Midweek Musing- February 25, 2026 Lent Devotional

Lenten Reflection: Math in the Kingdom of God

Matthew 18:12-14 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

The Parable of the Lost Sheep

¹² What 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? ¹³ And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. ¹⁴ So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.

I was in a fourth-grade classroom recently observing a math lesson as part of my job as an assistant principal. It was a fabulous lesson by a fabulous teacher. Indeed, one of the things I have been blessed with in my career is being surrounded by tremendous teachers and staff. And while I know the observation process makes them nervous, I always walk out amazed by the great learning occurring because of the dedication of passionate teachers.

Anyway…I am already digressing….so, it was a math lesson.

Now, I need you to understand something about my mathematical upbringing. When I was in school, math was straightforward. The teacher wrote the problem on the board. You lined it up. You carried the one. You borrow from the neighbor. You memorized the steps and hoped the answer came out correct.

That was it.

So, I’m sitting in the back of this fourth-grade room in a chair that is too small for me and I feel fairly confident about the subject matter and learning target.

Put simply it is multiplication. I’ve been multiplying for decades. Surely, I can follow along.

And then the teacher says, “Today we’re going to solve this using partial products, area models, and number decomposition.”

Friends, there were boxes drawn everywhere. Arrows pointing in directions I did not know numbers could travel. Students were breaking numbers apart and rebuilding them like mathematical Legos. One child calmly explained how 36 times 24 could be visualized as a rectangle. I have never once in my life thought of multiplication as real estate.

Meanwhile, I’m in the back thinking, “What happened to just carrying the one?”

It felt baffling. Overcomplicated. Needlessly elaborate.

Until I started listening more closely.

These students were not just memorizing a trick. They were understanding what multiplication actually means. They could explain it. Defend it. Reconstruct it in multiple ways. They knew the concept, not just the shortcut.

And suddenly the “new math” was not so ridiculous.

It was actually incredibly powerful.

It was building something that would help them long beyond fourth grade. They were learning something with great depth.

Which brings me to Jesus and this story about a shepherd who leaves ninety-nine sheep to go searching for one.

If we use our worldly math, this feels inefficient. Ninety-nine percent safe is an excellent record. Most of us would call that success. Most systems would protect the ninety-nine and write off the one as an unfortunate loss.

But heaven’s math is different.

The emotional center of this parable is not the search. It is the joy in the finding.

“And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.”

More than the ninety-nine.

The joy is disproportionate.

Math in the kingdom of God does not operate by percentages. It operates by love.

To Jesus’ first hearers, God as shepherd would echo Psalm 23 and Ezekiel 34. God searches. God gathers. God restores. But what makes this story startling is not just that the shepherd seeks the lost one. It is that his joy over the one outweighs his contentment with the many.

That tells us something about the heart of God.

“It is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.”

In the kingdom of God, the value of one is never reduced by the presence of many. Love is not divided like a pie chart. Joy is not calculated by efficiency. The math of heaven centers around restoration and reconciliation.

Now I am fully aware that Lent can feel very heavy. It is a season of reflection, repentance, and honesty about where we have messed up. About where we like the lost sheep have wandered off the path. But this parable reminds us that Lent is not about living as those lost without hope, but it is about returning into the loving embrace of our heavenly parent.

Heaven rejoices over restoration.

Heaven throws its weight behind rescue.

Heaven celebrates reconnection.

Perhaps then Lent is our invitation to learn the new math of the kingdom. To move beyond memorized formulas about success and importance and instead understand what truly matters.

Not numbers.

Not image.

Not performance.

But loving God.

And loving others.

And if heaven throws a celebration over one restored relationship, maybe we are being invited to rejoice in what God rejoices in.

The shepherd’s joy shows us what math in the kingdom of God leads to.

And once we understand that the shepherd’s math finally makes sense.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Alleluia Amen.

Prayer

Good Shepherd,thank you that your joy is greater than our wandering.When we drift, seek us.When we are found, restore us.Teach us the math of your kingdom,where love outweighs numbersand every person matters.

Through Christ our Lord,Amen.