SOMETHING IS WRONG AND WE SEEM UNABLE OR UNWILLING TO FIX IT

Melinda Gates once said, “All lives have equal value.”

Nepal. As of this writing, more than 7,500 people dead, twice that number injured, 2.8 million displaced.

People are helping. Lutheran World Relief, the agency I know best, has responded with more than $1 million and continues to raise funds for additional help. LWR is also shipping 9,240 Quilts and 1,000 Personal Care Kits and 100 water filtration units so safe water is available.

Nations are helping: Switzerland, $18.6 million. Norway, $17.3 million. United Kingdom, $23 million. USA, $10 million. The list goes on.

But then along come Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao, and “the fight of the century.” All of a sudden the world begins to seem silly, stupid even. A $300 million payday. $180 million ($4.9 million per minute) to the winner. $120 million ($3.3 million per minute) to the guy who came in second. Three to four million people buying “pay-per-view” to watch two grown men hit each other. $10,000 to reserve a seat on the main floor of the hotel. $1,500 to sit in the worst seat in the house. $1,600 to stay for one night in the hotel where the fight took place.

Something is wrong with us.

In February of 2014, Tom Brokaw, well respected national news reporter and a South Dakota boy, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer affecting blood cells in the bone marrow. In December he announced that the cancer was in remission. He wrote these words: “My last year was a challenge, but I was meeting it in world class hospitals with brilliant physicians.”

I like Tom Brokaw, and I am glad the cancer is in remission, glad he had “brilliant physicians” in “world class hospitals.”

But what if everyone diagnosed with cancer could say the same? What if “the greatest nation in the world” figured out a way to provide health care for all who live in this country?

That is not a political question. It is a faith question.

Jesus, our Good Shepherd, said, “I came that my sheep may have life and have it abundantly.” Another translation reads, “. . . that they have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)

So he gave sight to a blind man, caused a deaf man to hear, enabled a leper to be able to go home once again. The task of the Church is not only to announce God's forgiveness and proclaim the promise of heaven, we also work and give and teach in the hope that all God's children have an abundant, full life here on earth.

As the Church, as disciples of Jesus, we will help the neighbor when troubles come, like the tornado in Delmont or the earthquake in Nepal. We will send a few bucks to feed the hungry and ship quilts to people we will never meet.

But we will also strive to figure out a way to pay people a decent wage and we will work toward the goal of available quality health care for everyone, regardless of income or status. We will work to stop domestic violence and we will demand that all people be treated with respect.

Will we succeed? Probably not. But shame on us if we don't give it our best shot.

Horace Mann (1796-1859) said, “Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity.”

Jesus came into this world because something is wrong with us. He came to open our eyes to see that truth, and to give us the courage to work to fix it. In the Bible, God is always telling us not to be afraid. I believe that word is not just about being afraid of what goes bump in the night, but also about not being afraid to do that which is right and good, even when it is hard, maybe impossible.

There is a story in the Bible about a man who runs up to Jesus and asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus asks him if he has kept the commandments of God. The man says, yes, since I was a child. Then, “Jesus, looking at him, loved and said, 'You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor . . .'” (Mark 10:17-21)

What must I do, asks the young man, what must I do to be as one with Jesus, to be a citizen in God's kingdom? What must I do to be whole, complete?

Give to the poor, Jesus says. Give to the poor.

Gary

When my father left the farm in North Dakota at the age of 37, and moved west to work in a paper mill, he was able to wash the dirt from under his fingernails but never from his soul. For the next 48 years he kept up with the price of oats and barley, and read the Rugby weekly newspaper. And when he settled in Washington state, he bought a house in the country, which sat on a hilly 2 ½ acres of land covered with trees, wild grass, blackberry bushes, and thistles. My father was at constant war with those thistles. It was land that would not be farmed, but one could keep a few sheep and a couple of goats for the sake of memory and loss.

I was, at times, the shepherd of those sheep. There was a creek which ran next to our land, at the bottom of the hill on the south side. It was never deep or wide, so if one wanted, it could be walked across. One day those sheep tried and got stuck in the middle of that muddy creek. I found them that way and knew I had to get them out. I was alone in the task, but with some effort and time, I finally succeeded to getting them back to dry land.

Later that sane day, I went to check on them, and found them in the middle of that same creek, stuck pretty much in the same spot.

I do not remember if it was that summer or another, but one day I went looking for those sheep and found their bodies in the corner of a fence line. That is where the wild dogs finally caught them and ripped their throats out.

It has been thought that sheep are not intelligent, and they do fall below the pig and are on par with the cow in IQ. But they have this: they stick together, and they recognize the faces of other sheep and remember those faces for years. And this too, they recognize the faces of human beings.

So Jesus says of his sheep, “I know my own and my own know me.”

his name is Jesus

and he is lamb

and he is shepherd

sent by God

for he is son

born among us

so God came

this gentle one

he is lamb

and he is shepherd

lamb of God

without spot

nor blemish

yet slaughtered

yet slain

yet dead

lamb of God

now shepherd

of the earth

now prince

of peace

now risen

from the dead

he is lamb

and he is shepherd

searching for the

lost and scattered ones

lost in hunger

lost in fear

lost in sadness

longing for

a shepherd's voice

to hear

he is lamb

and he is shepherd

leading us

with grace filled

words

words of peace

words of justice

words of welcome

he is lamb

and he is shepherd

see him now with

eyes of faith

for still he comforts

still he leads us

hold him close

this lamb of God

follow him still

this good shepherd

we are sheep

and we are shepherds

sometimes lost

and scattered too

yet we seek

to find

the missing

the wounded

the broken

to listen

to heal

to forgive

because we have been

found

and healed

and forgiven

his name is Jesus

and he is lamb

and he is shepherd

and he is good

Gary