Stan, as a teenager, struggled to belong. Launching out into the new world of high school, he felt lost. There were none of his grade school buddies to fall back on. He was not an athlete, a classroom whiz, or a “ladies’ man.” Stan didn’t have any of those things that gain notoriety for high school boys. Desperate to fit in, he decided to follow the “popular” kids. He dressed the way they dressed, mimicked their way of talking, and, like them, began to make fun of the misfits in the school. Wanting to be “popular,” he tried to act “cool” in class and took pride in being a thorn in his teachers’ sides.
Though he gained a false sense of belonging, Stan remained a lost and lonely soul throughout his high school experience. He tried to solve his personal problems by following the wrong crowd.
We live in an age of desperation. Once we found security in belonging to a stable Church and lining ourselves up with the Catholic culture. Priest scandals, the closing of neighborhood churches, the calling into question the fundamental moral standards that the Church espouses, diminishing Church attendance, and the “loss” of so many of our young people, make us wonder if the culture we once leaned on is falling apart.
What are we to believe? How are we to live? Whom can be follow?
Jesus addressed a culture that was falling apart. He encountered a people that were like lost sheep—“sheep without a shepherd.” He knew things were going to get worse and that people would start “grasping for straws” in finding a solution to their lives. They were vulnerable to following anyone who proposed a solution to their problems. Let’s listen to his words (Luke 21:5-11).
“While some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, Jesus said, ‘All that you see here—the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.”
When the people looked at the strong and beautiful Temple, they felt secure. In the midst of the chaos in society they could go to Jerusalem and look at the great Temple. This was one thing that didn’t change. Jesus told them that the Temple, just like their culture, was about to be destroyed. Then he went on to warn them:
“See that you do not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying ‘I am he’ and ‘The time has come.’ Do not follow them!”
Some who were hungry for power and attention would exploit the “lost-ness” and confusion of the people. Knowing that the people believed in a coming messiah who would solve their problems, these counterfeit leaders would make convincing claims that they were he. Jesus warned, “Do not follow them!”
He spoke the truth of the chaos that would come:
“When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified for such things must happen first…then he said to them, ‘Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.”
If the people could not set their hopes on the Temple or in the false messiahs, whom were they to follow?
Knowing that he was soon to die and that his followers would no longer have their Shepherd to lead them, Jesus made a promise. Soon he would send them another teacher, another counselor, another leader—the Holy Spirit. And the world would not crucify the Holy Spirit; he would remain with them forever.
It is fitting that in our time there is a new awakening of the Holy Spirit in the Church. Many are experiencing a new birth of the Holy Spirit in their lives—baptism in the Holy Spirit. We are being reminded that the Holy Spirit inside us will offer us the leadership we need. The Holy Spirit will teach us the truth, guide us through the darkness, and sustain our hope in troubled times.
We rejoice that we do not have to rest our hopes on an ornate building or some self-proclaimed Messiah. We devote ourselves to the presence of God within us who leads us tenderly—as a shepherd leads his flock. Do we spend time calling upon the Holy Spirit or do we allow ourselves to get caught up in the hundreds of distracting voices that claim they have the answer?
Like Stan, we have a tendency to follow the “popular” crowd to get a sense of false security. Instead we listen to the voice of the Shepherd within our hearts—the Shepherd who calls us each by name—and we make it a practice of following him each day.
“Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
