June 14, 2026. At Saint William Parish in Naples, FL
Exodus 19: 2-6 + Psalm 100 + Romans 5: 6-11 + Matthew 9: 36 to 10:8
Leadership in first-century Palestine was a precious commodity. In fact, it would be impossible to point to anyone in those times who fulfilled that role. The Roman Emperor was no leader. No one followed him willingly. It was all fear-inspired oppression. Even today, there are precious few examples of true leaders. There are bullies and bosses, tyrants and rulers who threaten and frighten with power and punishment. Into this world comes Jesus who shows us something about leadership, forming and commissioning disciples in a real school of leadership that will eventually threaten the powerful so-called leaders of his day with bad consequences.
What Jesus teaches us by example is that leadership is really ministry. Yet, while many people came together seeking his help, they did not come together as a community. They are simply a crowd driven by their own individual needs. There is no sense of community or solidarity. The truth is, at that time, they were needy, searching for food and healing.
In contrast to this, Matthew shows us a community of disciples that can move beyond its own needs to ministry to others. For Matthew, the church exists to identify with needy people, and this is the key to leadership in the model of Jesus Christ. The faithful leader of a community of believes is like a shepherd, meeting others who are like a crowd of individuals leading them into a compassionate community.
When Jesus laments that there are few laborers, he is not talking about Nuns, Sisters, Brothers or priests. He is talking to and about all of us who are often so focused on our own wants and needs that we fail to see others who are waiting and longing for a companion with far greater needs. Those lost sheep of the house of Israel are, in other words, our immediate neighbors isolated, fearful, alone, and afraid. There is a sickness called helplessness we can cure. There are people dead from loneliness who can be called to life. There are people living in filth out of sight, shunned like lepers who need to be cleansed, and others living with the demon of sadness and hopelessness. That demon needs to go, and a people together, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit can cast out that demon, cure, and call people to real life. This is the leadership to which we are called.
Up to this point in Matthew’s Gospel, the disciples have been watching Jesus at his work. They have seen him in his triumphs and when he is tired. They have listened to his teaching and have heard him being confronted by the establishment. They have sacrificed a home and stability for the opportunity to be a part of a movement that will usher in a new way of being in relationship to God. That movement is all of us together, the Church.
When any of us complain that nothing is happening to make things better, we need to remember what Matthew has put before us today, set aside our own sometimes puny needs, and rise up together to challenge any establishment that is self-preserving, self-serving, and show the kind of leadership to which we are called. No more watching. There are helpless, hopeless people all around us, probably near us in this church. It is easy to shut down, but we are apostles. We have been given authority and permission to be human like our teacher whose humanness is best revealed in his compassion, empathy, and love for us all.