99 Sheep Social Distancing
For today’s scriptural grounding: the Parable of the Lost Sheep
Jesus paints the picture of a shepherd who ignores the needs of the 99 settled sheep in order to care for the 1 vulnerable sheep.
This makes the 99 angry.
The shepherd tries to help them understand by saying that if you were the 1 lost sheep, you’d be very happy the shepherd shut the whole thing down to take care of you.
If you’re part of the 99, it might be frustrating, but think about how you would want to be treated/loved/cared for if you were the vulnerable 1. Or maybe you’re experiencing the flip side where you’re worried you’re not helping enough by just sitting at home. But remember that the 99 in the parable had to just hang out and hunker down in order for the Shepherd to be able to care for the 1.
There’s a Bishop on Twitter who has publicly criticized churches that have shutdown as succumbing to a “spirit of fear.” I invited him and I invite you to think of the #StayHome movement not as being led by a “spirit of fear,” but instead as being led by a spirit of care for the most vulnerable. This “social distancing” is what it looks like for the shepherd to prioritize the lost sheep.
When Spring Glen Church made the decision to follow Jesus’s Parable of the Lost Sheep and cancel in-person worship, I didn’t see it as closing the church; I saw it as setting the church free, free from the walls that prevent us from serving those who need church most. Instead of 150 people sharing in worship with us this past Sunday like usual, we’ve had over 3,000 views on our FB Video.
Initially, it might seem illogical to focus solely on the 1 lost sheep. But it turns out, when we re-orient our worldview towards the lost sheep, we find a few thousand more lost sheep along the way. As our scripture from this past Sunday’s Narrative Lectionary passage, Mark 12 said, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”
#ChurchIsNotaBuilding #GodisLoveisLoveisLoveisLove
Good talk. Go team.
Pastor Jack
