For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. – Ezekiel 34:11

Today’s Scripture Reading (May 27, 2014): Ezekiel 34

Too often we miss some of the important messages of the Bible because we simply do not understand the culture which gave birth to the sacred writings. And a good example of that is found in the story of the Prodigal or Lost Son. Jesus told the story and it is found in Luke 15 with the stories of the lost lamb and the lost coin. And in all of the stories we get the basic message that it is important for us to search for what it is that is lost. But the subtleties of the story are lost to us.

For starters, we miss how improper it is for the father to run. Older men, under no circumstances, ran in Jesus’ culture. When Jesus says that the father hiked up his robe and ran at the sight of his son, the crowds would have been shocked. But another shocking turn in the story is with regard to the older son. In the story, the older son throws a bit of a fit because of the way that his father welcomes his younger brother home. But the crowds who first heard the story being told would have actually been shocked by the behavior of the brother. In the culture in which the story was first told, it would have been the older brother’s responsibility to go and fine his younger sibling. Knowing the pain that his brother’s absence was causing his father, the older brother would have been expected to do everything – no matter the cost – to find and bring his brother home. But the older brother did nothing. He watched his father go out every day and search the horizon for his son, and yet he didn’t lift a finger to ease his father’s pain. And when his little brother finally does come home, he can’t even bring himself to celebrate for the sake of his father.

I am not sure if Jesus had this passage from Ezekiel in mind as he told the story of the lost son, but he could have. Ezekiel speaks of God’s expectation for his people. And he uses the image of a shepherd. Any shepherd knows that he is to protect the sheep, and that he is also supposed to be ready to search for any sheep that may have wondered off. And if a shepherd does not fulfill that minimum responsibility, then he does not deserve to be called a shepherd.

God speaks to Israel and makes it clear - they were called to be shepherds, called to the task of being the elder brother and searching for that which was lost. But Israel was playing the older brother well, they were ignoring the lost sheep that were all around them. Their religious pride had made them blind to the duty to which God had called them. And that was not okay. If the people were not going to look for the lost, then God would do the searching. The people were too important to leave lost.

They still are - much too important. God is calling us to the role of the shepherd and the elder brother. The people around us are too important for God for us to be willing to ignore them.   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Ezekiel 35