Download 7/22/12, Mark 6:30-34, Sheep Without a Shepherd

Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
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Sheep Without a Shepherd
Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
Old Testament Lesson: Jeremiah 23:1-6
Rev. Stephen H. Wilkins
Georgetown Presbyterian Church
July 22, 2012
Even a cursory review of the Old and New Testaments will uncover the fact that one of
the more prominent images we encounter in both testaments is that of the relationship
between the sheep and the shepherd. This shouldn't surprise us, considering the rural and
agrarian culture from which the biblical narrative arises. Sheep and shepherds would be
commonplace figures that the people could readily understand, and so to use the relationship
between sheep and shepherd would be a natural way to draw parallels for our relationship
with God, or relationships that God intends for leaders to have with the people they lead.
I mention this because both of our Scripture lessons assigned by the lectionary for this
morning make use of the relationship between sheep and shepherd. More specifically, and
definitely more pointedly, both lessons highlight the tragedy that occurs when sheep are left
without a shepherd. In our lesson from Jeremiah, the Lord accuses the leaders of Israel of
failing to give proper shepherding to the people. “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and
scatter the sheep of my pasture!” says the Lord... “You have scattered my flock, and have
driven them away, and you have not attended to them.”1 In the gospel lesson we are told that
while Jesus is trying to take his disciples away for a time of rest and renewal after their
evangelistic journey, masses of people keep following them wherever they go, so that Jesus
and his disciples can't find any peace and quiet. But instead of telling the people to go away,
Jesus tends to the needs of the people, for Mark tells us that Jesus “had compassion on
them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.”2
Like sheep without a shepherd. Between what the Lord says in Jeremiah, and the way
that Jesus reacts with compassion to people who are like sheep without a shepherd, it is clear
that it is not right for sheep to be without a shepherd. It is clear that God is concerned that his
people should always have a shepherd to guide them, to protect them, to accompany them, to
lead them to green pastures and beside still waters.
And it is clear, also, that if God is concerned that his people not be left without a
shepherd, then that should be our concern in the church, as well.
You see, sheep aren't wild animals. They may not really be a common pet, but they are
domesticated livestock, and they require oversight and protection in order to survive. William
Barclay notes that sheep without a shepherd are not equipped to survive on their own. He
notes three things about sheep without a shepherd: First, he notes that sheep without the
shepherd cannot find their way. They will wander away without any notion of where they are
going or how they can get back. Second, a sheep without a shepherd cannot find its own way
to pasture and food. They require the wisdom and knowledge of the shepherd to lead them to
where they will be fed and find rest. And third, sheep without a shepherd have no defense
against the dangers that threaten them—whether those dangers be thief or rustler or wild
animal.3 Sheep are herbivores, with dull flat teeth, and they have hooves, not claws, and they
1 Jeremiah 23:1-2
2 Mark 23:34
3 William Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, The Daily Study Bible Series (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1975), p. 156.
Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
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aren't very fast, so they really have no means to protect themselves.
Sheep shouldn't be without a shepherd. And so when God looks down on the people of
Israel and he notes that those in authority have failed to shepherd the people, so that the
people are lost and scattered like lost sheep, God is rightfully and understandably concerned.
Sheep shouldn't be without a shepherd. And so when Jesus sees the hoards of people
—wandering, wounded, lost, searching—then he rightfully and understandably responds with
compassion, for he sees the wandering, wounded, lost, searching people as sheep without a
shepherd.
My role as a pastor, and anyone's role who is a leader, and the role of the church as a
whole, is to open our eyes to the world around us and notice the sheep who have no
shepherd, and to help them make the connection with the Great Shepherd, Jesus Christ.
You see, we are created in the image of God, every one of us. And so it is one of our
most innate and heart-felt desires to be in relationship with God, to experience God's comfort,
God's protection and provision, God's guidance.
Sheep need a shepherd.
The truth is, it is within every human being to seek and to long for a shepherd in our
lives. St. Augustine refers to this longing when, at the beginning of his spiritual autobiography,
he speaks to God thusly: “Thou hast made us for thyself, and our hearts are restless until they
find their rest in thee.”4
It is a universal longing in our hearts, and in the hearts of all people, to experience the
assurance of the Great Shepherd, the One who calls us by name, who watches over us and
cares for us. And as the church, you and I are charged with the responsibility of helping lost
sheep find their way back to the shepherd.
And we do that by coming alongside the lost sheep of the world, and sharing with them
the truth that there is a Shepherd who loves them, who is with them, and who will never leave
them nor forsake them. That's what compassion means—it is a coming alongside, a solidarity,
a presence with the lost and scattered ones. The word “compassion” literally means “withsuffering”; the implication is that it is not something that can be managed from afar, but by
presence with and for the lost and scattered ones. A necessary precondition for compassion
is engagement with those who are suffering, however that suffering is manifest—whether it is
physical pain, or emotional, or deep angst and despair...
Helping the sheep find their shepherd is what we do when we take seriously the words
of Jesus when he says, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them...” Today
34 people including senior high youth and adult advisors left for the Montreat Youth
Conference. It's the largest group this church has ever sent to the conference. Each year the
group has grown and grown because as our children and youth meet and encounter Christ as
their Shepherd, their hearts are changed, and they invite others to come and encounter Christ
as their Shepherd, and so on.
Or take our Hispanic Ministry, which during the school year helps 40 elementary-aged
Hispanic children experience weekly the love and unconditional acceptance of Jesus, through
the love and compassion of Yorky and the crew of volunteers that feeds them, plays with
them, and helps them with their homework every week. In a world that doesn't care, or is even
hostile toward them, these children and their families are able to encounter a Shepherd who
loves them and accompanies them along life's travails.
The sheep need a shepherd, and as the people of God it is our calling to help people
make that connection between sheep and shepherd. You and I have the sacred privilege of
4 Ibid
Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
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helping people who are hurting, searching, longing for meaning and purpose, to find what
they are looking for in Christ.
You see, one of the basic truths in our lessons today is that people without Christ are
like sheep that are lost and scattered and wandering without direction, imperiled by the
threats of the world, hungry and thirsty for satisfaction of their souls' desires. But the other
truth is that as people encounter Christ they find in him the Shepherd that their soul so
desperately seeks. He's the Shepherd who responds with compassion by coming alongside
them and weeps with them when they weep, laughs with them when they laugh, hurts when
they hurt, and is rejoices when they rejoice. He's the Shepherd who does not turn away from
them and send them away, but who embraces them, anoints their wounds with oil, helps them
find rest for their weary soul, and satisfies them with the bread of life.
I don't know how many times I've been with someone who was sick, or lonely, or
despondent because of their life circumstances, and together we've wondered aloud how
anybody can bear such burdens without God in their lives? I can't imagine, except that they
must be like sheep without a shepherd—afraid, dismayed, adrift, lost.
Wouldn't it be nice to let them know that it doesn't have to be that way? Wouldn't it be
nice to let them know that they don't have to be like sheep without a shepherd?
Because you see, just knowing that we are cared for and loved by a Shepherd who
comes to us and alongside us in compassion—just to know this, brings healing in and of itself.
When the job you have counted on for your identity and for your security suddenly
comes to an end, it means something, doesn't it, to know that there is One who meets you
with comfort and direction and hope.
When the test comes back and you're going to have to have surgery, chemo, radiation,
or some other long and painful treatment, you suddenly become acutely aware of just how
thin and delicate is the line that separates life and health from sickness and death. And it
means something, doesn't it, to know that you don't have to face that kind of future alone, that
there is One who promises, “Lo I am with you always, even through the valley of the shadow
of death.”
Whenever the bottom falls out of your life—and it will happen to every one of us, most
of us more than once—when the bottom falls out of your life, it means something, doesn't it, to
know that there is One who assures us of his care and provision and protection and
sustenance and presence?
And so why wouldn't we want the same for everyone else? If it means something to
know that we are not without a Shepherd, shouldn't we want the same for others?
Look around you. Every one in here is a sheep, and some may have lost their
connection with the Shepherd. The moment you walk out the doors of this place, you will
enter a world in which every other person you encounter may very well be a sheep without a
shepherd.
Will you help them find their way back into the fold? Will you come alongside with
compassion, and let them know that they don't have to go it alone?
Will you help the sheep find their shepherd?