Lent Day Thirty Three
“Luke 16:1-7”
Luke 16:1-7 The Passion Translation
1 Many dishonest tax collectors and other notorious sinners often gathered around to listen as Jesus taught the people.
2 This raised concerns with the Jewish religious leaders and experts of the law. Indignant, they grumbled and complained, saying, “Look at how this man associates with all these notorious sinners and welcomes them all to come to him!”
3 In response, Jesus gave them this illustration:
4–5 “There once was a shepherd with a hundred lambs, but one of his lambs wandered away and was lost. So the shepherd left the ninety-nine lambs out in the open field and searched in the wilderness for that one lost lamb. He didn’t stop until he finally found it. With exuberant joy he raised it up and placed it on his shoulders, carrying it back with cheerful delight!
6 Returning home, he called all his friends and neighbors together and said, ‘Let’s have a party! Come and celebrate with me the return of my lost lamb. It wandered away, but I found it and brought it home.’”
7 Jesus continued, “In the same way, there will be a glorious celebration in heaven over the rescue of one lost sinner who repents, comes back home, and returns to the fold—more so than for all the righteous people who never strayed away.”
This is a lovely story told by Jesus to a mixed crowd of lovers and haters of His message. It is one of the many things I love about Jesus. His story telling appeals to all. The youngest and the oldest, the bored and the attentive. We all love a story.
I love the way the Passion version translators have stressed the celebration in this story of the lost and found lamb. ‘Let’s have a party,’ says the shepherd in this version. Isn’t that great. Who doesn’t love a party.
This story affects us all. We all have a response to it. Those of us who are weary and lost and a bit broken particularly love it. We love the fact that our good Shepherd will go out of His way to find us even if it is us that wandered off. And far from being cross at the waste of His time in finding us, this passage in this version highlights His delight and exuberant joy.
I am just wondering about the rest of the sheep, mind you.
If you had been the 99 good ones who stayed put when told to, and never wandered off and made a nuisance of themselves, how might you feel about all this joy?
It reminds me so much of the older brother in the prodigal son story. Invited to party that should never have been needed if everyone else had been as well behaved as you were.
I feel for the obedient sheep a bit.
Are we being called as God’s people to a party we feel should be kept in-house? Are we being invited this Easter to take the story outside the sheep fold and join the hunt for wanderers?
Have we turned the party invitation for all into a members pass for those who know how to stick to the rules?
As lost sheep we can appreciate the party. But once we are found, let’s not forget there might still be those who thought they’d strayed too far from the safety of the fold, and need to hear the party music when the shepherd brings them back to us.
“The church exists for its non-members,” someone once said. Never more so than at Easter… this story is good news for those who can’t hear it over the sound of their own bleating too.
Lost sheep, found sheep, and all the sheep in between, please do come to the party. It won’t be the same without you.
Ruth Rice
Ruth Rice is Director of Renew Wellbeing, a charity which runs simple café style spaces attached to a quiet room where inner habits of wellbeing are shared. Ruth longs for every church to find ways to bring God’s peace onto the high street and open spaces for all to attend to their wellbeing.