Woe to the Shepherds

Fellowship – Snacks or a Meal (10 minutes with snacks; longer, obviously, if there is a meal).

Gathering Time (5-10 minutes). In pairs or groups of three, have participants consider this: “At its best, Israel was a theocracy—a nation fully under God—so that the temporal and religious leaders were all under the dominion of God’s rule. And, as was ever thus, some of those rulers were people of deep faith and commitment; most were not.” How important is it to you that your political leaders are people of faith (or not) and that your pastor is a person involved in political issues (or not)? Why, do you think?

Group Dialogue (Approximately 30 minutes). Read Jeremiah 23:1-6.

• “The shepherds” and “sheep” of Jeremiah 23 are the kings and people of the Hebrews. The king was expected to govern with righteousness; to care for and about his people. What does such leadership look like to you today?
• If we believe in a separation of church and state, where and how does this “woe to shepherds” apply now? When we are so divided, what do we do when what one calls “woe” is taken by others as “blessing”?
• We cannot decide what is woeful or commendable behavior if we do not know what we stand for. The Affirmations of Faith in the United Methodist Hymnal (880-889) are concise creeds that lay out our essential beliefs. Look particularly at the World Methodist Social Affirmation (886). Say it together, then take it section by section (or even line by line). Do you believe in these precepts? Do you have problems with any of them? Why? How, if at all, do they inform or empower your life?
• These questions are provided in the preaching helps for the sermon but are perhaps even better in group discussion. Consider any or all of them: Who are you following? Who are you believing in? Who is the bearer of your hope? Who speaks to your hunger and your fears? Who defines what a life of meaning and fullness means? For whom are you waiting? And do you wait with joy? What we learn this Christ the King Sunday is that allegiance to this king invites us to consider how we wait and not just that we wait. Since waiting is living, or living is waiting, the real question for us this day is, “How shall we live day by day?”

Prayer (10 minutes). Share prayer requests and respond appropriately.

Sending Forth (2 minutes). End with the following prayer, a similar prayer, or the Lord’s Prayer:

O Lord, our righteousness: We hear the promise, “the days are coming….” Open our eyes and hearts to see the ways you are at work to bring this promise to fulfillment. Make us eager and willing participants in the execution of justice in the land. Turn our hearts from division, disgust, fear, and distrust to embrace forgiveness, repentance, and restoration. Make us instruments of peace with justice for all, in the name of Christ who reigns forever and ever. Amen.

The Rev. Dr. Diana Hynson is an elder who has served small, medium, and large churches in urban, suburban, and rural areas of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference. A native of Maryland, she now resides in Pennsylvania, by way of a thirty-year career in United Methodist agencies in Nashville, Tennessee.