Word to the Wise
Sunday, July 19, 2009 - Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
[Jeremiah 23:1-6; Ephesians 2:13-18; Mark 6:30-34]When Jesus disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was poved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.
In the gospels, images and metaphors are rarely casual. They are generally used to convey a specific message about Jesus. The first scripture for today shows why. Jeremiah (and Ezekiel) uses the image of the shepherd in regard to God! Those who would read the gospel or hear it preached who had any acquaintance with the Old Testament would immediately made a connection! In the Gospel of John, the same image is used and Jesus makes the statement: "I AM the Good Shepherd." As important as that identification is, there is another side to this image which might make us uncomfortable, even as we have to admits its truth. This is the image of a collective group - the herd - that is lost and leaderless! This did not mean that there was no one around who claimed to lead. It meant that those who held those positions were not doing their job! This is a complaint that I occasionally hear when I am preaching parish missions! Sometimes it is a matter of a leader who is "dysfunctional" and, increasingly, it is a matter that there is no leader at all because of a shortage! The flock and the shepherd are "interdependent" realities. As the old song puts it, "You can't have one without the other!" In our own time we seek shepherds who will lead us in and to the Lord. However, more is expected of us humans than sheep-like behavior (despite the desire of certain "shepherds"). We must affirm and challenge the shepherds for the good of the whole. AMEN
config
view
logs
3840.0 KB
71 ms
4
