Jesus is our eternal shepard. Just like sheep we as a people of faith have a leader who loves us. Hosea says, Return, O Israel, to the Lord, your God; you have collapsed through your guilt,Take with you words, and return to the Lord; Say to him, “Forgive all iniquity, and receive what is good.
Myself, I don’t think that I thank the Lord enough for all the gifts that He has given me everyday. Honestly, it is not that I am ungateful. It is clear every gift or prayer answered comes with a new one the same or next day for another need or petition. Sometimes it seems that we are in the midst of wolves. Between wars, shootings and inflation it seems that our list of needs will never end until we are in union with Jesus in Heaven.
My wife and I are not in the best of health, but we are happy. My family is large but to say the least very, very dysfunctional. Still they struggle but there is hope. No family is perfect and no nation is perfect. We all have the option of returning to God. Do we cower in fright and fear ?
How do we react to the wolves in our lives?
Our Gospel today from Matthew sounds very much like the readings we had last Sunday (Luke Chapter 10) “Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves”. Matthew goes on to say “When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you“.
It is easy for some people to say, “do not worry”. They are not in the company of the wolves of inflation or war attacking innocent people or your child who is ill or shot. Our Gospel is not that positive. Jesus is honest with us. We will be handed over. The important lession is that the Holy Spirit is with us. We have the hope and love of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit . That is something we can be sure.
Let the wise man understand these words. Let the intelligent man grasp their meaning. For the ways of the Lord are straight, and virtuous men walk in them, but sinners stumble.
There are 5 tomato plants in my garden. My metaphor for wolves are the squirrels who love tomatoes. I have lived in Tulsa three years and every year I fight the squirrels. My strategy this year is to overplant with netting. Still we go forward.
So do all of us.
We can’t go back and replace the tomatoes but we have to go forward every day. Our mission in Matthew 28:17-20 is to make disciples of all nations. There will be bumps along the way but it is important to know that the words, actions and works of the Holy Spirit will work through us.
I may not have an abundant crop of tomatoes this year, but I have peppers, squash, cucumbers and potatoes. God’s abundance can be described as the good things and answered prayers that we may not even be aware. We go forward even with the wolves at the door.
The wolves may think we are sheep, but we are not without defenses. The Holy Spirit helps us to be wise as serpents.
God Love You Always
Bob Burford
