Like Sheep without Shepherd.

I understand the term “mass of humanity.”

An entire country on the move.

Moving away from war and toward the hope of safety.

A mass of humanity.

I recall cinematic images.

Gone with the Wind and the wounded after the Battle of Atlanta.

The lines of people leaving the Cambodian cities in “The Killing Fields.”

The running refugees trying to stay ahead of genocide in “Hotel Rwanda.”

But this week I saw that mass of humanity with my own eyes.

Thousands at the Uganda border trying to get across.

An anthill of Dinka in the reception camp at Adjumani.

Over forty thousand covering the landscape.

The chaos and fatigue of the Nuer on the west side of the Nile.

Two tribes with generations of hostility

That requires the world’s greatest river to separate in refugees.

Lord, only you can heal the tribal divides so devastate Africa.

 

Looking at the masses, I recall Jesus’ reaction at a huge crowd

A crowd that followed him to a desolate area.

They were hungry and thirsty.

The Bible says he saw the crowds/

The crowds that were “Like sheep without a shepherd.”

It states that he “had compassion on them.”

There’s that word again.

Compassion.

A word containing care and action.

The world over, people react to the word compassion in the same way.

As they try to explain it in their heart language, they invariably reach to their heart.

It’s a reminder that compassion is a word of the heart.

It’s how Jesus-Followers must and should react to the hurting masses.

Can we help them all?

Not by ourselves.

Can we make a difference?

As God multiples our visible compassion,

it can go far just like the five loaves and two fish.