The Persistence of the Wild Goose

The Wild Goose
The Way of the Wild Goose - Part 5
June 16, 2024
Matthew 18:10-14, Ezekiel 34:11-16, Psalm 139:7-12

What do you think? If someone had one hundred sheep and one of them wandered off, wouldn’t he leave the ninety-nine on the hillsides and go in search for the one that wandered off?  If he finds it, I assure you that he is happier about having that one sheep than about the ninety-nine who didn’t wander off.  In the same way, my Father who is in heaven doesn’t want to lose one of these little ones.

 Matthew 18:12-14 (CEB)

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Just like the scattered sheep in the days of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 34), Jesus saw the sheep of Israel scattered and abused in his own time.  Thieves continued to kill and destroy, but Jesus himself would go to any length to rescue even one who was lost.  In today’s culture, driven so much by numbers, profit and gain, the idea of leaving behind 99 for 1 seems absurd.  We are taught to appeal to the crowds, to get more views, likes and followers on social media, to get more people in the seats on Sunday mornings.  We put so much of our energy into keeping the 99 comfortable and happy.  In the process, how many have found themselves lost, ignored, and alone, even as they sit in the middle of the crowd?  And how many have wandered off completely unnoticed, or worse yet, been run out by the crowd because they didn’t fit in? 

When I consider the persistence of the Wild Goose, I think of Jesus’ parable.  Will the Holy Spirit not go to any length, even to the ends of the earth, for the one lost and lonely sheep to know that they are not alone?  In a culture driven by numbers and productivity, putting so much energy into the one may seem absurd, unless you happen to be the “one.”

Geese are communal by nature.  At least one or two will land with the one who is tired, injured, or weak, so that no one is left behind.  Like the good shepherd, they will do whatever it takes to restore the one to the rest of the flock.  What if we were more persistent about caring for the one than we were about trying to keep the 99 happy?  What if the church were a place not only where everyone was welcome, but where they truly belonged?  What if, instead of desperately protecting and clinging to what we have, or worse, what we used to have, we persisted in continuing Jesus’ mission to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10)?

The Wild Goose shows us what it means to stay in formation, to keep our place, to rotate to the back as needed so that we don’t burn out, and to flap a little harder when others around us need a rest.  On the grand scale, we will never feel like we are enough to tackle the many existential crises in our world.  But if we zoom in and focus on the members of our flock, the ones in front of and behind us, the ones to our right and to our left, perhaps we are exactly the person someone needs us to be to make it through another day. 

Keep flying.

Keep honking. 

Keep caring. 

Keep loving. 

 The Wild Goose is all the strength you need.

~ excerpts from The Wild Goose: Embracing the Untambed Beauty of the Holy Spirit

Get Up and Walk

Get Up and Walk

Good News - Part 6

Sunday, February 11, 2024
Mark 2:1-12

So many gathered that there was no longer space, not even near the door. Jesus was speaking the word to them. Some people arrived, and four of them were bringing to him a man who was paralyzed. They couldn’t carry him through the crowd, so they tore off part of the roof above where Jesus was. When they had made an opening, they lowered the mat on which the paralyzed man was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven!”

 Mark 2:2-5 (CEB)

Listen to this Week’s Sermon here:

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This may be one of my favorite scenes in the gospels partly because it is so absurd, but even more because it shows how far people will go when something matters enough to them.  In this case, what mattered most for these four individuals, was their paralyzed friend.

Most of us are probably good friends.  We care for those we love in times of need.  We will visit them in the hospital and call to check in if someone is alone.  I’m guessing these four also were good friends to the paralyzed man.  They probably made sure he could get where he needed to go and helped him with food and other basic needs.  Without friends like that, someone in his condition would not have lived very long.  It is truly a humbling experience to depend on someone that much just to survive. 

At a previous church I regularly visited a man, who at age 18, became a quadriplegic after a tragic diving accident in a pond.  He spent 38 years in a hospital bed at home, unable to move except for his head.  I was privileged to preside over his funeral in 2015.  He was strong and always did what he could to help others primarily on the phone, arranging anything his mom needed taken care of in the house even as she struggled to care for his medical needs.  He was also a brilliant artist, having taught himself to paint by holding the brush in his mouth.  During the final years of his life, he knew his mother’s health was declining and he constantly felt like a burden to her no matter how much she said otherwise.  His last words to me expressed his desire to go home to Jesus so she could finally get the rest she so desperately needed.  I imagine Jesus’ first words to him in heaven may have been something like, “get up and walk,” just as he said to the man in this passage.

As I saw modeled in his mom, it takes a tremendous amount of strength to care for someone in that situation.  The man’s friends in Mark must also have been like that, even as they carried him on a stretcher for who knows how far, just to see Jesus.  But when they got there, it was too crowded.  There was no way to get anywhere near this increasingly famous healer.  So they raised his stretcher up to the roof, removed a section of thatch, and lowered him down to Jesus.  Setting aside the issues of destruction of property and cutting in a very long line, their dedication to him and their faith in Jesus was incredible. 

It makes me wonder, as we care for our friends and family and others in need around us, how far would we be willing to go to get them to Jesus?  Do we even mention Jesus’ name when we are in their company?  Do we share what our faith means to us and how Jesus has strengthened and healed us in our own lives?  Do we ask them to share stories of the beautiful things in their lives and celebrate together as we reflect on the amazing ways God keeps showing up? 

Who in your life needs you to bring them to Jesus this week?