Wednesday 6th May 2009 Scattered

DAILY BYTE

As we continue to contemplate what it means for God to be a shepherd, it’s also crucial for us to think about the fact that we are made in the image of God and must grapple with how God calls us also to be shepherds. Otherwise, it seems we will become like the people of God in Ezekiel: where the people who were supposed to be leading and caring for one another were selfishly feeding their own mouths instead. The prophet Ezekiel says the shepherd leaders weren’t building up the weak ones and healing the sick, doctoring the injured, going after the strays, and looking for the lost. They were refusing to sacrifice anything of themselves so that the greater group would thrive.

And as a result, they turned people into “mere prey,” “easy meals for wolves.”
When people fail to look after one another, only seeking their own self-interest, a climate of fear is created instead of a climate of assurance and freedom.

Are we turning people into mere prey?

When on a pilgrimage around Durban in 2007, I was told that there were actually fewer robberies of stores in Warwick Triangle – a place that is often considered “unsafe” in the Durban community – than there are in Musgrave Centre, a “safe” community area. And the reason was that the shopkeepers in Warwick Triangle had banded together to form a community that protected one another from robbers, but the shops in Musgrave Centre continue to try to live as their own separate entities, therefore becoming - mere prey.

When God jumps into the scene in Ezekiel, he says, “I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep. I myself will make sure they get plenty of rest. I’ll go after the lost, I’ll collect the strays, I’ll doctor the injured, I’ll build up the weak ones, and oversee the strong ones.” God, here, presents a more comprehensive picture of a shepherd’s role than the people did. The people totally left out the need for the strong ones to be shepherded.

In their desire to seek power, the leaders of the community forgot that their primary roles were not as shepherds but as sheep, following God.

And as prophets do, Ezekiel spoke truth to those in power, reminding them that in God’s eyes, both the weak and the strong live together in community and are all overseen by the same shepherd. They all need someone to follow, or the community will fall apart and scatter.

God’s voice through Ezekiel is almost frantic in its frustration and anger about how people have been scattered. The Message’s account of Ezekiel describes God saying, “You bully and badger them. Now they’re scattered every which way because there was no shepherd – scattered and easy pickings for wolves and coyotes. Scattered – my sheep! - exposed and vulnerable across mountains and hills. My sheep scattered all over the world, and no one out looking for them!” God’s voice cries out against stubborn, individualistic disunity.

In the way that you lead others and participate in community, are you causing people to scatter? Do you see yourself primarily as someone who leads or someone who follows?

GUIDING SCRIPTURE

Ezekiel 34:11-12a (The Message)

"'God, the Master, says: From now on, I myself am the shepherd. I'm going looking for them. As shepherds go after their flocks when they get scattered, I'm going after my sheep"