STINKY SHEEP LIVES MATTER

SUNDAY MORNING!!!!  I climbed out of bed, hopped in the shower, rolled on the deodorant, and spritzed on the perfume…now what to wear? Cool morning = cozy sweater, nice skirt, blow dry my hair, take the shine off my nose, don a decorative scarf, and black heels, grab favorite purse and “VOILA,” ready for church…well the outside is at least!

We walk into church, smile perfunctory, shake a few hands and take a seat…not the front row but near enough to the front to avoid distractions and concentrate on the songs and sermons. People are still filing in and finding their seats, so I sit piously, eyes closed in quiet meditation…Oh how good God is to me.

Suddenly my eyes began to water and my nose began to run as an acrid scent wafted right back my way.  Jarred from my comfortable, spiritual posture, my eyes flew open…SERIOUSLY???  Who comes to church smelling and looking like that?  The still, small voice whispered… “They are sheep; sheep that I love and sometimes sheep stink.”  To the Good Shepherd, STINKY SHEEP LIVES MATTER!!!

To the Shepherd, all the sheep are precious…the obedient, the properly sheared, and the well-fed; from the smallest lamb to the oldest ram.  When we are safe in the sheepfold, we like to end the narrative right here, but for the Shepherd there are sheep that are injured and lame, sheep that are not satisfied with the offered pasture and stream, and sheep that have wandered away and his heart yearns to gather them in his arms and bring them safely home, because STINKY SHEEP LIVES MATTER!!!

Luke 15:4-6 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, "Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!"

Luke 15 gives us the “Parable of the Lost Sheep.”  In this parable, the Shepherd leaves the 99 sheep safe in the sheepfold to search for the one that has wandered away.  Though his body begins to tire, he continues to search; though the night settles in and he may be cold and hungry, he continues to search; though hope wears thin, the Shepherd continues, as we read in verse 4, “Until he finds it.” 

Suddenly, the Shepherd hears a faint bleating, a rustle of leaves and there caught in the brambles is the precious lost sheep.  Its fleece may be matted with blood and tangled with thorns, the  smells of unsavory substances offend his nostrils but doesn’t stop the Shepherd.  Gently he cuts through the imprisoning brambles, pours oil in the wounds, binding them to stop the bleeding and tenderly “lays it on his shoulder.”  With no thought to soiling his robe or the transfer of aromas from the sheep to his person, the Shepherd makes his way home, rejoicing because, STINKY SHEEP LIVES MATTER!!

SUNDAY MORNING….the Holy Spirit moves in our midst.  Not because of my spotless garments or sweet smelling perfume but because the Good Shepherd is seeking for some lost sheep.  His Spirit began to sense their feeble bleating and moved into their situation.  Chains were broken and lives set free, wounds were soothed with tenderness and the aroma of God’s love overshadowed the stench of sin as hands were raised in surrender and praise.

My eyes are still watering and my nose is still running but this time in sorrow for my thoughts and thanksgiving for God’s Grace.  I am so thankful that to God, STINKY SHEEP LIVES MATTER, because sometimes the STINK goes far beyond SKIN DEEP…God has a remedy for us self-righteous sheep, too!