You Are Loved - November 19
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 102; PM Psalm 107:1-32; 1 Macc. 4:36-59; Rev. 22:6-13; Matt. 18:10-20
Today’s Reflection
What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. –Matthew 18: 12-13
The past couple weeks, I’ve been reading through Rachel Held Evans’ book, Wholehearted Faith. The chapter I just finished is titled “Jonathan Edwards is Not My Homeboy.” In these pages, Held Evans reflects on two very different mindsets that exist amongst Christians. The first mindset, the one held by Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards and his descendants, emphasizes human beings’ inherent sinfulness and that, because of our sinfulness, we are all deserving of eternal damnation. But these Christians (those who hold more to the Calvinist tradition) believe that God has foreordained a way out for the elect (those who God chooses in advance). This is the mindset that Held Evans found herself surrounded by as a young adult—and though she believed she was one of the elect, she began to feel increasingly troubled that the God who she knew to be a God of love would turn his back on countless others who were not among the chosen.
Over time, Rachel Held Evans began to realize that she didn’t have to believe that we are just “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” (the title of Edwards’ most well-known sermon). Instead, Held Evans grew more and more confident that it is OK to believe in a God who has extravagant love for us—a God, who as we are reminded in Jesus’ words in Matthew 18, will run after that one sheep in the hundred who strays from the sheepfold. Not only that, but God will “rejoice over” that one who strayed but returns more than the 99 sheep who never went anywhere.
I believe there are times when any of one of us has been that 1 in the 100 who has strayed for a time—we have followed our own inclinations and maybe made some mistakes. Or we have chosen to spend less and less time in God’s presence. Or in some way, we have turned away from being a part of the flock. But knowing that God is always there to guide us back and, not only that, but to rejoice when we return is one of the most comforting passages we have been given in our Holy Scriptures.
A moment that stood out to Held Evans as she reflected on her own spiritual paradigm shift was encountering a poem by Daniel Ladinsky, written from the perspective of Saint Francis of Assisi, in which she read these lines: “I think God might be a little prejudiced. For once He asked me to join Him on a walk through this world, and we gazed into every heart on this earth, and I noticed He lingered a bit longer before any face that was weeping, and before any eyes that were laughing. And sometimes when we passed a soul in worship, God would kneel down. I have come to learn: God adores his Creation.” At first, Held Evans was shocked by these words, they seemed at the time “dangerous, heretical even.” But over time, as she continued to ponder the thought that “God adores His creation,” she found her heart changed: “That poem cracked open a longing inside me that had been shut up for years. It was a longing for love, and not just generic love—because nobody wants to be loved in general—but specific love, the kind of love that sees every complicated and intimate detail of a person’s life and delights in it and embraces it” (73).
As she continued her pilgrimage toward a different kind of Christian faith, Held Evans also found hope in the research and writing of Brene Brown, a sociologist who in her investigation of people’s experiences of shame made some unexpected discoveries about resilience. Just as Held Evans writes about wholehearted faith, she was inspired by Brown’s writing on wholehearted living. What Brown discovered and has gone on to share widely through books and presentations around the world is this: “I realized that only one thing separated men and women who felt a deep sense of love and belonging from the people who seemed to be struggling for it. That thing was the belief in their worthiness… If we want to fully experience love and belonging, we must believe that we are worthy of love and belonging.”
We must believe that we are sheep worthy of belonging in God’s sheepfold—and that we are so loved that God will search for us and lead us back when we stray. We must believe that we are worthy of God’s love and that we belong with God. We are worthy because God created us, and God loves us—we do not have to earn our worth in God’s eyes. We just have to believe in it.
A classmate of mine at the Seminary of the Southwest, Rick Lopez, was originally a Catholic priest. But he came to see that he was not unconditionally accepted by the Catholic Church. Though he had already been serving as a priest for several years, Rick went back to seminary for a year as part of the process of being ordained as an Episcopal priest. One of the things that is most striking about Rick is his unwavering commitment to making sure that everyone knows that they are loved by God. He regularly tells people this very simple, lifechanging message—whether in person, through social media posts, through small cards he had printed, or on a banner he placed outside his church: “You are beautiful and you are loved.”
You are beautiful and you are loved. Never forget that you are one that our Good Shepherd will always search for, will always find, and will always rejoice over every time you return to the fold.
—Becky+
Questions for Self-Reflection
What are some moments in your life when you have felt distant from or even separated from God? How did you experience God’s love in a way that brought you back into the sheepfold? Who did God send to search for you, find you, and rejoice when you returned? Who reminded you that you belong with God, that you are beautiful and beloved in God’s sight?
Daily Challenge
You can read more about Rick Lopez’ ministry in this article in the Odessa, Texas newspaper.