Let's Be Shepherds

A shepherd goes after one lost sheep, leaving ninety-nine as he gathers in the lost one. The inclusion of the parable in scripture implies a gentle command to go and do likewise. It teaches us how to rescue.
The sheep that remained weren’t alone. They had safety in numbers. The wanderer, however, was vulnerable, and greatly in need of the shepherd’s concern. With the myriad pressures and lures of today’s world, any member who wanders from the safety of Christ’s fold is in grave peril.
This parable doesn’t mean the lost sheep was inferior, weak, or less valuable to the shepherd. A true shepherd would not leave his flock unattended without good reason, without a worthy cause: and to him, the lost one IS a worthy cause. It teaches that each of us is worth going after; each of us deserves loving hands embracing us.
There are those among us who are drifting, drowning, disappearing into nothingness because “no one cares”. If no one reaches for them, if no one notices their absence, what other conclusion will they draw? Most people don’t announce, “I’m drifting away. I’m in pain.” They simply drift away, in pain. Michael McLean’s “Safe Harbors” says, “There are refugees among us who are not from foreign shores, and the battles they are waging are from very private wars. And there are no correspondents documenting all their grief, but these refugees among us all are yearning for relief. There are refugees among us. They don't carry flags or signs. They are standing right beside us in the market check out lines; and the war they've been fighting, it will not be televised, but the story of their need for love is written in their eyes... Can you see through their disguises? Can you hear what words won't tell? Some are losing faith in Heaven 'cause their life's a living Hell. Is there anyone to help those who have no where else to flee? For the only arms protecting them belong to you and me.” In those lyrics, Michael McLean brought to life the parable of the shepherd.
As the song says, “This is a call to arms, to reach out and to hold the evacuees from the dark. This is a call to arms, to lead anguished souls to safe harbors of the heart.” Right in front of us, anguished souls long to matter, to be embraced by the rest of the flock, not in condescension or pity, but in respect and love. Let’s be those shepherds.