The Initially Oblivious Owner

I'm working my way through the book Short Stories by Jesus, written by Amy-Jill Levine. In it, she takes parables of Jesus, and looks at them in ways we might not have considered before. She reviews each parable as it would have been heard by 1st century Jews, and then in a more modern context. Amy-Jill Levine is a professor of New Testament Studies at Vanderbilt University Divinity School, and she is Jewish. I think her viewpoint is especially valuable. 

 Think about the parable of the Lost Sheep in Luke 15:4-7. "Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?" Levine reminds us that for a person to have 100 sheep presupposes a person of some means. 100 is a lot of sheep. If you had 100 sheep, would you easily notice when one is missing? Levine says, "Perhaps it is those who have who are more likely to fail to notice what is missing." She goes on to say, "... he reminds listeners that perhaps they have lost something, or someone, as well, but have not noticed it. Before the search can begin, we need to notice what, or who, is not there." Levine proposes that perhaps, instead of calling the parable a story of a Lost Sheep, we should call it the parable of "The Initially Oblivious Owner." 

 To hear that, we have to let go of the idea that the one guarding the sheep is Jesus. We have to consider that we are the ones who are tasked with taking care of the sheep. And aren't we? Have we noticed who is missing? Are we willing to pay enough attention? And do we confess that the one who is missing is worth the time and effort to find? 

 To once again quote Levine, "When was the last time we took stock, or counted up who was present rather than simply counted on their presence? Will we take responsibility for the losing, and what effort will we make to find it - or him or her- again?"