by Rev. Dr John Evans
The piece of art we are using to reflect on during this period of Sundays after Pentecost is now a banner. It was made for today’s gospel reading.
Jesus is continuing on his preaching tour through “all the cities and villages” proclaiming the “good news of the kingdom” and also healing people. And from this experience he forms several views:
The crowds that he saw were harassed (a great word); harassed and helpless
They were like sheep without a shepherd.
The people were struggling; Jesus has compassion on them; it is not good being aimless and having no real direction in life. Jesus has compassion.
He indeed likens this need of the crowd to a large harvest – but the opportunity to address that situation is limited. As he says “the labourers are few”. But this situation becomes a prompt; a point of mission; a moment for action. Jesus gathers his disciples together; instructs them, and sends them out to be like him in this community.
OK, I think I can hear you saying . . or at least thinking, “I have listened to many sermons like this before.” You have heard of the anxiety of the church today about its presence within the community, its fragility. Something needs to be done. So this story about Jesus sending out the disciples, will have the direct challenge that we need also to think mission. Today we have to be more missional. We have to get out there and do something.
There will be lots of sermons preached like that today on this text – and perhaps this one is like it too.
Our world today – modern western life – is full of so many harassed and helpless people. We, as the Australian community, so often seem to be aimless. The big cry we hear is that we need to have leadership – leadership within organisations, within the workplace, within football clubs, within the church, within politics – we are an aimless lot. This is then a call for us, this congregation: for someone to show leadership and that this congregation should be engaged in mission – we need to be all sent out as disciples . . . do more . . . and that’s the sermon.
So I will sit down now . . .
I would have, however, two comments.
First of all, I don’t think this simple sermon structure is as straightforward as that; but perhaps more importantly, what if you are the one who is feeling harassed and like a sheep without a shepherd? You are sitting over there in the crowd – not out here looking on, trying to work out how to be front and centre and give some direction – or at least have compassion that Jesus felt.
So are there any other comments about this story we perhaps should note.
First of all, leaderless crowds are interesting. In scripture, crowds were not necessarily hostile to the teaching of Jesus. Especially in Matthew’s gospel, crowds can be variously amazed and inspired by Jesus; but by and large, crowds were not committed to Jesus – they were indifferent and lacking passion. There was the cult of the celebrity then as now. So, if Jesus himself was not able to sway such people – we probably have here a phenomenon that is always a given – there will be many people who will just drift through life and, at best, be fellow travellers. These however, will form the harvest that is out there. I think it is rather naïve to think that this situation can be radically changed – it is a something which exists in all sorts of clubs and societies, even in families. Some people will get in and do the work, are committed – and others will just sit back. What is called - the 80/20 principle? So 80 percent will be happy to be just around and enjoy the benefits, and 20 percent will be actively involved and make things happen.
And furthermore it is not necessarily the case that ‘being like sheep without a shepherd’ will automatically be reversed by the addition of a leader; a shepherd for the sheep. Now leadership is important, however, in recent times I have seen the plea for leadership actually being code for, “Can someone out there solve my problems without me actually having to do anything about it or doing anything different?” Or something like that. The call for leadership has become a simplistic call for solutions: anything from getting my beloved football team to play better (Melbourne Footy Club this week), to improving my political party in the polls (the Liberal party this year). In this era of celebrities – we think we just need a person to save us, or to blame if all goes pear-shaped. Everything today gets focused in on the leader, rather than on a team, or the movement of people who wish to achieve a particular goal. In companies, CEOs (and not all the staff) become the focus, in politics it is about the leader and their personality (and not the party’s position or policies). The current political campaign in the US is a classic example where everything is focussed on the one position – and not what else might happen if there is a change of President.
And interestingly, Jesus, in observing that the crowds were like a sheep without a shepherd, didn’t say, ‘Here by the way is Peter, or John, or whoever, to be your leader.’ He just sent them out, all of them, that motley group of disciples – including zealots and tax collectors even a traitor – to be like him as they encountered needs; and if they found indifference – well, they were just to move on. The whole community around Jesus went out. They were in fact offering community and belonging – rather than just a leader. However, there are other interesting features of this mission of the disciples.
Jesus on observing the crowds – and likening their situation to a time ready for harvest – makes it clear, this is not the disciples’ harvest, or necessarily the disciples’ work. This is God’s mission. Jesus’ call is to pray “to the Lord of the harvest”, to pray to God, for more labourers – perhaps a larger community into which to welcome people. We are engaged in the mission of God, not in building up the membership of the Church of All Nations. And being engaged in the mission of God means it is really not just a recruiting exercise for the cause.
Bill Loader, the WA biblical scholar, makes the observation that to understand St Matthew, we have to read the gospel backwards. The last few verses, 28:16-20 best sum up what the whole Gospel is on about. So in the last verse we are assured of the presence of God forever (‘I will be with you till the close of the age’), and that we are to ‘make disciples of all people – baptising them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit’. What are we to do? We are to make disciples. So here in this mission moment much earlier in Jesus’ ministry, when Jesus is sending out his disciples, it is done with this overall goal. Jesus is not sending out his disciples “to make recruits”. Bill Loader writes:
‘Disciples’ has become a term for church members, so that we often hear this as an instruction to make recruits. That is not what is meant. It really means, go and make learners. Disciples meant learners, people who will join a learning community and carry on learning – lifelong, to the end of the age.
We do not go into the harvest with the answers, well, all of the answers, and bluntly tell them what they are. Yes, we go with the authority of Christ – we are to be like Christ to people. We are, however, to encourage people on their own journey to be learners – to learn to understand more of who God is, and how Jesus may help in their lives – and to learn – with other learners. We are to provide for others that opportunity to understand for themselves God’s love shown in Christ.
This changes quite radically what our task in mission is to be. Yes, we can provide guidance, but we are there to help people to learn, and particularly be learners within a community – say, like this congregation. We are all disciples – and we can be encouraged and learn from each other.
This however, still avoids the issue: What if you yourself are feeling harassed? And chances are you could be.
This comes, of course, from understanding, learning about and experiencing, the essence of the gospel. For me, I can at that point only mention the gift of God we have in Jesus. Here, the apostle Paul, in the Romans reading, says it so well. When we are harassed, we want peace. So in the opening verses of Romans 5, Paul says, ‘through God’s love shown to us in Christ, we are justified’ – that is, made right with God. This means we may know the peace of God, and we may know hope. In other words, we have a reason to be able to approach life now, and look to the future with confidence. This is God’s will for us – we just need to believe that is the case through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Our life can have meaning and purpose. Faith can help us face the future; faith in Jesus lifts us to a different place.
So where have we come to? . . . you may have preferred me to have sat down earlier.
Yes, we need to consider “the fields ready for harvest”. We certainly need to pray to “the Lord of the harvest” that we may be engaged in this mission, and be a welcoming community of learners – disciples – wanting to join with more learners. However, we also need to feel led in this – not just aimless, and feeling like a sheep without a shepherd. We indeed need to feel that in Jesus we may have that peace with God, not feel harassed – and indeed have hope to face the future.
