Clergy Reflection: A Lost Sheep looking for a Middle Way

So he told them this parable: "Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, `Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Every time I read the Parable of the Lost Sheep, I see myself more as the lost sheep who wandered away from the flock rather than seeing myself as one of the 99 righteous. In particular, at this moment in time, I feel particularly lost and lead astray by the swirling tumult of our cultural divide. At times, I feel trapped in an inner vortex of frustration, anger, and fear, especially after the news of Charlie Kirk's death and another school shooting in Colorado last week. To put it plainly, I feel lost, both in terms of knowing how to respond in a productive, healing way and in my own struggle to hold fast to the faith within me. 

I've heard deep wisdom from somewhere, probably in the scouting program, that, when you feel lost, look for the things that are fixed. The quintessential example of fixed things are the stars upon which one can rely on navigating back home if studied carefully. In our Christian context, I would liken our tradition to fixed stars which can help guide us back home, back to the flock of our shepherd, Jesus Christ. Tradition, of course, is one of the essential components in our Anglican way of being Christ's church. I think of tradition as those tenants of our faith which have stood the test of time, have been sifted through and found substantial enough to remain. These are beliefs, practices, and ways of forming Christian community which have been passed on from generation to generation. Tradition is our liturgy. It's our Book of Common Prayer, our hymnal, and our acts of worship. 

As Episcopalians, we also inherit a theological tradition of the via media, which comes to us first from the Moral Philosophy of Aristotle and was codified in the Elizabethan Settlement in the formative years of the early English church. The via media can be seen as the church's resistance to extreme polarity and attempt to find a "middle way" of reconciliation and unity. This does not always end in compromise and sacrifice of principles. Sometimes that is required, but more often its an exercise of finding enough common ground between us to reestablish our sacred commitment to one another. Its a golden mean of shared values and visions of the Kingdom of God.

Richard Hooker, Archbishop of Canterbury

"The Church of England, being neither too much addicted to the newness of things, nor too much addicted to the old, but holding a mean between both, doth not disallow of that which the new reformation hath brought in, nor of that which the ancient retained; but so far forth approveth either, as it standeth with the Word of God and with the judgment of sober reason.” (Richard Hooker, Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity. In Book V, Preface, 7.)

Holding up our theological tradition of the via media seems particularly resonate today as extremism rears its ugly head in our culture. For example, as I've sifted through cultural responses to Charlie Kirk's death, I've seen responses on the left suggesting Kirk's death was deserved and justified because of his inflammatory rhetoric. That seems, to me, an extreme position to say violence is justified in response to speech, and it sets a very dangerous precedent if we carry that position forward. On the right, I've seen responses from an understandable place of frustration and anger that the time for dialogue and debate is over, which would be an extreme outcome in which there's no room for a middle way. So, perhaps our unique brand of Christianity has an opportunity to offer a healing balm to our culture, and one that puts Jesus Christ and his commandment to love one another as I have loved you at the center. The first step, it seems to me, is to proclaim that there is a center, there is a middle way! It is the common ground of our shared values and visions for our future. It's fundamental truths like the ones we profess in our baptismal covenant that every human being has dignity, deserves respect, and has the light of Christ dwelling within them if we would but seek it out. It's the truth that all of us want for ourselves and those we love to have "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." It's the ability to see every human being as a part of the human family of God. 

So, my prayer today and for the foreseeable future is for us to proclaim a vision of the Kingdom of God through finding a middle way, together, as God's people, and that we would reject the extremes of violence and ideological isolationism. Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ have mercy upon. Lord, have mercy upon us. 

A Prayer For the Human Family 

O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed usthrough Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the wholehuman family; take away the arrogance and hatred whichinfect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us;unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle andconfusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, inyour good time, all nations and races may serve you inharmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christour Lord. Amen.

CJ+