Sheep without a Shepherd

14 June 2020 – 2^nd Sunday after Pentecost (Green)

Psalm 116:1-7, 12-19; Romans 5:1-8; Matthew 9:35-10:15

St. Paul wrote to the Romans, “We boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint – because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us” (5:3-5).

“Suffering”.  What does it mean?  I think our modern interpretation misrepresents what is being lifted up as a spiritual virtue for the sake of Christ in the life of the Church.  We think suffering is something to be avoided, no matter what we must do.  After all, if Jesus does not give us a life that is pain-free, what is the point of following Him?  Of course, His assurance is offered only to those who have the faith and the willingness to “endure [persecution and suffering] to the end” (Matthew 10:22).

Yet even though a type of suffering (as we understand the word) can be mitigated through holy means (fasting, praying, the support and fellowship of the Church), the biblical context of suffering is that which “produces endurance” and leads us to a firm and resolute sense of “hope”.  So if suffering is such a bad thing (again, as we understand it), why should we not avoid it at all costs regardless of St. Paul lifting it up as a holy virtue?

Notice when Jesus sent His disciples out, He gave them explicit instructions: “Take nothing with you”.  Knowing there was the possibility of resistance to their message, even hostility, He still instructed them to take nothing with them except the clothes on their backs, His authority, and the Good News of the Kingdom.  Even though they were to avoid the Gentiles and the Samaritans, there was still the possibility of trouble “because of His Name” (Matthew 10:22).  Even then, in the case of trouble, Jesus instructed them to “flee to the next town” (vs 23).

It seems Jesus is instructing them to avoid “suffering”.  What He is telling them – and US – is to leave the trouble zones if possible … after He has assured them the trouble-makers will not avoid being called to account: “It will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town” (vs 15).  Retribution and judgment are coming, but these cannot come by our own hands.

“Suffering”, in the biblical context, can be understood to mean “allowing”; i.e., “Suffer the children to come unto Me” means “Allow the children to come to me”.  But if there is trouble for His Name’s sake and we cannot avoid it, what are we “allowing” if we do not fight back, if we do not “return evil for evil”?  To be brutalized?  To be persecuted? 

Not necessarily.  What we are “allowing” for, what we are to wait for, what we must have the faith to see, is that these trouble-makers will face the Day of Judgment – and they will be judged, as we will be, “according to their works” (Romans 2:6). 

Paul wrote that to the Romans, but Jesus alludes to it in His declaration that these who reject, persecute, and brutalize those whom Jesus sends out with the Good News will be judged more harshly than Sodom and Gomorrah.  In other words, rather than strike back, we are to have the faith to trust that The Lord will see to it in His Time rather than ours.  He is not asking us to measure it back to those who may be the cause of our suffering; in fact, by instructing them to “flee to the next town”, Jesus actually forbade them from taking any sort of counter action.

Like “turning the other cheek”, this may be the single, most challenging act Jesus charges His followers with.  You may be aware of the street preacher in Seattle who recently tried to enter the so-called “capital hill autonomous zone (CHAZ)” in that city.  From the start, as far as we can see in the video, it was clear he was not welcome.  When he was physically attacked by the mob, it appears he did not try to fight back.

I am sorry he got choked and beaten, and it broke my heart that it appeared there was no one willing to listen, let alone defend the man.  While we may admire his willingness to walk into the “lion’s den” for the sake of the Gospel, he apparently missed the part of Jesus’ instruction: “If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that … town” (Mt 10:14).

Jesus does not ask, command, or expect us to deliberately walk into trouble.  It is not His desire that we “suffer” in such a way.  Watching the video, I became filled with such a rage that I wanted the police to come in with such force that would overwhelm them and put an end to the nonsense.  Even after the preacher was let go, he appealed to the president to send in forces to deal with it.

Can we not see, however, that there is so much more at play here than just the idea of retribution?  There are a lot of things wrong with this “autonomous zone”; and as a ‘law-and-order’ kind of man, I want this crowd dealt with – by force, if necessary.

But aside from Jesus’ explicit instructions under just such circumstances, there is another parable which comes into play.  In Luke 20:9-16, Jesus told the story of a landowner who planted a vineyard and then leased it out to tenants.  When the landowner sent servants to collect what was due him, they beat the servants and sent them away.  When the landowner finally sent his own son, believing the tenants would not hurt him, the son was beaten and killed.

Jesus used this parable to highlight the nature of the conflict between Himself and the religious leaders, but we can see in such a parable another certain reality; though it was the landowner’s right to call in state authority (the ‘king’s sword’ as in Romans 13:4-5) to reclaim what was rightfully his, the conflict was – and still is - much deeper and more sinister and diabolical than violation of the “law of the land”.

In Seattle WA, in Miami FL, and at every point in between, including Murfreesboro AR, the “law of the land”, though necessary for the sake of order, is not even the point at which Christians must take notice.  If we seek retribution or vengeance in any form, we are refusing to suffer for the sake of righteousness.  And we most certainly refuse to “wait for The Lord”.  Our sense of suffering only means we are not getting our own way.  And if we are not getting our own way, someone must be to blame.

So we attack.  We gossip privately.  We slander and defame publicly.  Even as we call ourselves “Christian”, it becomes very clear to those on the outside looking in that we are not Christ followers; we are not disciples of Jesus.  Then they notice they are about to enter a “hostile area”.  We go to church on Sunday, and renew our attacks on Monday because we are so self-absorbed – even if we really have been done wrong – that we cannot see Jesus and will not hear Him.

It is written in Matthew’s Gospel, “When Jesus saw the crowds, He had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (9:36).  There was surely His Holy Compassion for those who were suffering needlessly, but there may also have been a sense of Compassion for those who were needlessly – yet perhaps very intentionally – causing the suffering only because they had their minds made up they had been done wrong.

This crowd going this way, that crowd going that way, demanding what they think they are due, and trampling on those caught in the middle.  It can surely be said The Lord has Compassion for those caught in the middle, “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” … suffering through no fault of their own. 

Those who are the cause of so much suffering, however, are no less “sheep without a shepherd” because they refuse to heed and obey the Good Shepherd.   Regardless of which side we are on, if we are the cause in any way of someone’s suffering, we are left with two options … and ONLY two options: we will repent of our actions and our hateful words, or we will be condemned by our actions and our hateful words.  There will be no in-between.

We need a shepherd.  More than this, we all need The Good Shepherd.  I pray – as we all must – that The Good Shepherd will gather us once again and bring us back to a righteous state of mind and being before we destroy ourselves, one another, and everyone in between.

“Come soon, Lord”.  Amen.