There was great distress among the sheep. Little Wally, the son of prominent flock members Drusilla and Arthur, was missing. The panic had begun in early afternoon, when he did not return from play. Soon, though, the shepherd found out that Wally was gone, and about nightfall he set out to search for him. Everybody knew and liked little Wally, and the whole night, while the shepherd searched, nobody slept a wink.
Nobody, that is, except for Roger. Even by sheep standards, Roger was a black sheep. Among other things, Roger had a very unpleasant, grating "baah." When it came time to move from one pasture to another, Roger always stayed at the very back of the flock and complained. And when it came time to be sheared, Roger would kick and thrash about so that it took twice as long to shear him as any other sheep.
So it wasn’t surprising that, while the rest of the flock stayed up, saying kind words to Drusilla and Arthur, giving them encouragement, Roger slept like a log.
Some weeks later, as everybody slept, a wolf crept up on the fold. He noticed that, while all the other sheep were sort of clumped together, one of them -- Roger, of course -- was off by himself, alone.
The wolf grabbed Roger by the scruff of the neck and began to drag him away, that he might eat him. Roger awoke, and began bleating in such a loud, harsh voice that it hurt the wolf’s sensitive ears. He also thrashed around so hard that the wolf eventually decided that trying to kill him and eat him up was not worth the effort.
The only trouble was, Roger was out in the middle of nowhere with no clue of where he was. He began to appreciate now that, while the other sheep were at best a necessary evil, the shepherd had been a good and valuable friend. The shepherd had shown him to fresh new pastures, and led him to cool clear streams, and had -- until the present moment, anyway -- kept him safe. But now he was out in this rocky, barren plain, with no idea how to get to food or water, and no hope of finding the rest of the flock..
He tried to go to sleep, but he kept dreaming about wolves and jackals and hyenas, and about starving to death. Aah well. He had lived alone, it only figured that he would die alone.
He dozed on and off, and about the time the sun was coming up he heard heavy, deliberate footsteps. Probably a bear. Well, at least it would be quick. He closed his eyes and waited for his neck to be torn limb from limb.
Meanwhile, back at the fold, things were hopping. A few of the sheep who were light sleepers had stirred just in time to see that the shepherd was leaving, and figured something was up.
The sheep ran the facts through their little sheep brains, and came up with only one conclusion: Somebody Was Missing!
Like a brushfire, the news flashed through the herd: Somebody’s missing! Somebody’s missing! All the parents checked their children; all the husbands check their wives, all the wives checked their husbands, and everybody checked on elderly relatives.
All present and accounted for. That was odd. Why would the shepherd leave us if no one was missing? They ran it through their little sheep brains again: HE’S ABANDONED US! The shepherd has abandoned us!
Within minutes, everybody had heard of their abandonment, and the fold was in a blind panic. The frenzy carried on until well after sunup, when Osgood, one of the particularly sharp-eyed sheep, saw the shepherd coming over a distant hill.
The sheep rejoiced. They gambolled and frolicked and bleated with joy even greater than that they felt when little Wally was returned.
But their celebration did not last long. There, on the shepherd’s shoulders -- it was ROGER! They had done their nose count, but Roger had alienated all the rest of the flock so badly that nobody even thought to look for him.
The sheep were dumbstruck. What was the big idea? The shepherd had left all the good, cooperative, well-meaning sheep to go rescue an obnoxious, unpleasant, anti-social one.
Finally, Arthur was appointed to take the flock’s complaint to the shepherd. They had it all written out:
Whereas, some days ago, the sheep were left alone to fend for ourselves, and
Whereas, we were given no indication that the shepherd intended to return and
Whereas, the uncertainty over the shepherd’s return caused serious distress amongst us, and
Whereas all this distress was caused over a sheep that really nobody really even hardly really liked very much in the first place really, even hardly. [The sheep had some trouble with the wording of this part.]
Therefore be it resolved:
That we, the sheep, do strongly protest our abandonment on the night in question,
That we demand a full explanation of the reasons for said abandonment, and
That we demand an apology for such thoughtless and irresponsible action on the part of the shepherd.
We demand justice.
(Signed)
The Flock
When the shepherd received the message, he called a meeting of all the sheep, and responded to each of the items in turn.
"Yes, it’s true I left the flock all alone a few nights ago, and you were left to fend for yourselves, but nobody seemed to mind when I left you alone to go search for Wally."
"Yeah but that’s different." Answered Chester The Sheep, but he was shushed.
"As to the part about not knowing whether you’d been abandoned, well, frankly I’m a little surprised at all of you. Have I ever abandoned you before? Haven’t I always protected you from wolves and taken you to fresh pastures and clear streams? I never abandoned you before, why would I start now?"
"Yeah but this is DIFFERENT." Insisted Mildred The Sheep, but she too was shushed.
"And finally, as to this part about it being unfair, what was unfair about it? Wouldn’t I have done the same for any of you?"
"Well," said Herman The Sheep, "Going out and saving all the rest of us, that’s one thing. But, well, you put all the rest of us in jeopardy for HIM." He motioned over to Roger, who, true to form, was asleep, snoring loudly, far away from the others.
"That’s what really bothers us, said Arnold The Sheep, “Why didn’t you just let him take his chances? He didn’t deserve to get saved. It’s not fair."
And for once, though he probably didn’t know it, one of the sheep told the truth. Half of it anyway. Roger did not deserved to get saved. It was not fair.
Of course, the other half of the truth is, none of the OTHER sheep deserved to get saved either. They all deserved to be left to take their chances, but they didn’t have to. The shepherd looked after them and rescued them when they needed it.
This would probably be a much more satisfying story if I were to tell you that Roger’s experience changed his life profoundly, and that from that day forward, he went on to become a model sheep, cooperative, appreciative and obedient; but he didn’t. He got a little better for a while, and the he tapered off.
The only real difference anyone could tell was that he didn’t complain as much while moving from pasture to pasture, and he didn’t thrash around quite as much when he got sheared. Roger remained, to the end of his days, a sheep wholly undeserving of the shepherd’s rescue.
Yes, salvation comes to the undeserving. And that’s good news, because we’re ALL undeserving. When we expect or ask justice from God, we had better be careful what we are asking for. Our reading from Jeremiah expresses GOD’S idea of justice: a hot wind from the bare heights and God speaking in judgment of all people, because people are foolish, stupid children, and we do not know the voice of our shepherd.
And yet we know that God, through Christ, does not do what is fair. God does not do what is just. God does what is pleasing to God, and that is BETTER THAN FAIR. That is GRACE. The foremost of sinners -- and Paul counted himself as one of these -- receive salvation so that Jesus Christ may display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.
So if there’s ever the temptation to be resentful of the salvation received by those who seem undeserving, don’t worry. There is plenty of salvation for everybody -- the good sheep, the bad sheep, and all of us in between.
