Repenting Shepherds (Sermon on Luke 15:1-10 9/16/07)

Repenting Shepherds

Ezekiel 34:1-10 September 16, 207 Luke 15:1-10 Rev. Paul M. Burns

A farmer and a city man met on an old dirt road. “Got a stray,” the farmer said, “How do they get lost?” asked the city man. “They just nibble themselves lost,” said the farmer; “they keep their heads down, wander from one green tuft to another, come to a hole in the fence- and never can find a hole by which to get back again.”

The prophets of the Bible used the language of sheep and shepherds to speak of Israel. It was certainly a language that people understood. Sheep were integral to their world. Jeremiah wrote “My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have led them astray…all who have found them have devoured them…” They also compare leaders to shepherds. Ezekiel wrote “Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep?” Isaiah even refers to the Messiah as a sheep: “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.”

Jesus is not doing something new by using a sheep and a shepherd in his parable. He was speaking very familiar language, but perhaps a forgotten lesson. The Pharisees had become so focused on rule following that perhaps they have forgotten their role as shepherds of the flock. Perhaps they don’t even recognize who is in the flock.

In the world of sheepdom there are essentially five roles. There are the shepherds and the predators. Of course the shepherds seek to protect the sheep from the predators. And there are essentially three classes of sheep: the bellwether, the middle sheep, and the outliers. The bellwether is the strongest sheep. This sheep pushes towards the middle, eats well, and is least vulnerable to predators. The middle sheep simply follow the inclinations of the bellwether. The outliers are sheep who are either less tame and desire isolation because of lack of trust of the other sheep or they are weak and cannot get enough to eat close to the other sheep, they get pushed to the outside. Being on the outside makes them most vulnerable to predators. The bellwether pays close attention to the outliers because they will signal will danger is near. If left without a shepherd the flock will only move for two reasons: to seek food and to flee danger. Only a shepherd can lead them home, otherwise they would just wander aimlessly by the impulse of appetite or fear. The outliers are usually the ones that pay the price.

In our passage Jesus is hanging out with some outliers, tax collectors and sinners. The Pharisees are just grumbling up a storm about it saying “This man who is supposed to be a good bellwether like us is out there being friendly and eating with those filthy outliers.” So Jesus tells them the two parables that I read earlier.

He says, “What man of you, having a hundred sheep…” He is reminding them they are shepherds. Belwethers don’t care whether or nor the outliers are lost, but shepherd must. They can’t afford to lose a single one. They will search until they find the lost sheep and bring it or carry it if they have to in order to get it back to the flock. Finding a lost sheep was an occasion for celebration and a person needs friends to celebrate he call them up and throws a party.

He then tells the meaning of the story, “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous person who need no repentance.” It is interesting to me that this parable is about repentance. Who has done wrong? The sheep just got lost. The shepherd finds the sheep and brings it back. Where is the repentance?

The second parable is much the same story, except with a woman and a coin. The meaning that Jesus gives also pretty much the same. Where is the repentance? And who is the one who repents?

We have a clue in the original language of the text. There are actually two different words that are translated here as lost. “…having a hundred sheep and having lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? The first lost means to abandon or to leave behind. The shepherd abandoned this sheep. So the shepherd is at fault. The second lost means to be ruined or destroyed. It is in a noun form, so it could be the ruined one or the destroyed one. Generally when this form is used the ruined one is at fault. They have brought about their own destruction. So it could also be the sheep’s fault.

But the word repent literally means to turn about. Both the sheep and the coin are lost in a sense of being dead. They are helpless and motionless. It is the shepherd and the woman who turn about. They are the ones seeking restoration. The sheep and the coin are brought back. They have been returned.

So what is Jesus saying to the Pharisees? Perhaps very simply he is telling the Pharisees to extend a hand to the tax collectors and sinners, the outliers. Welcome them into their circle. But then there is still the question of repentance? Surely the Pharisees believe that these outliers are the ones who are in need of repentance. They count themselves among the ninety-nine righteous and the nine coins who stayed put. But herein lies silliness. Sheep aren’t righteous. They only eat and flee. They do not truly discern between good and bad. They just nibble, nibble. The whole flock of them could just nibble itself into the middle of nowhere. And a coin doesn’t stay put. It just lies where it is until it is moved. They can take no credit for their position in life, nor are they in a place to judge others who are not where they are. In fact, if these outliers are lost and left for dead, it is because they have been abandoned by the shepherdless flock.

Ezekiel relays the words of God to us who says, “Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out…I, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you push with side and shoulder, and thrust at all the weak with your horns, till you have scattered them abroad.” Jesus Christ is God coming for his sheep and he will judge those who have pushed out the weak to the outsides. Consider in your life if you have been guilty of pushing out the weak of the world? It could be that the most prevalent way we do this is not so much by intentionally hurting the weak, but by ignoring them, by leaving them behind to pursue our desires, seeking our own food. Jesus call us to repent and join him in seeking out the lost, the abandoned, the isolated of our community. They are all over the place. Harlan, Kentucky is one place that probably feels abandoned by the world. As many of you know Harlan is an rather isolated community in Appalachia. Lack of work and poor education have created a devastating cycle of poverty. Vision for the future of each child is very limited if this community remains in isolation. For that reason our Shepherd has led this church out there. So that they would know that they are not alone, even if it is just for a couple of days out of the year.

There are also people right here in Antioch, maybe just down the street in the Mira Vista apartments that might be left behind by society or maybe like sheep that have just nibbled themselves lost and not able to find the hole in the fence to get back in. Not every lost person is out on the street for us to see. They may be stuck in an apartment somewhere. Out of sight out of mind.

Or maybe there are people who are trapped in an identity that is not really them; their soul buried deep down out of site. They might be life long criminals. They may be youth who are simply trying to fit in with a society that mocks gentleness and honesty.

There may be people right here in this church that may feel abandoned, left behind to deal with their burdens. Let us repent and go seek the lost. Each of them has value to God and therefore for us. Let us stop being bellwether sheep only using our strength for our own security and satisfaction. Let us follow the Good Shepherd.

But let us always remember Jesus is not just the shepherd. He laid down his shepherd’s crook and became the lamb. He willingly walked to his own slaughter for the sake of all kinds of sheep: bellwethers, outliers, middle sheep, even the predators. To them he says forgive them for they know not what they have done. He did it for all who are in need of repentance. If you recognize yourself as a sinner. Then there is good news for you. The price has been paid to restore you to God. Repent and believe it. The only truly lost people are those who count themselves as righteous. Not knowing that they are even lost. They wander about following the path of appetite and fear. Better to be the sinner. For Christ is seeking you always. He will place you on his shoulders and carry you back to his home and there will be a celebration with friends and even angels that is beyond our imagination.