The Value of One Sheep

AM Psalm [83] or 34 • PM Psalm 85, 86
Num. 12:1-16 • Rom. 2:12-24 • Matt. 18:10-20

Our gospel reading today includes the parable of the lost sheep. This is a challenging one to observe from an economic lens. It begins with an unusual inquiry: “What do you think?” This is an invitation to use our instincts as we consider the situation.

Then we get another question: “Does he not leave the 99 to go look for the one?”

Well, no? This is a shepherd. His livelihood is the sheep. He has 100 sheep, and 1 goes missing. That’s 1%. There is an implication that he leaves the 99% at some sort of risk to go seek the one. From an economic standpoint, it makes no sense to risk 99% of your inventory to retrieve 1%. Anyone who has been in business knows that is a low and very acceptable amount of loss. So it doesn’t make business sense.

To drive the point home, what follows is that he rejoices more over the 1 than he does over the 99 that didn’t go astray. This draws a clear line that these sheep are more than assets. He cares about every sheep, in a way that goes far beyond the return.

When you look at the percentages of people that are marginalized in our society, and when we consider the very human feeling we have of not minding if a couple of the “sheep” we know wandered off, this seemingly simple parable becomes a serious reckoning. We can do so much good when we forget about what flock someone belongs to, valuing everyone as the most important, and just caring about each other one person at a time. Care in a complete and sacrificial way that goes beyond the expectation of any return. Like the Shepherd.

What do you think?

Written by Dan Robinson

Dan Robinson is the Media Ministries specialist at St. Paul’s, overseeing the streaming of services online.