They Were Like Sheep Without A Shepherd
                  Homily on Mark 6:30-34
 
         A deacon and two of his buddies were out in the woods deer hunting one fall afternoon and they spotted a huge buck quite a way off in the distance.  All three of them shot at it at just the same time, and the deer fell to the ground dead. As they were walking up to the deer they were arguing among themselves about which one of them had actually made the shot that killed the deer because each one thought he was the one who had made the difficult shot.
         When they got to the deer they were surprised at first not to see any place where the deer had been hit. Finally one of them noticed that a bullet had hit the deer in the side of the head, right in the ear, and gone out right through the other ear,
         One of the guys turned to the deacon and said, “Great shot.”
         The deacon said; “How do you know it was mine?”
         The guy responded: “Well, it was just like what happens with your your homilies—in one ear and out the other.”
         Today’s readings—the first reading from the prophet Jeremiah, the 23 ^rd psalm and the gospel reading from Mark—all challenge us to reflect on the idea of the good shepherd, to consider to whom we should listen  and who we should follow, and, conversely, whose words we should just let go in one ear and out the other, to ask ourselves what it takes to be a “good” shepherd.
         This issue of who we take for our shepherds is important because all of us have shepherds—we all have people whose views we respect, who provide us with information and advice, who are leading us in one direction or another, maybe subtly and maybe quite overtly.  None of us lives in a bubble, isolated from the influences of the world.
         And these days, with the way social media works, the shepherd, the point-of-view, the information source we choose can mean that we are increasingly given more of that same shepherding, that same point of view, that same approach, until that is all we hear.
         So it matters—it matters at a fundamental level—who we choose as our shepherds—our political leaders, our religious leaders, our business leaders, our community leaders, our family leaders.
         The scriptures today give us some good markers, differentiators, for good shepherds and bad shepherds.  Jeremiah starts off by saying: “Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture.”
         “Mislead” and “scatter”—two characteristics that mark bad shepherds, shepherds to whom Jeremiah wishes woe.
         Mislead, lie to, don’t tell the truth, hide the facts—folks who do that make bad shepherds, whether it is in the church, where so much of the sex abuse scandal has been caused by shepherds who misled people about what was going on, or in the business world—think of the problems at Volkswagen caused by leaders who deliberately misled people about the emissions coming from company’s car engines.
         And it is true in politics, in our communities, in our homes—folks who mislead make bad shepherds.
         Then there is that word “scatter.”  Jeremiah uses it twice in a negative way, that bad shepherds “scatter” the flock, create division.  In contrast, Jeremiah points to the good shepherd, who will have “none missing.”
         Jesus also talks that way, speaking of “one flock” and one shepherd.
         So we might ask ourselves, when thinking about who we should follow, does this person “scatter” or unite? Is he or she making one flock, or causing people to be missing?
         Then there is the word “fear.” Jeremiah says that under the good shepherds, those appointed by God, the people will no longer “fear and tremble.” That same idea shows up in the 23 ^rd psalm, where the psalmist speaks of “fearing no evil” when the Lord is my shepherd.
         Bad shepherds use fear, and its cousin, anger, to motivate people, to lead them in directions they should not go.  Good shepherds give people courage, again as the psalmist says.
         So when we see someone using fear and anger as part of their shepherding, we might whether they are really a good shepherd.
         Rather than using fear and anger, a good shepherd teaches.  That’s what Jesus does when He experiences this huge crowd of people who are “like sheep without a shepherd.”  He teaches them “many things.”
         He gives them truth, wisdom, knowledge, understanding—it is the opposite of misleading.
         And His motive is not to obtain power or fame or money.  Our translation of mark’s words says that “his heart was moved with pity for them,” but the original Greek has the connotation of being moved by empathy in your bowels, in the pit of your stomach, that visceral reaction to something terrible.  Jesus empathizes in the core of His being with the terrible sense of uncertainty and abandonment that the people feel, and it is to eliminate that feeling—that emptiness, that abandonment-- that He teaches them.
         And finally Jesus cares for, provides for, the crowd. We’ll see that in the portion of Mark’s Gospel that we’ll read next week, which comes right after today’s reading, where after teaching the people Jesus feeds the 5,000.  That idea that a good shepherd provides for, cares for, the sheep runs through the 23 ^rd psalm as well—gives repose, restful waters, spreads a table.
         We see that in the shepherding by the apostles too.  They come back and report on what they had “done and taught.” If you remember what we read last week in Mark’s gospel, the apostles don’t just teach—they heal people and drive out demons.
         The mark of a good shepherd is that he or she doesn’t just use words—a good shepherd uses actions to care for, heal, comfort, feed and help those in the flock.
         Maybe it all comes down to this—does this person lead me to love Jesus more, to be less concerned about myself, to be more and more the person God wants me to be?
         That’s what following a good shepherd does. 
         Let me close with a story one of my friends told me about his experience following a good shepherd. Like many of us, my friend experienced a wide range of emotions when he pulled up to a stoplight and there is someone with a sign, begging.  It was easy for him to judge, to criticize, hard to sympathize, hard to know what to do.
         A couple of years ago my friend heard Pope Francis say something like when you encounter a beggar, stop and ask his or her name, and if it is in your power to do so, offer some small help, and then offer a brief blessing. Asking the person’s name acknowledges that they are human, sons or daughters of God, like you, like Jesus.
         That Lent my friend kept a bunch of one-dollar bills in his pocket and, when he saw a beggar he’d stop, ask for the person’s name, give them a small gift, and offer a blessing, which they invariably returned.
         The result was that my friend grew in love, in love for the poor and in love for Jesus.
         That’s the sign that you’re following a good shepherd.