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Readings: Jeremiah 23: 1-6 and Mark 6: 30-34 and 53-end
One of the most favourite images of Jesus in the New Testament is that of ‘shepherd’.
In today’s gospel it is Mark who writes of Jesus seeing the crowd, and having compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. It may have been meant in two ways. The crowd had followed Jesus around the coast to the deserted place where he had wanted to be alone with his disciples. Maybe they looked like a lost rabble, such as we often see on our tv screens; people fleeing from war, famine or persecution, with nowhere to go and no-one to lead them. But Jesus saw that the crowd was lost in another way – spiritually, we might say.
Today, we similarly live in a world where many people are lost in both those ways. Many have been uprooted from the places where they once belonged, but are lost too in a world of shifting values, shallow spirituality and a ‘shopping list’ culture, where you search around for whatever takes your fancy at the time. The crowd in Jesus’ day come to him for immediate gratification, perhaps wanting to see a miracle, and to satisfy their pressing need. Just like the sheep, they had no long-term plans, but Jesus understood their deeper needs.
Let’s think about the setting of this passage. Jesus’ disciples have just come back from a ground-breaking mission, and are longing to tell him about it. They’re all tired out, but every conversation they try to have is interrupted by those we might call ‘the general public’; they are tracked and recognised wherever they go; not eating or sleeping properly. So Jesus suggests going away to a deserted place, but that doesn’t work either. The only rest they got was on the boat journey, as when they reached their destination, people were already there waiting for Jesus.
You can imagine the irritation likely when they realise that the crowd had caught up with them once again. Nerves could be stretched and tempers frayed. But Jesus still puts the needs of that crowd first. Jesus’ ministry was exhausting. We talk about him giving up his life for us on the cross, but the whole of his life was a sacrificial offering. We sometimes forget that he suffered from hunger, weariness, stress, and all the usual symptoms of common living.
If Jesus returned today to live physically in the world, no doubt he would conduct his ministry in a different way from what we read in the gospels. But there would be the same care, the same love. He would give the same relevant teaching, and still have a special concern for the poor, the marginalised, the outcast, as he did then. He would have a passion for justice, and still be the shepherd, with compassion for a flock living without direction in their lives, as so many seem to be doing today. One commentary on today’s Gospel passage heads it up: “Gut reaction to a crowd.” The writer suggests that the Greek word used for compassion – ‘esplanchnisthe’ – has its root in ‘guts’. True compassion, the writer says, is something that we feel in our inmost selves, where our heart beats faster and our stomach churns as we react to the needs of others. It is a godlike response to weakness or vulnerability.”
No doubt some of you witnessed the drama of the European Cup Final last Sunday, with heartbreak amongst the England team as they missed out at the very last gasp, as it were. The match was followed by the resignation, after a couple of days, of the England manager, Gareth Southgate. I couldn’t comment on his strategic footballing skills, but it’s noticeable that nearly everyone speaks highly of his qualities as a caring and professional manager of the team. He has provided a good role model both for his players and for football followers generally. Throughout his tenure, he has been prepared to take the blame for failures, yet to be ready to praise his players. A Times article recently suggested that Southgate has become one of Britain’s most admired leaders. A leading figure in the City said: ‘What I love about him is that he is candid, straight, passionate, supportive and loyal – all those things you want in business leaders.” And the communications director at Church House Westminster added, “Whenever Gareth Southgate is invited to take some of the credit he says it is a team effort. If we can be self-effacing, others can grow into their gifts, which is what you have seen the England team doing. “ And a journalist praised Southgate coped with the press and the media – always respectful, never dodging awkward questions, dealing with journalists he may not have been fond of, and those he liked, with equal respect. Now I’m not trying to make Gareth Southgate out to be a saint, but it is good to recognise and applaud special leadership when we come across it. We may not even think of people who show pastoral care or showing compassion as exhibiting leadership, but today’s readings might suggest otherwise.
In the Old Testament reading the prophet Jeremiah specifically names the leaders, the shepherds of the Lord’s flock; the captains, if you like, for their part in the downfall of the nation. We are in the traumatic period after the Babylonians first conquered Judah in 597 BC. Over the next fifteen years the remaining people were deported into exile or abandoned to try and somehow survive in the ruins of Jerusalem. This was a religious as well as an economic disaster. At a stroke, the dynasty of David seemed to have been destroyed. Had God neglected and failed them, or been powerless to help? ‘No’ says Jeremiah. It was the people’s sin and the failure of their leaders that had brought about the disaster. The kings of Judah, whom he describes as the shepherds, had failed the people. The exile was a reminder of the Lord’s ability to bring judgment on his people, when they forgot his call to holiness. But there is also hope. This fate of exile was not to be permanent, because in time God would raise up a ‘righteous Branch’ for David – known to us as Jesus. He would deal wisely, and execute justice and righteousness in the land: so Judah would be saved, and Israel live in safety.
So today’s readings seem to be telling us something about good patterns of leadership. But of course at different times we will all be leaders in certain situations; called on to give out to other people and to show the compassion Jesus instinctively felt for the lost. God has set us here in the bodies we have, with all our imperfections and foibles, to witness to him with the energies we have been given, and to love the world for his sake, always showing concern, compassion, and the desire to see his will done and his kingdom come.
Now in Christian discipleship and ministry there can be the temptation to think that we have to do it all. And this can lead to high levels of guilt and expectation. Some people are constantly worried that they are not doing enough for God. The task can seem endless. But the gospel reading reminds us that Jesus needed rest and refreshment, and was anxious to arrange the same for his disciples. “Come away for a while by yourselves.” Notice that the invitation was not to be with him in the first instance, it was to be with themselves. Those who would build their life on caring for others must first care for themselves – rather like a parent on an aeroplane being told, counter-intuitively, to put on their own oxygen mask before helping their child to do likewise.
During the election campaign, Sir Keir Starmer announced that should he find himself as Prime Minister, he would try to stop work at six o’clock on Friday evenings and spend time with his family. Some people saw this as indicating a weakness, and it led to accusations that he was to be a ‘part-time’ prime minister. I thought it was a very sensible aspiration, both for himself and for his family – and maybe food for thought for the frenetic Westminster circus that politics and 24/7 working isn’t everything in life. I hadn’t realised until yesterday that Sir Keir’s wife is of Jewish descent, and Friday evening is the traditional time for the Sabbath eve dinner, when families disengage from all other interests and obligations, concentrating on each other.
But let’s return to this theme of compassion, and being there for others. Maybe as we grow a little older we naturally slow down, and don’t feel the same burden of responsibility for other people or for the world’s problems as we did when younger. But I’m sure most people listening to this, or reading it, will have experienced some gut-wrenching personal situation not too long ago which we may have thought of as worry and anxiety, and not so much as compassion. I wonder what part our faith played in it and how we coped with that or behaved towards others involved. What sort of role model do people see in us? What God-given gifts inform our behaviour and our thinking? Do we look out onto the world and have compassion for the sheep without a shepherd?
Dear Lord, may your love overflow through me in the lives of all whom I touch.
May I learn from you when to be available and when to step aside to pray or just to be;
Bless my hands that they may bring comfort to strangers and blessings on those I love.
Help me to bear much fruit and become a disciple, and to grow in service and serenity,
With a tongue to tell of your love, and a life to express it.
Amen
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