Sermon for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
Proper 11

Text: Mark 6:33-34 Many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.  When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

When trouble is near

Do you have those moment, days, even weeks when you are overwhelmed by the events and the people in your life?  You are flooded with all kinds of feelings that leave you drowning, feeling helpless and hopeless as these things wash over you and you don’t know what to do next.  You are tired from thinking, worrying and being anxious.  There is a kind of helplessness – feeling that life is out of control and you’re unable to do anything to change your circumstances.  You feel depressed, disillusioned, perhaps lonely because no one understands how you feel.  You feel weak, maybe angry and sad.  Perhaps this is brought on by an ongoing sickness, the death of someone close, a tragedy, conflict, continual criticism, an unhappy relationship, feeling helpless as you watch someone else’s pain and suffering. 

The trouble has a way of becoming the centre of our lives.  Our thoughts and decisions and actions are affected because everything in us is in turmoil.  The psalmist says, “My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught” (Ps 55:2).

I recall visiting the home of a couple whose teenage son was a keen footballer, popular amongst his classmates, doing well at school and looking forward to finishing high school and going on to a career.  He had a severe athsma attack during the night, and before his parents could do anything, he had died. 

You can imagine their grief.  Their only child.  They were older parents who struggled to have this one precious son.  Now suddenly taken away.  They were inconsolable.  They continually asked the question “why”.  They wanted me to give a reason why God would do this to them – give them a son and then take him a way so soon.  Their world had come crashing down.  Their future lacked purpose. 

I felt their pain as my heart ached with theirs.  But I could only begin to feel their hurt.  In fact, even after many years, I can still feel their pain as we sat together in their lounge room.  I think just me telling you about these parents, you too can feel the pain they must have felt at this sudden loss of their only child.

Trouble of some kind is a constant companion with us on our journey through life.  It doesn’t matter what age we are – from the very young to the most frail – trouble is never far away.

The Bible reflects the trouble we face in this life.
Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble” (John 16:33).
Job said, “How short is life, how full of trouble!  (Job 14:1 NLT).
The psalmist said, “I am in trouble” (Ps 69:17).

Last week’s Gospel reading told us about John the Baptist.  He had announced the coming of the Messiah and the Kingdom of God.  He had faithfully called people to repent, be baptised and be ready for the One who had been promised throughout the Old Testament.  He had been faithful to Jesus even though he languished in Herod’s jail for more than 2 years.  And how does John's story end?  He falls victim to the anger and the need for revenge of Herodias who brings the life of this faithful servant of God to an inglorious end.  His head served up to Herod by the 12-year-old daughter of Herodias on a silver platter.  Not a pretty sight to have in your head.  In fact, last week’s Gospel reading is all about the evil and trouble that fell on John the Baptist.  It was hard to find any Good News in that reading at all.  It was all about evil overcoming the good.

We could well ask why trouble, evil if you like, fall on those whom we think least deserve it?  Trouble comes into a family because one person in the family has been unkind, uncaring and selfish and destroys what was once a happy home.  In fact, the damage is so great that it’s hard to repair. 

We’ve all had trouble wreak havoc in our lives.  Even Jesus was not exempt from trouble, and we know that in the end, evil seemed to win the day when he was handed over to wicked people, cruelly treated and nailed to a cross.

Today’s gospel reading tells us about people in trouble.  On two occasions Jesus got in a boat and crossed a lake.  The people recognised Jesus.  And they ran ahead so that they get to where Jesus will land before he does.  We are told “they ran on foot from all the towns” and “they ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was.  And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces.  They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed” (Mark 6:33, 55-56).

Just imagine the scene.  As Jesus came ashore, he saw this huge crowd of people, not just any people, but the sick, the lame, the blind, the lepers, the demon possessed, the sinners, outcasts and many more.  These are people for whom life has dealt them a cruel hand.  In an age when there was no welfare, no sick benefits, no Medicare, no hospitals and doctors as we know them,
they were desperate,
they were poor,
they were dying,
they were shunned,
they were without hope. 

For some unknown reason, trouble, evil, had landed on their doorstep and there was nothing they could do about it.  They were shunned by their neighbours because having a serious illness meant that they must done something terrible to deserve this trouble.  Evil was out of control in their lives; they were harassed; they were helpless; they were without hope.

From his boat Jesus looked out on the crowd of people and even though he was tired and was looking for a break, for something to eat and a time to pray, (a needy crowd at this time was completely inconvenient for Jesus we are told “he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd” (Mark 6:34).

We know from other stories that Jesus told how sheep can be so helpless in the face of trouble.  Sheep have no defence system like other animals.  They are vulnerable and so rely on the shepherd to keep them safe.  And so, in the Bible we have a lot of imagery of God being our Shepherd, Jesus being our Good Shepherd, and how this shepherd cares for his sheep in the darkest and most challenging times.  And so, as Jesus looks across the crowd of people defenceless in the face of trouble and evil, as their shepherd he has compassion on them.

Compassion – what is compassion? 
There are multiple facets to compassion.
There is an element of feeling pity,
sympathising with a person,
but it’s more than pity and sympathy.
It involves identifying with that person and feeling some of their pain,
putting yourself in that person’s shoes and understanding something of what is happening to that person, how its affecting that person and understanding their emotions,
and importantly it's doing something to help and support that person and to ease their burden.

So, you see that compassion isn’t just a feeling or saying, “That’s terrible”.  There is a real involvement in another person’s pain.  This is what happens to Jesus.  He sees the crowd of people with all their pain, suffering, grief, anguish and need of every kind and he identifies with their need and feels their pain.  Even though he himself is in need, he gets involved in their suffering and helps.  Jesus said, “I am the Good Shepherd.  I know my own”. In other words, he has a deep personal understanding of the needs of his sheep, that is, of each one of us.  There is no evil or trouble that is hidden from his sight.

He identifies with our need and our suffering.  He sees us as “sheep without a shepherd”, “harassed and helpless” by evil and every consequence of sin. 
He sees that we are helpless to do anything about the way we live as if God’s ways don’t count. 
He sees that we can’t stop ourselves from saying and doing things that are so opposite to what God wants us to say and do. 
He sees we are harassed by evil and helpless to stop evil controlling us no matter how hard we try. 
He sees how trouble and evil affect our lives.

But that’s not the end of the story.  God doesn’t want us to be harassed and helpless.  God has compassion on us.  He has identified with the pain the evil in our lives is causing us.  His compassion has done something to help us.  Jesus came into this world to deal with the evil in our lives.  Paul says, “By his blood we are now put right with God....  We were God's enemies, but he has made us his friends through the death of his Son” (Romans 5:9,10).

By the blood of Jesus, we have been adopted as the children of God, brought under his care, like sheep under the care of their shepherd.  That doesn't mean evil will stop harassing us and trying to destroy us.  While in this life evil will always try to have a go at us and bring us down, but evil will not have the last say.  Through his death and resurrection evil has been defeated.  Christ is more powerful than anything that can attack us.  Even if we should die, we know we still have the victory – a new life with Christ in heaven where we will receive the perfect healing..

It's a great comfort to know that we have a compassionate Shepherd who knows his harassed and helpless sheep so well, especially when trouble comes our way, and we shake our heads wondering how we will ever be able to cope with all of this.  The image of Jesus selflessly caring for the suffering crowd reminds us that Jesus never gives up,
never leaves anyone behind,
never forsakes,
never ignores,
never holds back his love
but is always loving, caring, gracious, strengthening and understanding.
He always has our back even when we think he doesn’t.

When we are harassed and helpless in the face of everything that threatens us let’s remember the key words of Psalm 23. 
The Lord is my Shepherd,
I lack nothing …
He leads me …
He guides me …
I fear no evil …
He comforts me …
His goodness and love follow me all the days of my life.

When we are feeling harassed and helpless, Jesus lifts our eyes from looking at our how miserable we are, to see a vision – a brighter future, a future where we are more persevering and patient and calm in our struggles as we trust and rely completely on the love of the heavenly Father rather than an anxious quick fix or an immediate answer. 

One last closing thought.  Knowing the compassionate Jesus and knowing how our lives are so interwoven with his every day, it follows then that we are his compassionate people, even when it’s inconvenient for us.  Who are the harassed and helpless people in and around us in our daily lives and how can we be the compassion of Christ to them helping and supporting them as trouble and evil harass them?

May we not only know the compassion of Christ as we confront trouble in our own lives but also, may others know the compassion of Christ through us.

© Pastor Vince Gerhardy
E-mail: sermonsonthenet@outlook.com
21st July 2024