Sermon by Rev Sydney Maitland for Sunday 21 July 2024.
Feeding the multitude. Armenian manuscript. Daniel of Uranc gospel, 1433. (Source)
• Video: Mark 6: 30-56 from the Lumo Project
• First Reading: 2 Samuel 7: 1-14 (God’s promise to David)
• Epistle: Ephesians 2: 11-22 (Jew and Gentile reconciled through Christ)
• Gospel: Mark 6: 30-34, 53-56 (Jesus feeds the five thousand)
One of the disappointments when working in the planning office was the number of times a proposal was submitted for a development of really high quality. Location, site layout and relationship to the locality – fine. Design, materials and detailing: fantastic.
We would only wish to give it a fair wind.
And then: the letters would come in: can we alter the materials – omit some of the details – reduce the specification, and so on and so on. The steady erosion of a great vision – maybe a deliberate ploy in deception – there are more direct, Anglo-Saxon words for this which I need not offer here. Not serious enough to oppose but always a disappointment.
But the sense of betrayal remained like a sour taste in the mouth and the agents who perpetrated this were never really forgotten.
But then at the other extreme there is the promise of God to David. The shepherd boy from Bethlehem would be remembered throughout human history.
His plan for a House for the Lord would become God’s plan for an eternal house – a line of descent – which would go far beyond anything that he could imagine, let alone expect.
There would be a King whose reign would be worldwide and eternal. It would be beyond splendour and majesty, founded not on force of arms or subtlety of politics or diplomacy but on the Glory and Wonder of God.
God’s plan was going to exceed human vision and imagination and give healing and restoration, fertility and creativity new dimensions which make the human spirit alone look bland and uninspiring.
And so in the gospels we have the first signs of what that dispensation would be like.
The blind see, the deaf hear, the lame and maimed are restored. The sick are healed and the lepers return home and into the community.
But more than that, there is also a restoration of the human heart. Sins are forgiven and memories are healed. Resentments and hatreds are stripped of their power and relationships are restored.
And what is true of the family and the village is also true of the city, the nation and society. Laws are made that are just and clearly understood, put into effect by godly and honest officials. There is no partiality and the law is open to all to be known and under which redress is provided.
The crude and corrupt power-broking is a thing of the past and yes, guns and knives are indeed melted down to yield syringes and scalpels. Explosives now used in construction, tanks redesigned as all-terrain ambulances.
But the centre of this vision has nothing to do with human ideologies, political cults or false visions of ‘progress.’
Rather it rests on who and what Jesus was and what He came to do. Its visual aids were His teaching, healing and miracles but its climax was to be seen on the cross of Calvary.
Instead of relying on others paying the price and making the sacrifices, Jesus did this Himself.
And so as He looked at the people following Him His heart went out to them. Sheep without a shepherd: people in need who for the power-brokers and manipulators of the land were there only to be exploited. Their needs paraded like a modern form of entertainment and their helpers Oh-so-concerned and sensitive – until they flew off to the next glamour spot.
Jesus put Himself in the place of atonement for this was where the whole project was centered. He would do what none other could even imagine, and He would pay every price to do so.
Writing to the Ephesians, Paul stresses that even the Gentile believers could, in Jesus Christ, be part of this kind of vision for Israel. There was absolutely nothing that they could do or contrive to gain God’s mercy.
It was only receivable as a gift, and received at His hand as He gives it. But if they could lay aside their excuses and attempts to justify themselves then they also would be open to receive the gifts and mercy of God as He gives them.
Those far off from the glory of God were now being brought very close. This was a vision of a new humanity: starting with the Jews, and yes, God had to start somewhere.
But then extending throughout the world. It is still a Jewish promise which the Ephesians and all others were being brought into.
It was still the Jewish Scriptures, the promises made to the Patriarchs and King David, and their understanding of atonement that would be the foundation for this promise, yet the bricks and stones of the promise would be believers in all lands and the mortar would be the blood of Jesus Christ.
So yes, we are all sheep without a shepherd until we receive Jesus Christ.
Our shepherd, teacher, healer – and the one whose blood spilt in atoning sacrifice covers even our own sins and rebellions.
Thanks be to God.
