Luke 15:1-7: a reflection

1Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming close to him to hear him. 2The Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, “This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.” 3He told them this parable: 4“Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them, wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that was lost, until he found it? 5When he has found it, he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6When he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7I tell you that even so there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.

The Pharisees grumble that Jesus welcomes sinners and eats with them, and Jesus answers with a story. Which of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one, would not leave the ninety-nine and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he finds it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing, and calls his friends to celebrate. Then Jesus draws the point: there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine who need no repentance.

Notice how far the shepherd goes for the one. He does not write off a single straggler as an acceptable loss; he leaves the ninety-nine and searches until he finds it. The one that wandered matters that much to him. And when the sheep is found, it is not scolded or driven back; it is lifted onto the shoulders and carried home with rejoicing. The lost one is sought, found, and celebrated.

That is the heart of God toward the individual who has wandered, toward you, if you are the one who has strayed. You are not an acceptable loss, one among many that God can do without. You are the one he leaves the flock to seek, the one he carries home rejoicing, the one over whom heaven throws a party when you turn back. If you have wandered off and wondered whether God would even bother coming after someone like you, hear the parable: he seeks the one, until he finds it, and heaven rejoices when he does. You are worth the search. Let yourself be found and carried home.

Lord, you are the shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to seek the one lost sheep, and carries it home rejoicing. When I have wandered and wondered whether you would bother coming after someone like me, remind me that you seek the one, and that heaven rejoices over one sinner who repents. I am the one; find me, lift me onto your shoulders, and carry me home.