Friday, February 19
Scripture: Luke 15:1-7

Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”

SEARCH AND RESCUE

Chapter 15 in Luke holds three parables that tell of the lost being recovered and restored to order, a place of belonging. The first of the three parables tells of the conscientious, courageous shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine sheep to search and bring home the one sheep that wandered off alone into danger.  What, we might ask, is that shepherd doing, leaving his larger responsibilities to search for just 1% of his livestock?  Couldn’t he just take his loss and be satisfied with the 99 safe in the fold?

Most reassuringly, this parable speaks of great personalized concern and active hope.  Sometimes, what is not reasonable or prudent is the most inspired course of action. It was inconvenient and demanding to set off in pursuit of the one lost sheep and not give up until he found it.  This shepherd has a sense of responsibility and I would think compassion, not just for the whole group but also toward each individual creature.  

Not knowing much about sheep from experience, I looked up a little information. Sheep have an instinct to stay together and to follow.  They become restless or stressed when separated or alone. They feed better when they can see other sheep around them. When together, sheep are less vulnerable to predators who can easily go after stragglers and loners but not so with a tightly bunched flock.  The missing sheep of the parable was on a course of self-destruction.  This was a time before fences or risk-free animal sanctuaries.  Sheep are one of the earliest domesticated animals, and do not have much ability anymore to fend for themselves in the wild.

One of the loveliest images in this parable, which has been depicted in Philippe de Champaigne’s painting, is the shepherd lifting up the creature and wrapping it around his shoulders to carry back to the sheepfold. This one solitary stray is valued and embraced.  No sign of punishment or consternation for the trouble it has caused.  In fact, the shepherd not only rejoices himself at the recovery, but wants to enlarge the celebration by having his neighbors and friends join in.  Rudolph Bostic’s picture The Good Shepherd has the figure holding a young lamb to his breast, cradled in his arms, with other sheep around him.  Both artists give the shepherd a key, heartwarming portrayal.

Applied to our human situation, do we understand that we cannot survive outside of relationship?  Our very being needs in the deepest sense to be with (relating to) our shepherd (our Lord).  And we need to be in ongoing relationship with our fellow “sheep”, the persons around us, to thrive.  Without the relationships, we will die. A story of an elderly, housebound woman writing a daily diary has heart-rending application.  When she departed this earth, her diary was found and the contents examined.  For day after day at the end of her life, this was her entry: “Today is ______. No one came." Over and over she could only write, ”no one came.”  To be sought out and cared for is essential for our well-being.

What has been gained through the search and rescue of the parable? It is restoration to interface with the shepherd and reinstallation to the shared life of the flock.  The shepherd has his sheep in his care once more; the sheep’s life has been spared. With the protector, provider and familiar voice, the safety of the flock where the one belongs is established, and the joy of the successful search is shared. The shepherd who sought out the wandering sheep returns it to the flock where all will be nurtured and watched over.

Have you heard the saying, “ We go to heaven together and to hell alone?” Who is the we?  The start of this scripture passage says that the Pharisees and Scribes were grumbling that Jesus was with sinners, even ate with those who were unacceptable and which pious people could not come near since they would be made unclean. Certain occupations were looked down upon since those in them were unable to follow all the requirements to be ritually pure. Shepherds were one of these occupations. The accounts of scripture show that crowds of tax collectors and sinners were drawn to Jesus.  He made himself accessible to them - unlike the “religious persons “ of the time.

Jesus is telling the parables of this chapter to make the point that God has not given up on “sinners.”  They are greatly sought after and bring tremendous joy when they repent and are returned to their home.  How do we view the errant and fallen, the ones which seem most lost and beyond rescue?  Can we hope and envision them restored and on the right path?  Let us never forget this caring shepherd when we ourselves drift or end up in the wilderness, cut off from life-giving care and community.  Further, we need to see “sinners: with whom we are uncomfortable and disturbed, as ones who are much on the good shepherd’s heart and worthy of pursuit, genuine welcome and active hope.  That’s a hard lesson to live.  At the least, let us not be grumblers like the pious in the chapter not wanting to even consider as redeemable those worst offenders of “good” society. On the contrary, we are challenged to enter into the shepherd’s joy – and it is expanded, the joy of the angels in heaven over one, single sinner who repents.

PRAYER

Dear Shepherd, I hear and will follow Thy call. I know the sweet sound of Thy voice.…Why should I wander an alien from Thee, or alone in this wilderness roam.…Restore and defend me for thou art my all, and in Thee I will ever rejoice.
Amen.

Beth Krammes, Alumna, Cook School of Intercultural Studies