From a Stump a Branch
by Rev. Paul Howden
November 25, 2007
Sunday Next before Advent
Jeremiah 23:1-6

Why do people fall for bad leadership? Fullerton, California used to be the headquarters for a cult called The Assembly. The city of Fullerton, located in Orange County, is where we lived before moving to Pennsylvania. The family across the street from us was involved in this group. Another family that attended our parish was part of it. Then, we became friends with a lady who had also come out of it. So we knew about two and a half families who had been deeply immersed in the outfit. The Assembly surfaced out of the Jesus Movement of the 60s. A guy named George Geftakys founded it. Since its inception, the Geftakys family, the father, mother, and son, has ruled this cult denomination that has churches in California, the Midwest, and Canada. According to former members, Rev. Geftakys came off initially as the most on fire for the Lord, most deeply spiritual person they had ever met. His zeal for the Lord was almost hypnotic. Who could see that anything was amiss? Yet, financial and sexual problems came to light in 2003. George Geftakys was ousted by most of his former churches but others remain loyal to him. He is a bad pastor. Our Old Testament lesson from Jeremiah speaks of good shepherds and bad shepherds, and combines that with a prophecy of Christ’s coming. Let’s examine this text from Jeremiah 23. Reading Jeremiah 23:1-2.

Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.  Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.

About 600 B.C. is the timeframe here. Who are these inept shepherds that scatter the sheep and leave them hungry? Are these bad shepherds the kings of Judea? Or is this a reference to all the leaders in Israel: prophets, priests and kings? The latter seems the best interpretation. Every category of leadership had failed. The prophets had turned people away from the Lord toward false deities. The priests had failed to watch over the sheep and care for them. The kings did little to maintain justice. God warned all of them, “I will attend to you for the evil of your doings.” The Lord did judge them. The armies of Babylon invaded. The moral decline had been so steep and severe, that when the armies finally arrived conquest was easy. Those who survived surrendered to slavery. The Babylonian soldiers led away the first wave of Israelites in humiliating fashion: shaved heads, unclothed, shackled together, the guards marched them hundreds of miles to captivity. King Jehoiachin of Judah headed up that sad parade. Not everyone was taken away however. Many Israelites remained in Judea. Jeremiah writes to the remnant, to those who remained. Zedekiah was now king in Jerusalem, but he ruled as a puppet.

The catastrophe was mainly the fault of bad prophets, priests and kings. Jeremiah rebukes them: “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture! I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,” says the Lord”.  Jesus echoed the words of Jeremiah to the religious leaders of His day: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to me, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matthew 23:27-28). The apostle Paul mentioned a similar problem in his day. Speaking to the laypeople about their leaders he says: “For you put up with it if one brings you into bondage, if one devours you, if one takes from you, if one exalts himself, if one strikes you on the face” (2 Corinthians 11:20). It seems that every generation must deal with scandalous leadership that abuses its followers.

Getting back to the cult group I mentioned at the beginning. If you joined The Assembly, some leader, some pastor governed virtually every detail of your life. For example, you were required to attend six long services a week. The leaders told you who you could marry, and when. The leadership determined what kind of job you could work, what classes you should take in college, where you could live, and in some cases, what you could or could not eat. They also squeezed money out of you, much higher than the tithe. Singles were expected to live in communal homes where their lives were capriciously and carefully regulated. Here is an example. One guy got caught napping during a worship lecture. As punishment, the wife of the cult leader made him do a coffee enema one hour before every church service. You would think a cup of coffee would do the trick, but no, he had to do a coffee enema! Many more anecdotes could be told. Cult abuse can’t last forever. It came out a few years ago that the Assembly leaders were stealing money from the church along with sexual abuse.

Jeremiah cries out: “Woe to the Shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” Satan really knows how to ruin the Church. Human beings in a position of spiritual authority, instead of serving, shepherding, and caring for the sheep, misuse that authority to control, coerce, and manipulate the sheep for their own pathological purposes. Beth and I know a professional counselor who counsels pastors on the West Coast. He says that many church pulpits are populated by clinical narcissists. Men and women crave recognition, power, money, and sex and they use the ministry to get it. These types brook no opposition, and allow no one to question their positions or authority. For instance, dissenters in the Assembly, this cult, were routinely rebuked and humiliated in front of the rest of the congregation. 

What are the symptoms of spiritual abuse? Families end up shattered. A young lady lashed out at her parents: “Why did you keep our family in such a dysfunctional, tyrannical group for so many years?” She is bitter about the bondage she and her family experienced. Spiritually and emotionally abused people suffer deep depression, their noses just above water, so to speak. They feel like they can never again have a close relationship with the Lord. A lady who left the Assembly attended our parish in California. She came to worship for years, but never came forward to receive Holy Communion. She felt unworthy. Her years in this legalistic cult had blinded her to God’s grace, and it was impossible for her to sense the Heavenly Father’s mercy toward her. Some of these victims spin down into a vortex of emotional pain. Some suffer like the child who is sexually abused and then becomes suicidal. They are deeply hurt people.

Leadership abuse comes in a variety of packages. There are tyrants, and then there are the overly tolerant types. Remember the High Priest Eli? He had two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. These two enjoyed many privileges as the High Priest’s sons. Yet they used their position to steal the best meat that worshippers brought to be sacrificed at the tabernacle in Shiloh. They also fornicated with women who came to the doors of the tabernacle. God judged Eli for spoiling his children, and tolerating too much sin. Eli once gave his sons a little verbal slap on the wrist when he found out what they were doing, but that was not enough. God told the boy Samuel to give Eli a message: “…because [your] sons made themselves vile, and [you] did not restrain them… I will judge [your] house forever” (1 Samuel 3:13). And it happened. The Philistines soon attacked, killed Hophni and Phinehas, and Eli, upon hearing the news, fell backwards in his chair, cracked his head, and died. (1 Samuel 2-4)

Bad leadership is either too harsh, strict, and domineering; or it is too lax and lenient. To tolerate everything and never discipline is death. Love is gentle, merciful, and tough. These principles are not only for clergy, but for parents of children, for teachers in school, and bosses at work. It has been said that one of the ways to identify the character of a person, is to see how he treats those under him. To be too harsh on the one hand, or too lenient on the other hand are bad signs. God sees your example and the way you deal with the sheep under you. May He never say to you, “Woe to the shepherd who destroys and scatters the sheep of My pasture!”

The next verses show what God will do to help the sheep out of their predicament. Jeremiah 23:3-4.

And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.  And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.

The shepherd-sheep image is a rich one in Scripture. Jeremiah promises that God would send good shepherds to bring them back to their folds. The good shepherds would lead the sheep to graze in good pastures and defend them from wolves and other dangers. Clergy must remember that Christ is the Good Shepherd and they are merely His under-shepherds. A shepherd is a pastor. The shepherd exhibits a love for Christ; he maintains a godly and non-hypocritical lifestyle, showing a good example for others. “I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and the sheep shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking!” says the Lord” (v. 4). If the pastor is devoted to the Good Shepherd Jesus Christ, then he knows the territory, its dangers, its green meadows, its steep cliffs, and its seasons. The pastor leads the flock to fresh spring water and safe vegetation. The flock recognizes the Good Shepherd’s voice. They know their shepherd will not mislead them. The shepherd patiently moves ahead of the flock, but not too far ahead, calming and at times entertaining them with music, gently guiding them to green pastures beside still waters.

Once a person has been burned by bad leadership it is hard to put himself in the position of trusting anybody else again. But God tells us that He will supply the Church with good shepherds. Just because you have had a bad experience with a pastor is no excuse to abandon the church. There are good shepherds who feed the flock. Jesus said, “By their fruits you will know them” (Mt. 7:16). 1 Timothy 3:1-6 sets the qualifications for a bishop, and by extension for all ministers. There are a dozen requirements and one is this: “One who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?)” So there are different tests and evidences from which to evaluate pastors and leaders.

Let’s read Jeremiah 23:5-6.

Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.  In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.

A Branch of Righteousness (v. 5). Why a Branch? Isaiah had spoken in a similar vein when he said, “There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots” (Is. 11:1). The season of Advent begins next Sunday, and one of the traditional Advent hymns says, “O come, O come, Emmanuel, and ransom captive Israel, That mourns in lonely exile here Until the  Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel!” Verse four says, “O come, thou Rod of Jesse’s stem, From every foe deliver them…” A branch from Jesse’s stem is an Advent theme. Who was Jesse?

Jesse was the father of King David. Jesus comes from that royal stem. At the time of Jeremiah, the Israelite royalty, the kingly tree appeared chopped down and fallen, a mere stump, maybe even dead. After going into captivity, it seemed like everything was hopeless for the covenant people. But Jeremiah promises that the stump still has life. A branch, a rod, a tree would spring from that stump. In other words a great king would emerge. This King is called a Branch. The passage suggests that the Branch would turn into a massive tree: “A king shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.” The Branch will bless the whole earth. The blessings emanating from this king would encompass the globe.

The prophecy finds fulfillment in Jesus Christ and His Kingdom. He was the branch who came to earth from Heaven and established His kingdom. He has become the vine, and we are the branches. He is the king that was slain, and redeemed us unto God by His blood, out of every tribe and tongue and people and nations (Rev. 5:9). When Jeremiah speaks of this Branch that blossom out of the stump, and a king that would reign over the earth, he is prophesying the coming to earth of the Son of God. Next Sunday begins the season of Advent. We will bring out the Advent wreath. Historically, the Church has called the Sunday Next before Advent, Christ the King Sunday. It celebrates Christ’s rule over heaven and earth. Jeremiah said: “A king shall reign and prosper in the earth.” David’s future successor, this branch, would exceed the glory of David and Solomon. The Davidic dynasty in Jerusalem was only a puny prefigurement of the eternal kingdom that Christ Jesus would set up.

Have you been mistreated by people above you? At the age of 15 I had a falling out with my father. I was bitter and angry for nearly ten years. I felt hurt and wounded by things he had done. Yet, God healed that hurt and brought reconciliation to us. I truly loved my father after it was healed. The Lord worked that out. Have you been harmed by someone in leadership? Come to Christ. He can heal and transform you. Come to Christ in prayer. Draw near to Him in the Bible. Come to Him in the fellowship of His people. Come to Him in your suffering. Come to Him in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. Come to the Good Shepherd, your King. The Bible says that if you will draw nigh to Him, He will draw nigh to you.

Jeremiah adds: “Now this is His name by which He will be called: “The Lord Our Righteousness.” This title is packed with meaning. In Christ God has demonstrated His righteousness. Moreover, the Heavenly Father has accepted Christ’s righteousness on behalf of those who trust in His saving work. If you lack Christ’s righteousness then you have no righteousness at all, and you are lost. If you desire to have saving righteousness, seek Christ. If you desire to escape from the punishment of hell, seek Christ. If you desire forgiveness of sins, seek Christ. If you desire the salvation of soul and body, it is only in Christ. Come to Jesus Christ in faith, repentance, and obedience. He is the Lord your righteousness.

The message on this Sunday Next before Advent is one of hope and joy. Jeremiah prophesied the emergence of a Branch. That Branch has come. He is Jesus Christ the King. He was born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem. He is the branch of righteousness. He is the Vine (John 15). Are you one of the branches grafted into Him? He is God and man. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. He established His Kingdom already and it is growing. His kingdom will one day flourish with righteousness. It began at His first advent and will continue until His Second Advent, and proceed on eternally from there. Be connected to the Branch, Christ the King.

Let us pray.