Worship

This text would not be considered one of the difficult sayings of Jesus by most folks. We are happy to look for the lost. We are happy that Jesus, at least, is willing to venture out to find those who have strayed and to bring them home for a celebration. This is a warm and welcoming sort of passage for us—at least until we look deeper and consider the radical preference for the outcast, for the wanderer, for the sinner.

Do our songs celebrate the joys of the church and the gifts we have received? Or do we look out to the mission field, to the ravines where the sheep have wandered, or to the corners where the coin has rolled? Do we sing praise to the one who calls us to go out, to seek and to find and then to celebrate? Worship is not only about receiving marching orders or getting our weekly assignments. But it can be a reminder that we are a people with a mission and that we cannot be content with the status quo.