Joy in Heaven

“Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to [Jesus]. 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?”” (Luke 15:1-4)

What kind of shepherd who has a hundred sheep, if he loses one, leaves the ninety-nine in the wilderness to go after the one that is lost? A stupid shepherd?

I’m not a shepherd, but I do know a little about running a business, and incurring occasional losses is how businesses work. If you manage a hundred sheep, you know that some will wander off, fall down wells, or just disappear, but you are presumably also breeding your sheep, so by the end of the season, you still expect to have more than what you started with. The guy who loses one sheep and then leaves the ninety-nine ‘in the wilderness’, searching for the one that is lost, is not acting rationally. Indeed, he’s behaving like an addict!

I don’t know if people can get addicted to sheep in the same way they get addicted to drugs or gambling, but I’ve worked with a lot of people with addiction issues, and this sort of fixated behaviour where all of life’s priorities get pushed into the background while you pursue a single obsession looks very familiar.

I remember one young man (whose name I won’t mention) who was so fixated with getting his next hit that he tried faking his own kidnapping. He left a note for his parents, allegedly from the kidnappers, saying that if they wanted to see their son alive again, they should leave $50 in a paper bag at a location not far from the house.

In truth, the note would have looked a lot more authentic had he asked for $500 or something more than the cost of a single deal. Even so, his mum panicked and put $50 in a bag, but she did also call the police, and the boy was apprehended as he snuck out to collect the $50, though of course he claimed that the kidnappers were nearby and had forced him to sneak out to get the money for them. That’s the reality when you’re caught in an addiction cycle – you can’t break out of your narrative!

The shepherd leaves ninety-nine out of his one hundred sheep ‘in the wilderness’, abandoning his primary responsibility, and goes looking for the one that is lost and does not stop ‘until he finds it’, and when he does find it, ‘he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices’ (Luke 15:5), and he calls his friends together and has a party, though what his friends think of his behaviour, we’re not told.

“Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?” (Luke 15:8)

What kind of woman would do that?’ The obvious answer is ‘a woman with a mental illness’. 

I confess that I do see something of myself in this woman. About three or four times per day I forget where I’ve left my phone. I could have sworn that it was on my desk or in the last room I was in … so, I light my lamp and get my broom, by which time, hopefully, somebody has tried to call me, and I hear the thing ringing from under a cushion.

There are three consecutive parables recorded in Luke, chapter 15, and the last of the three – the parable of the lost son – helps us make sense of the first two.

I assume you know the story. Like the sheep, the son wanders off; though, unlike the sheep, he takes a lot of his father’s money with him. He then wastes all that money and brings dishonour on the family name, but the father never gives up on him.

Why does the father persist with the prodigal son? Is he a fool? Is he obsessed? Is he mentally ill? Of course! He’s a parent.

I have four children, one of whom cut contact with me about five years ago. My rational mind says, “you have a great relationship with your other three children. “Cheer up!”, yet the pain never goes away. Every morning, I pray, and every day it hurts. Why? Because I’m obsessed, addicted and mentally ill? Yep. I’m a father, and none of us acts rationally when It come to our children, our partners – those we love the most.

“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.” (Luke 15:1-2)

That’s how our passage started. These stories aren’t really about sheep or coins or sons or daughters. They’re about why Jesus bothers with people we don’t bother with. Of course, you may be tempted to romanticise “tax collectors and sinners” as if they were a group of decent, largely misunderstood people. They weren’t.

The tax collectors were wealthy collaborators – more like drug pushers than drug users – and the people who hung about with them were people that society had shunned, and probably for good reason. Could there have been sexual predators in that group, and, if there were, were Jesus’ stories intended for them too, or did even the Good Shepherd have His limits?

Jesus’ parables are often difficult to understand, and when we do understand them, they become more difficult! Much remains unclear, but one thing is clear – that when the lost sheep is found, the shepherd “lays it on his shoulders and rejoices.” (Luke 15:5) For indeed … “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” (Luke 15:7)

Our Sunday Eucharist

We had another wonderful Sunday Eucharist last weekend, and a big thank you to David Baldwin and to all those who joined us through their social media channels. Unfortunately, Tom Toby didn’t make it, and I’m still not entirely sure where he is. Tom, I expect you’re in Iraq but if you read this, please let me know you’re OK. ❤️

As per usual, I’ve pasted two of the shorts from last Sunday below, though I confess that our videos weren’t so popular this past week, with only one of them receiving more than 1,000 views thus far. Of course, our readings focused on idolatry, judgement and the cost of commitment, which are topics not likely to spark excitement. Even so, see what you think of the samples below and see the rest at our Sunday Eucharist Instagram page if you’re keen, or watch last Sunday’s entire broadcast on our YouTube channel.

As ever, let me close today with some prayerful thoughts on the state of our world:

Mr Netanyahu seems to be off his leash. The IDF’s bombing of Qatar reflects his total disregard for international law, though, as Syrian Girl quipped, “In response to being bombed by Israel, Qatar is going to write a strongly worded letter.” Quite likely, they were in on the plot. She likewise suspects Mossad’s involvement in the murder of Charlie Kirk. If that sounds implausible, read her analysis.

My guess is that all this is a prelude to another IDF attack on Iran, and according to The Grayzone, Israel did indeed provide ASIO (Australian Intelligence Organisation) with a tip-off that the Australian firebombings were masterminded by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRG), which led to Australia breaking diplomatic ties with Iran.

Iranian involvement seems so implausible to me. I just watched a PBS documentary on Jews in Iran, and indeed, Iran has the second largest Jewish population in the region, outside of Israel. One thing that stayed with me in that documentary was the testimony of an American Jew who had moved to Tehran from New York. He said he felt safer in Iran than in the US and experienced no Antisemitism there! If you find that hard to believe, click here and forward to about 5 min and 30 secs.

An Iranian attack on synagogues in Australia could not possibly benefit Iran. As the Iranian Foreign Minister said, “Accusing Iran of attacking such sites in Australia while we do our utmost to protect them in our own country makes zero sense.”

Meanwhile, in Pakistan, my friend Muhammad Abdullah reports that the flooding in the Punjab region has been devastating. He sent me links to two Facebook videos (here and here) that were taken only a few kms from his home. He’s currently trying to help organise relief efforts, and I’ve promised him our prayers and whatever tangible support we can give if he can link us to the work in his area.

As to dear Dr Hassoun of Syria, I have no update. I believe he is still alive but is still being detained, and I fear he is still being tortured. Whatever I hear on his situation will be posted to PrayersforSyria.com, so keep an eye out. In the meantime, I’ll paste our prayer for Dr Hassoun below once again. Please pray for him with me.

May the Lord bless and strengthen you for the work to which you have been called.

Your brother in the Good Fight,

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