8th Sunday After Trinity

Readings: Jeremiah 23v1-6; Psalm 23; Ephesians 2v11-end; Mark 6v30-34&53-end.

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth, and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.

A Word: In the book of Jeremiah, we hear God’s warning that echoes down the ages to all of the shepherds of God’s people. For God promises to depose the bad shepherds who have not taken good care of God’s people or driven them away and scattered them. Then in their place, God promises to raise up new shepherds who will take better care of his people. For God is a God of justice and righteousness, a God who promised to send us a King to rule over us with wisdom, justice and righteousness. The 23rd psalm, is a prayer that tells us all we need to know about God, for God is a shepherd who takes good care of us by: providing us with the things we need; guiding us in the ways of righteousness; being with us in desperate times; blessing us with good things; showing us mercy and goodness throughout our lives; and offering us a place in his home forever. The letter to the Ephesians, tells us about God’s mission to proclaim peace, reconcile, make peace with and call all people to himself through the death of Jesus on the cross. For God is calling all people to himself to become a dwelling place for God, a holy temple, as members of the household of God and citizens with the saints. The gospel of Mark, reminds everyone who works as God’s shepherd that the needs of the world are so great that they will overwhelm us if we do not take time out from mission and service to rest and recuperate. For the world is full of people in all kinds of need, people searching for healing, people searching for hope, people searching for wholeness.

I believe that in combination these readings help us to understand the work we are called to as God’s shepherds. In Jeremiah we are called to gather God’s people and care for them as God does with wisdom, justice and righteousness. In the psalm we are called to point people to the one Good Shepherd by telling them what God does for us. In the letter to the Ephesians we hear that because of Jesus’ death on the cross that God is inviting everyone into the Kingdom of God and that no-one is to be left out from that invitation. In the gospel of Mark we hear that if we are to take care of God’s people that we must first look after ourselves. For being a good shepherd is God’s mission and we are just helpers along the way, people who serve God by serving the world, under God’s instruction. Today I hope and pray we will hear, understand and have the wisdom to obey and follow what God says to his helper shepherds.

Let us pray: Serenity prayer: God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change; courage to change the things we can; and wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; taking this world as it is, not as we would have it be; trusting that God will make all things right, if we surrender to His Will; so that we may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen.

Thank you for joining us.