Shepherdless Sheep

Main Idea: The ultimate measure of Christlikeness is what we do with the scores of shepherdless sheep the Lord brings our way; will we “give them something to eat”?

Mark 6:30-33 The default position of the would-be minister is “no leisure even to eat.”

Mark 6:34-36 The model for the minister’s heart is that of the Good Shepherd, who has compassion for the shepherdless sheep. 

—Ezekiel 34:5 “So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered”

Mark 6:37-38 We do not have in ourselves what it takes to feed the sheep, but we must offer the Good Shepherd whatever we have.

Mark 6:39-42 God will multiply the offerings of our meager lives to feed the shepherdless sheep, by the hundreds and by the fifties. 

Mark 6:43-44 God can stretch what we offer to feed five thousand, and bless us with a basketful of abundance left over. 

—Mark 10:29-30 “Jesus said, ‘Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.’’’

Mark 6:45-52 How quickly we forget the lesson of the loaves!

Mark 6:53-56 The shepherdless sheep are waiting for us wherever we go, and they are hurting in their great neediness.

Application: Jesus says to every Christian what he said to Peter, “Feed my lambs” (John 21:15), “Tend my sheep” (John 21:16), “Feed my sheep” (John 21:17). This is how we show love to our Good Shepherd; we find and feed the shepherdless sheep. His sheep will recognize His voice (John 10:4) when we issue the call (Mark 16:15). But they are lost right now (Luke 15:1-7). So don’t look at the lost as despicable creatures who deserve our disdain or as bothersome drains on our overburdened lives. Instead, have compassion on them, seeing them as sheep without a shepherd. We will find that when we give them something to eat, we end up with abundance of life! Matthew 9:36-38 teaches us that few make this transition from overwhelmed to overflowing. 

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