Hungry; Lent Reflection for Wednesday March 11 2026

 

Rev. George Miller

March 11, 2026

Ezekiel 34:11-16

 

“All we like sheep that have gone astray…”  One of the realities of feeling lost, or having gone astray, is the hunger one can feel.

 

For those that have been gone from home, there is the hunger of missing simple nourishment- juice, bread, meat.

 

Then there is the missing of the food that nourishes not just our body but our memories- smell of coffee in the morning, sound of bacon sizzling, the casserole Mom made that incorporated left-over elements that somehow felt lush and kingly, the Thanksgiving Turkey and Easter ham.

 

There is the missing nourishment of that which feeds our souls- the goodnight kisses, the memories of Christmas Eve services, the shared viewings of favorite movies or singing songs.

 

Each of have our own unique experience of what it means to be “home.”  Therefore, each of us have our own experience of what it means to be far from home, or scattered, or lost.

 

Each of us know a family member or friend who has been like a lost sheep.  Each of us have known what it is like for our mistakes and sins to make us feel like we may be apart from the flock.

 

How many tonight have known what it is like to feel far from home, to feel that sense of scatteredness, or to even feel lost?

 

So lost that you hunger.  You hunger for the simple things.

You hunger for the memories; that what-used-to-bes, that moment when things felt just right.

 

The people of Isreal knew that feeling all too well.  During the Exile, they experienced loss in their homes, experienced loss of their Temple, loss of their favorite food and common sights.

 

In that loss, they felt they were indeed the lost and forgotten sheep, and would often wonder- “Where are you God?” 

 

That question becomes one of the biggest hungers we can have- Where are you God?

 

Tonight we admit that we have hungered or are currently hungering.

 

Tonight, Ezekiel challenges us to feel what it is like to be unsorted, scattered in days of clouds and thick darkness, to be broken and injured, in need of rescue and tired, just so tired. 

 

And hungry, oh so hungry.  Hungry for that which feeds our body, our memory, and our spirits.

 

Are all we like sheep; sheep that have gone astray, and if so- what is to become of us?  Tonight we sit in that question; tonight we endure the discomfort.

 

This is the season we wonder and wade through the unknown, hoping, praying that the Good Shepherd has not forgotten us; that one day we too will rejoice that the lost one has been found.     Amen.