Sheep are not intelligent creatures. That is why I feel mildly disgruntled every time I read a passage of scripture that compares God’s people to sheep. We aren’t that stupid, right? Maybe it isn’t about a lack of intelligence. Maybe it’s just about a lack of awareness and knowledge. Which is very different from sheer stupidity.
I was reading Luke 15 this morning and was struck by the parable of the lost sheep and the parable of the lost coin. They’re very short stories--only ten verses, combined. There are 99 sheep, one gets lost, the shepherd goes and finds it, everyone throws a party. A woman has ten silver coins, loses one, searches the house and finds it, everyone throws a party. Seems very simple.
Our focus is usually on the shepherd and the woman of the house. They search. He leaves 99 sheep to go retrieve one. Ninety-nine! For one sheep? The woman lights a lamp, gets out her broom, and scours the house for one coin. She has nine others! Why not let the other one go? As a child and young adult, these are the thoughts I’d entertain while reading these parables.
I think these parables are just as much about the one sheep and one coin as they are about the effort of the shepherd and woman. Sheep are easily misled and are usually unaware of the fact that they are wandering away from where they should be. A coin is an inanimate object. It can’t even consciously choose to wander away. Sometimes we wander away from the path that the Lord has put before us without even realizing it. We look up one day and realize we’re lost. Sometimes we don’t know we’re lost until the shepherd has arrived and is throwing us over his shoulder, gently carrying us back to the fold. We don’t realize our will strayed from His until the woman is cupping us in her outstretched hands, slowly shining our marred surfaces.
This is a message not only to us, but also to the Pharisees and scribes to whom Jesus is telling these Parables. Jesus is sitting down to teach the tax collectors and sinners. The Pharisees say, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them!” He immediately goes into the first parable. Of course He welcomes sinners and eats with them! He’s promised to meet us where we are, whether we’re “whitewashed tombs” or the obvious kind--“tax collectors and sinners.”
God meets me where I am. Does that mean that I should stay there and wait if I realize I’ve strayed before He arrives? No. It just means that I don’t have to fear, because in the midst of my blindness, my unconscious waywardness, and my ignorant wanderings, the Lord is seeking me fervently and will come and get me, regardless of how far I’ve unknowingly wandered. The sheep analogy isn’t so insulting now. It just means the Lord knows the nature of the people He created and that He will show us grace despite--and because of--our flaws. I love the way it feels when he lovingly sets me back down in the fold.
God,
Thank you for meeting us where we are. We know our hearts wander and we are sorry. Thank you for showing us grace when you find us, and helping us get back to where we came from--near to Your heart. Help us to read these parables and remember to do the same for others who stray. Help us to show them grace, too, because we are all dead without it. We love You so much, our faithful Shepherd.
Through Jesus,
Amen.
Erin Daugherty
Abilene Christian University
