Hear the word of the LORD, O nations, and declare in the coastlands afar off, and say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him and keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.” – Jeremiah 31:10 (NASB)

During World War II Brigadier Gen Anthony McAuliffe, acting commander of the 101^st Airborne Division, was surrounded in Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge in December, 1944.  The Germans had surrounded Bastogne by December 21 and the surrounded American forces were desperate.  Most medical supplies and personnel were captured, food supplies were limited, and ammunition was running low.  However, the perimeter held.  The German commander requested the Americans surrender, to which he received the most famous one word reply in military history – “Nuts!”.  This one word reply from the besieged BG McAuliffe gave boosted morale in what seemed a hopeless situation.  The Americans held and the siege was broken a few days later.

In my last post we focused on the lessons from Jeremiah’s prophetic leadership as the city of Jerusalem faced impending Babylonian captivity.  Jeremiah did not try to hide from the inevitable, but faced it head on while fulfilling his responsibility to warn his city’s inhabitants that because of their spiritual and moral decline they would be judged harshly.

Some years God’s people are in Babylonian captivity.  They are surrounded by a foreign culture, scattered to foreign lands, and subject to the foreign rule of the most powerful empire in the world at that time.  Within this seemingly hopeless situation God commissions Jeremiah to proclaim a new message, one of hope and a better future.  This better future is realized after 70 years of captivity when the Jews are allowed to return to their homeland and begin to rebuild their society and identity as God’s chosen people.

Brigadier General McAuliffe’s response to the Germans provided hope in desperate times.  God’s message delivered by Jeremiah also provided hope in desperate times and the promise of a better future.  My experience has been that hope is contagious.  As shepherds we should provide messages of hope to the congregation as a whole and to individuals we spend time to shepherd individually.  We should proclaim God’s message that there is a better future to be had and that there is freedom from their sins if they will only obey God’s Will and not their own.

We should also let our members know that hope is also found in the flock. While scattered, sheep are lost with no sense of direction. When gathered together they gain a sense of direction from the flock which in turn gains its sense of direction from the shepherds.  While captive to sin our members have no sense of direction. They can become so consumed by their condition they don’t see any way out. Shepherds have to help them see it and remind them Satan does not want them to see a way out.  Satan wants them to stay scattered from the flock so they don’t gain a sense of direction and the safety and security that comes from it.

So shepherds, let us proclaim God’s message of hope as we are surrounded today by an increasingly Godless culture.  Let us remind them of a better future to be found in heaven and a better intermediate future to be found in active participation with the flock doing God’s Will.  Finally, let us influence the stray sheep to come back into the flock and gain that sense of direction to find the straight and narrow path.

May your blessings exceed mine today and all your days. – DEM