The
Feeding Trough of Justice
Ezekiel 34:11-24
by Rev. Randy Quinn
I don’t know much about
sheep. I’ve known people who raised sheep, and I’ve seen sheep at fairs
and in petting zoos. But I really don’t know much about sheep or
raising sheep; nor do I know much about being a shepherd.
What I do know is that
sheep and the people who raise them are common sights in many parts of
the world today and were a common sight in the land of Israel throughout
the biblical era.
I didn’t know sheep had
been a part of the local history until I read about it in the Yakima
Herald-Republic this week.
The series of articles in the paper suggested that the sheep industry
has changed significantly over the past 50 or 100 years for a variety of
reasons – as many other industries have changed over the course of time.
But one of the articles
implied there is a need in the lives of sheep for a good shepherd.
The article spoke about a herd of sheep that is no longer domesticated
and began to run free and wild on Decatur Island, one of the San Juan
Islands.
Apparently, early settlers
had brought them there and set them free. The cost of their freedom,
however, was an enormous amount of disease.
It became clear from
reading the article that sheep need shepherds.
That isn’t just the
opinion of someone who was trying to protect their job as a shepherd,
either. There was sufficient evidence of their need for a shepherd that
people who had never been close to a sheep could see there was a need
for some sort of care for these “wild” animals.
Ask any teacher what it’s
like when they leave their classroom and you’ll know hear some of the
same kinds of stories – and I don’t think it matters if they teach First
Grade or Sixth Grade or High School. When a teacher leaves the room, it
doesn’t take long before the classroom is in some sort of an uproar.
Ezekiel seems to know all
about that, too. I don’t know if he had seen a “wild” herd of sheep
running loose or not, but he could see what happened to his own people
when there was no leadership. He translated that into a powerful
metaphor of sheep and shepherds – an image so powerful that even those
of us who don’t know much about sheep can recognize the problem.
You may remember that
Ezekiel was writing to a people who were in exile. Due to a variety of
circumstances, the capital city of Jerusalem had been overcome and
overrun by enemy soldiers. The city lay in ruins. King Zedekiah had
watched as one by one members of his family were murdered before his
very eyes. Then, to make sure the last thing he saw was their death,
the King’s eyes were put out with a branding iron (2 Kgs 25:7).
The King and most of the
leaders of the country were led away to Babylon in shackles. On that
day, the Proverb that said, “Where there is no vision, the people
perish” was fulfilled in a rather literal way (Pr 29:18, KJV).
They had become like
“sheep without a shepherd”.
Some of the kings sounded
like the shepherds Ezekiel describes, who were more interested in their
own wealth and their own comfort than the well-being of the people (Ezek
34:3-4). But as bad as the worst monarch had been, it soon became clear
that a bad shepherd was better than no shepherd!
Ezekiel is writing to the
exiles living in Babylon – at a time when they were longing for any
shepherd.
Many people had come to
the conclusion that the destruction of Jerusalem was God’s punishment on
a failed monarchy. Their shepherd-king had failed to provide good
leadership, so the entire flock of Israel was dispersed throughout the
world.
In the first part of this
chapter, in fact, Ezekiel shows how those given the responsibility for
caring for and protecting the people had focused on their own wants and
needs rather than the needs of the people. Their failure to lead
properly led to the destruction of the city and the dispersion of God’s
people.
So God promises to step in
and be a good shepherd (Ezek 34:11-16).
But Ezekiel says the truth
isn’t quite as clear as it might seem. You see, it wasn’t just the
monarchs who were corrupt. The sheep were guilty, too! It wasn’t just
the leaders who had abdicated their responsibilities – the sheep had
failed, too. Their way of life had been destroyed, but rather than
trying to strengthen their community, they were caught in the violent
and inhumane actions of individualism. Their motto went from “I am my
brother’s keeper” to “I need to keep what is my brother’s.”
What was true then, is
still true today. We can blame our leaders – whether they are elected
leaders or religious leaders or even business leaders. But we also need
to examine our own roles in the failures of society.
Ronald Reagan may have
popularized the concept of “trickle down” economics, but I think it’s
time for the church to popularize the concept of “trickle up” morality.
Ø
I think it’s time to find ways to share our bounty with
our neighbors.
Ø
I think it’s time we take the courageous stand of being
citizens who willingly pay taxes to support the infrastructure of our
society rather than the simple “nay-saying” that people like Tim Eyman
suggest.
Ø
I think it’s time we make the politicians respond to the
needs of the voiceless in our society – and in other parts of the world.
I think that’s part of
what happened to Gordy Hutchins, the United Methodist pastor in Tieton.
Gordy has made a dozen trips to Israel in the 18 years he has been a
pastor. He has taken tour groups and youth groups. He has participated
in archeological digs and spiritual pilgrimages. But his most recent
trip was for a different purpose. He went to help people right a wrong,
a wrong we have unwittingly supported through our tax dollars and
national policies.
But he didn’t go to change
policies. He went to help one family in an effort to model for us what
“trickle up” morality might look like. He went to help harvest the
olives for one particular family that has been cut off from their land
by a wall the Israelis are building. He went to confront the Israeli
soldiers who have become unwitting participants in the violence and with
the hope that the story of this one family will be heard by their
“shepherds” and the Israeli “shepherds” and our “shepherds”.
Whether the shepherds hear
the story or not, Gordy insists that the “sheep” hear the story. So he
stood between the Israelis and the Palestinians – to protect both the
soldiers and the farmers from harming one another. He stood between the
Israelis and other protestors to protect both parties. He stood as a
witness to God’s justice as Ezekiel had envisioned it.
Ezekiel looks around and
sees a people without a shepherd who have become so narrow in their
focus on the individual that they have forgotten the importance of
community. They had become just like the “wild sheep” of Decatur
Island. They were sick and dying and in need of a shepherd.
God wants to be their
shepherd, but that means the sheep can no longer be treated as special
pets but part of a flock. God wants to be our shepherd, too.
When I titled in this
sermon earlier in the week, I had the image of sheep eating from a
common trough. It’s the image I want to convey.
But as I thought about the
image, I remembered another use of the word “trough.” When we take
Melissa in for blood work, they want her medicine levels to be at their
lowest – a “trough” level.
Maybe it’s appropriate
that I’m speaking about justice when there seems to be a dearth of it.
We are at a “trough” level and we need to get back to the common trough
of God’s justice.
In the end, I know God’s
justice will prevail.
Thanks be to God.
Amen
