Theme: Suffering slaves and straying sheep

Exegetical note
This selection presents two images, both rather foreign to the experience of most modern readers: a slave who is beaten unjustly (either by the master or in the master's stead), and straying sheep. Yet, somehow these images are timeless, the former speaking to the human experience of the absurdity of life (and especially its unjust and untimely tragedies), and the latter add ressing the typical experience of alienation or estrangement.

Call to Worship
(based on Psalm 23)
Leader: Our…