The Good Shepherd Needs Assistants
Three former presidents spoke at the funeral of Congressman John Lewis last Thursday. All three spoke eloquently, but I enjoyed the story that President George W. Bush shared from John Lewis’ childhood. Growing up on a farm in Alabama, little John got into the habit of preaching to the chickens! That’s right, he preached the good news of Jesus Christ to the chickens. But one day the time came to kill one of those chickens for the family dinner. John was crushed, and wanted nothing to do with that. He refused to eat one of his flock. He was a shepherd in the biblical sense to those chickens. Even in childhood he was preparing to be a spiritual leader, and God granted him many years to be a spiritual leader for millions of Americans.
In today’s Gospel reading we see the great shepherd himself in action. “I am the good shepherd,” he told his disciples (John 10:11). He is our shepherd and he will to the end of the ages. We are his flock, the flock of his goodness and loving care. And he preaches to us in whatever way is available and whenever we have ears to hear and eyes to see.
The miraculous feeding of thousands is the only miracle that all four Gospels describe. Clearly it was a miracle that made a huge impression – not only because of the large crowd that witnessed it, but also because of the importance that the early Christians attached to it.
But as always when different Gospels describe the same event, there are differences among the four versions. Luke’s version is very similar to the Matthew version we just heard. John’s version is also very similar, except that in John’s version the fish and loaves are provided by a boy, παιδάριον, in the crowd. But Mark has the best and most detailed version. And I love the way Mark introduces the narrative of the miracle: “he saw a huge crowd and was moved by them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he started teaching them many things.”
He had compassion on the crowd – εσπλαγχνίσθη επ’ αυτούς ότι ήσαν ως πρόβατα μή έχοντα ποιμένα. Matthew has a similar statement, but in a different crowd scene (9:36), where he says, “When he saw the crowd, he had compassion on them because they were beaten down and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”
Only he who was the Good Shepherd, the only shepherd of our souls, could see that the crowds were without a shepherd. There is a terrible problem with today’s Christianity, especially in a rich country like the United States, where money becomes the criterion of a person’s value. Many Christians have fallen into the same mindset. Success becomes a measure of a person’s faith, and there are thousands of churches that preach a gospel of wealth. Jesus never turned his back on wealthy people; he loved them as much as the poor. But he did have a special spot in his heart for those who are without a shepherd, for those who are beaten down and helpless, those who need a helping hand from the government that so casually doles out billions, even trillions, to the billionaires, the banks and the mega corporations.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, he said. Blessed are the meek. Inasmuch as you did not do it one of the least of my brothers and sisters, you did not do it unto me. God blesses everything, including our wealth, so we can use it for each other. In John’s version of today’s miracle story, it’s a boy who provides the food that is miraculously multiplied to feed 5,000 men plus the women and children. That could have been the week’s groceries for his family, but how incredible, how much greater the blessing that resulted. Can you imagine the look on that boy’s face when he saw what Jesus did with the loaves and fishes?
The apostles wanted to send the crowds home. But the boy became the one who said yes to Jesus, and opened the door for a miracle to happen. He became part of the living sermon of the miracle story. Young John Lewis was also a living sermon, starting at that early age with his chickens. We live in a time that invites us to become living sermons through acts of giving and sharing our selves. There are no rugged individualists in the Christian message. There are only people who need people – to quote that great song from Funny Girl. The coronavirus pandemic is God’s challenge to us. God did not cause it to punish us, as some might be inclined to declare. No, God did not cause it. But God uses this pandemic in the same way that God uses every opportunity, every opening, to teach us to go beyond the limits of our thinking.
Jesus took the boy’s loaves and fishes and fed thousands. Today the same Jesus comes to those who are beaten down and helpless, those who are depressed, those who are elderly and afraid. He comes as shepherd, caring for his flock. But he needs help. He also is not a rugged individualist. He needs assistance; he needs coworkers, like he needed that boy in John’s version of the story. There are many, many people within our reach who are like sheep without a shepherd. What can we do to help the shepherd feed them and comfort them?
