Saturday, December 5, 2020

5 December 2020 - starting now


At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.

Jesus looks on his people with pity. In spite of some heroic efforts by the appointed shepherds of the Lord we, the sheep of his flock, can hardly help but feeling troubled and abandoned. There are laborers working in the fields but the harvest is much too big and the laborers' efforts must be much too constrained to meet the all the need they encounter. 

We might be tempted to look at circumstances and accept that this greater distance from the care and guidance of God is where we must remain, at least for now. But Jesus does in fact have great plans for his sheep that can begin even when the circumstances are dire, when the need is great, and when it seems those who purpose themselves to meet that need are insufficient to the task. 

“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.” 

The Lord has plans for reaping a harvest even within this difficult moment. We don't have to live in a holding pattern, waiting for the brief pause between one insurmountable challenge and the next. No doubt his plan will require hearts open to his creative word so that all things can be done prudently, making full use of all of the abilities of those whom he sends. So we pray, not simply that laborers are found and go, but that they are sent by the master, that they are given specific instructions from him to address, safely but effectively, the needs of our present moment. 

There is a temptation to think that now is a time to merely build ourselves up spiritually but forget about the abundant harvest, the harvest that in fact withers while we tarry. We are called to preach the Gospel in season and out of season (see Second Timothy 4:2). Christians in past times were persuasive precisely because of how they addressed themselves at once to the material and spiritual needs of the surrounding peoples. We do see many material needs around us, and hopefully we have been moved to address them. But could there be in such occasions also opportunities to address spiritual needs?

so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.

It is not sufficient to pray for more laborers if we aren't willing to join them. With Saint Paul we too can say, "Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel" (see First Corinthians 9:16). Of course we ourselves may feel insufficient to this task. And indeed, without the authority of God we are insufficient to it.

Then he summoned his Twelve disciples
and gave them authority

The Lord gives his authority to us as well as the twelve. We are all anointed as priests, prophets, and kings (see Revelation 5:10). As kings we are meant to "reign in life" (see Romans 5:17). But Kingdom authority is not an oppressive regime. It is an authority to be of powerful and miraculous service to those in need.

He will be gracious to you when you cry out,
as soon as he hears he will answer you.

The Lord wants to manifest himself through his shepherds and through us. We must cry out to him for the bread we need and the water for which we thirst. In our own need to be shepherded we ask him to send shepherds. He answers directly by his own presence and through the others whom he sends. But finally his answer is so close and direct that it flows through us to others.

No longer will your Teacher hide himself,
but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher,
While from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears:
“This is the way; walk in it,”
when you would turn to the right or to the left.

When we see our Teacher with our own eyes and are guided by his voice he himself will show us how to give the desperate, sickly, forsaken flocks, among whom we ourselves are numbered, the pastures for which they long.

On that day your flock will be given pasture
and the lamb will graze in spacious meadows


No comments:

Post a Comment