Wednesday, November 8, 2023
“If a man has a
hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the
ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost
until he finds it?” (Luke 15:4,
New Living Translation)
She was recently rescued from
off a cliff in Scotland where she had been stranded for the last two years.
Nobody seems to know how she got down below, on that craggy cliff but you know
sheep – they tend to wander off and get lost and fall into danger quite easily.
There was a cave in which she must have sheltered. The news article doesn’t say
what she ate, but it does mention that she was actually overweight and was
covered in two years’ worth of wool growth.
It was a very steep cliff. The authorities
deemed it too dangerous to attempt a rescue. But a group off Scottish farmers
decided to give it a try. They rigged some ropes up to an ATV winch and slowly
and carefully lowered a couple of them down to the sheep. Apparently, Fiona was
glad to see them and did not shy away. The two men wrapped Fiona up in a sling
contraption and they hauled her back up the cliff. She is now recuperating on a
farm.
Such a story cannot help but evoke
the Parable of the Lost Sheep which Jesus told. It seems incredible that a
farmer would leave his ninety-nine sheep and go looking for one little lost
sheep. I don’t know - maybe it was his prize sheep that he was going to show at
the local, Nazareth County fair. But more than likely, it was simply what shepherds
do; tend their flocks, even the dumb and irresponsible ones who get themselves
in terrible predicaments.
God has set the standard for shepherds:
“God, the Master, says: ‘From now on, I myself am the shepherd. I’m going
looking for them. As shepherds go after their flocks when they get scattered,
I’m going after my sheep. I’ll rescue them from all the places they’ve been
scattered to in the storms… I’ll lead them into lush pasture so they can roam
the mountain pastures of Israel, graze at leisure, feed in the rich pastures on
the mountains of Israel. And I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep. I
myself will make sure they get plenty of rest. I’ll go after the lost, I’ll
collect the strays, I’ll doctor the injured, I’ll build up the weak ones and
oversee the strong ones so they’re not exploited.’” (Ezekiel 34: 11 -16,
The Message Bible)
I know of a pastor who dislikes
the whole sheep analogy. He seems to find
it offensive to compare humans to sheep. He sees sheep as stupid, mindless,
stubborn, smelly animals. I might ask
him: your point? There seems to be a little Fiona in us all, whether we like to
admit or not. All too easily distracted to look where we are going. All too
easily getting ourselves stuck in some unsafe circumstances. All too easily
getting ourselves into trouble and needing the help of others.
“We're poor little lambs Who
have lost our way! Baa baa baa!”
Perhaps, the parable’s shepherd got an earful
from his neighbours when he returned with the lost sheep. While he was away, the
other ninety-nine got out of their pen and trampled on the neighbour’s gladiolas
and ate the lettuce and carrots in their gardens. That’s sheep, for you! But
they were all now accounted for, all 100. Unity was restored. All were safe. The
lost was found. It was time to throw a party and invite the neighbours. Let’s
have a wang-dang-doodle!
Remember this next time you are
feeling lost, forgotten, trying to scrape some sort of meaning out of being
stuck on some moral or spiritual cliff. “The Lord is my shepherd; I have all
that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful
streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor
to his name.” (Psalm 23: 1 -3, NLT)
As the children’s song goes: “I just wanna be a sheep. Baa, baa, baa, baa.” But one that is tucked safely in the loving arms of Jesus.
Dale
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