God Cares for the Lost Sheep
March 29, 2010
Luke 15:3-7
The parable of the lost sheep is one that convinces us that truly each parable is told to have one central point. This is because it makes very little sense for a shepherd to leave ninety-nine sheep in the wilderness to go find his one lost, stray sheep. How foolish that would be for a shepherd might lose two or three of his sheep to the wolves or to who knows what while he seeks after the one lost sheep. Additionally, if the parable was taken to mean each thing equals another thing (allegorically) someone might also reason it would be hard for one shepherd to care for one hundred sheep. But the point of the matter is that the shepherd rejoices over finding his lost sheep and invites others to rejoice as well. So Jesus says our gracious God rejoices greatly over one “notorious” sinner who repents—more than finding sheer joy over ninety-nine who remain faithfully in the fold.
Often pastors are compared to shepherds because the church is compared to a flock. I have been a pastor who seeks to bring back those who have strayed from the fold, and now how tireless the work is in trying to reach them. The results are usually not forthcoming and if you really wanted to be sensible with your time you would spend far more time on the faithful in the parish. But the fact of the matter is that the model that Jesus gives is that of spending time calling the lost home. And as Philip Keller, a former Australian shepherd puts it; these sheep nearly always “nibble themselves lost”. They aren’t bad people but they gradually get away from their roots. How joyous it is when they/we are restored back into the fold. It should lead to throwing a party.
Each and every one of us can nibble ourselves lost. But we rejoice that we have gracious God who never gives up on us…who will seek us out and do everything short of taking away our freedom to respond in faith to gain us back. How grateful we can be, whether we are the one lost sheep now or are planted in the middle of His flock.