The meaning of the word wander is to move about aimlessly. Or roam aimlessly. To be aimless means to not have a goal in life. So, intrinsic to the word wander is to roam about without any particular aim. When the sheep wandered without any particular aim the sheep was separated from its flock and was lost. When the shepherd found that the sheep who wandered was no longer part of the flock the shepherd started searching for this sheep. He left the ninety nine on the hilltop and went in search of the sheep.
Although this parable is the kind of parable that we can read to young children, it also has a deep meaning. Search, find, look for, lost, found….these words scattered throughout this parable has life changing implications for our lives. This parable is also very reassuring because of the character of the shepherd. The shepherd looks for the sheep until he finds the sheep.
The lost sheep is symbolic of a human being who has wandered away from the fold or community and is lost because the sheep does not know the way back to the community. The sheep is unable to find the way back and is probably frantically searching. The sheep would like to go back to the fold but does not know the way back. In such a scenario the shepherd leaves all the sheep which he has which in the parable is 99 and goes to find the sheep. When the shepherd finds the sheep he lays the sheep on his shoulders and walks back happily.
Very often in malls and parks we see young children sitting on the shoulders of their fathers and while the father walks the child surveys the world from the father's shoulders. The sheep who is found by the shepherd who owns the sheep brings the sheep back to the fold by laying the sheep on his shoulders. The sheep and the shepherd are happy. That is the picture painted for us by Jesus about what we mean to our heavenly Father.
Dear sisters and brothers in Christ it is important to note that the sheep was not lost because the sheep deliberately chose to follow a wrong path. The sheep must have seen a green pasture a little distance away. Or the sheep may have skipped and jumped in the happiness of being in the wide open countryside and suddenly found itself in a new territory where everything was unfamiliar and he could not find his flock. Not only did the sheep not deliberately wander away, the sheep did not know he was wandering even.
Isn't that how it is like for many of us when we don't do anything deliberately wrong but we may be a bit careless about our surroundings or we may have not been very alert to the direction we were going and suddenly we find ourselves in a new territory where we don't know anyone neither does anyone know us. Like sheep we can wander through life. There is a danger to wandering. When we wander we can be far from our shepherd. And from our folk. Dear loving sisters and brothers in Christ if we make it our goal to stay close to our shepherd Jesus we will not roam aimlessly or wander from our folk. Let us make it our goal and aim to stay close to our shepherd, Jesus.
What does wandering consist of? Wandering may mean different things to different people. Obviously a life of vice such as drinking in bars can consist of wandering. But what about those of us who don't have vices. Is it possible for people without vices to wander? If a person's aim or goal is to become a stylist, then perusing a fashion magazine is not wandering to such a person. If the goal of a person is to get a top score in a graduate level class on a subject like psychology, then perusing a fashion magazine during the time meant for perusing psychology books can be wandering. Watching the latest news updates is not wandering for a journalist who covers news but watching news updates can be wandering for a mom of a toddler who needs her constant attention. The best way to not wander is to stay close to our shepherd Jesus through prayer and surrendering all of our goals to Christ and seek his help for all our concerns.
Why is it important not to wander? A student of psychology who peruses fashion magazines during the time meant for studying psychology may get a low score for her subject and may not get a good job. That is why it is important not to wander. Because wandering can veer you off course and change the trajectory of your life. Only our shepherd Jesus can prevent us from wandering. Sometimes somethings can seem like we are staying on course but actually may be wandering and sometimes some things may seem like wandering but may not actually be wandering. If no one in our family has ever tried mountain climbing and we are suddenly in a group of people who are mountain climbing enthusiasts is it wandering because no one in our family has ever climbed a mountain. The best way to know is by checking to see if we are keeping all the commandments and if we are then something innocuous like mountain climbing may not be wandering. But if we have to care for young children who are only learning to walk then joining in with the group of mountain climbers may not be the best decision.
When we do our duties to our fellow human beings we are not wandering. When we keep all of the ten commandments we are not wandering. When we are kind to other human beings we are not wandering. When we love we are not wandering. When we shine our light courageously we are not wandering. When we increase the talents entrusted to us we are not wandering.
Another important lesson of this parable is the value of the individual over the group. The shepherd had 100 sheep. Only one wandered. The other 99 were okay and stayed in the folk. The shepherd could have easily said, I am ok with 99, I will not waste any time and effort over the one who wandered. Jesus wants us to know that each one of us is important. If as Christians we wander Jesus will come after us and find us. This means that we can be courageous to hold an independent viewpoint about any issue even if it does not agree with the viewpoint of others, because even if the whole world abandons us, Jesus will not.
Perhaps if we take this parable to heart we may want to be extremely cautious. In our extreme caution about the fear of wandering we may forget to lead an abundant life. Everything may seem like wandering to us. Let us not be so extremely fearful because Jesus will come and find us if we ever wander. But it is best not to wander because not wandering will help save us our time. One way many of us wander these days is through social media. Social media helps us keep in touch with our near and dear ones. Through social media valuable information about current news and events is made available to us at our finger tips. However social media does have its negative side. How often do we keep swiping through endless latest trending news stories and pictures or viral videos and before we know it we have lost a good two hours. Two hours which could have been used in a more productive manner.
Sometimes we don't even know how to come back to the fold if we have wandered. We can only pray and hope that Lord Jesus will come to find us. Let us pray today that we will not wander and that if we are far away from Jesus He will come and find us. Sometimes nobody else can find us either. Only Jesus can.
One reason why this parable is reassuring is because of the character of Jesus. Jesus searches for us, looks for us and finds us. This is reassuring because of two reasons. 1. Jesus will find us. Jesus cares enough about each one of us that He will take every pain to come and find us. 2. We don't have to find Jesus. We only have to pray to Jesus and He will hear us. If we have a savior who will give up his flock to find the one sheep who was lost, do we have to take the trouble of finding Jesus in our muddled way. No, we don't.
Dear loving sisters and brothers in Christ, today as we go about our duties and responsibilities let us be thankful to Jesus who loves us enough to leave the 99 to come and save the one lost sheep.
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