Today is the commemoration of the Holy Innocents and our Lesson comes from Matthew chapter 18 verses 1 through 14:
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ 2He called a child, whom he put among them, 3and said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
6 ‘If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of the sea. 7Woe to the world because of stumbling-blocks! Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling-block comes!
8 ‘If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into the hell of fire.
10 ‘Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven. 12What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.
Today is Childermas, a day set aside to commemorate the killing of the Holy Innocents. On this day we remember what Herod did to the children in and around Bethlehem. And we remember also all the children harmed by the heinous and vile.
We remember too the children harmed by the heinous and vile within the church.
We read today’s Lesson and it speaks of a shepherd who leaves the flock and goes out to find and bring home a lost sheep. For too long we have misread this to be a story about the Church’s duty to do all it can to restore the vilest of sinners. But in its context the parable comes after Jesus warns against doing anything to harm “one of these little ones”. It comes amidst a long discourse about his disciples need to watch over and protect the weak and most vulnerable and the consequences for not doing so. In that sense then the concluding parable about the sheep being returned to the fold is not about the search for and redemption of a grave sinner but rather the search for and restoration the sinner’s victim.
For too long we have misread this parable, risking the flock for the sake of a lost priest or church leader. But in fact, this story is about the need to risk the security of an institution for the sake of reconciliation with those the institution and its surrogates have harmed. It’s about restoring the vulnerable sheep, not harboring a dangerous wolf.
We are finally just beginning to come to terms with all the harm the Church — Catholic and Protestant — has done to the Holy Innocents in its failure to protect them from abuse and also its efforts to cover over the misdeeds of their abusers. We are now beginning to repent of the perhaps tens or even hundreds of thousands of incidents in which we as a Church have failed these children. And maybe we’re finally ready to read this parable rightly also.
LORD have mercy.
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