Moral Calculus

Gospel: Matthew 18: 12-14

Jesus asks a probing question in today's Gospel portion: what shepherd would not leave 99 sheep to go and search for one lost sheep? What shepherd would not rejoice at finding that one lost sheep? The answer of the modern utilitarian would be - no shepherd would, or should, do such a thing.  What sense does it make to risk the safety of 99 sheep for sake of one lost sheep?  In fact, almost all aspects of modern life think in these utilitarian terms.

But in the kingdom of God, the calculus works differently.  There, every human being matters, no one is left behind, no one sacrificed for the greater good.  Every life has value - that of the cripple, the possessed, the woman, the stranger, the unclean.  Indeed, there is not one single time when Jesus refused to heal or feed someone, not one time he turned anyone away from him.  Everyone was healed, everyone fed.

How often in our world, including in institutions that bear the name Christian, are people excluded from care and concern! How many are intentionally rejected from our care because they fail our worthiness test, because we lack the love Jesus had for all people?  Perhaps today is the day we take a remedial course in moral calculus for the kingdom.