Methodist Bishop

Numbers 27.12-21, John 10.11-16 The federation of the tribes of Israel, gathered under Moses' leadership, was an experiment in a new kind of nation building where, instead of gathering around a king or queen, the people sought to follow God's will as mediated to them by Moses. In theory, once they knew what God wanted, and so long as they kept to these rules for living, the nation of Israel considered themselves to be a free people, no longer under the yoke of oppression, unlike every other nation on the earth. But as Moses’ death approached there was the risk of a leadership vacuum; in the Bible's view, even a free people needs a guiding hand on the tiller. Without any leadership at all, warned Moses, the people would be like sheep without a shepherd. It’s a recurring motif in the Bible story. Since the EU Referendum we've had our own experience of the need for leadership. In the Referendum we - the people - decided by a narrow margin to leave the EU, but we didn