Jesus Leads Us Always (Numbers 27:15-23)

SAY IT OUT LOUD

Jesus Leads Us

JESUS LEADS US ALWAYS

1. Jesus provides __________ _________.

2. Jesus leads ________ _____________.

3. Jesus shepherds _____ _______.

Welcome to worship today at Morrison Zion Lutheran Church. We exist to glorify God. We have set out to do this by gathering around the Gospel so that we may grow in the Gospel and go to others with this Gospel.

CHILDREN’S DEVOTION

Has anyone ever asked you what you want to be when you grow up? What did you say?—a teacher. What do you want to be when you grow up? I think you said something recently—drive a combine. He loves the combines. There are a lot of things that we can do when we grow up. There are so many things you can do. You can do so many things to serve God in so many different ways. I think some of the really popular ones are things like police officers or a firefighter. Those are some of the really popular ones. Are those people that you listen to and follow? If a police officer and a firefighter said something to you, you’re going to probably listen to them. And you said a teacher. These are some of the really important jobs. All God’s jobs are really important but maybe a teacher or a pastor is pretty important.

Today we talk a little bit about why pastors and teachers are important, because they share God’s Word with us. Maybe you think about who you want to be, but you also think about who you copy. Do you copy an older brother or sister? I know you copy your older sister a lot. And she copies you sometimes. Maybe you copy a friend. Maybe you copy your parents. I bet you do that all the time even though you don’t think about that. So that’s a lot of what we think about as the pastors and teachers teach us God’s Word, but they also help us to live.

But the one that really leads us all is Jesus. Jesus tells us that He provides shepherds. He provides those to be leaders in the church, pastors, teachers, called workers, and also leaders in the church. But our biggest leader is Jesus. He is the Good Shepherd, the one who really cares for us. And because He cares for us, He sends those people. One of the reasons that we follow those people, our parents and pastors, teachers and all sorts of other people, is because they want us to follow Jesus.

But as much as we follow those people as examples, Jesus did something else. This was our theme for our school this last year. You saw this. It says “Run to Christ” and we want to run to the cross because Jesus isn’t just someone to copy. He is the one who went to the cross. He did something that none of us can do. He died for our sins. He forgives us. That’s what those leaders do—point you to Jesus to tell you that you’re loved and you’re forgiven. So that’s the good news that we have.

You know what you can do if you’re not a pastor or teacher? Who can you point people to?—that Good Shepherd, Jesus. God gives us all these leaders. He encourages us to consider being pastors and teachers, but also consider how we can be leaders in our congregation and in our home to point people to Jesus, the Good Shepherd, the one who lived for us, the one who died for us, so that we can have the forgiveness of sins. Isn’t that pretty neat? Let’s say a prayer thanking God for that.

Thank you, Jesus, for giving us leaders in the church and in the home. Most of all, thank you for Jesus, who forgives our sins. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

SERMON

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from Jesus Christ, our Lord:

These last few weeks, or you might say the last month, I don’t know if you’ve heard the new term for May is Maycember, that it’s often as busy as December. It’s the phrase I heard from someone in Texas. It’s a little warmer down there, so it’s like December but you can wear a tank top. Up here in Wisconsin, maybe not, but it’s very busy. There are graduations and weddings and all sorts of things going on and you might say that this time of May and June is really a time of transition. Here we have people graduating from 4K. They are going to be in kindergarten. And we had 8th grade graduation where now you’re stepping out from school here into high school. Then there is high school graduation into college or college into the work force. Or even high school, where you are stepping into the work field and into trade schools and the sort. It’s a huge time of transition.

If it’s not those transitions, June is also a time where people start to retire at the end of the fiscal year. A retirement is a big transition. Maybe other people are having different transitions where someone was dating someone and now they are experiencing single life or even the loss of a loved one, a good friend or a loved one. Those transitions are not always easy. Some people handle those transitions easier. Some transitions maybe surprise you. Even the transition of school being out and summer going on, that is maybe a challenge for many.

But do we have to fear in all those transitions? We can worry because we don’t know what is next. Some of those transitions people go through all the time and you can learn how to go through them. Some are pretty unique, but even if they’re somewhat of a simple transition or a hard one with lasting consequences, what can we be reminded of in all our transitions? Even if we’re not in control, who is in control? God is in control. We don’t have to fear and Jesus is going to lead us always. So whatever you might have on your heart right now of a transition, a change, you know that Jesus is always with you. He is going to lead you through that transition. You can think about transitions that have happened in the past and you know that God has been there and He will get you through, even though you might not know how it’s going to happen or there might be lots of worries and fears.

This is really the situation we find the people of Israel in. It’s probably the biggest transition that they’ve gone through in their history right now, in the Old Testament. We don’t often read from the Book of Numbers in church. We don’t do too many sermons from the Book of Numbers. But it’s a book about leadership, of God leading the people of God, providing leadership and guiding them. Here we have a very important time.

Moses had led the people from Egypt through the plagues, through the crossing of the Red Sea, to Mount Sinai, the Ten Commandments and then through years and years in the desert to get to the Promised Land. And now Moses isn’t going to be their leader. It’s a huge transition. So how could Moses react in this time? How are the people thinking at this time? What is the next leader thinking about? We are going to think about that in a little bit, but first, what could Moses have done as he is told “You’re not going to go into the Promised Land”? He could have said “I don’t want anything to do with God and these people. They gave me so much trouble. We had to wander around for 40 years! Be gone! I’m done with Him.” Instead, he has this great prayer to God for the people.

Moses said to the Lord, “May the Lord, the God who gives breath to all living things, appoint someone over this community to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the Lord’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”

Here he is praying for God’s people, praying to God that He is going to provide someone to lead them. But notice what type of leader he asks for. He asks to have a shepherd. The thing that we need to remember and be reminded of is that Jesus provides shepherd leaders. Why is a shepherd leader important? They had priests. They had kings. They had these generals. But often in the Old Testament they referred to them all as shepherds. Shepherds have a personal care for those they watch over. They go in and notice what he says—they come in before them. They will lead them out. He is with them. He is caring for them.

And then as we see what type of person God gives them, in Verse 18: So the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit of leadership, and lay your hand on him. A better translation there for “spirit of leadership” is actually “Spirit,” “…in whom is the Spirit.” That means to have the Holy Spirit.

As we just talked about on Trinity Sunday and looking at the whole Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit is this interesting part of the Trinity because He’s not focusing on Himself. He’s not saying “Grow in the Spirit so you can be all about the Spirit.” The Spirit is often called the shy part of the Trinity because He’s focused on connecting you to Jesus. That’s the leader that God provides. That’s what a shepherd leader does. It’s not all about them, but it’s saying how they can point you to Jesus, to God’s Word, so you know that you’re loved and forgiven and to know how to live a Godly life and know that when you stumble, you’re forgiven. That’s also what the leaders did.

Why wasn’t Moses actually going into the Promised Land? He disobeyed God. He was told to speak to a rock at Meribah, but instead he hit the rock and God said, “Okay, I’m sorry but you’re not going to enter the Promised Land.” Some say this was a little bit of a way to show that Moses represents the Law and Joshua represents the Gospel. This is the way we get in, not by Law but by Gospel. We understand that Moses was an amazing leader, yet he failed. He murdered someone many, many years ago. He wasn’t perfect. And if you look at the Old Testament, and even the New Testament, what do we see about God’s leaders? They do amazing things. We’re amazed at what they do and how they lead. Paul, the great apostle, David, the great king, a man after God’s own heart—they do amazing things, but we’re also amazed at some of the awful things they do. David and Bathsheba; Paul, who calls himself the worst of sinners—we see God provides us shepherd leaders that are not perfect to remind us that none of us are perfect so we can be filled, not with our righteousness but with the Spirit to point people to God and to Jesus, the one who gives us righteousness. This is the whole point of having shepherd leaders—to point everyone to the Savior, not to us and not to point to you and your goodness but to point to Jesus and His love and goodness. This is how God provides for the people.

You can think about what Moses and Joshua and the people were all thinking at this time. Moses may be upset that he didn’t get to go into the land. Just previously in Numbers 27, there is a unique ruling where it says that if a man dies, a father dies, and he has no son, that his daughters are given the inheritance. Again, at this time, among the cultures of the world, this would have been pretty rare. And here these daughters are getting an inheritance and Moses doesn’t even get to go into the Promised Land. How fearful he must have been but he was praying, and able to help lead, to provide the next leader.

Consider how Joshua must feel. He was probably very fearful, afraid and worrying about what is next. But what can we trust? That Jesus leads during transitions. God gave the command and said that He would provide Joshua. Then listen to what He says. He says: Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the entire assembly and commission him in their presence. Give him some of your authority so the whole Israelite community will obey him. He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring of the Urim before the Lord. At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in.” God would lead them. Even though Joshua is there, God would give them the commands and be their leader.

But did you notice that things will change a little bit. Moses was kind of unique in that God spoke to him. God went up on Mount Sinai many times. He spoke to Moses at the burning bush. But how was God going to speak to Joshua? He was going to speak to him through the priest.

Have you and this church, or churches that you’ve been a part of, gone through transitions? Have you been here or at other churches or maybe even just joining a different church where you said “How is this going to go?” Maybe you even remember seven years ago when I was installed here as a pastor. Seven years ago feels like a long time, or a short time, I don’t know. It’s a crazy thing. Pastor Norv Kock, who was serving at Manitowoc Lutheran, a friend that I knew from China, preached a sermon that said “this will work.” It’s not because of who I am but because of God’s leadership. Jesus would lead during this transition. As this congregation has been around for 160+years, it’s gone through many transitions with different leaders. There might have been a time when you said “Enough! How is this going to work?”

What about the next transition as we now are going to take on another name and we’re working with growing together two congregations to work as one? For years, for seven years I’ve gotten up here and said “Morrison Zion.” In a little while, we’re going to say a different name. That might feel a little bit different but you can be filled with fear and we know that we’re going to make mistakes. I probably at times might even slip back to say “Morrison Zion,” but who is leading? Jesus is leading through that transition to guide. He is providing leaders, not just pastors but your church leaders. And He is providing you to help.

Notice that God provides the leaders and as much as they’re probably afraid, they are afraid to go into the Promised Land, but they have this public commissioning where God is saying “I’m with you. I’m giving you leaders. I am directing you. I am going to help your leaders, who are praying and seeking God’s guidance, to lead you.” The encouragement is that they all go out together. They listen and they work together. That’s really what the Church is.

Jesus will lead this church through the transitions that are ahead, of coming together. We started an early childhood center. We’ve done so many amazing things. But most of all, we can think about how God leads. “At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in.” Whose church is it? The truth is that Jesus shepherds His Church. If I were to ask you whose church this is, what is your first answer? It’s Jesus’ church. This is God’s church and it is Jesus’ church. He is the leader. Then what is the next answer? This is your church. The Church is made up of the people and the body of Christ. The body of Christ is not anything without all the members of the body working together. Then God provides different gifts and different talents with Him leading. Jesus leads and He provides leaders. He provides so many different workers in different ways and it needs all of us to serve and to work and to share this message.

If we see this as our church, as a blessing where we come together to receive God’s Word, to receive the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, to do it in order, but then we go out and we can all be filled with the Spirit because we can all point people to Jesus, then we know that God will bless this transition. God is always with us.

As I was preparing for this sermon, I heard this great example of transitions and pastors and leadership. As we pray for leaders, as we pray for pastors and teachers, staff ministers, people to do the work, who is the work really all about? A church planter, who started a church, said that as he planted a church, he wanted to go back about 15 years later. His prayer, his joy was that maybe in 15 years, after he had planted this church, that he could walk in and someone goes “Who are you? Welcome to our church, but what is your name?” Why? While it was important work to start the church, that means that the church is growing and the church doesn’t just take on the characteristics of the pastor but the people take on the responsibility of sharing God’s Word and making the church a Gospel center—to go out and bring people in. That’s not just about one leader but raising up leaders and raising up evangelists and raising up a community and a culture that is all about sharing Jesus and growing this Church so that people know Jesus, that people know that they can come here at any time and they are welcome, they are forgiven and they are loved. As we read in the confession, a redeemed Child of God. You’re always welcome and our prayer is you can go share that knowing no matter what transitions we may have, we can trust God. Trust Jesus to provide shepherd leaders. Trust Him to provide during those transitions, but especially to provide for His church because Jesus has promised to never leave or forsake. He will lead you always. Amen.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7) Amen.