Seeking the Lost

Gospel: Matthew 18: 12-14

Jesus asks his followers what they think of this scenario: a shepherd loses a sheep but still has ninety-nine.  What should he do?  Most shepherds would write off that one lost sheep.  It is too great a risk to the larger flock to leave them in order to search for this one.  Their livelihood depends on the wool and milk and other products they produce.  For them the utilitarian calculus is simple: abandon the one for the sake of the larger good.

That is, in fact, what most religious shepherds do as well.  People leave church life and there is no concern at all about it.  In fact, most rejoice at such departures, for now it means they have their small pure church they have desired for so long.  We need not bother ourselves with inconvenient people who challenge us.  Now we can attend to the work of our church without distraction.  Of course this begs the question of just what they think the work of the church actually is...

But Jesus has a different answer.  The shepherd will go in search of that lost sheep, just as the father goes and seeks out his prodigal son.  For that is the work of the church and nothing else.  The work of the church is not empire building, pyramid scheming, or ego boosting.  It is about caring for souls, going out to the peripheries to find those in need of healing those with illnesses, delivering from their demons, and feeding those who are hungry.