Like Sheep without a Shepherd

The Biblical writers often use the metaphors of sheep and shepherd to explain our relationship with God and with each other. As we examine some of these scriptures we get a sense of who we are, who God is and how important, and sometimes troubling, these relationships can be.

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture says the Lord. . . It is you who have scattered my flock. . .and have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings. Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock . . . and I will bring them back to their fold. . . I will raise up shepherds over them, who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord.” (Jeremiah 23:1-6)

When Jesus’ disciples return from their mission trips they are excited and share with Him “all that they had done and taught.” Jesus takes them away to a deserted place to rest, but the crowds see them go and hurry around the lake on foot, arriving ahead of them.” Jesus saw the crowd and had compassion for them, “because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.” (Mark 6:30-34) Jesus became their shepherd just as the Lord raised up new shepherds in the days of Jeremiah.

The Psalmist captures the power of shepherd and sheep, Lord and people in, what I believe, is the best known and most loved chapter in the Bible, the Twenty-Third Psalm,

Psalm 23

1 The Lord is my shepherd; * I shall not be in want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures *and leads me beside still waters.

3 He revives my soul *and guides me along right pathways for his Name's sake.

4 Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil; *
for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

5 You spread a table before me in the presence of those who trouble me; *
you have anointed my head with oil, and my cup is running over.

6 Surely your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, *
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

The Lord is our Guide who will supply our needs; who leads us into times and places of peace; who renews our spirits and leads us into all truth. God is always with us, in good times and bad times, in life and death. God takes away our fears, feeds us, protects us, heals us, gives us abundant life and makes us citizens of God’s Kingdom. The Lord is our Shepherd.

God’s Reluctant Prophets

Throughout our lives, most of us have talked about and been asked about and tested about what jobs or careers we would like to pursue or should pursue. We have been guided toward or away from many different career fields: professions such as doctor, lawyer, merchant, engineer, factory worker and farmer. One career I have never seen on the list is that of Prophet. This is likely due to the fact that we have seen prophets in our lives and throughout history and we have seen what people, even well meaning people, do to them. A look at some Biblical prophets will help us to understand this reluctance as well is the importance of the “prophetic profession.”

When the Eighth Century B.C. Prophet, Isaiah, finds himself in the presence of God and the Holy Angels, he proclaims, ‘Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’ The seraph touched his mouth with a live coal from the altar and said: ‘Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.’  Isaiah continues, ‘I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ “And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’” (Isaiah 6:5-9)

Amos, a contemporary of Isaiah, and another reluctant Prophet, is minding his own business as a “herdsman and a tender of sycamore trees,” when God finds him by a wall and calls him and sends him to, Jeroboam, the King of Israel to inform him that God is not pleased with his treatment of those who live under his rule. For his trouble, Amos is run out of town by Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, the “King’s Priest.” (Amos 7:7-15)

Isaiah felt unworthy, Amos didn’t want to go, but our next prophet, John the Baptizer, suffers the ultimate fate that befalls so many of the most powerful prophets in every age. John was violently put to death by Herod, the King of Judah for proclaiming the Good News of God’s Kingdom amidst the Kingdoms of this world. John offended the King’s wife, who, by conspiring with her daughter convinced Herod to have John beheaded.

Jesus, who we Christians believe is our Lord and Savior picked up John’s mantle and moved it forward by proclaiming by word and action “The first commandment is this: Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”(Mark 12:29-31) As Jesus continued his prophetic ministry, proclaiming God’s love to all and the coming of “God’s Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven,” the leaders of the Earthly Kingdoms, both secular and religious, found him to be a problem and conspired to put him to death.

No wonder so few people pursue a career as a prophet; but thanks be to God, there are those among us, who, led by the Holy Spirit, accept the call and the task. May God give us the courage to accept that call to proclaim not only a new heaven, but a new Earth.

“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” and I said, 'here am I; send me!'" (Isaiah 6:8-9)

There has been a Prophet among Us

When God calls people to be prophets, they seldom become the most popular persons in the neighborhood. Prophets have been, are, and likely will continue to be misunderstood. At times they are threatened, slandered and even killed for their trouble. So, join me on a journey to look at some of God’s prophets, ancient and modern.

God calls the Sixth Century B.C. Prophet, Ezekiel, and sends him out: “The Lord said to me, Mortal, I am sending you to the people of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this very day. The descendants are impudent and stubborn. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ Whether they hear or refuse to hear. . .they shall know that there has been a prophet among them.” (Ezekiel 2:1-5)

The Eighth Century B.C. Prophet, Amos, was sent by God to Israel to speak against the increased disparity between the very wealthy and the very poor. His major themes were social justice, God’s omnipotence and divine judgment. He criticized the king and was “advised” by the Head Priest, Amaziah, to leave town just as quickly as he had arrived. John the Baptist, the first New Testament prophet, preached the baptism for the forgiveness of sins, baptized those who came to him, and prepared the way for Jesus and his message of love and forgiveness. For his efforts, John was beheaded by King Herod.

And then Jesus shows up, who, in addition to being proclaimed, Son of God and Messiah was, I believe, a prophet as well. When Jesus first started preaching and healing he went to his hometown to share God’s Good News. He was met with astonishment, skepticism and concerns.

"On the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him." (Mark 6:1-13)

Since, because of their unbelief Jesus could do no deeds of power there, he sent the disciples out in pairs to proclaim and heal: “If they refuse to hear you. . .shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” I suspect the people to whom they went also knew that “there had been prophets among them. The Disciples proclaimed that all should repent, they cast out demons, anointed with oil many who were sick, and cured them.” (Mark 6:11-12)

After looking at some of the prophets of the past as well as Jesus, what is the place of Prophesy in the Church today? I firmly believe that God sends Prophets to be the Conscience of our Earthly Kingdoms, to be the conscience of our leaders and of we the people. As humans we all want our own way and those with power usually get it. Apparently, God does not like this: “they shall know there has been a Prophet among them;” St. Paul, “God’s Power is made perfect in my weakness;” and, of course, Jesus in his hometown.

When the people reject the prophet, the prophet goes elsewhere and takes the power of God with him or her, and along with the power of God, they take the healing and the Good News of God.

Truly, being a prophet can require much suffering and rejection. Prophets tend to be misunderstood by people of their own time and place because they are always calling people to see beyond that time and place. As an example, Martin Luther King, Jr. is almost universally loved and quoted today by people of all walks of life and political persuasions. However, when he was alive and working for Civil Rights and against the war in Southeast Asia, he was continually investigated by the FBI and was called a communist and many other names by many, many people.

Prophets expand our vision by calling us out of complacency with injustice. They reorient us to the liberating will of God.

Who are some of the prophets in the world today? I give you three and invite you to add your own: Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist who, as a teenager worked for female education, was wounded by the Taiban, and became the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize; The Most Reverend Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church who preaches about love, everywhere he goes, from the Royal Wedding in England to the Poor Peoples March in Washington D.C. He is not always appreciated as much for his love of the poor as for the Royal Family; finally, Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer who founded the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama to work with Death Row Inmates who do not have the resources to appeal their convictions, many of which are unjust and in error. He and Equal Justice Initiative also work to defend the most desperate and in need people in our society: the poor, racial minorities and young people tried as adults. He initiated the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, which honors the almost 4000 African Americans lynched between 1877 and 1950. He and his organization have been subject to many bomb threats and death threats over the past 20 years.

I leave you with three questions: Who do you think of as prophets today? How might God be calling you to proclaim God’s Good News? How might God be calling you to be a prophet?