The parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin in our reading this week both challenge the notion that social justice can be achieved without addressing the root causes of oppression and focusing on communities who suffer harm from inequities.
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This is Part 3 of Sheep, Coins, and a Preferential Option for the Marginalized
(Read this series from its beginning here.)
Jesus’ teachings here call us to to confront the structures that perpetuate inequality, advocating for systemic change for people being harmed now rather than mere charity or superficial solutions. This way of reading the parables of the lost sheep and lost coin align with principles of social justice: true equality cannot exist without addressing the historical injustices against specific communities that have led to disparities.
Focusing on the ninety-nine sheep that need no rescue and saying “they matter too” neglects the importance of context and the specific struggles that the specific communities represented by the sheep or coin in our reading face. Universal approaches to the gospel often oversimplify the realities of systemic oppression and what certain communities uniquely need. In contrast, the lens of a preferential option for the marginalized (temporarily focusing on the lost sheep or the lost coin rather than the rest) provides a nuanced understanding that prioritizes those who are suffering. True justice for all requires acknowledging injustice that may be only affecting certain communities, and focusing on those being harmed acknowledges that injustice to any is a threat to injustice to all.
Our society can work toward a more equitable and just world where the dignity and worth of every individual are upheld. At times, the ninety-nine must be left, and the other nine coins not focused on. In order to restore the whole, our parables call us to practice a preferential option for certain ones: the one sheep, the one coin. And when that which threatens the “ones” has been corrected, the rest will be brought back into the narrative.
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