"Who Counts?: 100 Sheep, 10 Coins, and 2 Sons” by Amy-Jill Levine and Sandy Eisenberg Sasso
June 2023 Children's Book Month
Amy-Jill Levine is a professor of New Testament and of Jewish Studies. Sandy Eisenberg Sasso is also Jewish and part of what I love about this book is that they bring a different perspective to these three parables than what we usually hear preached from the pulpit. If the parables of the lost sheep, lost coin, and lost son, as they are commonly known, have become too familiar to you, I highly recommend this book for a fresh take on them.
One emphasis is on responsibility. The woman is at fault for losing her coin; she holds herself accountable, even if her neighbors say that one lost coin is no big deal. Likewise, the man insists on being responsible for all 100 sheep. It didn’t matter that he still has 99 other sheep; he is responsible for the sheep that was missing, too. In both stories there is an emphasis on the complete set. Without the one coin, without the one sheep, something is missing. Only with all ten coins is the coin collection complete. Only with all 100 sheep is the flock complete. While some people say that only missing one isn’t a big deal, the person responsible knows that that one makes a difference. In fact, finding the missing one makes such a big difference that in each case there is a party to celebrate. They are so happy to find what was missing, so happy to have their set be complete again, that they invite others to celebrate with them.
The third story is slightly different. It begins by pointing out how two sons are easier to count than ten coins or one hundred sheep. When the younger son returns home, the father is so happy that he invites others over to celebrate, like the first two stories. In fact, in the picture are both the man and the woman from the first two stories. What’s different is how the authors treat the conversation between the older son and his father. The son didn’t know there was a party going on; he was still out working in the field. His father had forgotten to invite him. The son finds out from a neighbor going to the party. To the father’s credit, in this version, he counts everyone at the party and realizes one person is missing, his older son, and he runs out of the house to go find him. The father isn’t realizing his mistake when the older son points it out to him or when he hears whispers that the older son is outside and angry. He realizes it before then because he pays attention and counts to make sure everyone is at the party.
Then, they have a conversation like what’s recorded in Luke 15, but with a different ending. Near the end of the conversation the father says, “I have two sons – one, two. I paid attention to my younger son, but I discounted my older son. I didn’t realize that he felt lost.” The father makes it a point to say that both sons count, that without one, the family is not complete. The story still does not say whether the older son chooses to join the party, but there is a level of compassion for the older son that always felt missing from other tellings of this story. The father validates the older son’s emotions: I didn’t realize you felt lost. There’s no judgment or criticism or denying that the older son feels this way or that he shouldn’t feel this way. It’s simply acceptance. The father has two sons and he loves both of them and both of them are needed for the family to be complete.
“Who Counts” has less to do with who is doing the counting than it does with who is being counted. There is an emphasis on making sure that everyone is accounted for, and if someone’s missing, to go find them so that they are no longer missing. The nuance in “Two Sons” is that while there are only two people to count, they both feel lost. Not necessarily physically missing, but emotionally or spiritually missing. It’s like feeling alone in a crowd. You can be physically not alone and yet still feel that way and that feeling is still valid. The older son, who I often identify with, feels discounted. He does not feel as important as the fuss that is made over his younger brother. In this version, the father does not tell him how he should feel, does not become defensive in explaining the party. It’s calm, compassionate, matter-of-fact, and inclusive that everyone counts. Everyone is important. Each piece contributes to the whole and without all the pieces, something is missing. You are important. Your voice matters, too. Without you, something is missing. You count, too.