Luke 15:1-7

“So he told them this parable: ’Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?’” vss. 3-4

The point of this parable is obviously God’s love for those who are lost and the joy that is inevitable when they are found. But sometimes in our reading of these verses our minds are diverted by the image of 99 sheep left in the wilderness while the shepherd is searching. They aren’t in the sheepfold, they’re out in the desert by themselves. So what happens to them? While nothing is said the implication is plain: as long as they stick together and don’t separate they’ll be just fine. We can make that assertion comfortably because that’s our experience in the church. The key to wilderness survival among the faithful is community. Even second century monks in the desert came from their isolation for common worship. Sometimes in our congregations it seems as though a lot of pastoral attention is being paid to those with the obvious needs, and it may appear that a lot of good folks have been left on their own. But that doesn’t mean that we have been abandoned or neglected. We’ll be fine as long as we hang together…and in our worship and communion we discover that the Christ who goes after the lost is perfectly present among us too.

Thought for the Day: How might it feel to be one of the ninety-nine?