Counting Sheep....98, 99...wait, where's Tim?

So last night I had a weird dream that I can't recall all of but a major part involved me and some friends rescuing a hijacked sheep that was hiding under my car.

Now I've never really been one who cares or particularly likes sheep.  I can't really look at them without thinking of this

But this sheep was not as animotronic or accented.  It didn't speak at all actually.  It was just helpless, trapped under the car, dirt covering its wool, turning the sheep a dusty brown color. It didn't baa even, just looked up helplessly. As I looked up from the sheep's eyes, I saw a pack of wolves surrounding the car, hungry for lunch.  They were menacing but almost looked playful, like a dog on its back.

Imagine 12 Wolves like this...minus the chew toy

I pulled the lamb in the backseat and shut the door.  Eventually that part of the dream drifted into another but the symbolism was clearly there. My mind had something about sheep in it, even if its just a reminder I need to unpack sweaters for winter.  

So for this blog post I wanted to refer to a Gospel parable Jesus tells us about sheep.   It is one we've all heard before, coming from Luke 15:

And he spoke to them this parable, saying: 4 What man of you that has an hundred sheep, and if he shall lose one of them, does he not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after that which was lost, until he find it? 5 And when he has found it, lay it upon his shoulders, rejoicing? 6 And coming home, call together his friends and neighbours, saying to them: Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost? 7 I say to you that even so there shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that does penance, more than upon ninety-nine just who need not penance.

Jesus is our good shepherd who gathers the lambs in his wake (so as the songs go).  This is not new to us.  But it might be worth unpacking this quote,  much as those sweaters of mine must be.  So here it goes.

What stands out to me is that Jesus teaches this to the Pharisees and scribes in the form of a question.  "What man among you wouldn't search for this one sheep?"  These are the leaders of Israel he is speaking to, in the Lord's mind there is no reason they should not already be trying to help the lost sheep find its way back to the flock!  But, as it says in other parts of the bible, He knows their hearts.  They question His dining with sinners and feel it disgusting that this holy man, Jesus the rabbi, is seated with the filthy "unholy" crooks, prostitutes, and bad men.  These Pharisees don't understand because they're hearts are hardened and not open to receiving God's word.

Jesus tells them the great joy that is to be had by one sinner converting. All sheep are supposed to be in the flock for their own good and care.  Alone they are helpless, can easily be injured or trapped by wolves....I don't imagine Jesus necessarily meant under a car as in my dream but I'm sure He thought of it sometime throughout all eternity, otherwise I wouldn't have dreamed of it.

Now why did I have to rescue this sheep in the dream?  I think that is the point of Jesus' question: we all are called to help each other.  We are all sheep following the Lord, our Shepherd.  But Jesus sets the model for us by becoming a human, by becoming the Lamb of God who comes as a sacrifice for all of us for all time.  Though He is a sheep, He is also the Shepherd. Just as we are all sheep, we are all called to share in Jesus' shepherdhood and to protect those in our flock who need it.    "What man among you wouldn't search for this one sheep?" We all are tasked with protecting our brothers and sisters from the wolves of the world; we all are called to help the poor, defamed, and defenseless. We are all called to sacrifice ourselves for our fellow sheep as Jesus does for each of us in taking on our sins.

Now Jesus' sheephood is much more sacrificial than we can imagine.  It is the greatest act of love to lay His life down for the us (John 15:13) and that the Father sends Him to do so (John 3:16).  But this does not mean we should not help our sheep brothers and sisters.  The Lord insists upon it and implores us to. Our sacrifices may mean small and like nothing compared to Jesus' but we are to do whatever small part we can to help bring back the sheep who are lost.

I invite you to say a little prayer with me now: God, we love you very much and rejoice in You as our Shepherd.  Help us to act as Jesus taught us and to guide His flock back towards You Father, in any way we can.  We look forward to the unfathomable joy of their coming home party in Heaven!  Amen.

BTW: I want to make a note here to come back to this passage (Luke 15) later because there is a second hypothesis laid on us by the Lord about a lady searching for one goat missing out of ten that might be cool to examine for gender differences in spirituality.

Peace and Love in Christ,

Just a sheep, OneCatholicGuy