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Gospel: Luke 15: 1-10
The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to listen to Jesus,
but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
So Jesus addressed this parable to them.
“What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them
would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert
and go after the lost one until he finds it?
And when he does find it,
he sets it on his shoulders with great joy
and, upon his arrival home,
he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them,
‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’
I tell you, in just the same way
there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous people
who have no need of repentance.
“Or what woman having ten coins and losing one
would not light a lamp and sweep the house,
searching carefully until she finds it?
And when she does find it,
she calls together her friends and neighbors
and says to them,
‘Rejoice with me because I have found the coin that I lost.’
In just the same way, I tell you,
there will be rejoicing among the angels of God
over one sinner who repents.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Even for his most devout disciples, Jesus stretched the Jewish understanding of God. It’s easy to read through some of the harsh, even violent, language of the Old Testament and develop a narrow understanding of God.
God is vengeful; judgmental; protective of his chosen people.
Yet in the Gospels, Jesus describes God as overflowing with mercy and compassion.
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In the parable of the lost sheep, God is the humble shepherd who goes to extraordinary measures – even risking his own life – in order to save a single sheep, causing the angels in heaven to rejoice.
This was scandalous for two reasons.
First, the religious leaders of Jesus’ day lumped shepherds into the same lowly, ritually unclean lot as thieves and robbers, because shepherds allowed their animals to graze upon private land.
But God is not afraid of identifying with the lowly of society; he himself lived and died as a peasant turned itinerant preacher.
Secondly, sheep are directionless, defenseless creatures with almost no intrinsic value of their own.
The fact that God, the Good Shepherd, is willing to risk his own life for the sake of one of them gives them – and by extension, us – a value beyond measure.
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Perhaps this is what the Lord is reminding us of today.
Our value is not earned; it is given. This can be just as hard for us to accept as it was for law-abiding Jews.
We are all part of God’s family – even the lost, the stray, the sinful, and the confused.
May God grant us, his Church, the grace to seek and share this love that is given, never earned, with others today.
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Image credits: (1) The Island Parson (2) Crosswalk.com (3) Pastor Rick’s Daily Hope