Jump Start # 3246

Luke 15:4 “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it?”

Our verse today, part of that triplet series of lost and found is a powerful reminder of how much God thinks of us and wants us to be with Him. Recently, I was teaching some things about what God started. We began with creation and then moved to a class about our relationship with Him. God seeks us to be with Him.

In that study, I brought up the idea of Deism. That’s an old idea that many of our founding fathers embraced. It’s the idea that God exists but that He has left us on our own. No revelations. No divine interventions. No miracles. Which of course concludes with Jesus not being divine. From the standpoint of a deist, the Bible is not from God. It couldn’t be, because that would mean the Divine has injected Himself into our world and our lives.

It seems to me that without realizing it, many moderns have a form of deism in them. They claim to believe in God, but they want God to leave them alone. Don’t interfere with what I am doing. Don’t layer my life with do’s and don’ts and don’t tell me what I ought to do. Just be there, but leave me alone.

The steps between deism, agnosticism and atheism are very close to one another. Knowing God is out there but He leaves us alone can quickly slide into something is out there but we don’t know who or what it is, and that is just a shadow from saying, nothing is out there.

What is life like under the umbrella of deism?

First, God leaves you alone. That may sound great to some, but that leaves you on your own. Pray, but in deism, God won’t answer your prayer. No help in how to live. No guidance about direction or moral living. You are left to just guess.

Second, there are no promises nor hope in deism. For a promise to exist, God had to reach out and connect and reveal to us. Deism doesn’t allow that. Is there a Heaven? The Bible says so. The deist doesn’t know. There is no way to know. From the deist standpoint, not only are we traveling in a fog, but we are headed down a dark tunnel and no one knows what awaits us. Scary. Uncertain. What a terrible way to live.

Third, there is nothing pulling us out of sin nor away from the troubles of wrong in deism. God doesn’t have a written word in deism. God doesn’t come looking for us, as our passage illustrates. There is no perfect sacrifice for our sins in deism. The hole that we fall in has no escape. No Savior. No forgiveness. No future. No reason to do good. No purpose defined. That’s deism.

Our verse today illustrates God as the shepherd. He comes looking for us. He doesn’t cut His loses. Every sheep is important to Him. He doesn’t sit on Heaven’s porch and wait for us to come back. He is out looking. He sends the hounds of Heaven after us. Through His word, our memory, our conscience, the words of brethren, the power of worship, those divine hounds find a way of reaching us. They remind us. They convict us. They bother us. A sign on a post, “Jesus loves you,” a message on Facebook about the goodness of God, a friend who reaches out to you…those hounds find us and they point us back to where we belong.

Moderns who want God to leave them alone, don’t know what they are wishing. I’m thankful God has not left us alone. I’m thankful that He has revealed Himself and now we know Him. I’m thankful that His presence surrounds us. I’m thankful for all the Heavenly reminders of what we ought to do.

Just leave me alone, is a true picture of what Hell is. Nothing good. No hope. No help. And, no God.

The Lord is looking for each one of us. He wants us back home with Him. He searches that house for the lost coin. He’s looking for the prodigal to return. Salvation and hope await us.

Roger

Jump Start # 3135

Luke 15:4 “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it?”

  Our verse today opens the triplet parables about lost and found. Lost sheep. Lost coin. Lost boys. The value and intensity seems to increase with each story. Open fields, in the house, and finally, in the heart. These parables were the Lord’s response and answer as to why He ate with sinners. There was a reason. This is the reason. Jesus came to seek and to save the lost.

Being a city person, I have always found this first parable a bit troubling. If one sheep got lost while the shepherd was there, what will happen to the ninety-nine when he leaves them to go looking for the one lost sheep? Won’t the ninety-nine wander away as well?

Three remarkable lessons for shepherds today and all of us are found here:

First, the shepherd recognized that one was missing. A hundred sheep is a lot. It’s easy for one to be missing and not be noticed. Not to this shepherd. He noticed. He must have done a head count. I expect he did a head count often. And, now one was gone. He knew it. He may have counted the sheep a few more times just to be sure.

Among us, are some missing and we don’t realize it? Do we notice? Head counts are important just to see who is where they ought to be. When I was a kid, I remember a statement that came on every evening before the ten-o-clock news. It was, “Parents, it’s ten-o-clock, do you know where your children are?” That was usually the call for me to go to bed. Not knowing where your children are is alarming. Not knowing where some of the sheep are ought to be just as alarming. This is much, much more than about attendance. This is about where one is with Jesus. Attendance may be the outward visible sign that we notice, but inwardly, is the person still with the Lord? A sheep was missing and the shepherd noticed!

Second, the shepherd did something. He went after the lost sheep. He didn’t wait for the sheep to return. He didn’t just pray about the sheep. He went on a journey looking. He likely retraced where they had been. He must have had an idea where the sheep was. I don’t think he just randomly headed north and then turned east, then south, and finally west. He understood the nature of sheep and likely thought the sheep was probably still grazing in an area that they had passed through. He went searching and he found.

I wonder if these days we just expect the lost sheep to return on their own. No search party is launched. Nothing is said. Nothing is done. All is quiet until the sheep returns, if he ever does that. Maybe we need to be more diligent in looking for what was lost. The book of James ends with, “My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:19-20). A sheep was missing. The shepherd noticed. The shepherd went looking.

Third, the shepherd had compassion upon the sheep when it was found. The next verse in Luke 15 reveals that the shepherd put the sheep on his shoulders. I envision, the sheep wrapped around the shepherd’s neck. He didn’t beat the sheep home. He didn’t scold and shame the sheep. He didn’t add layers of guilt. He didn’t threaten the sheep. He extended compassion, love and care.

Could it be that the wayward sheep today would like to come home but they are afraid? They are afraid of the way the rest will treat them. The questions. The stares. The whispers. The tension. Little compassion. No putting on the shoulders. No love. And, with that atmosphere, some never come home. They feel bad enough, the church will only make them feel worse.

The shepherd knew. The shepherd did something. The shepherd extended compassion. And, the lost was found. Such simple truths, but so profound in making a difference for everyone.

Roger

Jump Start # 980

Luke 15:4 “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?”

Luke 15 is the chapter of lost things. It begins with a shepherd who lost one of his sheep. Then it flows into a woman who lost one silver coin. Then it peaks with the man who lost his son. Luke shows us the picture of God in these parables. In many ways, these are not three independent parables but one thought with three points. The things lost had great value to the owners. The owners were desperate in seeking what was lost. Great rejoicing and celebrating took place after the lost was recovered. Salvation, grace and forgiveness are the running themes that connect these parables together.

Our verse today is about one lost sheep. In many ways it is better to have 99 safe and only lose one. Much worse would it have been to have lost 99 and have only one safe. The shepherd didn’t write off the one missing. He left the 99 and went on a search and find mission. His goal was to find that one sheep and bring him back. He doesn’t quit until he finds it.

Before we go much further with this, we must remember that this is a parable and it is very easy to read too much into the story and make it say things that Jesus never intended. Having said that, how would a shepherd find a lost sheep? I’m not a shepherd and had that been me out in the fields, there would have been 100 lost sheep and one lost shepherd.

It seems to me that the shepherd would begin where the sheep last were. Look around that area. Call the sheep by name. How does he know which one it is? He knows the sheep. Borrowing from John 10 and the good shepherd, he calls them and they hear his voice and follow. So the shepherd is looking, calling and searching. He knows sheep. He knows they tend to wander off and why they wander off. He looks for places a sheep might go for food. That drives the sheep more than anything else. Calling, looking and searching. This takes a while. And then, he stumbles upon the lost sheep. Most likely grazing and not even realizing that the flock moved on. The shepherd would tenderly pick the sheep up and carry it back to the rest of the flock. There is some peace that night knowing that everyone is right where they belong.

I’d expect that the shepherd would watch that sheep a little more closely. When it came time to move the flock again, the shepherd would make sure that the little lost one got the message, maybe, even standing with that sheep.

It sure seems like a lot of work for one lamb. Why not cut the losses and move on? Why the worry over the one? Because the shepherd was responsible. He was given the job to watch them and care for them. If he let that one go, what about the next one, and the one after that. The flock of 100 dwindles to a flock of 70 and then 50 and if he is fortunate, maybe he would show up with 45 sheep. The rest? They wandered off. Would you be happy with that as an owner of that flock? What would you think about the job of that shepherd? Would you hire him again for the next spring? From the owner’s perspective, lost sheep means lost revenue. The shepherd was hired to do a job. Losing sheep is not part of that job.

What does all of this mean to us? We are not out in the fields at night with sheep? I wonder how easily we give up the search for those who have wandered off? I wander if we expect them to find their way back to us? Are we out looking for those who have left? Do we know where to find them and how to reach them? Would they recognize our voice if we called them?

In many ways this parable was fulfilled in Jesus. We were the lost sheep. God didn’t stop and hope that we would catch up. He didn’t write us off. He sent Jesus. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. This parable answers the charge at the beginning of the chapter of why Jesus ate with sinners and received them. He did so because they were lost. He did so because He was trying to bring them back to the flock of God.

God has been looking. God has searched. God sent Jesus. The sheep must recognize the voice of God and come. Jesus calls, do we listen? Jesus is looking, are we hiding? Don’t expect a little voice in the night. Don’t think it will come by some grand and direct way. The call is through the Gospel message. The plea is there. God is calling. God is looking. Those who are seeking will find. Those who are asking, will receive an answer. The rest, who ignore the searching of God, may wander and wander for the rest of their lives. They may live in fear because they do not have a shepherd to protect them. They may go into dangerous places because they do not have a shepherd to guide them. Dirty, diseased, and distressed these wandering sheep never know or experience the wonderful relationship they could have with God. The lost sheep never leave God’s heart. He longs for them to return. After Jesus, God sent His apostles and preachers to call the lost. Even today, the message is ringing forth that God is looking for you. He hasn’t given up. He never will.

What a great God we have. He is looking for you, even today. He is calling. Won’t you listen to the Gospel message and come home. What stands in the way often times is God’s people. Sheep may wander off because of the mistreatment from other brethren. Shameful is what that is. God has never treated anyone that way. We serve God. We follow God. We listen to God. Come to God. Don’t let someone else be the reason that you are lost. God is ready to forgive you. God is ready for you to come home to Him.

God is looking…

NOTE: This may not be a typical Jump Start that you are used to reading. Most of our readers have a connection with God. Is there someone in your heart that you could share this with? Copy and email this to someone. Let them know that you have not forgotten them, nor have you written them off. You love them and want them to come home to God. One more attempt. One more search. One more try. Isn’t it worth it?

Roger

Jump Start # 205

Luke 15:4 “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?”

  This passage begins the threefold series of parables that define God and illustrate the grace and salvation in Jesus Christ. Lost sheep, lost coin and lost sons—there are some similarities and some differences.

  First, the similarities: in all three parables something of value was lost. Also, there is an effort to find that which was lost. And then there was great rejoicing when the lost was found.

  The differences: sheep tend to wander off on their own. They don’t pay attention to the rest of the flock and through carelessness or unawareness become lost. The coin was lost because of someone else. Coins are lifeless and they remain wherever we put them. The prodigal was lost because of his choice—rebellion. All three were lost, but by different ways. So it is today. Some are lost simply because they have not paid attention to that which will keep them saved. They have wandered off with out realizing it. Others, like the coin, have been hurt by others. The neglect of others have caused them to become estranged from God. I think about the children and young people whose parents give up on God and no longer worship and then they grow up in the wilderness of being lost. Then there are those that just defy God and fight God’s ways and walk away in rebellion. All three were lost. The results are the same.

  In our passage today, as Jesus tells the story of the lost sheep, He begins with a question, “what man among you…” would not leave 99 sheep to find the one lost sheep? Actually, I think most would not. Unless the shepherd had the 99 in safe hands, or other helpers to watch over them, this was a recipe for disaster. If the shepherd worked alone, and left 99 to find the one, when he returned, he may have 99 that are now lost. The clasp of thunder, the howl of a wolf, an uncertain sound could send terror throughout the flock and they could scatter looking for the shepherd. No, most in Jesus’ time, would not leave the 99. They would count their losses and shepherd 99. That happens.

  But in this parable, the shepherd, God, leaves the 99 to look for the one. Each one is of value. Saving the majority at the cost of losing a few is unacceptable to God. God wants all safe and will search until He finds the lost.

  I’m glad God is like this. Churches need to be more like this. It’s not the majority, it’s every soul that counts. Some of us are wanderers and we need constant watching. We don’t pay attention to detail nor where we are, and that gets us in trouble. Thankfully, we have a shepherd who loves us so much.

  Most of Jesus’ parables tend to be upside down an inside out to the thinking of the people. The reason is, God’s kingdom is not like the kingdom of the world, it’s better. God does things differently than we do.

  God is always looking out for you. And when you get too far away, God’s out looking for you.  I’m thankful for that. God never gives up on us.

Roger