Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? – Luke 15:4
Most of us know the parable of the Lost Sheep. The shepherd leaves the other ninety-nine behind to go and look for the one that is lost. When the lost sheep is found, the shepherd rejoices and tells everyone about it. However, have you ever wondered what the other ninety-nine sheep doing at this time?
The first question that needs to be asked is “Did the other sheep notice that one of their flock was missing?”
No doubt, each sheep was living their own life, satisfying their needs, mixing with the sheep they wanted to be with and ignoring those that they didn’t like. None of them were keeping watch and alerting the others when something was wrong. If one of them was, they would have alerted the others and all of them would have joined the shepherd in the search. They were also probably unaware that the shepherd had also disappeared.
Was the sheep who went missing, a sheep that was so insignificant that no-one cared where they were or how they were doing? No-one checked in on this sheep to make sure that they okay and help make them feel part of the flock. Did the sheep feel so out of place and/or neglected that it had to leave? The other ninety-nine really didn’t care or they would have done something to prevent the one from leaving.
The shepherd, however, did notice. He watches over every single one of his sheep and he knows what each of them needs. There would have been signs that the one was heading towards being lost. The ninety-nine didn’t see it but he did. Every sheep matters to him.
Most of us find that we are part of the ninety-nine at some time or another. We get caught up in own lives that we neglect those in our flock – our church, our neighbourhood, our family. Something or someone causes us to start turning our eyes from those we don’t want to associate with and soon others follow our lead. Before you know it, the unwanted ones become the lost ones, whether it is their faith, life, or both. The lost one turns their back on the flock and is soon gone. Some may wonder for a brief time what happened but then their attention is quickly caught up elsewhere. A lost sheep becomes a forgotten sheep.
Jesus, our shepherd knows where we are all the time. We are never lost to him. He will always come looking for us and giving us the opportunity to come home with Him. Unlike a sheep, who has no choice and just willing accepts the shepherd’s help, we do. The choice is ours to make.
As for the other ninety-nine, they have a choice to make as well. Will they be more vigilant and look after each other or will they just keep to themselves, satisfying their own needs? The other ninety-nine need to start thinking like the shepherd and remember that everyone matters to God.
Originally published March 2019