God has loved us and still loves us. God is merciful. He is full of love and mercy for each and every one of us. Though we have run from Him, He seeks us out and searches for us. He searches for all who have run from Him and continue to run from Him. No matter if sinners continue to deny Him, God will not deny them. If the sinner runs from God God runs and seeks the sinner. For whoever is lost, God loves enough to seek out and find those who are lost, that they might know of His love and care for them. And we see God’s mercy, and love, and grace in the person and work of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
God has come to a sinful world to seek out the lost in Jesus. Jesus has come into our very existence and into our world to seek and find us. In the Gospel lesson for today, Jesus describes His love for sinners in terms of a Shepherd. Jesus is not like one who is hired out to do a job, which cares for the sheep as if he is paid for it, and then whenever some difficulty comes the one who is hired will pick up and leave. No, rather Jesus calls Himself the Good Shepherd of the sheep. He seeks out those who have fled from Him, who are scattered and not of the sheepfold. He gave His life in love for all. By Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection He has purchased and won each and every sinner from sin, Satan, and death, so that sinners no longer belong to themselves but they belong to Him! He has laid down His life for all who have wandered and gone astray. On the cross Jesus has endured all that sinners might be saved.
Salvation is for sinners. God’s salvation is for you! Like a shepherd who seeks out the sheep who are lost, who are broken or are sick, so Christ seeks out you! He offers to you His help and salvation for He is our ever-present Help in time of trouble. To those who are broken by the events of life Jesus offers His help and promises to work things out to your good. To those who are burdened by guilt and sin Jesus offers forgiveness and salvation. To those who are frightened by death and despair Jesus offers eternal life and Hope for He is the Resurrection and the Life. Jesus lives for you today and promises to give you sinners an overwhelming victory over sin, death, and the devil by a free gift of His love. He offers this to you and faith claims and lays hold of what Jesus gives.
This faith has been given in your Baptism. You are His new creation by water and the Word. He has restored your soul in Baptism; He leads you in the paths of everlasting life through His Word, the Gospel. He this very day prepares for you and offers to you Himself in the Table of the Lord, His Supper, for the forgiveness of your sins and for the strengthening of your faith, so that you might live in His presence today and so that you will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
God is good and gracious. Peter writes: “For you were straying like sheep but now have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” (I Peter 2:25). The Good Shepherd has sought us out when we are lost that we might live in His presence. And the Good Shepherd so sends us out, into our families, neighborhoods, nation and world, to seek those who are lost, that they might find God’s love for them in Christ.
There was much joy in our home when we found our lost dogs. Even so, there is a greater joy in heaven over one sinner who repents and believes in Christ. Even as owners seek out their lost pets, and parents seek out their lost children, so too God wishes to seek and save the lost, to bring back those who have strayed. He has called you by name in Christ. You belong to Him and now His mission has become your calling and mission, that many more will come faith and belong to Jesus, for He is the Good Shepherd.
Amen