Are you tired? I’m sure that you are, because I know that your vocation requires you to be gone many hours. And sometimes those hours turn into days and weeks and months where you are apart from family and friends, and that makes you tired.

Others of you have 9 to 5 jobs, but it still leaves you tired, and you need rest. Some of you are husbands and wives, others of you are fathers and mothers, and some of you are children. All of you have friends.

And marriage takes work and parenting takes work and loving your parents takes work and being a friend takes work. And if you’re like me, if you look at all of these relationships that you have, you may feel that you’re lacking a little bit or maybe a lot in those relationships. And it makes you tired.

And maybe for some of you, you’re feeling tired because there’s this addiction that you’re struggling with, and you’re just tired from fighting it.

And maybe for others of you, you have this guilt that hangs over your body like a drill sergeant and reminds you how worthless you are.

There were crowds of people who were coming to Jesus in Mark’s gospel in chapter 6 in our reading today. There were those among the crowd who struggled with addiction and those who felt the burden of their guilt. There were some who were tired because of their marriages, and those who were tired because of their parenting. There were children who were tired because they were trying very hard to love their parents. And all of them had friends and found themselves lacking. They needed rest—not just physical rest but spiritual rest. And Mark records, “When Jesus . . . saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd” (Mark 6:34).

That was true. When the people went to the local synagogues, it was kind of like a house church where people gathered to hear the Word of God and to have it explained to them. Those synagogue rulers didn’t give the people what they needed. Many of them left feeling malnourished and starved spiritually.

Have you ever felt that way? Maybe you attended a church and there was a pastor and a church family that left you feeling malnourished and spiritually starved. If that’s happened to you, I am sincerely sorry. Or maybe you’re someone who finds yourself without a pastor or a church home right now.

What Jesus wants you to know today is this: You have a Good Shepherd who sees you and a Good Shepherd who knows how tired you are. He knows how best to give you what you desperately need. He saw the crowds and had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, so he began teaching them many things. That’s how Jesus our Good Shepherd provides the rest that we need.

Jesus opens his mouth and begins to teach us many things. For our vocations, which leave us feeling run down, he says this: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10). He will be your strength.

For those of us who feel tired and run down because of our relationships, our Good Shepherd reminds us, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1). In spite of the way you may feel about yourself in relation to others, you are a child of your Father in heaven. That’s how he sees you.

And not only does he give us rest, but he also gives us the strength to love those who are in our lives and to be a good neighbor to them. He says this: “For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13).

And for those of you who struggle with addiction, and it just leaves you feeling tired, go and listen to your Good Shepherd’s voice as he speaks through the apostle Paul in Romans 7. Read how Paul struggled with sin. And then go to the end of the chapter. Paul says, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24,25). Your victory is secure in Christ Jesus.

And for all of us who have guilt that hangs over us, like a drill sergeant who reminds us just how worthless we are, let your Good Shepherd lead you by the hand to that very next verse in Romans. The apostle Paul says this: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Yes, you are set free from your guilt.

So go to him, your Good Shepherd, in your personal devotion time. Go and gather with other believers to hear his voice and know that he has compassion on you and sees you. He knows just how tired you are, you tired lambs and you tired sheep. He knows how best to grant you the rest that you seek.

Prayer:
O God, the strength of all who trust in you, mercifully hear our prayers. Be gracious to us in our weakness and give us strength to keep your commandments in all that we say and do. Today we ask that you be with those who work at the Pentagon—the staffers and the officers, the administrators and assistants. We pray that you raise up good and faithful leaders in our nation’s military so that through their decisions, their planning and missions are carried out with success so that we might live peaceful lives. In your name we pray. Amen.