When I was a senior in college at the University of Illinois, I was working hard to get accepted into Veterinary School. As part of the requirements to get in to the program you were expected to gain some real world experience in veterinary medicine so that you 1) gained some proficiency and knowledge as you worked your way through classes and 2) perhaps more importantly, you knew what you were getting yourself into.
So when a position opened up at the Sheep barn on campus, I applied and I was accepted even though I had zero experience working with sheep. The head of the barn, the shepherd, was a great guy named Richard Cobb. He was not only very knowledgeable about sheep but he was also very passionate about them. He knew all the breeds, the best rams, and who the best farmers were. He was from the Boston area originally so he became known as a “baa-tenda”.
An assistant to Dick was a student named Randy. He also had worked with sheep and knew all there was to know about caring for them. The primary responsibility was to get up during the night during lambing season and look for Ewes that were lambing, having trouble lambing or needed help getting lambs to begin nursing or to keep them warm. Contrary to popular opinion, lambing season in the Midwest begins late winter or early spring when it is still fairly cold out.
So there was some talented people working at this sheep barn. Then there was me. A kid born and raised in Jersey City, New Jersey. The only lamb I had any experience with was the one underneath the mint jelly on my dinner plate. And my motivation for taking the job at the sheep barn was to help me to get into veterinary school. I did not have the passion for the work that Dick and Randy had. My working there was a means to an end. And it showed in my performance.
I would often go out into the barns during the night and walk up and down the stalls looking for ewes lambing or having trouble. And the vast majority of the time I didn’t see anything. I looked, kinda. But didn’t see. It was not unusual for Randy to go out and check on the sheep even on nights when he was off. Mainly because, I think, he knew my deficiencies. To this day I can look right at something and not see it. Drives my wife crazy. She says I look for things like a man…whatever that is supposed to mean.
And this brings us to the Gospel from Luke that we read today. Jesus loves the analogy of the Good Shepherd because his listeners could relate to the story. They either were, or knew of, shepherds and what the job entailed. A good shepherd looked and SAW his sheep and knew what they needed. He knew when they were having trouble and when to give help. A good shepherd is a perfectionist. If one sheep goes astray then he is preoccupied with where it went and if it was OK. As long as it was lost, he could not give his full attention to the rest of the flock.
And who were Jesus’ lost sheep? We read about them also in Luke. The prostitutes, the tax collectors and thieves. The ones HE spent time with that the Pharisees criticized Him for. Why would HE associate with them instead of the learned men of the Temple? Because He was preoccupied with the lost. Those who did not know God. Who had fallen away. Those who let the world and its demands come in between them and their Creator. I really don’t think He hated the righteous. After all, in Matthew we are told to seek ye first the kingdom of God AND His righteousness. I just think Jesus was a perfectionist. I am guessing He didn’t sleep well at night thinking of all those who had not come back to the Father from foreign lands as described in Ezekiel in the first reading. Foreign lands really referring to dwelling in the lands of the pagans, of idol worship, and of child sacrifice.
And don’t we sometimes feel the same way. How many of us have children who have drifted away from the faith. Or siblings who behave in ways that we know go against the will of God. And even if you have 10 children and 9 are solid in their religious observance, it is the 1 child who is no longer in God’s graces that you think about, worry over and pray for.
Later in this chapter of Luke we will read of the Prodigal Son. The one son who took all his Father’s share of wealth and blew it on loose and fast living while his brother remained home working for his Father. The Father knew that all he had would be given over to the son that remained but every day he went out looking for his wayward son to return. And when he did he rejoiced as do the angels in heaven when a sinner repents. The Father, like the angels, and like Jesus, are perfectionists. They want EVERYONE to come back.
Often people complain asking why should people of faith care about those who are sinning. It does not affect you if someone cheats or has relations outside of marriage. But being a member of Christ’s family makes us all perfectionists. We want everyone to be part of what we know. That Christ died for us, He loves us and wants us with him for all eternity. And why would we not want that for everyone.
So be a perfectionist because your Father in heaven is a perfectionist. Spread the word to those who need to hear it. And when you look at someone who may be in need, don’t look at them the way I looked at the sheep trying to have their lambs. Actually SEE them. And be Christ’s perfectionist.
