Black Sheep
One of Jesus' favourite colour could be BLACK
Ever heard of the phrase "Black sheep" and you are reminded quickly of that family member who decided to be a club owner despite been born into a Christian home and all siblings are pastors. We are reminded of that colleague at work who just seem to be all cranky and never gets along with anyone. Our minds go to the child who likes to sits alone in the room all by themselves and never laughs at any joke. We remember also the person whose opinion is not always popular or tends to head in a different direction most times. Some group of people who are not just accepted by the community probably because of their skin colour, background, ethnicity, values & beliefs, also falls under this category. Most often, black sheep are characterized as an "outcast" or a "minority".
Interestingly the bible seems to have quite a number of Black sheep. One of them is “Jesus Christ". He was bold and he stood out. Some times he made radical statements that generated some sort of rancor even amongst the religious leaders (John 2:19), Another time he was seen turning tables and driving people out of the temple. ( Mat 2:12). With this display of outburst by Jesus, it must have been difficult for some people to match this specific behaviour with that of a son of God. Oftentimes as well, Jesus was seen with tax collectors and the “so called” sinners eating and dinning. I can already picture what the headline of the breaking news would have been if it was this age; "Acclaimed son of God getting groovy with top dogs"
Then Levi had a big feast in his house for Jesus, and among the guests was a large number of tax collectors and other people. Some Pharisees and some teachers of the Law who belonged to their group complained to Jesus' disciples. “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and other outcasts?” they asked. Jesus answered them, “People who are well do not need a doctor, but only those who are sick. I have not come to call respectable people to repent, but outcasts.” Luke 5: 29-30 (outcast here could be referred to as a " Black sheep").
We could say for sure that Jesus prefers the colour of a "Blacksheep", simply because he came for them. Aren’t they just lucky!
This was also illustrated in the story of the lost sheep ( Matt 18:10-14) , the good shepherd left the ninety- nine sheep and went after the one sheep who strayed. I believe that must have been the "Blacksheep”.
Our responsibility as Christians is to love every kind of sheep irrespective of their colour. Loving doesn’t mean accepting a wrong behaviour, but loving means not ostracizing an individual simply because we dont understand or get along with them. Loving means seeing others from God’s lens.
What next?
The next time we are making our "Love budget", it will be better to include a black sheep on the list, while praying for grace to love. This is because whether we shop for a Blacksheep or not they will still end up in your shopping cart at one point in time or another.
“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law” Romans 13:8
