Sunday, July 21, 2024

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
Jeremiah 23:1-6
Psalm 23
Ephesians 2:11-22
Mark 6:30-44

So then you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God, being built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone; in whom the whole building, fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.

What does it mean to be a leader? Unfortunately, many leaders are more focused on power and position than on God’s will. Many leaders have brilliant ideas but refuse to do any of the work to make those ideas come to fruition. Many leaders are so busy with all the wrong work that they miss the opportunities to do what they should be doing. None of us are perfect, but I suspect many of us have been hurt and disappointed by someone in leadership that has done a poor job.

What is leadership? This is a question for all time, but it seems to be particularly pertinent for our time. Corporations have fallen apart because of poor leadership. Politicians of every stripe are questioned about their decisions in their public and private lives. It even happens in churches and families. What is the right way to lead a group of people? What is the best thing to do for the sake of the group and for those group serves or encounters? Are our leaders truly concerned about the people they are meant to serve? Many leaders forget that they are not the king of the hill. A good leader is the one who realizes that the burden is on his or her shoulder. When the leaders take care of those people who are in their care, then those people will do everything they can to make the leader successful.

The apostles were meant to be preaching and teaching the scriptures, praying and establishing God’s Word in Christ’s Church, but they were caught in the business of organizing and administration, distracted by work that others could do. Luke tells us in Acts 6 that they chose men to do that work so that they could focus on prayer and ministry of the word. The work was necessary, and they most likely didn’t mind serving their neighbors, but it was keeping them from doing what they were called to do. There was no reason for this, since there were others in the body of believers who were gifted and capable of doing it.

There are times when it is necessary to attend to the distractions. I was a retail manager and my job was to run the store. I had a very specific job description that included jobs that were beyond the scope of the employees. They were not responsible for the financial aspects of the store or for hiring new employees. They did not have the authority to fire other employees or assign them work. While the job descriptions of those in our retail store were somewhat flexible (a cashier might be asked to stock shelves), they generally had their own work and stuck to it.

There were times, however, when it was necessary for me to jump in and help. I jumped onto a cash register if we had a sudden influx of customers. I unloaded trucks when our warehouse manager was on vacation. I stocked shelves when we ran out of a popular item. Though it was not part of my job, I did what was necessary in an emergency. It was important that I didn’t let it disrupt my own work. I could not be on the register if I had to receive an order of change from the armored truck driver. I could not be hiding in the warehouse during a busy time in the store; I had to be available to handle problems. I could not let the employees’ tasks keep me from doing my own job.

The same is true of pastoral leadership. A lay person can represent the church and pastor by visiting the sick, but a pastor needs to be at the bedside of someone nearing death who wants to confess, receive absolution and communion. A church staff and council can make decisions about the business of the church, but the pastor is responsible for leading everyone in a direction that glorifies God. There may be times when the pastor needs to jump in to solve a problem, but he or she should never let those tasks stop the work of shepherding the people.

This is what seemed to be happening in the early church. The apostles did not think those tasks were beneath them, but “waiting on tables” had gotten in the way of ministering the word. They needed to give those responsibilities to others so that they could do what they were called to do.

I’m sure there are many pastors out there who wish their congregations would understand this passage a little better. After all, how many pastors are viewed as the Johnny-do-it-all for of the church? How many pastors change the toilet paper or produce the bulletins? How many attend every meeting and get involved in every project? How many members expect those pastors to be available every minute of every day, and yet think that pastor only works an hour a week? Do they even know how much time it takes to do ministry of the Word, writing sermons and bible studies, and planning the worship and liturgy every week? They, we, often think, “He’s just reading.” “He’s just surfing the internet.” “He’s just writing some notes.” “He’s just praying.”

We often put a very low priority on prayer and yet it is a vital part of ministry. Unfortunately, I think too many pastors are left with too little time to pray because they are jumping in to do the work that needs to be done, work that belongs to the lay people in the church.

Our scriptures for this week do not focus on the wearied pastor, but on the leader who has lost touch with what it means to care for the sheep in his or her care. They focus on other things. They choose to be on every committee so that they can have control of every event. They jump in and do the work not because there is no one to do it but because they want it done their way. Instead of being a shepherd who cares for the sheep, he becomes a shepherd who destroys and scatters the sheep. Instead of pursuing their vocation as a shepherd of the people, they think they are a ruler. They are more interested in power than in service. They are more interested in making the world in their image than in caring for God’s sheep. Pastors that step in to change toilet paper or organize an event are not necessarily harmful, but they take away opportunities for the people to serve God. It is the pastors that see themselves as rulers, however, that are very dangerous. They turn Christians to a false Gospel. They lead them down a path that glorifies men rather than God. They cause people to turn their focus from God’s work to their own.

The shepherds in Jeremiah’s day were not leading God’s people. In Jeremiah’s day, the shepherds were the kings. They were not meant to lord over the people, but to care for them. The king was called to ensure the wellbeing of God’s people, to protect them from enemies, and guide them in the right path. For God’s chosen kings, that right path was faith in Him. However, Judah (and Israel) often followed other gods. They turned to allies rather than relying on God. They were drawn into the ways of the world rather than living according to God’s commands.

In today’s Old Testament passage from Jeremiah, God warned Judah’s rulers that they had failed and that they would no longer have His blessing. They had failed to care for God’s people, and He was ready to take over. He promised to take care of everyone, but He called the leaders to account. They would experience the same measure of care they gave to those they were called to lead. In other words, they would suffer the same lack of compassion as the sheep they were given.

God never warns His people without offering a promise. The promise is not meant to ease the burden on the guilty, but rather so that the godly will not despair in the midst of the suffering they will experience. God promised to gather a remnant and bring them home where they would be fruitful. Times would be tough, but there hope beyond this day and its problem. The fulfillment of this promise would be long in coming. The passage ultimately points to the coming of the great Shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ. The promise of a Messiah gave hope to many generations in their darkest of days: one day the evil and unfaithful kings would be set aside for a perfect and righteous rule.

The king to come would be a true shepherd, like the shepherd we hear about in today’s Psalm. The words of the psalmist is a song of trust in God, but we see them through Jesus colored glasses, recognizing in Him the fulfillment of all God’s promises. Jesus is the promised Messiah. He is the Shepherd King. He is the One who will take care of us. Psalm 23 offers us a glimpse of God’s concern for our whole beings. The Lord makes us rest in green pastures where there is plenty of food and clean water. He keeps us from evil and protects us from our enemies. He meets our physical and emotional needs. He gives us a home, a family and everything we need to survive. He gives us our identity.

Imagine how incredible it must have been for the disciples. They saw the power of God at work through their lives. They were excited when they returned to Jesus, telling Him everything they had done. I can almost see the chaos as James and John wouldn’t let the either get a word in edgewise before interrupting with his own version, Andrew praising God for the lives changed and Peter trying to get things organized in some way. What about Judas? He must have cast out demons and healed the sick just like the rest of them.

They didn’t even have time to rest before the people came looking for them. They weren’t just seeking Jesus now because they knew that the disciples also had this power to change lives. Jesus was concerned for their health: physical as well as emotional and spiritual. He took them away so that they could rest and eat, but they also needed time away from the admiration of the crowd. It would have been so easy to become proud of their accomplishments and to forget that it was God’s power that made the good things happen.

They slipped away by boat, but the people saw where they were headed and ran to meet them on the shore. Jesus saw the people, who needed so much, and He had mercy on them. They were like the sheep that had been scattered and they needed shepherds who could meet their needs. All their needs.

If you were Jesus, what would you do? He was faced with a difficult decision. The apostles needed to rest, but the people chasing them needed a shepherd. It might seem like Jesus was shirking His duties as their shepherd by turning to help the crowds. In this text, however, we see how Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise in Jeremiah. He was the shepherd who would care for the flock that the leaders ignored. He stepped in where He was needed and did what He needed to do. He took care of the sheep who were desperate to find a shepherd. Wherever Jesus went the people needed Him, not just to do the miracles but to be the fulfillment of the promise. They needed the Messiah. We all need the Messiah.

We live in a world where individuals will always have differences of opinion, even when it comes to God’s grace. An orphan will understand the idea of our Father in a much different way than someone who grew up in a strong family or someone who experienced abuse. That doesn’t change God at all. God is God. He is I AM. We see Him through the eyes of our own experiences and our own little corner of the world, but our common denominator Jesus Christ gives us new eyes and a new attitude. We love those imperfect leaders and fellow workers because that is God’s will for us. We can’t see God through their eyes, and we can’t expect that they will see Him through ours. We can only dwell together and love each other as children of the God who is big enough to reach us all. We are all sinners in need of a Savior, and that the Savior came to break down the barriers that we create between one another.

The healthiest Christian congregations are those who have a good leader and people who can live together despite any differences. We don’t all agree on politics. Not everyone will like a certain hymn. Potlucks are filled with food from many different traditions, some of which might not satisfy every palate. We may even have disagreements about certain doctrines, but the healthy community learns to find unity in Jesus Christ. Jesus is the One who can break down all the barriers between us. We don’t have to be the same to belong to God and to do His work in the world. We need others to share their experiences so that we know that God is truly greater than we can ever imagine. Do we really want to worship a God who fits into our tiny little boxes?

Paul wrote to the Ephesians about the differences between Gentile and Jew, but we have our own borders and walls that are broken down by the love of Christ. We separate ourselves for a multitude of reasons like age, gender, race, nationality, intelligence, class, ideology, politics... the list goes on. We also separate ourselves based on petty or trivial reasons. How many congregations live in tension between groups that disagree about the insignificant aspects of church life? How many congregations are made up of different groups that can’t seem to work together? Some folk think the mission of the church is to feed the poor and that we should focus on social justice and political issues. Others think that our mission is to take God’s Word into the world. Yet others think church is to feed and care for the believers. To embrace one and ignore the others is to reject the full measure of God’s calling for our lives. Jesus took care of the physical, mental, and spiritual needs of His disciples even while caring for the physical, mental and spiritual needs of others. In just a few short lines in today’s Gospel story, Jesus did it all.

We are called to do it all, too. This is impossible, but God will gift us with whatever we need to accomplish His work. He gives part to one and another part to another and builds us into one body that is meant to work together for His glory. It isn’t easy to overcome our differences, but when we trust Christ and see each other through His eyes, we can do the impossible.

Reese Witherspoon played a very blonde sorority girl named Elle Woods who was madly in love with an aspiring lawyer and politician in the movie “Legally Blonde.” Warner dumped Elle when they graduated because he thought he needed a more appropriate woman to be his partner in life. He went on to Harvard Law School, renewed a relationship with his old girlfriend Vivian, who fit the mold of a politician’s serious wife perfectly. Meanwhile, Elle was not willing to give up so easily, so despite her supposed lack of intelligence, she was accepted to Harvard Law School where she began to pursue a new career while she pursued Warner.

Needless to say, Vivian did not like Elle at all because she was competition for Warner’s heart and life. They were completely different women. Elle was a happy, enthusiastic woman who was interested in fashion, parties, and celebrity. Vivian was more serious, the daughter of a powerful northeastern family who understood propriety and power. The conflicts between the two women were funny as east met west in stereotypical ways.

The two women eventually found a common denominator, which happened to be the very thing that had originally kept them apart. As Elle discovered that she could succeed and thrive in law, Vivian began to see her as a peer rather than a competitor. In one scene, they were discussing a case when they began to talk about Warner. Elle was a compassionate listener who offered insight into Warner’s past and personality. They laughed about his failures together. By the end of the movie, Warner realized that Elle was the serious and powerful woman that he really wanted, but she refused him. Meanwhile, Vivian realized that Warner was not the man for her. The two women became the best of friends.

Have you ever had a similar experience, particularly among fellow Christians that don’t seem to fit your expectations? At first it seems you have nothing in common. As a matter of fact, though the relationship does not begin with conflict, we do not see them as potential friends. We wonder if we could even spend time with them. Once we find something in common, however, they become our friends. We just have to find the common denominator.

The Jews and the pagan Christians had nothing in common. They came from very different backgrounds and had very different ideas about life and the world. The Jews even had rules that kept them from relationships with the pagans in the land where they lived. However, Jesus Christ offered something new: a common denominator between very different people. In Christ both the Jews and the pagan Christians were part of the same family. They became citizens of the same kingdom. Despite their differences, they had something greater that could bond them together: the blood of Christ. This is very good news for those of us who were once strangers to the mercy of God. We are given by grace the joy and peace and hope found in Christ, joined together with everyone who has also heard and believed in Jesus Christ as one body despite our differences.

We have that same common denominator with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Sadly, we often reject those who are too different from us. Those who are focused on social justice don’t want to have anything to do with those who are more concerned with making disciples. We don’t understand that we need to be disciples to feed the poor and that God calls us as disciples to feed the poor. We need each other. We need to do both. The disciple maker needs to encourage the social justice warrior and the social justice warrior needs to embrace the teaching of the disciple maker so that they will grow in God’s grace and love. It is our tendency to want to be “the king” that keeps us from seeing the value of the other.

Jesus never worried about His power and position. As a matter of fact, He rejected the crowd’s desire for Him to be an earthly king. His concern was for the people, to ensure that they received the kind of care that God desired for them. He was in a right relationship with both those who were under His care and His Father in Heaven. That’s what makes good leadership, an understanding that although one is the Master, He is also the Servant. Perhaps we could use more leaders like that in our world today, in corporate leadership and politics and the church and in our homes. This is certainly what Jesus wants from us in whatever work we are called to do, whether we are leaders or working to support our leaders.

We can’t do the work of the Kingdom alone. That is why God calls us into community; we are one body made up of people from all sorts of different backgrounds with different gifts and passions. We can’t do what we are called to do it if we hold each other and our idea of mission against one another. We have a common bond: Jesus Christ. It is by His blood that we are reconciled to God and drawn together as one body. Most of all, we need to follow the greatest leader, our Good Shepherd, who will always lead us in the right path. With Him we can be the shepherds who continue His work, doing the amazing things He has called and sent us into the world to do.

This week’s texts are filled with so many wonderful images. There is the Old Testament promise that though the shepherds abandon their flock, God will provide a Good Shepherd. We are comforted by Psalm 23, especially when we are dealing with the valleys of our lives. We see the community of believers through the eyes of Paul who notes that all believers were once far from God, but God draws us together. The Gospel lesson show us the compassion of Christ as found in His love for the disciples and the crowds. The Word of God was drawing people to the community of believers that Jesus created. He is the center, but He was building the disciples into one body, and He continues to build us into that Temple, His Temple. In Christ we are bound together as one.

It is not always easy living in that temple. Unfortunately, the differences that separate us often lead us into places we would rather not go. There are dark valleys even in the heart of the church, as the differences between people are magnified by the passions of those called to serve. Sometimes it seems impossible to find rest. We are reminded of something in today’s texts, though. God is with us through it all. He has never promised to make it easy, but He has promised to be there.

Our leaders will fail. We will still get thirsty, hungry, tired, lost, hurt and lonely, but we can rest in the knowledge that He is our Good Shepherd. Jesus is the fulfillment of the promise. He is the Messiah. He has forgiven us and made us part of the Kingdom so we can walk in faith and do the work He has called us to do together. As we trust Him, and walk by faith, we will see that He can do extraordinary things in the world, and He will do them through us.