If you wanted to protect a group of people from harm and danger, who would you enlist to stand guard around them? For many, the first group that comes to mind is the United States Marines. Marines are trained to improvise, adapt and overcome any obstacle in whatever situation they are needed. They are first to fight and determined to succeed. If you wanted to protect a group of people from harm and danger, the Marines would be a good choice. Another Good choice would be the Green Barrets. The Green Barrets are a group of elite soldiers within the United States Army. They specialize in unconventional warfare where a thorough knowledge of foreign languages, customs and cultures is required. If you wanted to protect a group of people from harm and danger, the Green Barrets would be another good choice. A third option that many would say is really the best option are the Navy Seals. Although the main function of the Navy Seal is the covert capture or elimination of high-level targets while gathering intelligence from behind enemy lines, the warfare capabilities of the Navy Seal is beyond the means of the standard military force. If you wanted to protect a group of people from harm and danger, the Navy Seal would be an excellent choice.[1]
If you wanted to protect a group of people from harm and danger, who would you choose? It’s worth thinking about consider the group of people that need protecting from harm and danger is you. At this very moment you are in imminent danger from evil forces that seek to do more harm to you than any cyber hacker, terrorist cell, or deranged dictator might do. You see, it is not simply your liberties or life that these evil forces are after, it’s your hope. They want to take away your hope that comes from a blood stained cross and an empty tomb. They want to take away the hope that assures you that even though you have fallen short of the glory of God and your many sins have incurred an unpayable debt, that blood-stained cross guarantees your forgiveness. They want to take away the hope that assures you that even though you deserve damnation; even though you deserve to be cast into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, that empty tomb guarantees your salvation. At this very moment there are evil forces plotting to take away your hope.
In our lesson from Acts 20:28-32 saint Luke describes saint Paul’s farewell address to the pastors of the Ephesian congregations. In his farewell address Paul describes the evil forces that are plotting to take away your hope as wolves and perverts. In verses 29-30 Saint Paul warns, “29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.” Let’s talk about the wolves first. The wolves represent the dangers that are around us. For Paul, the wolves likely represented the Jews who were constantly nipping at his heels trying to chase him out of synagogue after synagogue. For you, the wolves are probably better represented by those who openly oppose Christianity. Atheists and Satanist obviously fall into this category but so do Humanists and Rationalists who seek to find hope in the morals of a society and the minds of men. More specifically a wolf that might be stalking you personally is any individual who mocks your faith by either calling you a hypocrite when you stumble and fall on the narrow path, or by calling you sanctimonious when you manage for a moment to follow in the footsteps of Christ. Wolves never seem to grow weary as they circle around their prey growling and snapping and a wolf’s appetite is never satiated until it has devoured your hope.
If you have ever been surrounded by a wolf who is trying to take away your hope you know what an exhausting soul sucking experience it can be. However, wolves are not the only evil force that threaten to take away your hope. Paul also warned us about people who distort. I prefer to call them perverts, not because of their twisted sexual habits (though some have those too) but because of their twisted teachings. These people pervert the truth of God’s Word. Unlike the wolves that represent the danger around us, the perverters of truth represent the dangers among us. Paul was not afraid to publicly identify a pervert. In his first letter to Timothy, Paul identifies Hymenaeus and Alexander as perverters of the truth whom he “handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.”[2] I don’t think I am afraid to publicly identify a pervert either, but the problem is, today there are almost too many of them to name. In general, perverts are people in the church who secretly oppose Christianity. They look like Christians, sound like Christians, and often act like Christians. They preach persuasive sermons with passion and eloquence. They talk about the love of the Father, the sacrifice of the Son, and the power of the Spirit, but instead of an amen there is an altar call or act of contrition that is prescribed. Instead of pointing people to the grace of God for hope they direct them to the works of men. Perverters of the truth don’t growl and snap they persuade and cajole in order to draw you away from your hope.
There are savage wolves around you and perverters of the truth among you. These evil forces desire to take away your hope. Thankfully God has enlisted the services of an elite group to stand guard around you. Paul identifies this group in verse 28 where he says, “28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.” The group that God has enlisted to stand guard around you are shepherds or what we in the WELS call pastors. Now, I know a pastor might not be your first choice to protect you from the wolves and perverts that are trying to take away your hope. Pastors, as a group, are nowhere near as rough as a Marine, as tough as a Green Barrett, or as ready as a Navy Seal. Rather, we tend to be a group of pasty spectacled academics whose bulbous bellies suggest we have eaten more than our fair share of crumb cake at the lady’s aid meetings. Pastors are not often mentioned in the same sentence with Marines, Green Barrett’s, and Navy Seals. When looking for a protector from harm and danger I understand if a pastor is not your first choice, but when the savage wolves are around you and the perverters of the truth are among you it is the pastor whom God chooses to protect you.
The first thing that makes the pastor the ideal protector for people surrounded by savage wolves and perverters of the truth is his call. In verse 28 Paul reminded us that the Holy Spirit has made you [the pastor the] overseers. The pastor did not previously possess a very particular set of skills. Skills he has acquired over a very long career. Skills that make him a nightmare for savage wolves and perverters of the truth. No, that’s Liam Neeson. Paul is talking to people and pastors alike when he says in 1 Corinthians 1:26-29, “26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.” A pastor is the ideal protector for people surrounded by savage wolves and perverters of the truth, not because there is power in the one being called but because there is power in the One who does the calling.
There is something else that makes the pastor the ideal protector for people surrounded by savage wolves and perverters of the truth. In verse 32 Paul tells us what that something is when he says, “32 “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” Another thing that makes the pastor the ideal protector is he has been equipped with the Word of God’s grace which functions as both a shield and a sword. God gives the pastor the Word of His grace. In one hand the pastor holds the shield of faith behind which the people of God take refuge[3]. For thousands of years this shield has protected God’s people from lying serpents, roaring lions, and blasphemous dragons. The white fangs of the savage wolf cannot penetrate this shield. In the other hand the pastor wields the sword of the Spirit. This sword is “Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”[4] In other words, this sword can cut through all the subtle lies and eloquent deceptions that drip from the tongues of those who pervert the truth. A pastor is the ideal protector for people surrounded by savage wolves and perverters of the truth because he has been equipped with the Word of God’s grace.
Savage wolves and perverters of the truth want to take away your hope. So, God enlisted the services of a Zell, a Zahn, and even a Lewis. He called these men by the power of the Holy Spirit and equipped them with the Word of His grace so that you would be protected. Why? Why would God go to such great lengths to protect you? I already told you why. The answer is in verse 28 where Paul calls you “the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.” You are God’s precious possession. You are the blood-bought ones. God took on flesh and blood so that His flesh could be pierced, and His blood could be spilled so that your debt of sin would be and has been paid in full. You have been redeemed. You belong to the heavenly Father. Some will call you hypocritical and sanctimonious, but God, the heavenly Father calls you son, he calls you daughter. The reason why God calls pastors by the power of the Holy Spirit and equips them with the Word of God’s grace in order to protect you from the savage wolves and perverters of truth is because God loves you.
God wants to protect you from those who would take away your hope. That is why The Good Shepherd sent shepherd to protect His sheep. Amen
[1] I pulled most of these descriptions from the various webpages for these special forces.
[2] 1 Timothy 1:20
[3] Proverbs 30:5 & Psalm 119:114
[4] Hebrews 4:12