I have to go to the dentist. Well, I don’t “have to” but I should. And I finally made an appointment. Insurance checks out. All of that. And I’m going to be vulnerable with you all and tell you, it’s been a while. Like, a long while. I have visions of being yelled at by the dentist, of the dental hygienist making me bleed uncontrollably with floss, and even worries that they’re going to have to wire my jaw shut for some unknown reason that I won’t be able to preach for the next few weeks… 
As I confront all of my insecurities about this, I think of all of the people who might feel the same way about me. I, the pastor guy, am a dentist for many people. And while I perhaps can’t inflict as much physical pain on people in the normal goings-on of my weekly life, some people are afraid I may bring as much emotional or spiritual pain. And you, dear reader, well, you’re likely the dental hygienist. You may not be the dentist, but you’re a part of this thing, and they may be afraid of you too.
And maybe they even recognize that they *should* go, or even that in order to get something in their lives worked out, they’ve got to brush their teeth and show up for their appointment at University Lutheran Dental & Spiritual Clinic. But that doesn’t mean that they have to be happy about it. Maybe it’ll all go away after a while. Maybe we don’t really need to chew things. We can skip this, right?
There are lots of metaphor industries for the church. Church can be like a restaurant, it can be like a gym, it can be like a bar, it can be like an underwear shop, it can be like a sports franchise. But today, since the dentist is looming above my head (soon to be literally), church is like a dentist. Every metaphor breaks down eventually, so we do want to see you a little more than you see your dentist, but there is a lot that is the same. So what does a good dentist do? Like a good shepherd, a good dentist puts you at ease. The good dentist doesn’t ignore your cavities, but he promises the Gospel of Novocaine to make it bearable. The good dentist wants us to get back to chewing and smiling.
Jesus may be the Good Shepherd, but He is also the Good Dentist. He fixes problems we can’t fix ourselves. He tells us to brush our teeth and floss and then forgives us when we don’t. I only hope that my dentist is half as good as He is.