Reflection (The readings are below, for your reference)
I love it that the gospel begins with “What do you think?” If I hear that and I feel safe, it’s such a delightful question. Like Santa asking me what I want for Christmas, like being asked what kind of cake I want for my birthday. What a gift it is to be asked “What do you think?”
Conversely, in an unsafe setting, the question feels different. It feels like I’m being set up for an ambush. I worry that if I answer incorrectly I will appear stupid in front of smart people, and the worry actually sucks the good thoughts right out of me.
But in this case I do feel safe. The good God gives comfort, speaks tenderly, makes the uneven ground level, invites me to lift up my voice with strength, gathers me in warm embracing arms. So here’s what I think: I think that if a shepherd cares so deeply about a few dozen sheep, it’s a no-brainer that God cares no less deeply for lil’ ol’ me. I think I need not compare myself unfavorably with any one person (or any ninety-nine, for that matter). I think it’s safe and okay for me to say what I think. That’s what I think.
What do you think?
Namaste! Amen!
The Readings
Isaiah 40:1-11
Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her
that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.
A voice cries out: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’
A voice says, ‘Cry out!’ And I said, ‘What shall I cry?’
All people are grass, their constancy is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand for ever.
Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings;
lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah, ‘Here is your God!’
See, you Lord God come with might, and your arm rules for you;
your reward is with you, and your recompense before you.
You will feed your flock like a shepherd; you will gather the lambs in your arms,
and carry them in your bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.
Psalm 96:1-3,10-13
O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, bless God’s name; tell of God’s salvation from day to day.
Declare God’s glory among the nations, God’s marvelous works among all the peoples.
Say among the nations, ‘The Lord is king!
The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.
God will judge the peoples with equity.’
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it.
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
before the Lord; for God is coming, for God is coming to judge the earth.
God will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with truth.
Matthew 18:12-14
What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does the shepherd not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if the shepherd finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of your faithful Parent in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.
The readings are from the website below, with adjustments to make the text more inclusive.
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