The crosier of Christ was the cross and the narrow gate He led us through to pasture in the doorway of His empty tomb.
For three years I have had the privilege of writing the Old Testament Homiletical helps for 1517’s Craft of Preaching. Having completed the three-year cycle and being willing to continue for a second round of the three-year lectionary of the Old Testament, I have decided to do something new (but not new in the “innovation” sense which often spells heresy). Instead, I have decided to unpack the Old Testament in light of its connection to the Gospel reading. To be clear, I am focusing on the Old Testament lesson but showing the connection to the Gospel lesson. Hopefully, this will give a new spin on this Old Testament Homiletics help.
The Old Testament reading from Ezekiel is familiar to Bible readers and preachers. It is yet another opportunity to talk about the metaphor of Shepherds and Sheep. This is an important theme in Ezekiel because God has already indicted the Temple for its abominable idolatrous practices and withdrawn His presence from it. Now, God indicts the priests who were Israel’s shepherds and condemns their treatment of the flock of Israel. He even indicts the sheep for muddying the provisions of God.
Still, God makes a precious promise in this pericope. It is the promise that He Himself will be their Shepherd and will provide and protect them. This is reminiscent of God eventually coming back to His Temple once it has been cleansed in the book Ezekiel. Just as Ezekiel’s vision of the Temple restored is heavenly, so God will send from Heaven the great Shepherd of His people in the Son of David and Son of God, Jesus Christ. The connection between Ezekiel 34 and Luke 15 is almost too easy. However, this affords us an opportunity we would not have otherwise.
One of the reasons I believe preachers do not preach on the Old Testament is either from fear or apathy borne from unfamiliarity. I am suspicious that most pastors and parishioners do not get familiar with an Old Testament book unless they go over it in Bible Class. Sure, we had Seminary classes on the Bible, but they typically grouped the prophets together and you usually focused on one (Isaiah) or whatever the professor had a liking for. Besides Dr. Horace Hummel, I do not know anybody who really spent a lot of time on Ezekiel. What I suggest is that you unpack the book of Ezekiel. Give context to what the problems were with the Temple and the priesthood in order to set up the need for God to be the faithful Shepherd Israel needed.
Then give Luke 15:1-10 as the case in point. The Pharisees and scribes are just like the priesthood of Ezekiel’s time; turning the Temple into something it was not. Jesus’ indictment of them is in the vein of Ezekiel. Christ is even doing what God spoke through Ezekiel. Establishing the text this way will make it so much easier for you as the preacher to establish the “Christ is greater than Ezekiel” comparison you will need to proclaim the Gospel more effectively. Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem, and what He witnessed in the Temple with the money changers, will make His words about Jerusalem certainly prophetic. Jerusalem is the city which kills the prophets sent to it, as we see in the case of Jesus who that very week was taken by the religious leaders in Jerusalem and killed. Developing these details will keep “Christ as prophet” the major way to proclaim the work of Christ in Luke 15.
The Pharisees and scribes are just like the priesthood of Ezekiel’s time; turning the Temple into something it was not. Jesus’ indictment of them is in the vein of Ezekiel.
But a word of caution: Do not use Ezekiel as a way to do Luke 15. Instead, fill in the context and story of Ezekiel, which can be quite enjoyable, so you can help your people see how obvious Jesus is being in Luke 15. Then they can join the crowd of people who were around Jesus and see themselves (not as the religious leaders) but as the lost sheep in need of a shepherd, sinners in need of saving, the sick in need of healing. The crosier of Christ was the cross and the narrow gate He led us through to pasture in the doorway of His empty tomb. Help them to learn to love the Old Testament and to identify with all of God’s people across the testaments so they can begin to see the Bible, not as someone else’s book, but as their book as well. The goal is a narrative unity of God’s Word, Promises, and Salvation centered in Christ alone.
Since Ezekiel is using a Metaphor, we can certainly look into the “Metaphoric Structure” to give us guidance on how to preach this.
“A metaphor enables us to ‘see one thing in terms of another.’ The metaphorical movement sermon structure builds upon this experience by creating three different moments in the sermon: (1) experiencing the metaphorical world (like, the world of shepherding); (2) opening the eyes of faith to see the works of God in terms of that metaphorical world (for example, Jesus is the Good Shepherd); and (3) seeing the world anew as one looks at life through these eyes of faith now shaped by that metaphorical world (in our case, God’s people listen to the voice of their Good Shepherd).
In the first section of the sermon, the preacher evokes an experience of the metaphorical world, paying attention to concrete descriptive details that not only create that world in the imagination of the hearers but also prepare the hearers for a later discovery of teachings of the faith in light of the chosen metaphor. For example, a sermon could begin by evoking the metaphorical world of the ‘Dance of Death’ as it was visually depicted on the walls of St. Mary’s Church in Lubeck in 1463. Here, the hearers will experience what it is like to be surrounded by the dance of death, hearing Death extends its hand and cry, ‘Come.’
In the second section of the sermon, the preacher uses the lens of the metaphor to clarify the faithful confession of the sermon. Here, the preacher works with the Scriptural text, the theological confession, and the evangelical proclamation in terms that flow from the metaphorical world. Here, the metaphor should clarify rather than obscure. That is, through the lens of the metaphor, the hearers should be brought to a deeper understanding and experience of the text, the confession of faith, and the proclamation of Christ. For example, a sermon could use the metaphor of the Dance of Death as a lens to help the hearers understand the evangelical beauty of Isaiah 55, where the Spirit cries ‘Come’ to God’s people who are surrounded by death and judgment in the exile. This invitation of the Spirit ultimately reveals Christ as the Lord of Life: He danced with death on the cross, defeated it, and now has risen and through His Spirit invites all people to ‘Come’ and walk in newness of life in Him.
In the third section of the sermon, the preacher now turns from the confession of faith to the lives of God’s people and helps them see their lives anew. In this section, the lives of God’s people will be interpreted in light of the theological teaching of the sermon that has been clarified by the use of the metaphor. Although God’s people will look at something with which they are familiar in this section of the sermon, the metaphorical lens causes them to discover things they had not seen before or to see their lives in a new way. For example, a sermon could use the proclamation of Christ as the Lord of Life to help God’s people hear how the Spirit in baptism calls them die and rise with Christ that they might walk in newness of life in him.
When working with metaphors, the preacher will need to be attentive to the limits of the metaphor. Since any metaphor can be pushed too far, the preacher may need to alert the hearers to ways in which the metaphor is limited but still useful for faithful reflection.”[1]
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Additional Resources:
Craft of Preaching-Check out out 1517’s resources on Ezekiel 34:11-24.
Concordia Theology-Various helps from Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, MO to assist you in preaching Ezekiel 34:11-24.
Lectionary Kick-Start-Check out this fantastic podcast from Craft of Preaching authors Peter Nafzger and David Schmitt as they dig into the texts for this Sunday!
The Pastor’s Workshop-Check out all the great preaching resources from our friends at the Pastor’s Workshop!
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[1] https://concordiatheology.org/sermon-structs/dynamic/metaphorical-movement/
