Names of God: Jehovah-rohi, God our Shepherd

"The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name. Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.” - Psalm 23

A song written by David. David must’ve looked back on his life at a ripe old age, and looked back at all the ups and downs of his life, from being the youngest son of the family, while his brothers fought in the army, he was left alone to watch over the sheep.

From God raising him up and making him a hero of Saul’s army, to the incredible show-down with Goliath, and then leading Israel’s armies, then Saul’s growing jealousy.

And David having to live on the run, living in caves, gathering a band of misfits around him, fleeing from Saul who tried to kill him numerous times.

To seeing Saul die, and then becoming king over the entire nation. Seeing great victories, God protecting him and guiding the nation, even to his mistakes, his affair with another man’s wife, and God forgiving him, and to the birth of David’s son Solomon, even seeing Absalom his own son rebel against him and try to drive him out of the capital, to seeing Absalom killed by his own soldiers, and planning for his son Solomon to one day build the temple of the Lord.

David must’ve looked back on all of it and said, the Lord is my shepherd, through all of it. He is Jehovah-rohi, God my shepherd.

Nathan the Prophet said to David, in 2nd Samuel 7:8-9, “8 “‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: I took you from the pasture, from tending the flock, and appointed you ruler over my people Israel. 9 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men on earth.”

God guided every step of David’s life, he shepherded David through all the highs and lows of life. That is who God is. He is our shepherd in life.

It says of the Lord in Isaiah 40:11 “He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.”

What does a shepherd do for the sheep he cares for?

He protects them from wolves, coyotes, from bears and snakes.

He feeds them, leading them to plenty.

He speaks to them, so that they know his voice.

He cares for them. If they are wounded he bides up their wounds.

If they go astray he goes after them.

He guides them on pathways between water holes

He keeps them together

He is vigilant, present, watchful, wise, and strong.

That is who God is to us.

Our God is present with us. The shepherd was always present to the sheep. And the sheep were watching for his presence and felt safe when they knew he was near.

Similarly God says in Exodus 29:45, “I will dwell among the children of Israel.” And the Hebrew word for “dwell” there is Shekinah, which tells us God’s presence was gloriously with the people. Just as He is gloriously with us today. And we can sense His presence.

We jump over to the New Testament, and we see that Jesus our savior completely affirms this concept of who God is as Jehovah-rohi. Jesus says of himself in John 10:11-18:

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own 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. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

God with us, Jesus, lays it out plain as day, this is who I am to you, I’m your good shepherd, I lay down my life for the sheep, and I take it back again. He’s talking about his crucifixion for our sins and his resurrection for our eternal life.

Jesus also soberly reminds us that there robbers out there, and wolves in sheeps clothing. So we need to watch out for false shepherds, false teachers, and false prophets.

It says in Acts 20:29, Paul speaking to the elders of the church in Ephesus, “29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.” And Jesus himself said in Matthew 7:15, ““Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.”

So we know there are dangers as Jesus shepherds us toward paradise. We need to watch out for wolves and false teachers and false prophets. We do that by staying close to the true shepherd, Jesus Christ.

“Do we know his voice as we should? Do we trust Him and follow Him as we should? Is there the beautiful intimacy between us that there should be? Do we love the shepherd’s presence? Can we distinguish His voice from the voice of the wolf in sheep’s clothing who comes among us to wrest and wreck our faith?”

“…when we are sorely tried He will lead gently on. When we are weary and wounded He will anoint our heads and heal our wounds and refresh us with tender care. As His sheep we are led by many a way. Sometime the path is through fresh green meadows; sometimes over rough, steep, rocky paths, perhaps through dark places where the sun scarcely shines. But we are ever being led to one place.”

“So the Lord Jesus, our Jehovah-rohi will lead us into that final fold and rest “before the throne of God” where John says, “they will serve him day and night in his temple; and he that sitteth on the throne shall spread his tabernacle over them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun strike upon them; nor any heat: for the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall be their shepherd” (Rev 7:15-17) S we “shall dwell in the house of Jehovah forever.” -Nathan Stones, Names of God, p. 147-148.

The Barren Fig Tree: Personal, National, and Universal Applications of Fruit Bearing

“Mordecai was seven years old when he decided that God had called him to be an evangelist. He started by preaching to barnyard animals. He even tried to immerse a cat in a water trough. When the feline began to scratch and claw, the budding evangelist threw him down and screamed, “Go on . . . go to hell!” It’s no wonder Mordecai grew up to be a “hog-jowl and turnip-green preacher” —country slang for a parson who gets in people’s faces. Whenever he brought his gospel tent to town, he would ask the locals to identify their most notorious sinner. He would then make a beeline for that person. Atheists, agnostics, and backsliders went into hiding when Mordecai Ham came to town.

In the twilight of his “hog-jowl and turnip-green” ministry, handsome Hollywood preachers came selling a softer gospel using Madison Avenue techniques. Folks stopped listening to the hellfire and brimstone of old Mordecai Ham. It seemed that he was washed up.

One night a pitiful handful in a half-filled service came forward. Mordecai Ham went back to his hotel room and wept in despair. Maybe he should have paid attention to one of those converts that night: a gangly North Carolina boy by the name of Billy Graham. In an age that measures success by the numbers, we need to step back and reevaluate what really matters. The impact we can have through a single prayer, a single conversation, a single act of kindness, or a single [you fill in the blank] —on a single child, man, or woman —is both incalculable and underrated. A child learns to walk one step at a time, and a race is finished by putting one foot in front of the other. Mordecai Ham died years ago, but what happened that one amazing night should encourage us with this truth: A single person doing the right thing, for the right reason, at the right time has the power to change the whole world.” -James Petterson, The One Year Book of Amazing Stories

Mordecai Ham was one who bore fruit for the kingdom of God. He was a fruit filled fig tree, you might say. And people came to know Jesus because he bore fruit in keeping with his faith.

Today we’re talking about the parable of the barren fig tree. It’s found only in the gospel of Luke, in chapter 13. This parable is very interesting because we’re going to see there are multiple layers of meaning here.

Jesus when he told parables, being the King of the universe, told parables with multiple layers of meaning, so as you dig into it, you’ll find deeper and deeper truths as you examine what he’s saying.

The three layers we’ll see are first, being applicable to our salvation journey personally. A message for individual believers. The second level is a message to Israel as God’s chosen people. The third layer is universal, it’s a message about the fabric of reality itself.

First let’s talk about the context, at this point in the gospel of Luke, Jesus had sent out the 12 disciples to do ministry work, then he sent out the 72 to do ministry work. Later they had gathered again, and Jesus had taught crowds, then he had rebuked the pharisees and teachers of the law openly, after this the pharisees began openly opposing Jesus. But crowds of thousands began following Jesus, it says at the beginning of chapter 12, he’s teaching his disciples there as well, and he begans teaching many parables, and truths. Then at the beginning of chapter 13, we see our context, and it says this,

From Luke 13:1-5, “Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

Jesus is teaching his disciples, teaching to the crowds, thousands of people in fact, and people are coming to him telling him about recent events in the news. Apparently Pontius Pilate had executed several of the jews while they were making sacrifices at the temple. Obviously this news is going around in the newspapers on the tv, and the people are talking about it. Similarly another event is being talked about, a tower was being built in Siloam, and it fell, killing 18 people.

It was common in those times to assume the people that were killed must’ve been sinners and God was judging them. Jesus says no that’s not necessarily the reason these events happened.

They happened because life on Earth was and is tough and random, and terrible things happen. And Jesus gives the crowds of thousands a warning, unless you repent you’ll perish too, like those who died in those events.

You don’t know when your day will come, death can come for us at any time. When we hear news stories we focus on other people and their sins. It’s a great way to get the focus off ourselves and onto others problems. We do that even when we listen to sermons or read the Bible, we think oh I know someone who needs to hear that my sister or a friend or someone at work. But Jesus says what about you? What about your own sins? Examine yourself first.

Immediately following this statement Jesus tells our parable for today. It says this:

6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

8 “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

What is your chief job as a Christian on planet Earth? Your chief duty is to bear fruit. Bear fruit, bear fruit, and bear more fruit. You are a fruit tree. You are a fruit bearer.

It says in Psalm 1:3-4, “That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.” –Psalm 1:3-4

In Psalm 1 we see a believer pictured as a tree planted by water. The stream of water is God almighty you might say, or for us Christians, the stream of water is Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit surging through our veins.

And that tree surging with the power of God produces fruit. That fruit is pleasing to God.

Similarly in John chapter 15 verses 1 and 2 Jesus talk about how the disciples are like branches in a grape vine. It says, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” –John 15:1-2

If a branch bears fruit, it’s pruned so that it produces even more fruit. That pruning we understand to be the guidance and correction of God in our Christian lives.

But we also see it says if a branch doesn’t bear fruit, it’s cut off. Later it says branches that do not produce fruit are cut off and burned.

Similarly in our parable today the believer is pictured as a fig tree. A fig tree produces fruit, it produces figs, a wonderful fruit common in Israel in the middle east.

Could Jesus be talking about a wicked sinner here as a fig tree? No. Unbelievers do not produce good fruit, only bad. No one can please God unless they are in Jesus Christ.

Jesus is saying here, a believer, is like a fig tree, watered and cared for by God. And God expects there to be evidence of belief on the branches of the believer. That evidence is good fruit.

What do you think Jesus would mean by fruit? He could be talking about the fruits of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Could be. Those would be internal fruit, fruits of your character. He could be talking more about good works, things like loving people, witnessing to others, feeding people, clothing people, visiting those in prison, caring for widows, caring for the elderly, inviting in the homeless, and so on. It could be both, one in turn must produce the other right? If the Holy Spirit is producing the fruit of the Spirit of love in mean, that love must manifest itself as practical actions in my life.

As it says in the book of James, faith without works is dead. My faith cannot be put under a basket, like a candle, it would burn out from lack of oxygen.

In James 2:14-17 it says, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” –James 2:14-17

So we know that the evidence of our faith is found in good deeds. But without deeds, faith dies. The word of God, in the book of James even says that if we know the good work, the good thing, the help we’re to provide, we know we’re supposed to do it, we feel the Holy Spirit convicting us to do it, and we don’t it is sin to us.

From James 4:17, “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.”

So Jesus tells this parable of a man going to his vineyard and checking a particular fig tree for fruit, and he’s really frustrated, it’s been 3 years and still there is no fruit on this stupid tree. He’s put money and time into it, he has workers there who have been caring for it, and still nothing.

I remember growing up my mom planted an apple tree in our yard. But there was something wrong with the soil in that yard, and nothing would grow well. But the apple tree actually did grow, and it produced all sorts of leaves. But no fruit. Nothing of any value. And we had such high hopes for that apple tree, but it just wouldn’t produce any fruit.

Similarly, Jesus comes to us as believers to see if we are bearing fruit for his kingdom. And obviously any Christian ought to be bearing fruit. But he tells us that he does find that some Christians become lazy, or mired in sin, or they stop caring, or they drift away from the message, and they aren’t producing fruit.

And what does Jesus say he will do? He says I’ll cut down that tree because it’s useless. I’ll pull that branch off the vine myself and toss it in the fire. Serious stuff, he expects his people to bear his fruit. And if we don’t, we’re in danger of being cut off. For three years this fig tree produces nothing. But still the master is merciful. He has his servant fertilize it, water it, work the soil around it, give it one more year to produce fruit.

God is very merciful and patient with us. Even if we do get lazy as Christians and stop producing fruit, he’ll come to us and fertizile our soil, stir us up, convict us, to that we do produce fruit. Yet if we remain stiffnecked and refuse him, he will deal with us. We can be assured of that from this parable.

If it bears fruit next year, it says, fine, great awesome, you’re set then. No crime, no fowl for those 3 years of failure. It’s forgotten you’re bearing fruit now, that’s all that matters. But if even after that fourth year theres still no fruit, well, what does that mean? The believer will then fall away, perhaps without the possibility of returning? We know from Hebrews that in a particular situation, when someone falls away, not in all circumstances but in some, that they are not able to return because they would be “crucifying again the Lord Jesus Christ and holding him up to public shame.” Would that be the case in this situation? I don’t know. Perhaps they would “fall away” but could return again to the Lord in the future, if they came again to repentance and faith in Christ? Hard to say, I’m not sure how all this fits together. But it’s wise to study this parable carefully.

So that’s the first layer of this parable, the layer of personal application.

The second layer, is that Jesus is also talking about Israel. We’ve seen this in numerous parables that Jesus is often giving multiple layers of truth in one parable. It gives us a picture for our own lives, but also speaks to larger topics.

Israel had rejected God’s prophets, had rebelled time and again, worshiped false gods, and now Jesus had been with them for 3 years, preaching and teaching the truth. The image of the fig tree is often referred to in the Old Testament as representing Israel, as well. So 3 years of Jesus ministry, and they’ve still rejected him. But wait even a fourth year, even after Jesus is crucified, and resurrected, the early church would minister in Israel, but would also be rejected, mistreated, martyred, and they would take their message into the Roman empire. And eventually Israel, as the fig tree of God, was cut down, in AD 70 when Rome destroyed Jerusalem, and burned down the 2nd temple, after Israel rebelled against Rome. So the fig tree was after everything, cut down.

Though just as prophecy predicted, after WWII, the Jews returned to Israel, and are there right now, having rebuilt the nation, though they have not yet rebuilt the temple. Maybe that’s a picture for us, that perhaps believers who fall away can return, though only through God’s mercy.

So this parable is a rebuke to the pharisees, and the religious leaders and the nation of Israel in general, saying you are not producing the fruit I require, the fruit of repentance and turning to me, to Jesus, and so you will be cut down.

Thirdly, this parable is speaking about a universal reality.

This is a principle of wisdom you can apply to numerous situations. You’ve got an old car that’s been on the fritz for years, it’s having engine issues, oil is leaking, the brakes are bad, etc. Apply the principle in the parable, you could give it another chance, look for the underlying issue with the vehicle, fix it up again one more time, give it another chance, if it runs well again great, if not, get rid of it. You’ve got a friendship that’s been causing you problems for years, ups and downs, fights and make ups, but you have the option to give it another chance. Sit down with the friend let’s find the underlying issue here, let’s fertilize the situation, let’s go down deep and work up the soil itself, and give it another chance, but if not, after that, it’s time to end the friendship. You’ve got an old barn, or an old house, it’s given you problems, for years, once again, you can give it one more chance, go to the underlying issue, turn up the soil, fix the foundation, and hey, you try your best, and it’s fixed, it’s good again for another 20 years. Or, the fix didn’t hold, time to give it up.

I’m sure it’s a principle you’ve probably already used in numerous situations without realizing it. In layman’s terms, “one last try.” But just take that now, as a tool in your wisdom tool box. 3 years, no fruit, last try, one more year, end. Now if it’s only been one year, in these situations, you don’t want to prematurely give up either. Then again there may be situations where you know, this isn’t going to work from the start. That’s all the rub of wisdom and discernment.

So in conclusion today, what should our response be to the parable of the barren fig tree?

Should it cause us to fear God and tremble before His holiness? I think it certainly should.

Should it cause us to fear falling away, or fear losing our faith, or fear that we won’t be able to measure up in our own efforts? Or fear we won’t produce enough fruit to make God happy? Absolutely not.

It should remind us of the example of Mordecai Ham, that even in a half filled service, there may be a future Billy Graham in the room. It should remind us that fruit bearing is not able numbers, but about quality. It’s about faith in God. It’s about trusting in Jesus Christ. It’s about falling so madly in love with Jesus that we bear fruit naturally, because we love God so desperately.

So cultivate your love with God, your relationship with God, your dependence on God, and you will bear fruit in it’s proper season, like the tree planted by streams of living water. But if you get lazy, become complacent, hardly pray, hardly witness, hardly seek God, then you should be concerned, you should fear God, and tremble, and repent, and be at work for His kingdom and His glory. Amen.

Names of God: Jehovah-Tsidkenu, God our Righteousness

What does it feel like to be in God’s presence? Have you ever felt his presence in a moment in time?

It’s royal, God’s presence. Like royalty is present.

It’s soft, like a whisper.

It’s like a cloud comes over you, a cloud of God’s presence.

It’s like the moment in time slows down.

You become more aware of everything around you.

You’re encountering a different dimension, a heavenly dimension intersects Earth for a moment.

You feel a love come over you.

And you feel like you don’t want to move. You don’t want to leave.

It gets bright, even though I don’t see any light. I can tell with my eyes closed that it’s bright in here… there’s a brightness I can’t see visually, but it’s there.

It’s also intimidating, dare I say terrifying, when I realize, the environment has shifted, God is here.

For I know God is a consuming fire.

It’s also a burning, a burning light, a roaring blue flame, God’s Holy Spirit being present.

And it’s perfect love, a savior, who wants me and calls me. Like a voice.. calling me from far away. His presence draws me in.

Have you felt it? I have. And whenever I do, it makes life complete, brokenness, for a moment, becomes completeness.

That’s what we all long for, something better. A better country. A better place. Something beyond all this. We all long for it. This world doesn’t quite satisfy.

Never full enough, never happy enough, never high enough, never drunk enough, never quite enough… it’s just beyond us. Just beyond this planet.

The Infinite Creator, the living God is the only solution to the completeness we seek. He is our only hope, for the hunger and thirst we have for something greater.

We resist that. We struggle with that. And that’s ok. Because did you know, all the great heroes of faith, wrestled with God? When we struggle with who God is, when we struggle with what it means, and who Jesus is, that’s wrestling with God. It’s OK to wrestle, to struggle, to strive to understand. We struggle.

We struggle with holiness, with righteousness, with comprehending what a world without sin could look like. When we see God’s holiness, his righteous standards, we get upset. We get angry. Because we know we can’t reach it, we can’t touch it, we can’t climb to it, so we feel like a man in a hole 20 feet deep without a ladder to climb out.

We get confused, we think well, I have to try to make myself good enough to be with God. We try to do good stuff, to outweigh the bad stuff we’ve done. We try to climb the walls of the hole we find ourselves in but just keep sliding down in the mud.

But God says stop! Stop! Stop striving.

God says, “I have done it myself.” Instead of striving to do good deeds, to climb the walls of the pit to escape from sin, we must recognize our own inability. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23).

Even Job said, weary and afraid, wondering, “How shall anyone be made righteous with God?” (Job 9:2).

The Apostle Paul, before he became a follower of Jesus, was so proud of his self-righteous practices as a Jew, as a Pharisee, he did everything right, followed the law, fasted and prayed, memorized the Torah, and yet when he saw Jesus, he realized, all his efforts were dirty rags, like manure, filthy.

So we find ourselves lacking righteousness, don’t we? And God will by no means clear the guilty. In fact he says time and again in His word that we are found guilty before him, guilty of sin. If Jesus isn’t your savior today, you are still guilty, and you face a punishment more severe than you could possibly imagine.

Even the punishment for murder in this life is life in prison. But the punishment for our many sins, is permanent imprisonment in a place called hell, a place where we are tortured without end, day and night, without rest, without food, without water, and without any hope. Indeed, there is not a single positive emotion to be experienced in hell. Some of you are headed there today and I’m pleading with you, stop your march to hell, and turn to the narrow road to eternal life.

God’s word says the soul that sins shall die; and the wages of sin are death. (Ezekiel 18:20, Romans 6:23).

You can pay for your sins with your own blood, in hell, but the life of the body is in the blood, and there is no life in hell, so there is no blood in hell either, be aware, you’ll have no blood there. Only sand. And it’s quite real. Quite real indeed. I’m sorry I’m just telling you what the Bible says.

And indeed as a pastor, as a teacher, I’m told in the word that if I fail to carry the gospel to those under my care with accuracy, that your blood will be poured over my head on judgment day, as a witness to me, that I failed you, failed to carry the gospel to you. So I take that very seriously.

Your blood can't pay for your sins in hell, the truth is your blood can’t pay off your sins in any way. So you’ll receive the permanent wrath of God in hell, as a permanent state for your soul to live in, consciously, for all time, each day, with new horrors.

Or you can allow the blood of another to pay your road home. The blood of a righteous man. But no man is righteous. Who could do such a thing? Could a sinner die for your sins? No, they can’t pay anything they’re in sin as well. They’re in the hole with us. But, one came, who is said to carry our sorrow and our burdens, and the guilt we carried, would be placed on Him. Could any man do this? No, only a God-man, the God-man, the living God inhabiting human flesh, born into the world, Jesus Christ, who being perfect, and never sinning once, became our spotless sacrifice, to offer his blood to purchase us from death, and sin, and hell. Praise the Lord.

We must repent, and put our trust in Jesus Christ, and what he has accomplished. God has paid off the debt. That’s the thing. We can’t fix it ourselves. We can’t do enough good things. We must stop, and rest, in Jesus Christ.

Yes, repent of your sins, yes, leave behind your old ways, but instead of trying to force that to happen by your own strength, stop and turn and see, only if cry out to Jesus Christ, then, then and only then, will He be able to do it in me. I can’t do it. Only Jesus can do it. So I will let Jesus do it. Surrender. Let go of your own efforts, put your faith in Jesus, throw off the old sins, and cry out to Jesus to make you new. That is the only hope.

Jeremiah, the weeping prophet knew that. Israel had turned away from God. They hated God wanted nothing to do with God. Yet there was still hope. Even though Israel would go into captivity, be taken captive in Babylon, later, they would return to Israel, and God would bless them, and help them, and make them new. It says in Jeremiah

Jeremiah 23:1-8 “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. 2 Therefore this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to the shepherds who tend my people: “Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care on them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done,” declares the Lord. 3 “I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. 4 I will place shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will no longer be afraid or terrified, nor will any be missing,” declares the Lord.

5 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,

    “when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch,

a King who will reign wisely

    and do what is just and right in the land.

6 In his days Judah will be saved

    and Israel will live in safety.

This is the name by which he will be called:

    The Lord Our Righteous Savior.

7 “So then, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when people will no longer say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’ 8 but they will say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the descendants of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them.’ Then they will live in their own land.”

In verse 6, in the Hebrew, it means, Jehovah Tsidkenu, which means God our righteousness. God our rest. We find our rest from sorrows in Jesus Christ. Only in God who provides righteousness to us. We can’t earn it. We can’t force it to happen. We can only receive it through surrender to God. Submitting to Him, leaving behind our sins and putting our hope in Jesus. Then God becomes our righteousness. We become clean in His sight, because we have believed in Jesus. Jesus did it all for us. We just need to believe in Him. And live for Him. It’s just that simple.

There is no list of things to do to make ourselves right with God, God doesn’t desire sacrifice, but instead the sacrifice God wants us the sacrifice of a “broken spirit” and a  “contrite heart.” Let yourself feel sorrow over your sins, let yourself feel broken over the state of your life and how you’ve fallen short. Isn’t that a strange concept, that when we’re in godly sorrow, it’s a good thing, a godly thing because it’s bringing us to change moments, to repentance, to a new attitude, where we realize our need for Jesus the messiah.

Despite everything that had happened, how completely Israel had failed God. How they had prostituted themselves to foreign gods. How they had ignored God and his laws. How they had corrupted justice and mistreated the poor and needy, despite all that, despite all our sins, God says hold on, there’s still a hope and a future here. Hold on, there’s still a way for you, no matter how much evil you’ve done, there’s still a way out of the wilderness and onto the high road of victory, it’s in Jesus Christ the savior of the universe, if we will shut up, get out of our own way, finally surrender, let go of our pride, our ego, and put our trust in Jesus Christ and call out to Him, he will give us his own righteousness, and suddenly that impossibly high pit we’d fallen in, we find ourselves rescued, and out of the pit and on our way to heaven. Now we can always go back and jump in and often the enemies tries to tempt us, hey remember how cozy that muddy pit was, remember how there were no responsibilities and you could just sit there and feel sorry for yourself, so now as Christians, we must walk free from sin, in holiness ,in the fear of the Lord, knowing, that God expects us to walk as Jesus walked. God has become our righteousness, so now, we lives as slaves to righteousness (Romans 6:18). 

The Lamp under a Basket: How to be a Light-Shining Kingdom Agent

While I was on vacation in Cancun we were swimming in the ocean everyday and it was simply wonderful and beautiful and really fun. The first few days the waves were very low, you could just sit out there in the waters and it was so calm and peaceful. But then slowly a hurricane began forming south east of us, eventually named hurricane Ian, and we went out swimming the day before hurricane Ian would pass by us, and the waves had grown much stronger.

As I waded out in the water, the waves would crest and crash down into us, and the closer to the shore you were, the harder the waves would hit. But I noticed that as I got deeper and deeper out, at first it got harder and harder, the waves kept cresting and hitting me. I was in to my knees, then to my waist, and the waves were hitting harder and harder. I almost turned back because I thought the waves are too strong. But then I went in deeper to about the depth of my upper chest and shoulders. And as the waves came, they were just forming, and they wouldn’t crest and crash where they turn white, until after they got past me.

So I could simply float over the waves as they formed, because I was out deep enough to avoid the crest of the waves.

And I realized at that moment that this is the picture of the Christian life in regard to our relationship with God. If we have a shallow relationship with God, we barely pray, we hardly ever seek God, we read the bible very rarely, the waves of life will crash into us, we’re not in very deep, and those waves will threaten to knock us over and even drive us out of the water all together, away from God. But wise Christians then begin to fight for their walk with God, they push into prayer they push into bible reading and study, and church, and at first seems to get even more difficult. The pushing doesn’t seem to get anywhere and the waves hit even harder, because the enemy wants to prevent our breakthrough.

But wise Christians KEEP PUSHING into God, KEEP SEEKING God, and suddenly they breakthrough, to a deeper relationship with God, a more passionate intimacy, they spend hours with God, they fast and pray, they study the word diligently and their closeness with God is deep and powerful, and as the waves of life hit, and hit, and hit, they’re so deep out, the crests don’t harm them, and they float over the troubles as they come.

And that’s super important to understand in our parable today of the light under a basket, to live this out will seem very hard if your relationship with God is poor, but if your relationship with God is deep and intimate and close, this will just naturally happen as you lovingly obey the Father.

Our Parable today is from Luke 8:16-18. But the parable also appears in a brief format in Matthew’s gospel, as part of the famous sermon on the mount, it’s rendered like this: “Matthew 5:14-15 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.”

The parable also appears in the gospel of Mark, rendered very similarly to how Luke renders it, almost exactly the same, in Mark 4:21-25 if you want to take a look.

But we’re going to focus on the way it’s rendered in Luke, which is almost exactly the same as Mark, I think it’s likely that Jesus also made mention of this parable in the sermon on the mount, but later shared it as a separate parable to give further detail. So we’ll focus on the greater detail version for today.

It says this: “No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.” –Luke 8:16-18 NIV

I want to draw your attention first to something Jesus says here, he says be careful how you listen. Let’s talk about that first, then we’ll get to the light.

Why does this Jesus say this? What does he mean?

Well, think about it, when we study a particular portion of scripture, whether at church or by ourselves or at a bible study, how do we look at?

Here’s how I think we should look at it, then I’m going to show you how we shouldn’t listen to it.

1. This is God’s perfect timeless word – I need to see this as inspired of God, a gift from God, perfect and something of infinite value. That’s studying in faith.

2. This is wonderful, righteous, and true – I should see this as righteous, absolutely right, beyond human wisdom

3. This is command – I want to see this as a command to be obeyed in love

4. Believe it – I want to incorporate this into how I see the world, I want to incorporate this scripture into my own worldview, my personality, how I see everything and myself

5. Live it – I’m reading this scripture and immediately applying it to how I can live it out in my life, what does this look like in practice?

6. Urge to Share – Train yourself to find an urgency to share what you’re learning – immediately if I see something powerful in scripture, I think to myself, someone else needs to see this too. That urgency will grow in strength as you share and reshare it

7. This is who God is – big picture – I add the scripture I’m learning to my overall understanding of the picture I have in my mind and heart of who God is. How does this scripture either confirm or alter my view of who God is?

Now, here’s how not to respond to God’s word:

1. Responding in Emotion/Responding in the Flesh – Sometimes we see the scripture from a human perspective, we even get mad, or disregard it, we think oh that’s not right, I don’t want that to be so. We read it as a human.

2. This is suspect – As we read it, we think I don’t like what it’s saying there. And let’s all admit we’ve all done this from time to time we’ve read a portion of scripture and not liked it. Particularly if it upsets our moral compass, well that’s not loving, that’s not righteous, and instead we should let the bible correct us instead of trying to correct the bible

3. This is nice suggestion – 3 I think may be the worst danger on this list, I often catch myself doing this, I read something and think oh that’s nice, like with this parable today, oh let your light shine isn’t that nice, that’s nice, then move on. Wait a minute, that’s a command. It’s not a nice suggestion, like oh forgive your enemies isn’t that nice that Jesus did that, then move on, no, stop, that’s a command for you to follow.

4. Not incorporated into worldview – Sometimes we read it and we don’t put it in our worldview, we leave it on the page. No, apply it into your heart and into your brain as your attitude for life

5. Not Living It – Also a huge danger, one Jesus mentioned numerous times, Jesus said blessed are you if you hear my words and put them into practice. So often we hear it in church, think oh that’s nice, but we never apply it to our lives.

6. Lack of sharing – Most of us don’t share what we’re learning in church, but we’ve got to learn to do that, to have those conversations. I’ve caught myself doing that too, you leave church, and never talk about what you learned there, maybe at church you should sit down with family and have a time to talk about what you learned.

7. Refuse to adjust view of God – This is something I see with Christians caught up in theology, they refuse to adjust their view of who God is. They find a scripture that goes against their view of god, and instead of adjusting their view of god, they toss out the scripture and say no I don’t want that one, well you do that enough and you create an idol of god is that false and not resembling to the real living God.

Alright let’s move on to the top portion of the scripture, that says, “No one lights a lamp and hides it in a clay jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, they put it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light.”

Let your light shine, don’t hide it. What does that look like practically?

A perspective first from Irish Catholic clergymen John McEvilly who said, "These words have the object.. to stimulate the Apostles to shine as lights before the world, to enlighten the surrounding darkness, and impart to all the world the light of a holy, spotless life, and of pure teaching. As a city on a hill cannot be hid, so neither can the Apostles, from their exalted position, be concealed from the eyes of men; and, hence, their duty, to live so as to edify men. As no one lights a candle for the purpose of concealing its light, so neither did God constitute the Apostles as the lights of the world, in order to hide their light and detain the truth of God in injustice. Their duty is quite plain, viz., to diffuse this light far and near; to be deterred by no obstacles, in the free exercise of the exalted commission confided to them by God Himself, and to show forth the brilliancy of their virtues, and by their example to allure others to God." - John McEvilly (1818–1902) an Irish Roman Catholic Church clergyman

If we are shining our light toward others, they see it and hunger and thirst for a similar righteousness. They inevitably will thirst for Jesus Christ well, not inevitably, but hopefully.

As Christians, we should be going about our cities and our towns, among our families and our friends, wisely, discerningly, boldly, gracefully shining our light toward others.

And they will see the light. Most dwell in darkness, they have no light. The goal then is that the light would burn brightly in you, be seen by others, and then those people come to Jesus Christ, and a light bursts to life in them, and then they shine that light to others. And it’s supposed to spread that way, so eventually, even as a single Christian in a dark place shines their light, and others see it, and their candles catch fire as well, that this light would spread more and more, to new people everywhere,

And soon there are several Christians burning brightly, others see that light, come to Jesus, and they starting burning as candles as well.

Pretty soon you’ve got 10-15, then 20, then 30. And pretty soon there are a hundred, then 150, then 300, and eventually entire cities are burning brightly.

That’s really how it plays out.

So in a city like Owosso, maybe you have 1 in 4 or 1 in 5 people who have lit candles burning as they go about. The enemy is always seeking to stop people from coming to the light. Angels are assisting us in bringing people to the light of Christ, and that’s where you see the spiritual warfare, the cosmic battle taking place.

Some people come to the light, and catch fire, others refuse the light and the light is an offense to them. Others are drawn off by schemes of the evil one, they’re drawn to false light. Some candles burn out, and they drift back into darkness. Some put their candles under a basket, and the candle goes out, because they are not shining it out toward others.

A slogan in 12 step recovery is, to keep it, you have to give it away. A paradoxical statement, that one of the most powerful forms of spiritual growth is sharing the message of recovery with others. Particularly in 12 step groups, when someone gets inwardly focused, it starts to spiral, this spiral of selfishness that gets worse and worse, and pretty soon they are near relapse. And the solution ironically enough is to go work with someone else and help someone else, and that gets the selfish mind off the self and toward another, and it suddenly solves the internal crisis by replacing selfishness with selflessness. Quite amazing.

Unfortunately many Christians are deceived today, they don’t share their light like they should.

On a very practical level, then, how can we as Christians shine our light and not hide it under a bushel. The world, the media, the society around us is always trying to communicate the lie to us: Don’t share your faith. Don’t talk about religion. Keep your faith private. Keep it hidden behind closed doors. Don’t bring that into the public sphere.

Those are lies of Satan. Satan wants our light hidden under a dark basket. And what happens when we put a cup over a burning candle, the candle has no more oxygen to burn from, and it goes out.

One famous Salvation Army officer said that if the Salvation Army ever leaves the streets it will die of lack of oxygen. That if we start to hide away in our church buildings we won’t have any impact anymore and our churches will dry up and disappear. I think that’s true for any body of believers, not just salvationists. But it’s a good reminder.

So again what does that look like practically then for each of you? It’s being an agent of God’s kingdom, an angel, submitted to the Holy Spirit’s leading. This is the secret hidden in plain sight, the fundamental difference between a true Christian and a false convert, a true Christian is an agent of God’s kingdom, meaning very practically God is at work through them on a daily basis.

There are numerous people in this church, that I watch operate, and they are kingdom agents.

God brings them to the grocery store, and they run into an old friend. They recognize immediately in that moment, as the Holy Spirit guides them, this is a divine opportunity. And in the conversation that starts, the holy spirit brings up opportunities to talk about Jesus, talk about healing, invite to church. Boom, at God’s business.

God takes them on a walk, and they see someone who looks sad, God nudges them, pray for that person right now. In their heart they pray in that moment, boom, at God’s business.

They get a call from Lt. Justin, God inspired hopefully, hey can you go pick up this person here and bring them here, they say yes, I can do that, they do it, at God’s business.

God touches their heart while they’re at home to study a portion of scripture from Romans 9, and they flip open their Bible and start reading.

God touches their heart to attend church, they go, God touches their heart to attend an outreach event, they go.

That is the difference, that is a kingdom agent, one who is actively shining their light. And it’s not brutal, it’s not excessive, God is not a cruel taskmaster. His yoke is easy and his burden is light. But he has good deeds for you to do today, and you will do them in His power if you are of Him.

Shining your light then is to be a kingdom agent. And if you spend all day everyday doing whatever you want, and aren’t listening for God’s leading, then ask yourself, am I really a kingdom agent?

If you aren’t right now, that’s ok, repent, say God, help me to be very sensitive to your Holy Spirit’s leading, grant me new willingness and desire to live as a kingdom agent today, and forever, in jesus name, amen.

He will help you to live that way, as one who shines your light.

Lastly we do see a warning in this parable as well, usually all we see preached on is the first line, shine your light, but what about what comes right after, it says, “For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.”

The majority of this parable is actually a warning for us from Jesus to remember, hey, anything hidden is going to come out on judgment day. Everything is going to come out on judgment day. Why does he say that right after talking about shining your light? Really interesting. He says then be careful how you listen. Are you listening as a spectator or as a participant? Amazing statement.

Then Jesus draws a hard line here, on the day of judgment, it’s going to be a hard line between those who had me as their savior and were really living righteously, and those who did not really have me and were not living righteously.

Whoever has will be given more, you really had Jesus as your savior and you really walked it out in your practice, you’re going to be heaped over with blessings and gifts, you’ll be amazed. A wonderful final union with Jesus Christ. Eternal life.

But for those who didn’t, even what little you have will be taken away, and you’ll be set out with those in outer darkness. What little you had will be taken and give to those who have the abundance. We’ve seen that in other parables as well, that concept of a hard line drawn between those who have and those who don’t.

It’s a good reminder for us today, abide in Christ, and live it practically, shine your light brightly, don’t hide it under a basket, because that basket will eventually put it out, no oxygen, the candle goes out. Share your faith! Share it! People need this message so badly! Get it out there, shine brightly, do so humbly, not with pride, but shine brightly

And recognize this as well, some will be angry at your light and rebel against it. Others will be drawn to your light and Jesus will then light their candle as well. Some will try to get you to hide your light because they hate your light, don’t do it, shine brighter, everywhere, in the real world! Shine bright and brighter! Don’t let the world trick you into hiding it! We can’t hide it, it will never be hid, shine brightly in the public world! The Lord is with you, causing you to shine brighter and brighter and his angels are helping as well to guide the light out to those who need it. Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! God is greater!