Midweek Reflection for July 21, 20

Luke 15:1-7 (Common English Bible)

15 All the tax collectors and sinners were gathering around Jesus to listen to him. ² The Pharisees and legal experts were grumbling, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

³ Jesus told them this parable: ⁴ “Suppose someone among you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them. Wouldn’t he leave the other ninety-nine in the pasture and search for the lost one until he finds it? ⁵ And when he finds it, he is thrilled and places it on his shoulders. ⁶ When he arrives home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Celebrate with me because I’ve found my lost sheep.’ ⁷ In the same way, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who changes both heart and life than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to change their hearts and lives.

 

Reflection

Last Sunday, Jesus said about those gathered on the shore looking for him, “they were like sheep without a shepherd”. Today’s story from Luke is another example of the same thing, sheep without a shepherd.

In this case, a single sheep has wandered away. Of course, the loss of a sheep is a loss of income for the owner. No sheep means no wool to sell.  Often, the shepherds aren’t the owners of the sheep, just the hired caretakers, and the loss of a sheep is a mark against the shepherd. Too many lost sheep means less pay.

In this story, the focus is not on the shepherd, but on the sheep. Of 100 sheep in the flock, one has wandered off. Sheep are known to wander away without a shepherd to guide them. Instinctively, sheep follow the sheep ahead of them. But in a field, they may graze their way into trouble, or they may be spooked by a sudden noise and flee from danger. Even modern shepherds spend significant time searching for lost sheep, sometimes successfully, sometimes not.

When we think of people as sheep, the wandering away is more intentional. The wandering away can be to join a new flock, where the grass seems greener. It isn’t but at first, it may appear so. Unlike sheep, people can choose to not be part of the flock at all. They become angry at other sheep, or they dislike the shepherd, or they choose to not participate in activities like worship and Bible study and so forth. Sleeping in is attractive, or Sunday is the only day for chores, or a weekend away is more appealing than worship.

The parable of the lost sheep is about Jesus telling us that the sheep who are lost are worth looking for. The sheep who have wandered away for whatever reasons are not lost to the shepherd; they are still members of the flock.

Since we are the under-shepherds to Jesus the Good Shepherd, that means it’s our responsibility to seek and find the lost sheep. We personally know some of them, but many are unknown to us, and we will need to be creative in our attempts to draw them back into the flock, or into the flock for the first time.

We may also consider ourselves. We may be tempted to wander from the flock, to seek greener pastures, to find a time out from the flock we are currently part of, to discover if we need to be part of the flock – if we will be missed.

Let’s pray: Jesus, our Good Shepherd, we ask that you guard and guide us, your sheep. And we ask that you aid us in the search for the sheep who are missing from the flock. Show us how to draw them in, so they can experience your tender care. Speak to those who are lost, so they may know they are valuable and beloved. And remind us that we who are in the flock are equally important to you, valuable and beloved.  Amen

 

Time out with God

Jeremiah 23:1-6; Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

For decades, the Prophet Jeremiah called the people of Judah, the Southern Kingdom, to repent, to offer their whole hearts to God. But they didn’t, so he kept preaching. Eventually, in 580 BCE the kingdom was conquered by Babylon, and Jeremiah was included with those taken into exile.

In later years his message turned to expressing the promises of God for a better future. When we remember that the title “shepherds” often refers to the leaders of Judah, we understand how upset God is with them. The leaders have been poor shepherds, and because of them, the people of Judah have been scattered. God promises now to be the shepherd the people need. God will come and gather the people together once again and they will once more be the flock God intended for them to be.

… Jesus picks up on this image of shepherd in today’s gospel reading. He has come into the world to be the shepherd the people need. He sees how scattered the flock is, how unfaithful some of the people are, and how much they need a shepherd to gather them once more into one well-tended flock.

To do this, Jesus has a plan. Gather and teach disciples, send them out to do the ministry he taught them, and over the generations, the flock would grow and grow. This would work because of the trained under-shepherds he called disciples.

In today’s reading, we learn that the disciples have returned from their first mission trip. We don’t know how long they were gone. I suspect it was a week or two, long enough to get a feel for how people would respond to them and their message. They must have been bubbling over with the need to share their stories with one another.

Jesus is wise and says, “Let’s find a quiet place where we can talk.” It was hard to do. Jesus has become a celebrity, and by this point in his ministry, it is hard for him to go anywhere or do anything without the crowds seeking him out. They get into the boat to find that respite, that time out they all need.

But the crowds can see them from shore and are waiting for them when they land. Jesus recognizes that his plan isn’t going to work, and sees the crowd as sheep without a shepherd. He becomes the shepherd for them and teaches them as he always does.

Jesus does not forget that the disciples need to debrief, and I am sure he finds a way for that to happen. They all need that time together, apart from the crowds.

… We all need time together, too. We gather to worship and study and eat and chat weekly. This time each Sunday nourishes us in many ways, spiritually, emotionally, intellectually, and socially. We worship and do service together. We are community. We are the body of Christ, individuals gathered together in God’s flock. Sometimes, we are scattered community whom God needs to gather together again.

In addition to our time together in community, we all need time alone with God, apart from others. We need to spend dedicated time with our Good Shepherd. We need to share our pain. We need to say we are angry. We need to share our joys and thanksgivings.

And we need time to simply listen to what God has to say to us. Some of us do this well, and some of us do it not so well. With some of us, God finds it hard to get a word in edgewise. We share our lists for healing, we tell God our plans, we say thanks, and we move on to the next thing on our to-do list for the day.

Many people are uncomfortable with silence. Even a minute of silence seems like 2 years for some people. Pastors know to not leave too much time for reflection during the confession or in the prayers. People get restless, look around at others or at their watches, and at the pastor, wanting her to just get on with it.

Those who take the time for silence with God know the silence isn’t silent. It is filled with our longing for God’s companionship and God’s joy at being together. I often share how I begin prayer times with imagining Jesus sitting with me, two friends praying together, sometimes even holding hands. That imagined touch connects me to God, reminding me I am precious in God’s eyes. I am a sheep in the fold.

Usually, it is just companionable silence, where nothing much happens. Sometimes, I hear the solution to a problem, a hint at the upcoming sermon, or a reminder to call or visit someone. Even if nothing happens, I always trust that God is there, happy that I showed up to spend time together.

You, too, are a sheep in God’s fold. You are here, in person or online. It’s clear that you want to spend time with the flock. I hope you also allow yourself some time alone with God, and that you use the time with God for more than telling God how to solve your beloved’s illness and the world’s problems. I hope you also set aside some time to listen to God, to hear how much God loves you.

I think it would be wrong to end this sermon without giving ourselves a moment of time out. Close your eyes if it helps. Imagine yourself in your favorite safe and quiet place. … God comes to join you, perhaps as Spirit, perhaps as Jesus. … Feel the blanket of love wrap around you. … When you are ready, come back to us. Amen