The Collect
Almighty God, whose blessed apostles Peter and Paul glorified you by their martyrdom: Grant that your Church, instructed by their teaching and example, and knit together in unity by your Spirit, may ever stand firm upon the one foundation, which is Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
The Psalm
87
Ezekiel 34:11-16 + II Timothy 4:1-8 + John 21:15-19
I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord GOD. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.
~Ezekiel 34:15-16
Today, when I hear the prophet Ezekiel conveying this word of the Lord, I see the lost, the injured, and the weak in the faces of the desperate souls seeking refuge in this and other countries from the violence and instability of their homelands. It is a word of hope and comfort in this tempest-tossed time--around the world there are now more refugees, asylum seekers, and displaced persons than at any time in history. It is also a word of judgment--"the fat and the strong I will destroy; I will feed them with justice."
While I expect most everyone would express a longing for the hope and comfort, I admit a sense of longing also for the judgment. Longing for God's judgment is, I think, not misplaced--We believe that you will come and be our judge; come then, Lord, and help your people (from the Te Deum, BCP 95-96). But there is also in that longing a sense of satisfaction, of "righteous indignation" that gives me pause--do I expect that I will be found guiltless in that judgment? In what ways am I even now complicit, actively or passively, in this and so many other injustices?
The word of the Lord to Ezekiel proclaims that it is God who will do the leading, the healing, the strengthening--"I myself will be the shepherd"--as well as the judging. It is a critical reminder, especially if we begin to slip into a sense of purity at the rightness of our cause--we are not the Savior, we are not the Judge. As Christians, the one firm foundation we know is Jesus Christ our Lord. His salvation, not ours; his perfect judgment, not ours. But we are called, like Peter and Paul and all the followers of Jesus, to the work of the gospel and the proclamation of the kingdom of God. That is the work for which Paul was willing to be poured out as a libation, and to which he commanded Timothy: be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully (II Tim. 4:5).
May we be found engaged in that work and ministry, feeding the lambs and tending the sheep in imitation of the one Good Shepherd. May we not grow weary, even as we long for his appearing.
Closing Prayer
Look with pity, O heavenly Father, upon the people in this and every land who live with injustice, terror, disease, and death as their constant companions. Have mercy upon us. Help us to eliminate our cruelty to these our neighbors. Strengthen those who spend their lives establishing justice for all. And grant that we all may enjoy a fair portion of the riches of this earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
~adapted from a prayer For the Oppressed, BCP, 826
June 20th was the eighteenth annual World Refugee Day. To learn more about the plight of refugees today, and how you can help, visit the following:
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