Text: Jeremiah 23:1-6
The shepherds Jeremiah was referring to were the kings and princes, the rulers of Israel whose duty, according to the prophet, was to use their power for good and not evil. Instead of caring for the people they exploited them. The leaders of Israel were no better than the pharaoh of Egypt, from whom God had delivered the people to create the nation of Israel. Imagine, leaders chosen to serve the people, turning on the people they were called to serve. Enslaving them the way that Pharaoh had enslaved their ancestors, to the benefit of the leaders themselves, and their wealthy benefactors. Sound familiar?
Truly, there is nothing new under the sun.
Through the prophet, God promised to “attend to” the leaders of Israel, a vague, but no less ominous threat. Because you did not attend to my people, I will attend to you. And afterward, God will be the shepherd, God will be the king.
Which is the way God wanted it in the first place. Back in the days of the prophet Samuel, before there was a king in Israel, the people asked for a king, so they could be like other nations. God warned them, through the prophet, God warned them about kings—they will send your sons to war; they will take your daughters as concubines; they will take away everything God has given you. But still the people said, give us a king! And in a private conversation, when Samuel was grieving over the people’s rejection, God said, don’t worry Sam, they are not rejecting you, they are rejecting me. Give them a king.
And when it all went down just as God said it would, did God say, “I told you so.” Probably. But God also promised to return as the good shepherd, the true king of Israel.
Next week we begin the season of Advent, a season of anticipation. We will return to the days of waiting, anticipating the return of the king. Because Christian doctrine teaches us that Jesus is the Messiah, the true king, the one of whom the prophets spoke.
But here we are, still waiting for a King. Maybe not a king, exactly, but waiting for someone who will free us from the corrupt leaders, who gorge themselves on the wealth of the nation, while the poor of the people become destitute, and desperate. When was the last time a leader stood up for the poorest of the poor?
Still we keep waiting, waiting, waiting for the world to change.
What if we are the ones for whom we wait?
For we are the body of Christ, and individually members of it.
Then we are not just sheep. We are (paradoxically) also the shepherd. Or, at least, members of the body of the Good Shepherd. While none of us, individually, may have the power to save the world, all of us, together, with the Holy Spirit, have tremendous power, and we are called to use that power for good, and not evil, for the least and last of the people. For the old sheep, and the young lambs, for the lost and stray. If we fail to attend to the sheep, God will attend to us.
This week, we live in the land between time. Between Pentecost and Advent, between the old year and the new, between the already and the not yet. And that is a metaphor for the whole of Christian history, lived between Resurrection and Return. We see paradise on the horizon, we ache for it, and it remains just beyond where we are right now.
But paradise is our joy and our hope, and we hear the promise on our savior’s lips, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.” Today is a very long day—a day that holds within it an age, an infinite lifetime. While it is still day we have the opportunity to be a part of what God is doing in the world, and the promise that, before the day’s end, we will be together in Paradise. Thanks be to God. Amen.
