Lenten blog | March 29, 2025

But that doesn't make sense

Throughout the year, the Southern New England Conference of the United Church of Christ reproduces the Daily Lectionary for use by churches.  These are the suggested readings for March 29th:  Exodus 32:7-14; Psalm 32; and Luke 15:1-10.  I would encourage you to read these short selections as part of your Lenten practice.

Jesus says something so unexpected in the parable of the 100 sheep that we try to ignore it.  A shepherd has lost one of the sheep of the flock.  His reaction is illogical.  He leaves the 99.  At this point in the story, we add in our own detail.  We assume it must be what the story implies because otherwise it’s just absurd to our minds.  We imagine to ourselves that the 99 are left safely corralled, thus allowing the shepherd to go off and search for the one.  This is not what the Bible says.  Jesus’ rhetorical question is quite clear.  He asks those around Him that if they were in the shepherd’s shoes, which one of you “‘does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness’”?

I’m no shepherd.  I can now say I actually know one, but I’m no shepherd myself.  I would imagine that if you leave 99 sheep unprotected in the open wilderness, then you are going to have a much larger problem than one lost sheep.  All 99 are now in jeopardy because they are left untended in the wilderness.  I’m no shepherd, and I only know one shepherd, but I’m pretty sure this is a recipe for disaster.  When Jesus asks His rhetorical question to people who are shepherds or who at least probably know shepherds, I would not be surprised if everyone in the crowd answered, “Jesus, no one leaves the 99 in the wilderness!”

I’ve told this story in connection with this parable before so if you’ve heard it my apologies.  My parents used to do a gigantic puzzle each summer.  They would leave it on the back porch and work on it in the evening if they felt so inclined, and then at the end of the summer they would frame the completed picture.  One year I was visiting and I stole one piece of the puzzle.  Eventually my parents finished the puzzle, except for that one piece.  When I showed up and put the one, last piece in place, well, they were none too happy.  I’m sure they must have looked high and low for that one lost piece.  However many pieces they had put together didn’t matter as long as the one piece was lost.  Without the one, the entire puzzle was a failed enterprise. 

Jesus’ parable is not about the one lost sheep.  It is not about the 99 sheep.  It is about the fullness of the 100 sheep.  It may not make practical sense to us, but Jesus is revealing that in His ministry, in the eyes of God, it is the whole that matters.  When the parable ends with “‘There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance,’” this should not lead to discussions about which is more important, the one of the 99.  The joy in heaven is about the restoration of wholeness.

In the deutero-Pauline Epistle to the Ephesians, we read, “With all wisdom and insight [God] has made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” (1:8-10)  In theology this is called “recapitulation,” from the Greek word anacephalaeosis, meaning "summing up" or "summary."  In Christ, all of creation is to be eventually restored to its original wholeness.  God cannot abide the separation of any of God’s beloved creation, regardless of how small the percentage. 

This is a theology that makes sense out of the senselessness of the cross.  God loves us more than God loves God’s own self in Christ.  God is willing to even suffer and die on the cross “to gather up all things in him.”  This is not logical or practical, but it is of God, which sounds more important than logical or practical.

I invite you to join with us tomorrow as we gather in the presence of this loving God as the community at worship.  Add to our joy and to God’s by bringing us closer to wholeness.  And on Sunday we will hear the most famous of all these parables of the lost and of God’s ineffable love.  We gather at 9:30am.  If you would like to join online, email [email protected] for the Zoom link.

If you would like to join us for our online Bible study, please send an email to [email protected] for the Zoom logins.
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If you’d like, here is the link to the Southern New England Conference’s daily reading schedule:  www.sneucc.org/lectionary.