If I were to put my feet, into the sandals of the listeners, the first audience for these stories, I can imagine the response, why they are called parables perhaps explained by the response they would make. “But, we wouldn’t do that.” Emphatically, we wouldn’t leave our flock out in the wilderness, no that wouldn’t be prudent at all, we would husband our resources, be good stewards of the ninety-nine who remain We couldn’t go out there, into the unknown to find the hundredth, the lost sheep What would happen to the rest, the loyal ones, living by the law, the prophets even, living by Exodus, Leviticus, by the Numbers. Oh we wouldn’t go out there. We wouldn’t waste money to find money, to burn our oil to find the one coin. We would watch what we had more closely, save out money, invest perhaps; but oh we would not waste so. And there is the point, the closed ears, the slow feet stuck in place, missing the point of the parables, that God’s energy, his compassion, his love for each one of us is so strong, each is worth searching for must be found, whatever the cost