Rise Up, Shepherds!

Mark 6: 30-34
The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place. People saw them leaving and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

The disciples had just come back from ministering to God's people and they were drained. While on their mission, they were totally dependent on the Father for everything - not only for their own needs but also for the needs of everyone around them. It was the first time they had to really accept the fact that Jesus not only chose them but he chose them in order to send them. They discovered that Jesus called them not only to follow him but also to act and speak the way he did. It was the first time they had to absolutely trust that God could and would work through them in the same way he worked through Jesus. 

You know what? Believing in your call and putting your complete trust in God can be exhausting. Jesus knew how tired his disciples were. He knew they weren’t only suffering from physical exhaustion but also from mental, emotional and spiritual exhaustion and he wanted to give them time to recharge. The demands of the people were so strong that they didn't even have time to eat and it's not God's will that anyone become burnt out in his service. But when they arrived at the place Jesus had chosen for them to take some time off, more crowds met them. At least the disciples just saw crowds. What Jesus saw were individuals; he saw people in pain, people grieving, people hungry for truth that didn't burden them with impossible demands, people struggling to be good, people who were confused, people who wanted nothing more than to be told, "You are the Father's Beloved." He was filled with compassion. Jesus was unable to turn away from the poor, the lost or the wounded and he was asking his disciples to have the same heart as he did.

This was not easy on the disciples. Their hearts must have sunk within them. They may have asked themselves and each other, "Haven't we done what we were called to do? We gave all we had to give. Isn't that enough?" It doesn't say so in scripture but I think the disciples had to learn one more lesson. I believe that the disciples, as they moved among the crowds of people, discovered that they did have more to give. It didn't come from themselves or from a belief in their own spiritual capabilities. It came out of witnessing the compassion of their Master and allowing that compassion to become their own.

It may have been their most powerful hour up to that point. Mind you, there was nothing about the disciples that outwardly differentiated them from the rest of the crowd. The disciples were exhausted and drained. They were hungry. They were poor. They were as needy as many people in that crowd. The difference was an inner one. They had experienced the distinction between being a sheep and being a shepherd. The difference came from listening, hearing, going out and discovering that they, too, were called to be Christ to the people. And they found out that being another Christ meant being open to the call every moment and everywhere. 

  

As a lay person, no matter who you are and what your lifestyle is, it’s hard to grasp that you are anointed to be pastors and shepherds as much as those who have been officially recognized as pastors and shepherds. It’s difficult to keep in focus that sense of being chosen and sent when you feel no different from millions of others who walk the same earthly path as you do and outwardly look just like you. There are no visible and tangible reminders for us that each one of us is indeed sanctified, chosen, named, called and sent. We are not given robes or titles but our missions are as sacred and critical as the missions of those who are publicly recognized. 

When the disciples were sent out, there was nothing to mark them as special people. There was nothing to distinguish them from anyone else traveling the same roads and walking through the same villages. Like us, they had to keep focused on one thing: “We have been sent.” They had to summon up a belief within themselves that they had been chosen and sent for a purpose. But they most likely didn’t know exactly what that purpose was at any given moment. They had to watch, pray and listen. They had to remember who Jesus was and how Jesus acted – with the divine authority of love and compassion. Then they had to step out in faith. The more they moved in the belief that they were chosen and sent, the more they knew they were chosen and sent. The more they prayed and reached out with the heart of Christ, the more the power of God flowed through them. It’s the same with us. Exactly the same. 

In the first reading this week, God says, “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.” God wants to raise us up if only we would listen. Every person we meet challenges us to make a choice - to act as one who has been sent by God or act like one who is just passing by with no spiritual responsibility, purpose or calling. Every person, moment and situation invites us to be like Jesus who was so connected to the Father that he knew whether to speak or not speak, to touch or not touch, to challenge or not challenge, to heal or not heal. There are no hard and fast rules about what we may be called to do as Christ’s chosen and sent ones. Each of us is known, chosen and called individually and each one of us has a unique mission. Like Jesus and his disciples, we need to learn to be constantly connected to the Father, listening, paying attention, being in the moment, staying alert and always being prepared to step out. Hard? You bet it is. 

  

No, it's not easy. I don't think there's anything you can do to make it really easy. It is a constant challenge in this world and I have no doubt that the best priests and Religious, if they were completely honest, would acknowledge that even they can find it difficult to stay focused every moment on their relationship with the Father and remain completely alive to what the Father has chosen as their mission in any given moment. The point is not to become perfect in mission. The point is to try and to keep trying until we begin to recognize the voice of the Father over all the other voices out there – especially our own inner voices that will try to convince us that we’re not specially chosen and not particularly important. 

We’ve believed this for too long. We’ve believed that we are common and ordinary and that as long as we faithfully follow Jesus, we’re doing the best we can. However, just as it was for the disciples, following is simply the beginning. Jesus wants us to be more than followers; he wants us to learn to walk along side of him and be co-shepherds and co-participants in the sacred mission. The Gospels show us exactly what that looks like. The Gospels are more than just faithful records of Jesus’ words and actions showing us what a great Savior we have. They are the pattern for our lives and our own missions. We should not be content to pattern our self-images after the blind, the sick, the lame and the hungry, waiting for Jesus to touch and heal us. That is simply the first step. The second step is to pattern ourselves after Jesus, always praying that we will come to believe like him, speak to the Father with the same faith as he did,  listen to the Father’s voice like he did, have the same desire, self-knowledge, compassion and wisdom as he did and touch people with the same authority of love as he did. 

 

You have been chosen. You can stay safe and simply be a follower or you can take a risk and believe in who you have been called to be since before the beginning of time. That’s a large and astounding concept to try to grasp but it’s the truth. We were not called to be small, anonymous or inconsequential. That was never in God’s plan. 

God made his choice. Now it’s your turn.