July 22, 2018            Sheep Without a Shepherd                     

Over the last several months, I have seen images and heard stories of a number of lost sheep. Lost sheep who have suffered through the hurricanes in Texas and in Puerto Rico. Lost sheep who have lost their children or other loved ones in shootings throughout our nation. Lost sheep who have been separated from parents or children at our border. Lost sheep who have lost their jobs, their homes, their health insurance. Lost sheep who suffer from violence in Chicago, Detroit, New York, Los Angeles, and across this great nation. Lost sheep who are losing loved ones to illness, to cancer, to drug addiction. Lost sheep who find it harder and harder to balance their household budgets. Lost sheep who are struggling in relationships with their parents, their spouses, their children. Lost sheep who are looking for shepherds, shepherds who will care for them, shepherds who will feed them, bring them to green pastures, and lead them beside still waters.

Now over the last 40 years, since I was old enough to become aware of these things, there have been lost sheep all along the way. In fact, part of the reason I chose to go to seminary, was that I found myself being a shepherd to the lost sheep around me. I was the one that people were turning to when things went wrong in their lives. I was the person who was there to listen, to understand, and to show compassion to them. So I decided, I better go to seminary and make sure that I was properly leading those who came to me.

To be clear, I am not picking on a particular political party, for both parties have failings in their leadership, and create lost sheep in our society. What is that biblical saying, “do not put your trust in princes,… put your trust in God?” As I said, both parties have their failings, and mainly because at times neither party has shown compassion for those who are suffering. The word compassion can be broken into two parts – passion – to suffer, and com – with. In short, showing compassion means to suffer with, those who are experiencing the brokenness of human life.

And so we come to our gospel lesson this morning, where Jesus Christ has compassion for those who come to him, for they are like sheep without a shepherd, and he begins to teach them many things. I suspect that one of the most basic things he taught them, was how to have compassion for one another. And another thing that I suspect Jesus taught them was that compassion flows from a sense of God’s abundant love for each of us.

Throughout history, the world constantly tells us to be afraid, that our lives are too short, that we will not have enough for ourselves or our families, that we cannot afford to give of ourselves, or suffer with those who are lost, that we are in competition with everyone else, and that they are our enemies. You know, the interesting thing about our gospel reading this morning, is that it leaves out, the entire passage in which Jesus feeds the five thousand. There with two loaves and some fish, Jesus asks for God’s blessing, and there IS ENOUGH! With baskets left over. Faith in the abundance of God’s love for us, is the foundation of our being able to show compassion to one another!

The good news is, that each and every day, I see people who have this faith in the abundance of God’s love for us. I see people helping hurricane victims, comforting and working with those who have lost loved one’s to gun violence. I see people working together to reunite children and parents. I see people working to comfort those who are sick, and to overcome disease and illness in people’s lives. I see people who are being good neighbors and good friends to those who are going through all of the troubles and tramas of human life. I see good shepherds all over the place, whose faith in the abundance of life that they have, leads them to give of themselves to one another.

And while they may not know it, or acknowledge it, they are acting in that same Spirit as our Good Shepherd Jesus Christ, for the healing of a broken world. And that faith, and that Spirit, is the same Eternal Spirit that gives us life! So I encourage you to go and do likewise, so that you may experience the good news of Jesus Christ in your life!