I am not sure if you ever heard this before, stories about wolves are common throughout Eurasia and North America. They can be found among most peoples.
It is “the nature of the wolf” to be a “predator,” it is often associated with “danger and destruction,” making it the symbol of “a warrior” on the one hand…and “the devil” on the other.
Wolves were considered to be “dangerous and deceitful.” Wolves decimate livestock. Domesticated animals are easy prey for wolves.
It has been said that wolves do not even need to attack livestock to negatively affect them: the stress livestock experiences in being “vigilant for wolves” may result in miscarriages, weight loss and in a decrease of meat quality.
Wolves are “bold and aggressive”…so much so, that the fear of wolves has been pervasive in many societies. Humans are not part of the wolves’ natural prey. Wolves with pups experience greater food stresses.
Did you know that wolves are monogamous?
That they are social creatures?
Did you know that in the wild a male wolf only leads a pack for about five or six years?
Pups stay with their parents for the first two years “forming the pack” and then, usually head out on their own, seeking a mate and their own pack and territory. New pups are born every spring.
Wolves are extremely territorial…
The global gray wolf population is estimated to be around 300,000. The gray wolf is one of the world’s “best known” and “most researched” animals, with probably more books written about them “than any other species.”
A great many Native American tribes have “rich stories” passed down from generation to generation concerning the wolf and his totem…or its spirit.
So, I found it kind of interesting that Jesus would make reference to wolves.
Shepherds knew about wolves. As a matter of fact most people of Jesus’ day did. Packs of wolves would circle their prey. Were it not for the shepherd, a sling shot, sticks, stones and his sheep dogs, the sheep would be completely vulnerable.
So before sending out the 70 – Jesus thought it important to let them know that he was sending them out like “lambs among the wolves…”
The wolves (if you will) are still at it today…
Some say they are “always circling…”
Did you know that Christians are NOW the most persecuted group – worldwide?
The BBC reported back in May that the persecution of Christians in parts of the world is now near “genocide levels.” “Evidence shows not only the geographic spread of “anti-Christian persecution,” but also its “increasing severity.” It is expected that the trend will only continue.
Christianity may indeed be “wiped out” in some areas of the Middle East.
Remember in Sri Lanka 250 people were killed on Easter Sunday and another 500 people injured?
In Indonesia Christian schoolgirls were dragged from a school bus…and decapitated. In Egypt ancient Coptic communities have simply been obliterated…after some 2,000 years of existence.
In Sudan, Christian villages are bombed and strafed “routinely.”
In Nigeria entire congregations are rounded up, gunned down and left to rot.
In India venerable Anglican churches are burned to the ground while the faithful are hacked to death.
In Palestine, Iraq and Syria “ethnic cleansing” has reduced entire Christian communities to “a pitiful few,” mostly elderly survivors.
Jesus warned his early followers that he was sending them out “like sheep” (or like lambs) among the wolves…
Two thousand years later “the packs” are still circling.
In the face of “persecution and annihilation” the church continues on…the “word” is still preached and the “sacraments” are still properly being administered. Pastors continue to pastor, to be shepherds to their flocks…even as we gather together today.
We are called to proclaim the “good news” to all people – including to those in wolf clothing. No bravado. No macho. No tough talk. No bluster. Just the word. When insulted, we love. When slandered, we love. When hated and despised, we love. And in all things, we pray and give thanks. Just so you know, the harvest is getting bigger, day by day.
Amen.