We don’t talk much about miracles these days. Surrounded by stories of division and suffering, we have become skeptical. The world tells us there is never enough—

Sunshine radiates through this Sunday’s Psalms: life is stable, labor yields fruit, and marriage is a partnership with generational blessings. There have been times when I’ve mistaken the Psalmist’s contentment as a formula for certainty: I will put my faith in God, and he will make my life better. Unfortunately, faith does not erase life’s chaos:

“do you want us to go and gather up the weeds?” “No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest.”

It is too easy to hear this Gospel and wonder if we are meeting God’s expectations – if we are “good soil.” That is the most natural response given that we have been assimilated to measure, compare, and judge ourselves and others. Sometimes our lived experience leaves us wondering if we have done enough.

In business, there is something called the “ask.” It’s the moment of truth in the conversation. The request. The whole point. Jesus’ ask is

Jesus speaks of three kinds of sheep. The shepherd-less sheep; the lost sheep and the sent sheep. The sheep without a shepherd