“Which one of you…does not leave the ninety-nine and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?”
Question #1: Which one of you, if you had a flock of 100 sheep in the wilderness (or 100 children under your care in New York City or anywhere you want to imagine) would leave the 99 all alone and go looking for that lost sheep or lost child until they were found? (Now look, I’ve just started administering this little test and I already see a hand up in cyberspace. No, it doesn’t say you have any assistants or nice wandering Bedouin to help you search or watch the others. You leave the 99, okay? Unprotected and alone. There’ll be no more impertinence tolerated here).
And which one of you, having set out on such an insane search (sorry, I’m editorializing here; I just need to ask the question as Jesus asked it)…Which one of you would keep searching high and low, night and day, interminably if it took that, until the lost was found? Which one of you would search just like that? Forgive me. One more little detail. Which one of you after searching all over tarnation and finally locating this little lost beast (I mean sheep) would actually call the entire neighborhood together and throw a party? Which one of you out there? That’s the first question. Take your time.
On to question #2…Which one of you having ten silver coins and losing one would turn on the lights (not to mention the floodlights) and sweep through your house all night, relentlessly sweeping, pathologically sweeping, even moving the heavy stuff like the stove and refrigerator out onto the front porch, looking under things and in every drawer, searching for that lost coin even though you know there’s a small fortune in change over the years that has slipped under the backseat of your car? Which one of you? And when you finally locate the coin after several days of searching, which one of you would throw a party (a party!) to celebrate the finding of that sliver of silver?
Well, none of us, actually, even on our best days. That’s the right answer to both questions. None of us would search the way Jesus describes the relentless and reckless shepherd in the wilderness. We’d want to establish caveats and guidelines; realistic policies. And none of us would search with the tenacity of that woman. We have too much fiduciary backup to worry over something so small.
I have to keep reminding myself: these old parables are not about how we might behave on our best days. These old stories are about God and the kingdom of God. God is relentlessly, tenaciously, and lovingly looking for the lost in a search with no time limits. God throws floodlights into the darkness and cares about even the small and forgotten concerns because they are large in this upside-down kingdom that values mustard seeds and birds of the air and even the hairs of one’s head.
The church, of course, can choose to join God in the search. But please understand: Jesus is out there ahead of us. He’s been out there before the search even crosses our minds.
He leads. We follow.
No comments:
Post a Comment