Fat Sheep...

 

Fat Sheep

 

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
34:11 For thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.
34:12 As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.
34:13 I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land.
34:14 I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel.
34:15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord GOD.
34:16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.
34:20 Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.
34:21 Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide,
34:22 I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep
34:23 I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd.
34:24 And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken.

 

It's Thanksgiving weekend, so it seems so unfair to be talking about “fat sheep.” Even though it would be a tough sell after we’ve all just chowed down on tons of food as a sign of our “gratitude” for the year’s bounty and blessings, “Fat Sheep” would certainly is both an attention-getting title for a sermon, AND a humorous one, isn’t it? Of course, the prophet is invoking both the classic, biblical image of God’s people as “sheep” to God’s “Good Shepherd,” as well as the “fat sheep” being stingy, overly bullying, and hardest on the “needy” sheep. This latter image is one our culture needs to hear. Fact is, we prey on the ”needy sheep,” when we, in our desire to “protect and preserve” our personal rights and wealth, lobby for, vote for, and approve of legislation and laws in OUR favor, even if it means that the “needy sheep” will grow even more needy. While it’s laudable that more churches and/or religious communities are preparing and hosting Thanksgiving meals for the “needy” each year, I wonder how many of these are so successful, not just because there ARE needy people in our communities, but because volunteers come forth who may—and I say MAY—be motivated by guilt, bred and nurtured by their own largess? Several of the churches I served birthed these Thanksgiving meals for the needy, and we all felt “good” about the throngs of folk who would come. We usually invited ALL who wished to come, so the truly “needy” wouldn’t feel like they were being singled out, and we encouraged church folk who came to intentionally sit with our more needy guests. That said, after the meal was over, and the kitchen was cleaned up, most of us went home to our own lavish feast, and “felt better” because of the “good” we had done earlier in the day. 

 

There is often a fine line between the blessings we acknowledge we receive from God—and for which we are thankful—and our support of systems that may enhance those blessings by denying them, in some way, to those with less status or political power. Much of this is motivated not just by selfishness, but by the belief that economic provision—and prosperity—is like a “pie,” or what logisticians call a “zero-sum game.” Zero-sum games begin with the premise that rewards (financial, or otherwise) are finite and limited. Therefore, the “winners” will get more, while the “losers” must necessarily receive less. From a logistical perspective, no society HAS to structure things like a pie (a zero-sum game). Prosperity increases as productivity increases, and as the “market” grows, in reality, but when we structure it as a zero-sum game, we wind up with “fat sheep” and “lean sheep” (read SKINNY, mal-nourished sheep). We have precisely done this in America. In fact, as I write this sermon “early” this week of Thanksgiving since we are traveling, I read a well-resourced OP-ED piece by Guido Alfani in the New York Times wherein he posits that “the rich” have now abdicated their historic “support” of society—what they once might have labeled “charity.” He states:

 

Today’s rich, their wealth largely preserved through the Great Recession and the Covid-19 pandemic, have opposed reforms aimed at tapping their resources to fund mitigation policies of all kinds.

 

And:

 

This is troubling, because the rich have stopped fulfilling the social role that has been their own for many centuries, making their position in society somewhat unclear.

 

While Alfani’s piece goes into much more detail and offers economic and statistical facts to support his assertion, in a nutshell, he suggests that the “fat sheep” are quite content to keep “grazing” in the lush fields, expanding their economic waistlines, all the while thumbing their noses at the “lean sheep” that are not faring well. Government—that once protected and helped provide for the “lean sheep”—has moved away from “safety net” policies, in response to the lobbying and influence of the increasingly entrenched systems of the “fat sheep.” Come Thanksgiving day, the “fat sheep” now need accountants and lawyers to help them “count their blessings,” while the “lean sheep” are left to be thankful that they have not yet been evicted because their rent or mortgage payments are behind. 

 

Whether you agree with what Alfani asserts, the fact is, wealth inequality in the United States is at its widest disparity in history, and is growing at an alarming rate. Another recent article I read in the Washington Post analyzed the effects of the generous tax cuts passed by past administrations, finding that the wealthy almost exclusively saved or stashed away the resulting windfall, rather than investing it in production or commerce. Hence, there has been no significant (or even measurable) “trickle down” to the middle or low-income classes. In short, the tax cuts meant the “rich got richer” and the “poor got poorer.” The “fat sheep” won out, again.” 

 

This is what the prophet Ezekiel is addressing with his message. We would do well to mirror his concern in a season wherein we both celebrate our blessings AND follow the lead of what God kept trying to tell Israel: “I will BLESS YOU, that YOU may, in turn, BLESS OTHERS.” “Fat Sheep” ARE to be “their brother’s keeper,” as should be the duly elected government “of and by the people.” Israel was told by God that as God’s people, they should not abide an economy that produced “lean sheep.” 

If you engage in a healthy debate with any “fat sheep,” you will hear things like: “Charity is what the CHURCH should be doing. That’s what THEY’RE for.” Of course, the church (AND the synagogue, AND the mosque) engage in helping out the “lean sheep,” but as I always point out, the idea that religious bodies should be “the ones” to take care of feeding, clothing, and sheltering the “lean sheep,” exclusively, is patently ridiculous.

 

Why? Because if you took EVERY dime given by religious people to EVERY offering plate or EVERY church/synagogue/mosque in America—EVERY dime—we could barely cover the SNAP (food stamp) program! It’s what we call “economies of scale.” Religious bodies are a small fraction of the economy, and cannot be expected to “foot the bill” for meeting all of the needs of those in need. Fair taxation and prudent division of the government budget could more than take care of the “basic” needs of those who find themselves in need of a boost. 

 

Of course, there are other studies that factually dismantle the SECOND assertion of our “fat sheep,” namely that folk who need this “boost” are inherently “lazy,” or “just want a handout.” Time and time again, it has been shown by sociologists that 99 percent of able-bodied persons WANT to work, if they can earn a fair wage, and WANT to be self-sufficient, just like everybody else. They, too, would like to be able to pursue the “American dream,” but were either unfortunate to be born into the “lean sheep” side of the tracks, or have fallen prey to some unexpected hardship that put them in a precarious financial position.

 

People of faith—especially those who read the Bible—are commanded to “welcome the immigrant,” to “feed the poor,” and restructure life so there may no longer be “lean sheep” without a path to survivability and even prosperity. Argue all you want about the virtues of “capitalism,” or about economic policy, but Christian people have no excuse for supporting that which allows for so many “lean sheep” in our societal midst. 

 

As I reminded us earlier, God told Israel that God blessed them that they might BE a blessing to the rest of the world, including the sojourner, the stranger, the immigrant. God will expect nothing less from the Body of Christ. I’m sure you have heard it before, that we in America who have been blessed with decent employment, a steady and usually fairly lucrative career, a prosperous family, and a plan for retirement, are among the “fat sheep” Ezekiel is speaking to in this prophecy. Unless we open our hearts, heads, and lives to ways WE can bless others because WE have been blessed, we will be on the outside of this prophecy—and the will of God—looking in. This Thanksgiving, as you counted your blessings and gave thanks to God, I pray you also opened your “ears to hear” a few new ways that—post-Thanksgiving—you may bless others. It may be giving of your resources (time, talents, treasures) to people or service organizations in need, or it may be THINKING of the “least, the last, the lost” (“lean sheep”) the next time you go to the voting booth. We “fat sheep” who are guilty of voting only for OUR best interests, and to preserve OUR rights, will be found guilty of more serious infractions by the God who sent Ezekiel with a message. Amen.