Doing Blessed Work

Today’s reading: Matthew 18:10-14

I remember hearing the dean of my graduate school complaining one day about all the time he and his faculty would devote to struggling students. “We find ourselves so wrapped up in all the problems that these students have that we end up sorely neglecting our best students,” he said.

Similarly I remember from my days as a teacher how my fellow faculty members would clamor for the chance to teach “honors” classes, those intended for the best students. In fact, teaching honors classes was considered to be a reward for veteran teachers who had done an excellent job of “paying their dues,” in other words, teaching “regular” (or, worse, “remedial”) classes.

I think Jesus’s parable of the lost sheep must have been sown into my spirit at my birth. I’ve never agreed that it’s best to dote over the safe  sheep at the expense of the lost one.

I’m not sure why my opinion on this is not universal, but it’s always been thrilling to know that it is promoted by Jesus in the Bible.

No matter what society says, it is always reasonable to leave those who can care for themselves and turn to the world’s lost and troubled souls. In fact, when one does that, he will quickly discover that there is one important discrepancy in Jesus’s analogy in this parable: there are, in fact, many more lost sheep in the world than otherwise.  But that would not be the case, if everyone who was capable of following the wisdom of this parable would happily do so.

The world is fortunate to have  of many veteran teachers who have given up the chance to “advance” to teaching only honors students. This is the model of discipleship that I, too, follow in my life. And, though some criticize me as being crazy for doing so, I know it is the right way to live — because it’s the way Jesus encourages us all to live.

Thanks be to God for the many opportunities I have each day to recover lost sheep.