Saturday, October 22, 2005

The value of one lost sheep

Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them."

Then Jesus told them this parable: "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, `Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, `Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents" (Luke 15:1-10).

There’s an old story about a woman who was walking along a beach and came upon a man throwing starfish into the sea. This man looked carefully in the sand, and each time he found a starfish, he would pick it up and gaze at it, then throw it out into the water. The woman came up to him and said “That’s very kind of you, to want to save these sea creatures by throwing them back into the water so they won’t dry out and die. But what’s the point? There’s thousands of starfish on the beach; what difference will it make, throwing a few back?” The man held up a starfish and said, “It matters to this one.”

Churchgoers worry about the size of their congregations. Across America, many congregations are shrinking in membership; few are growing. I’ve been to meetings where church leaders have put up graphs showing changes in membership, and analyses of where evangelism efforts are needed. But the problem with these analyses and plans is that they tend to treat people like numbers in a ledger. Increasing the size of the church can seem to be more important than identifying one person by name and introducing him to our Savior.

Jesus doesn’t approach us this way. Jesus is concerned for each of us individually. In today’s lesson, Jesus uses two illustrations to teach about redemption. In each illustration, one thing is recovered: one sheep and one coin. In each case, the owner is not concerned with how much he or she has, whether it be 99 other sheep or 9 other coins. The owner is consumed with finding that one lost lamb and that one lost coin.

In Jesus’ parables, we are the lost lamb, we are the lost coin. Like them, we have gotten away from our owner, the Son of God. Jesus is our owner because the Father who created us has made Jesus king over us. But as a lamb wanders away from the herd, as a coin rolls off a table to fall on the floor, so also do we stop listening to our owner and go off on our own. Eventually, things start to fall apart: we find ourselves deeply in debt, we are addicted to alcohol or casual sex or drugs, or we’ve made a mess of our relationships with our loved ones. We’ve become lost in our problems; we can’t find a way back out to safety or love. We don’t even know where to look for help, because we’ve wandered out of sight of our caretaker and we don’t know how to find Him.

Thankfully, our God is not content with just His other 99 sheep, His other 9 silver coins. Like the people in today’s parables, Jesus looks for us in our lost, sinful condition. Jesus looks for us diligently and unceasingly. In Jesus’ parables, the shepherd and the woman both went through considerable effort to find what was lost. The shepherd may have had a long walk through brambles or rough countryside to locate his lost sheep. The woman certainly stirred up dirt as she swept the floor, looking for her coin. The shepherd and the woman were both willing to get dirty in their searching and finding. Just so, Jesus went through considerable effort to rescue us from our lost condition. Jesus was also willing to get dirty in order to find us. It is true that Jesus got dirty just by living the life of a wandering preacher; He walked wherever He went on hot, dusty roads and He often preached outdoors. But Jesus truly became dirty because of our sin. Since Jesus is God’s Son, He was born perfect, pure of any sin. But Jesus’ purpose on Earth was to become dirty with our sins as He walked and taught among us. When Jesus suffered on the cross, His blood washed our sins away; when Jesus rose from death on Easter morning, He rose purified of our sins. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf, we have the promise of the Father’s grace. All we need do is admit that we’ve done wrong and beg for forgiveness in Jesus’ name. Because Jesus has taken the force of His Father’s anger at our sins, the Father is now pleased to give us His forgiveness and the blessing of residency in His eternal mansion.

Everything Jesus did in His three-year ministry on Earth was done for one purpose: to find and rescue His lost sheep. But even though Jesus has paid the price for our sins, His work isn’t completely done. Now that Jesus has won forgiveness and eternal life for us, He continues to seek His lost sheep so that He can give each of them this wonderful gift. Jesus does this work through His Church. The Church isn’t a building, nor is it a group of people who have signed a constitution. The Church is the sum total of every person who believes in Jesus as the only way to receive forgiveness of sins and membership in the Kingdom of God. It is this Church that has been given God’s word in the Bible, so that it can be used to find others who are still lost in their sin. The Church is like the woman in the second parable, using the light of God’s Scriptures to find another person who is lost, like the silver coin. As long as people are lost, Jesus will keep trying to bring them back to His flock; as long as people are lost, Christ’s Church will continue to use God’s word to bring light to those lost in darkness.

People concerned about growth in the church may be tempted think like the woman on the beach, and say: “One person brought back into the fold won’t make much of a difference.” But Jesus takes the view of the man returning starfish to the sea: “It makes all the difference in the world to the sinner who now has a saving faith in Me.” Our sinful nature prompts us to greediness; we want lots of people in church, because it makes us feel like we’re doing ministry right or we have the most faithful people as members, or, most crass of all, we’ll have good collections to support our budget. But while Jesus wants all men to be saved, He takes delight in each individual who turns from his sinful ways in true repentance and puts his trust in Christ. This is the part of repentance we so often forget: joy.

It is a rare thing to see a painting of our Savior smiling, let alone laughing. It is commonly thought that Jesus’ work of finding the lost is so deadly serious that it is inappropriate to think of Jesus enjoying Himself. But Scripture doesn’t teach us any such thing. Heaven is a place of joy. The angels sang in joy at Jesus’ birth. God commands us to praise Him joyfully. Joy would not be possible in Heaven or on Earth if it did not come from God. Jesus often pictured Heaven as a wedding banquet, a joyful meal if ever there was one. In fact, eating meals together was a common way for the Jews of Jesus’ day to enjoy each other’s company. When the shepherd and the woman in Jesus’ parables invited others to rejoice with them, they were most likely inviting them over for a meal and fellowship. Jesus did much of His teaching when at such meals. Indeed, His first public miracle was at the wedding celebration in Cana.

In today’s parables, Jesus casts Himself as the shepherd seeking a lost sheep, and He casts His Church as the woman seeking her lost coin. Both rejoice when the lost is found; both want to share this joy with others. In Heaven, Jesus shares His joy with the angels; on Earth, Christians share this joy with each other. Our God is delighted when a sinner repents and is restored to the Kingdom of God. We are to be similarly delighted when a person who was lost in darkness returns to the light of faith. We are not to grump and groan that not enough people are being converted or restored to active membership, nor are we to be cynical, wondering if the person is really serious about changing his ways. God’s faith, active in another person’s life, is always something worth celebrating. One more person has been snatched from Satan’s control and been restored to true life.

There remains one more point to be made. Our English text reads “one sinner who repents.” But English cannot clearly bring out the true force of the original Greek, which really says “one sinner, repenting.” The difference is subtle, but important. Many branches of American Christianity emphasize the importance of a ‘conversion experience.’ They will ask, “Do you remember the day you came to faith?” Today’s text makes it sound like repentance is an event; after that event, you are now a believer. But the Greek speaks of repenting. Repentance is not a specific moment of decision; it is a lifestyle. Repentance is a way of life where every moment of every day, the Christian knows he is both a saint and a sinner. He is a saint because Christ has put saving faith in his heart. He is a sinner because sin still lives in him, causing all sorts of deadly mischief. A Christian who lives a lifestyle of repentance knows that he is constantly angering God, but also knows that every plea for mercy is granted because Jesus dwells in his heart. Repentance and forgiveness are ongoing activities in the life of the Christian.

Why is this important? Well, remember the 99 sheep the shepherd left alone while he sought the lost sheep? Remember Jesus’ words “there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent”? We must understand that there are no individuals who are righteous, in and of themselves. But when we live a life of repentance, when we acknowledge our complete and continuing dependence on God for forgiveness and leadership, God lives in us. And since God is righteous, when He lives in us we are filled with His righteous as well. The 99 righteous that Jesus speaks of are those who are already living a life of repenting. And Jesus takes joy in them, too.

Our God is not a God of numbers. He doesn’t concern Himself with charts or graphs; He concerns Himself with people on a personal basis. And that is how He wants us to be. Although Jesus takes our salvation very seriously, our Savior is a Savior who takes joy in His work. And that is how He wants us to be. Jesus is delighted when we live a life of repentance, relying on Him for grace and leadership; Jesus is even more delighted when one of the lost returns to the light of faith by the power of God working through us. So I encourage you: take joy in your faith. Pray the words of David that we know from Psalm 51 verse 12: “Restore to me the joy of your salvation.” Show that joy in worship, like David: “I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the LORD” (Psalm 104:33-34). Show that joy in your everyday life, as Moses instructed the Israelites: “you are to rejoice before the LORD your God in everything you put your hand to” (Deuteronomy 12:18). Rejoice when God has given you release from trouble, as David did: “I will be glad and rejoice in your love, for you saw my affliction and knew the anguish of my soul” (Psalm 31:7). Enjoy every day: “This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Psalm 118:24). Rejoice, because you have good reason to: God loves you and has given you entry into His kingdom. Live in joy, and those who are still lost will want to share in your joy. Live in joy, and God will use the witness of your joy to bring other individuals into the flock, and further increase the joy of all.

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