Ezekiel 34:11-16
There is a scene in The Big Bang Theory in which the guys are discussing super powers. Sheldon is accused of being arrogant. Raj says that if Sheldon's super power was arrogance he'd be called Capt Arrogance. Sheldon whips back that he would really be Doctor Arragonto.
From this little snippet, I want to draw on an almost universal tendency toward arrogance. Rather than be open, listening and willing to learn, we often take our fixed position as the penultimate opinion and look down on everyone else. This is certainly true of the religious right wingnuts. It is also true however of scientists who are willing to stake everything on what they perceive as a total truth. They look down on other's theories or beliefs. Everyone can get into the act. I even see it in Israel where the ultra religious would have everyone think that the Holy Land is only their holy land.
Here in the states, the religious right think their translation of the bible is the correct one or worse, that their translation and interpretation is the correct one. I may be wrong but I think the gay community is the only one who may have it right. If you don't believe in gay marriage don't marry someone of the same sex. It's not a religious issue per se, it is a civil issue. ( although personally, I do think it is also a religious issue.
How can we get away from all this arrogance? I think a careful open and loving interpretation of this passage yields the view that God seeks out all of his sheep. God will gather from everywhere. There is no limit on God's love and certainly Jesus walking this earth and dying for each one of us is an indication as to what lengths God will go to help us reach our wholeness and holiness. Perhaps that's redundant.
The trick I think is to know that we are all sheep and all being called. There are no qualifiers. If there were, Jesus seemed to act to the contrary by his life and who he reached out to.
So let's say au revoir to Doctor Arragonto, let's just be lovers and superheroes to each other. What do ya say?
There is a scene in The Big Bang Theory in which the guys are discussing super powers. Sheldon is accused of being arrogant. Raj says that if Sheldon's super power was arrogance he'd be called Capt Arrogance. Sheldon whips back that he would really be Doctor Arragonto.
From this little snippet, I want to draw on an almost universal tendency toward arrogance. Rather than be open, listening and willing to learn, we often take our fixed position as the penultimate opinion and look down on everyone else. This is certainly true of the religious right wingnuts. It is also true however of scientists who are willing to stake everything on what they perceive as a total truth. They look down on other's theories or beliefs. Everyone can get into the act. I even see it in Israel where the ultra religious would have everyone think that the Holy Land is only their holy land.
Here in the states, the religious right think their translation of the bible is the correct one or worse, that their translation and interpretation is the correct one. I may be wrong but I think the gay community is the only one who may have it right. If you don't believe in gay marriage don't marry someone of the same sex. It's not a religious issue per se, it is a civil issue. ( although personally, I do think it is also a religious issue.
How can we get away from all this arrogance? I think a careful open and loving interpretation of this passage yields the view that God seeks out all of his sheep. God will gather from everywhere. There is no limit on God's love and certainly Jesus walking this earth and dying for each one of us is an indication as to what lengths God will go to help us reach our wholeness and holiness. Perhaps that's redundant.
The trick I think is to know that we are all sheep and all being called. There are no qualifiers. If there were, Jesus seemed to act to the contrary by his life and who he reached out to.
So let's say au revoir to Doctor Arragonto, let's just be lovers and superheroes to each other. What do ya say?
For thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.
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