June 14 - “Sheep Without a Shepherd”
Sheep Without a Shepherd
Matthew 9:35-10:8
14 June 2026
Rev. Mary Nelson - First Congregational Church UCC, Williamstown MA
There are several times in Matthew’s gospel that we’re told Jesus “has compassion” for the people he is trying to serve. His compassion leads him to feed the five thousand and the four thousand (it’s the same story twice, with different numbers), his compassion leads him to heal the sick, and he teaches a parable about a servant whose debt is forgiven because his employer feels compassion for him.
All these other instances of Jesus’s compassion seem to reinforce his divinity, his otherworldliness, his miracle-working and his wisdom-teaching. He has compassion on the crowd and he makes sure that all of them are fed, with plenty of food left over. That’s the kind of thing Jesus’s compassion compels him to do, right? He’s serving, he’s not showing off, but it definitely makes one aware of his divine ability.
Today, Jesus’s compassion is different. He has been going from town to town, teaching in the synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, curing every disease and sickness, and he sees these huge crowds and feels sorry for them… because there are not enough people doing the work. He sees the numbers of people coming to him every day needing help, and he suddenly seems very limited, very human. He’s only one guy. He’s working as hard as he can, as fast as he can, but there’s only so much of him to go around. These people are like sheep without a shepherd, he thinks. He says to his disciples, “there are not enough workers for this harvest. We need the Lord to send more workers.”
And then he teaches his disciples how to do what he does, and he sends them out to work the harvest with him. He gives them very specific parameters for how to approach their ministry.
In many ways, this moment is actually the beginning of the early Church. We talk about Pentecost as the “birthday of the church,” the day the Holy Spirit sweeps through Jerusalem and Jesus’s followers are able to speak in many languages, and 3000 people want to be baptized. And yes, that’s the key moment when the early Church begins to gain a critical mass. But this moment in Matthew’s gospel, when Jesus says “I am just one man, and this movement is going to need many more workers than just me”—this is the moment that the early Church starts to become a Thing. Jesus looks at his closest followers and says, “Now you do it, too.”
This is when the Twelve go from being just-plain disciples – the word “disciple” means “student” – to being Apostles: an “apostle” is “one who is sent out.” Traditionally we name Jesus’s Apostles as people who saw the Risen Christ after the resurrection, but we are well before Jesus’s death and resurrection at this point in Matthew’s telling of the story, and Matthew himself names these twelve the Apostles, including Judas. Jesus is sending them out now, while he’s human. They are like ambassadors of the Kingdom of God, and Jesus teaches them how he expects them to represent their community. Jesus adopts the protocol much like medical students follow in their residency: see one, do one, teach one. The apostles are still students, and they never stop learning, but Jesus sends them out to do their first “procedure.” He’s saying to them, “okay, you’ve heard about the Kingdom of God, you’ve seen me cleanse the leper and raise the dead… now you do it.” And he gives them instructions for how to proclaim the good news of the kingdom, what to do and what not to do.
Now of course, Jesus’ instructions for the apostles’ mission are also Matthew’s instructions for the early church. So let’s listen to his words again:
“Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news: ‘the kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.”
“Go nowhere among the Gentiles…rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” This is the same Jesus who will later take the dangerous road through Samaria to spread his good news there, who will tell his followers to “make disciples of all nations,” who will send his followers “to the ends of the earth.” But here he’s telling them to stay away from the Gentiles and the Samaritans, and minister only to Israel’s lost sheep instead. Matthew’s community would have counted themselves among those “lost sheep,” living even farther away from Jerusalem than Samaria and Gailiee, among the very Gentiles that Jesus is telling his followers to avoid. Remember that Matthew’s community was likely a minority community of Jews living in Syria, not belonging to the dominant culture around them, but also feeling like they don’t quite identify with the experience of Jews living in Judah at the time, either. Matthew is telling his congregation, “You feel disconnected from the culture in which you now live, and you feel disconnected from the culture that you have come from, but you belong in the Kingdom of God, in the movement that Jesus and his followers started.
All the gospels describe Jesus sending out disciples, apostles, to teach and heal on his behalf. Jesus has a plan, he has a program, and it involves starting at home: There are people right here who are like sheep without a shepherd, let’s start here where we see the need and can do something about it. Let’s get our own house in order before we go out to help others. One step at a time. Begin at home, and work outward. The mission to the Samaritans, to the Gentiles, to the ends of the earth will happen, but it has to start here. At this point in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus focuses on bringing Israel back around to reconciliation with God… and we’ll get to the other folks later. For now, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Each gospel describes the instructions to the teaching program differently, which is an interesting topic for a Bible study discussion, but they do seem to agree that this teaching is not transactional: “You received without payment; give without payment.”
Today’s scripture draws a strong connection between faith and action. Jesus travels from village to village, teaching in the synagogues and proclaiming the good news of God’s kingdom—it is here! The kingdom is among you! The kingdom is not to be found in a set of rules or a set of leaders, but in the words and actions of the individuals and communities who recognize God as their sovereign ruler. But Jesus sees how many people are in need, how many people are hurting, how many people are victims of a system that perpetuates their powerlessness and vulnerability.
And although he can heal them, cleanse them, cure them, raise them, one by one… he would never be able to reach them all on his own. He has compassion on these broken, hurting people that he sees every day, and they need help now, not “whenever he can get around to it.” So Jesus sends out his disciples to do the same work he is doing: healing, cleansing, curing, raising. He gives them the authority to do this work in his name, in the name of God’s kingdom. Through their faith in God – and Jesus’ faith in them – they are able to bring the good news of God’s kingdom to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And that good news is that no one has to be a victim: we are empowered to live a meaningful life, because God’s kingdom has come near to us!
Faith is entwined with action: identifying needs in our own community, and then meeting those needs. This is what Jesus sent his Apostles to do. Notice that Jesus didn’t say, “go out and find all the lepers and cleanse them one-by-one, and then tell each one that you did it because Jesus told you to, and therefore they should love Jesus.” NO! Jesus said, “Go figure out what people need, and give it to them.” Jesus had compassion, because the people were “harassed and helpless,” and he worked to figure out what their needs were, and meet those needs. And not everyone has the same needs. Jesus didn’t send his apostles to attack a specific problem; he sent his apostles to have compassion on the people, to be loving shepherds to the lost sheep. Go out and find someone who needs help, and help them. Go out and see what needs to be fixed, and fix it. And don’t do it for any kind of payment or reward; do it because you have been shown the same kind of love at some point in your life and weren’t asked for payment. Go out and help, not because I told you to, not because you will be rewarded for it, but because there is need.
Often when we read the stories of Jesus’s actions–teaching people, healing people–we imagine that we’re the ones being taught, being healed. And usually, that is appropriate. But this story is also supposed to be a turning point for us, just like it was for the disciples: we, too, are to become Apostles, sent out to do the work on Jesus’s behalf. We’re the people who are in the Church. We’re not the ones who are in need of an introduction to the Jesus Movement, we’re the ones who are supposed to do the introducing. We have received Jesus’s compassion already, and now we are called to show that compassion to others.
As Saint Francis of Assisi used to say, “Preach the Gospel at all times; if necessary, use words.” Every action that we as Christians make says something about God’s kingdom. Every time we are there for someone who has no one, every time we are kind to someone who needs kindness, every time we give to someone who has need, we are proclaiming the Gospel, demonstrating that the Kingdom of God has come near. We are sharing the Good News of God’s love for this world in every interaction we have. We are participating in God’s mission every time we leave our house and venture out into the world, even if we’re just going down to the drugstore for some toothpaste. Everything we do presents God’s kingdom to the world. We have seen it, so now we must do it, and teach it.
Within the church community, it’s “all hands on deck.” We all have to participate, we all have to do the work. The Church, particularly a Congregational church, is not a place where some people can do all the work and some people can just receive and enjoy the atmosphere created by that work. Decisions are made by the people who show up. The community is made by the people who show up. We’re all called to do the work that Jesus sends us to do.
Summer in New England is a wonderful, magical, fleeting time. We want to take a break and enjoy these long days, the warmth of the sun and the cool of the water, the smell of the flowers and the grass under our feet. But there is a lot of work that our church needs to do, some big conversations we need to have. There will be more on that in the coming weeks, so please stay tuned… but for now, please don’t check out for the summer. It’s all hands on deck, and we have work to do! Stay in the work. Show up for one another, and for the community. The kingdom of God that is among you: there is work, there is need, there is compassion to be given. Let us prepare ourselves for that work, and go forth as Christ calls us to do, in his name. Amen.