Shepherds Wanted

Jeremiah 23:1-6;  When the Israelites were ruled by selfish kings who ignored the cry of the poor, God himself promised to lead them home, and to give them shepherds who would care for them with wisdom, justice, and righteousness.  In our contemporary world, we may see some of the same problems that the people of Jeremiah’s time witnessed.  From our 21^st century Christian perspective, the promise is fulfilled in Jesus and his Apostles.   Yet we still witness some of the same issues that Jeremiah did. 

In chapter 22 of Jeremiah, he lists the faults of the kings of his time: oppressing foreigners, widows, and orphans.  They did not pay just wages, and failed to bring justice to the weak and the poor.  They shed the blood of the innocent.  He attributes their punishment, death and exile at the hands of the Babylonians to their injustice. 

In the 21^st century, how much of this is still going on?  The immigrant is vilified, and the political candidate who does so rises in the polls.  The poor, particularly single mothers and their children, contemporary widows and orphans, receive no support.  Large corporations run by billionaires pay wages that are below the poverty line, and assign employees to fewer hours so that they are not eligible for health care benefits.  Racism is rearing its ugly face as we try to unwind centuries of slavery followed by systematic discrimination.  The blood of the innocents is shed in abortion, war, terrorism, and poverty related illnesses.

Now as much as then, we need secular and religious shepherds who will lead with wisdom, justice, and righteousness.