The Shepherd

The Shepherd
Originally uploaded by auntjojo

Sorry about missing last night! I took the picture during a break in the theology class I teach and never got to posting it last night.

The photo itself is a mixing of metaphors... or at least parables. The gospel text for this week is the story of the prodigal and his brother from Luke 15:11-32. In the text, a young man walks away from his family, squanders his inheritance in decadent living, and then tries to put his life back together. Eventually he comes, on his knees, fully repentant, back to his father. The father welcomes him with open arms.

The statue represents the story of the lost sheep. When a sheep goes wandering off, loses its way, Jesus, the great shepherd, searches tirelessly for the little sheep. And eventually carries the sheep back into the fold.

So which is it? When we stray from God, does God leave us to the consequences of our decisions? Or does God search for us tirelessly until God can carry us back home? I think perhaps it is a bit of both. We can be a bit like sheep at times, wandering in the world, following after the next green patch of grass, moving step by step further away from God until we have lost our way. But we can also be like the prodigal, who makes an intentional choice to walk in the other direction and turn his back on all he has learned from his family. In each case, God desperately wants us back. But God is a good parent and knows that some times we have to want to come back as well.