You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.
Sometimes we need to hear something more than once – so Jesus told those Pharisees another parable about losing and finding, repenting and rejoicing: “Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?”
Interpreting parables can be like interpreting dreams – you might be any or all of the characters. Who do you relate to today – the coin, or the woman? (Or the lamp, broom or house...) The way I see it at this moment, the woman is God (yep, more than once Jesus assigns God the woman’s role…) and the coins are us. Imagine: God values us so much, she will search high and low for us whenever we roll under the bed or into a dark corner. God turns on the light of truth, gets out the broom of forgiveness, sweeps the dust away from us – and keeps looking till we’re found.
Now, in both Jesus’ stories, the sheep and the coin are passive. They get lost and have to be found. As people made in God’s image, we have some choice. Yet, when we fall into self-oriented and self-destructive patterns, our freedom to choose can become compromised. We need to be found. Often what elicits repentance in us is realizing we are so precious that someone bothers to seek and find us. Guilt doesn’t do the job nearly as well as love does.
Repentance is a choice we can make every day, saying to that heavenly Seeker, “Okay, here I am, under the dresser again…” And then we join all the others who’ve been found, rejoicing when each one comes back. “When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, `Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.' Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Okay, so now who are you: the coin, the seeker, a friend or neighbor rejoicing? All of the above?
Today we might spend some time in repentance: where are some places you’ve rolled that are out of the light? What parts of your life have become dusty and cluttered? Here comes the light and the broom…
Imagine being a coin that is found, picked up, turned over in the palm of the finder, smiled at, cherished – and maybe put in a pocket with a bunch of other found coins. What a great jingle-jangle we make when we’re put together, we found coins! How much more valuable we are together than apart.
Sometimes we think we can hide from God; if we’re not looking for God, God will leave us alone. Jesus says nope, God never rests while we are apart. God seeks us, finds us, invites us home. Remember that phrase kids call out in hide-n-seek, indicating it is safe to come out of hiding, “Olly, olly, oxen free?” Some say its root is: “O ye, o ye, in come free.” Do you hear God calling you home?
© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.
Jesus’ parables are sneaky. They lead you one way, and then, bam!, swerve somewhere that contradicts common sense and practice. "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?” At first glance, you think, “Yeah! I’d go after that poor, lost little sheep…” On second thought... would you really leave 99 valuable livestock unprotected and search for one?
Maybe so, Jesus suggests. Remember, he’s answering the question, “Why do you eat with sinners?” Lurking beneath that question is: “Shouldn’t you hang out with the righteous folks, like us?”
Jesus said that his time in this earthly life was to be spent seeking and saving the lost (Luke 19:10) The “ninety-nine” can look after each other. Someone has to look for the wanderers, the explorers of steeper paths, the ones who chased greener pastures only to look up and find themselves alone in the deep, dark woods. Presumably, the "right-living" sheep already make heaven pretty happy. The recovery of the lost sheep is cause for special rejoicing.
It is a principle of church growth that you program for the folks who are not there more than for ones who are. I once heard a bishop say that – and a church-goer took issue with it – “What about us? Don’t we count?” This is the cry of the ninety-nine.
In the “both/and” realm of God, it doesn’t have to be a choice – yet Jesus does make clear where his followers are to put our energy. Do we have enough “bandwidth” to care for one another AND to follow Jesus out to the ravines and scary places where lost sheep are apt to be found, those who do not know the love of the Good Shepherd, who may even feel pretty unlovable? I think we do – especially if we enhance our capacity with the infinite power and love of the Spirit.
Here are some prompts for prayer and reflection today:
List everything you do to nurture your own church community – activities, funds, prayer. Do you hear the sound of rejoicing in heaven? You’re giving a huge gift.
Now list the ways you reach out to the people who might be “outliers” – not so much funding and feeding, but how you personally interact with people outside your circle. Our goal might be to aim for balance, maybe even tipping a little more toward the outlier sheep.
Who comes to mind when you think of “lost sheep” in your life or community? God may send you to someone in particular… give it a moment and see who comes up. If you get a name or face, stay with it. Ask God to bless that person, and to show you where and how you might come close to them.
A Water Daily reader shared with me this week about the way an Episcopal priest in her niece's town brought church to an "unchurched" branch of the family. She got to know the priest as they coached soccer together, and as he learned that her father was on hospice care, he offered to come to the house and do Prayers at the Time of Dying. He ended up doing that, and baptizing five young children in the family and celebrating communion with them all on the front porch. He went out to the 99 and found some sheep in need of reclaiming.
Our goal is not to invite people to church, or to “get them help.” Our goal is to go and be with, offering a relationship that is mutual (we all have “lost” parts in ourselves…) – and invite the Shepherd himself to lead him or her back into wholeness. If you remember a time when you were lost and someone found you, you know how it works. There was a LOT of rejoicing.
© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.
Jesus was often under scrutiny by the religious leaders of his day – all the more because they didn’t approve of many whom he welcomed into his company: Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
Why are “tax collectors” and “sinners” so often lumped together in the Gospels? Tax collectors of Jesus’ time were no mild-mannered IRS accountants. They were Jews who made a living by “collecting” taxes for the Romans from their fellow Jews. As such, they were collaborators with a hated regime and enforcers of cruel and often capricious extortion. And the Romans didn’t pay them for this – they allowed them to tack on a “fee” or surcharge. The meaner the tax collector, the higher the “fee” they commanded. Tax collectors were easy to loathe.
Yet Jesus invited one of these, Matthew, to be a disciple. He ate at the home of another, Zaccheus. He seemed to be a magnet for them – and he didn’t just dine with them. He invited them to repent and be renewed. Many saw their lives transformed, as did other “sinners” who spent time with Jesus. Who better to hang around with than someone who talks about forgiveness and the love of the heavenly Father? Who sees you as a human being despite the despicable way you’ve treated others?
And what about these Pharisees and scribes? They weren’t bad people. Pharisees deeply loved the Law of Moses and strove for lives of great holiness. In the process, they often became self-righteous, judgmental, and tipped into a compassionless legalism that – Jesus felt – caused them to focus on picayune laws at the expense of God’s greater command to care for the poor and defenseless. The scribes were temple leaders, and regulated the apparatus of worship and sacrifice. They had limited power under Roman authority, and like many such people, excelled in exerting that power over people with even less.
So we have, on the one hand, notorious sinners and low-lifes, and on the other, hypocritical and arrogant “holy” people. If all the low-lifes were in one room, and all the religious people in another, and you HAD to pick one, which room would you go in? Why? What would you say to those gathered in each room?
What kind of people do you find yourself judging, even condemning? (We all do it… let’s just bring it to the surface so we can look at it…). Think of some examples of individuals or groups. My social media feed is full of videos of ICE and DHS agents snatching people off the streets, even out of cars in Washington, DC. Hard not to think of them and their task masters when I ask this question…
Who comes up for you? Bring them to mind.
Now bring Jesus into that picture. What does he do? Say? How do you feel?
What kind of people do you feel are hypocritical? How do you suppose they got that way? Think of some examples of individuals or groups. Bring them to mind.Now bring Jesus into that picture. What does he do? Say? How do you feel?
Those who flout the rules and those who cling rigidly to them are both living outside the sweet spot of God's grace. Jesus invites us all into the center.
© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.
The first time I went on retreat, I immersed myself in prayer, scripture, worship and the writings of Bernard of Clairvaux. His passion for God was so fervent, at one point I remember praying, “Oh Lord, set my heart on fire with love for you!” Right away a response came in my mind: “Do you know what you’re asking? My fire burns away everything that is not of me, everything.” I thought of all those references to God as a refiner’s fire, a consuming fire, and I felt I was being offered a choice – the “high road” of full commitment to the way of Jesus, or the lower, slower way of mixed motives and divided devotions. I chose the slower, messier way. And you?
The hard teachings we’ve been wrestling with this week concern this choice. Jesus tells those who would follow his way that they must walk away from the claims of this world, family and money. “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.” James in his epistle says even more starkly, “Whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”
Did Jesus really mean we should hate this life we’ve been given? The passage from Deuteronomy appointed for this Sunday urges us to “Choose life.” “…today I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him…”
Jesus invites us to choose the life that is the most real, the most true, the most eternal; the God-life, visible to the eyes of faith, not the mere world-life apparent to our physical senses. “I have come that they may have life, and have it in abundance,” he says. (John 10:10). He invites us to leave behind all that distracts us from receiving the abundance of love, joy, peace, grace, forgiveness, healing – and ministry – that God offers us.
I chose the slow road, the “middle way.” I may still be on it, but over the years, as my commitment has sharpened, I perceive that this is also a kingdom path. The God Jesus revealed meets us on any road we’re on, any time we turn away from the emptiness allegiance to the world brings us. This Father in heaven rushes out to greet his children as we come back to ourselves and back to our true home.
Jesus’ invitation is to follow him, to start consciously walking the road with Him every day. As we do that, He will point out sights we may not have noticed before. He may introduce us to people who live closer to the edge; might nudge us to give to this organization or that ministry. We might find ourselves making friends in parts of town we never saw before.
Who have you met on the road? When have you experienced the Father’s greeting? When have you experienced the Holy Spirit guiding you, protecting you, strengthening you? Write down those stories – other people might want to hear them.
The original name for Christ followers was “The People of the Way.” If we’re on the road with Jesus, guided by the Holy Spirit, we will end up where God wants us.
© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.
I have heard some suggest that Jesus “preferred” the poor. That’s not what the Gospel record shows. Jesus had great love for people who were poor, partly because others ignored them, but we also see him interact affectionately with many prosperous folks, even as he invites them to loosen their grip on their resources. He didn’t demand poverty of everyone – but it seems he did of those who wished to go beyond “friend” or “follower” to “disciple.” “So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions."
Maybe I'm not a disciple yet. I’m on the slow road to giving it all away, as are most people I know. Do we count as wealthy? You bet. When we compare ourselves to people with more money, it looks like we’re just getting by. But even the poor in America are richer than 85% of people in the world, many of whom try to live on less than $1 a day. You do the math.
To some of the wealthy people Jesus interacted with he said, “Give it all.” To others, he didn’t. Zacchaeus in the flush of conversion offers to give half his net worth to the poor; Jesus doesn’t say, “What about the other half?” When Jesus talks about how hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, he may be saying it’s impossible – or simply noting that people of means often put their security in their accumulated wealth rather than in God. If you can walk the fine line of having a lot of resources and not relying on them, then you might have the freedom to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
God wants us to trust in God’s provision, not in our own resources or strategies. The expression, “God helps those who help themselves” is not in the Bible, and is contrary to the spirit of the Good News Jesus preached. Jesus urged radical openness to the grace of God and radical generosity to the poor in wallet. If everyone viewed every child as a precious gift of God, there might be fewer living on garbage heaps.
So, how do we respond, if we’re not ready to give it all away? Today, maybe we begin with gratitude for the resources we have. Name a few, write them down. If you feel a tug of remorse, offer repentance, not because of your resources, but for clinging to them. Have you felt called to share what you have, and didn’t? Name it.
The best way to get better at giving it away is to practice giving it away, a lot. Increase your giving to your church. Sign up for a few more monthly automatic gifts to organizations you believe in. It starts with “Yes, Jesus. I want to follow you. This is what I can give today.” If we truly walk with Him, “what I can give today” will grow and grow. So will we.
© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.
What does it cost you to publicly identify as a Christ-follower? Does it cause a problem with your job? Your family? Your social circle? Do people think you’re foolish? For most Western Christians, the biggest hurdle to going deeper as disciples of Jesus is to our time and priorities.
In other parts of the world being a Christian can cost you your life or your basic relationships. I once read about a Syrian convert to Christianity who was ostracized by his Muslim family for being too “Western,” even surviving a murder attempt by an uncle, and by the Christians he met as being too “Muslim.” Even people in this country can offend their families and religious traditions when they convert, or be ridiculed and minimized.
Following Jesus was quite dangerous for his immediate disciples. Terrorized by the occupying Romans and oppressed by the temple leaders, the average citizen of Jesus’ place and time did well to keep his head down and stay out of trouble. Leaving your livelihood and family to publicly identify with an itinerant teacher who drew a fair amount of attention, much of it suspicious – this was not a recipe for a quiet life. Those who affiliated with Jesus were risking their comfort, work, family relationships – and often their lives. Hence, in his pep talk to would-be disciples, after telling them how radically they need to reorder their priorities if they’re going to follow him, Jesus gives an example:
“For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, `This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'”
Relationship might be a better analogy for us than architecture. What if we translated Jesus’ example: “Who of you, intending to commit to a relationship, does not first sit down and assess feelings, compatibility, chemistry, to see whether there’s enough to engage it? Otherwise, when you’ve told all your friends “This is the one!’ and then you break up, all who see it will begin to ridicule you, saying, ‘They started hot, but sure flickered out in a hurry!’"
Fact is, few people I know have a big conversion, start following Christ and keep going. Many of us come on strong, get distracted or disappointed, wander off, wander back, get complacent again, often for years or decades. Then at some point we stop wandering away – we start to move closer, into knowing and being known. Our priorities of how we spend our time, money and love shift, open up. We keep choosing, coming closer. Maybe if we’d sat down and counted the cost, we wouldn’t have done it – but now, whatever cost there is, doesn’t seem like a cost at all. More like a gift.
What are the things that pull you away from God-life? Can you offer those to God and ask the Spirit to help you re-order what counts? Do you want to make this relationship more central in your life? What would that look like?
Know that there is a price, often a hidden one…. and that the reward is worth more than your life.
© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
You can listen to this reflection here. Sunday's gospel reading is here.
This Sunday’s gospel passage begins, "Now large crowds were travelling with him…" I wonder how large the crowds were when Jesus was done talking. Was he trying to cull out the faddists and thrill-seekers with his talk of “hating your mother and father,” and “carrying your cross?”
“Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Talking about “carrying your cross” to subjects in a Roman colony might just cause many to turn away – the cross was a brutal and terrifying instrument of imperial execution. I can imagine a few people in that crowd paused, let themselves fall back to the margins, and slunk off home.
I might have been one of them. If we interpret “carry the cross” as “embrace your suffering,” as some have done, I won’t rush forward to sign up. But I don’t believe God desires suffering for his beloved, despite passages in the bible that suggest it can be part of God’s plan. I believe God shows up in the midst of suffering that comes our way from other sources; that God’s power and love can redeem and transform it into an opportunity for healing and growth.
How else might we interpret “carry your cross?” One way might be, "Take up your ministry, commit yourself to your part within the whole of God’s mission of restoration and reconciliation." The way each of us is called to participate in God’s mission is a product of our gifts, our passions and our circumstances – and the leading of the Holy Spirit. It is not something we undertake alone. We undertake it with the second half of that imperative, “and follow me.” As we become people of purpose following Christ, using our gifts, filled and guided by the Holy Spirit, we find ourselves more focused and peaceful.
The fullness of Jesus’ ministry involved suffering on the cross. Because he did, we don’t have to. We may be asked to sacrifice our resources, our prerogatives, our agendas; we might even encounter resistance and suffering, but not because suffering is redemptive – because passionate engagement in God’s mission transforms us and the world.
What do you see as one of your ministries as a Christ-follower? Where do your gifts, passions and circumstances intersect? List some of your gifts and passions, and think through your circumstances: where do you live, what do you do, who do you live with, who do you live around? That's important data.
Do you feel asked to sacrifice, “lay down” any of your privileges, preferences or resources to make space for others? To alleviate suffering for other people? Have a conversation with Jesus about the answers you come up with.
Finding our way into God’s mission is a lifetime vocation. At different times in our lives we’re called to live out our mission in different ways. Where will you “carry the cross” today?
© Kate Heichler, 2025. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.
