Living in the Spirit
July 17, 2021
Scripture Reading: Mark 6:30-34
The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.
We see a lot of people in our world today who are like sheep without a shepherd. We need to love and care for them to restore their souls.
Seventeen out of every 10,000 people in the United States were experiencing homelessness on a single night in January 2019 during HUD’s Annual Point-in-Time Count. These 567,715 people represent a cross-section of America. They are associated with every region of the country, family status, gender category, and racial/ethnic group*. Some are youth. Others are former soldiers who find the transition from war to life at home difficult.
There are others we do not consider to be sheep without a shepherd. They are people whose only interest is making more money, gaining more power—accumulating stuff, being better than others. Such people are lost in the world’s false facades of righteousness and justice. We must reach these people if we are ever going to be able to address the needs of all God’s children. Greed and lust for power feed on oppressing others. Such actions are often justified by self-righteousness and the denigration of others.
We must start this difficult task by looking ourselves squarely in the mirror and determining where we fit this continuum. Are we lacking wholeness, and are we thus in need of a shepherd? At some level, could we be caught in the greed and lust for power cycle? Accordingly, are their changes needed in our lives?
Prayer: Lord, forgive me when I get too caught up in the ways of the world that I forget who I am to follow. Guide me back into your fold. Amen.
*https://endhomelessness.org/homelessness-in-america/homelessness-statistics/state-of-homelessness-2020/
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.