Reflections from Boston: Luke 15:1-7

Luke 15:1-7 (NRSV)

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

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?When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Which one of you…does not?”  Jesus asks the question with the underlying assumption that as shepherds, OF COURSE we would leave the 99 sheep behind to look for the lost one.  Would we?  Is that a fair assumption to make?  Would we leave the 99 unprotected to look for just one?  

And who do we tend to think of ourselves as: the one, or among the 99?

The 99 tend to be thought of as the “righteous” or those who follow the rules and do their best to follow God’s ways.  The one tends to be thought of as the “sinner:”  the one who tends to habitually sin over and over.  We know that we all have the capacity to sin, but to those listening here to Jesus, there was a definite difference between those who did right and those who sinned over and over again. 

Is this a choice that we can even really understand?

And while we can consider ourselves righteous – because we know we have been justified by grace though faith in Jesus – does that mean that we aren’t also lost?  Can we be BOTH lost AND righteous?

In what ways are you lost?  What things separate you from the Shepherd?

Do you ever feel pressure at church or at work or anywhere else in your life to be "perfect" (or righteous?)  - to the point where you feel lost?

Can you think of a time where you were the one Jesus came after?

In what ways does this parable help you understand God's Commonwealth of love?  In what ways does it still confuse you?

God of the lost, find me.  When I am lost, when I stray, and when I live under an illusion that I have it all together and am found.  Find me and lead me and guide me back home.  Amen.