Ninety-nine to One

I remember hearing from another preacher when I was younger that we need to be careful how we quote the scriptures. Sometimes we can get messed up. One of his examples was how Jesus parable of the shepherd leaving the 99 safely in the sheep pen when going looking for the lost one. Well, that isn't the way Luke tells it:

Luke 15:4-7: "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

When you see the full story as Luke tells it the parable takes on a whole new meaning. The shepherd does not leave the sheep safe in the sheepfold. He leaves them in open country. But even more so, what does this truly say about ministry. Well, as usual Sarah at Dylan's Lectionary Blog gives us something to think about:

1. At the end of the story, where is the shepherd?
2. At the end of the story, where are the ninety-nine sheep?
3. If one sheep is with the shepherd and ninety-nine aren't, who's really the stray?

Too often, we think of "ministry" as what happens in church buildings. And it might sound goofy at first, but I think many of us far too often go to church when we want to look for Jesus.

I'm not saying that we won't find Jesus in church. ... Jesus shows up every Sunday morning, and at lots of other times as well, in church buildings.

But Christian discipleship isn't just "having a relationship with Jesus Christ," or at the very least, it's a particular kind of relationship with Jesus:

We are called to follow Jesus, to follow the shepherd.

So why do we slip so often, then, into thinking that deepening Christian discipleship -- following Jesus -- is primarily or even in large part about coming again and again to the same place to meet with the same people? When did Jesus' "Great Commission" of making disciples -- followers of Jesus -- turn into a commitment to go to church and convince others to do the same?

Clearly, I believe the answer is that it didn't, and this Sunday's gospel is an invitation to rethink such an approach.

Jesus is, after all, a shepherd.

Well, the first and most obvious question is why in the world would otherwise sane people insist on being likened to a bunch of dumb sheep who need someone to show them when and where to go to bed? (I hope Jesus didn't think that about us. Well, maybe he did.) Perhaps somewhere along the line as the clergy grew in authority and power they took the shepherd role for themselves so that they could control the people. But when we focus on being the sheep we miss the whole point of the parable.

The seeking for that which was lost is job # 1.

Which may be the second reason why we are all satisfied with being the sheep- we don't have to go looking for the lost one. We stay calmly and coolly having fellowship with our brother and sister sheep while the shepherd does the work. (And perhaps complain that the shepherd isn't doing all he should be doing for us.)

I am even more convinced that we also need to broaden our definition of "the lost" to be more than just those who we think need to meet Jesus. "The lost" are those who are the outcasts, the ignored, the prejudiced against. "The lost" are those we choose to ignore or even use to answer the question: Who wouldn't you want in your church?

Then when I answer that question it may mean it's time to look up from my grazing and discover that Jesus may have moved on. I may be the sheep without a shepherd if I haven't continued to grow in ministry and faith.

Time to wake up and follow. I am not a dumb sheep. I am to be disciple.