Finding The Lost Series

Finding the Lost

Having Words with Jesus FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR C Luke 15:1-10

The Story of the Lost Sheep

15 1-3 By this time a lot of men and women of questionable reputation were hanging around Jesus, listening intently. The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They growled, “He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends.” Their grumbling triggered this story.

4-7 “Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost sheep!’ Count on it—there’s more joy in heaven over one sinner’s rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue.

Intro: This text would not be considered one of the difficult sayings of Jesus by most folks. We are happy to look for the lost. We are happy that Jesus, at least, is willing to venture out to find those who have strayed and to bring them home for a celebration. The problem is, at some point, many of us give up on the loss when they have been sick for a lot of years, when the drug issues don’t get better when they keep on Tax collecting or working in Pay Day Lending even when they know it's usury. We give up, but Jesus Goes to get you, to find the lost.

“All the tax collectors and sinners were drawing near in order to hear him” (15:1).

Some leaders will ask, “Why? What is it about Jesus that attracts tax collectors and sinners to him?”

Some others might ask why it is that Jesus tells this story of sheep's commitment. In Luke 15, Jesus tells a group of tax collectors and sinners a series of stories, or parables, about finding something that was lost. It begins with the parable of the sheep. While this story sounds like bad business, it is really the story of how far Jesus will go for you and me.

A shepherd in the Middle East was not an independent farmer. He worked for a master who expected his sheep to be well-tended. If one wandered off, the shepherd had no choice but to go after it. In other words, shepherds were just a part of the economic systems. They were not the queen. They were palace staff who had someone to answer to. The Shepard did not own the sheep; he was more just a part of the wool industrial complex. I wish more church members realized the preacher doesn’t own the sheep. They are just working for the lord to try and build the kingdom.

Let Me see if I can explain how this works in 3 quick points.

Before he left, the shepherd would surround the flock with piles of sticks and stones to give the sheep a sense of boundaries. And believe it or not, the sheep typically stayed put. Then, the shepherd would go after the one sheep that was lost.

He would take his shepherd’s staff with him. The top of the staff had a curled end that he used to wrap around the sheep’s horns to help pry it free from bushes or pull it up out of a hole. He would then take the sheep back to the flock, where he would use the rod, or handle, of the staff to conduct a headcount of all the sheep. The shepherd was very diligent in making sure all the sheep were with him in his care.

The shepherd would do whatever it took to keep his sheep with him. So, if the same sheep tended to wander off, the shepherd would leave the flock, find the misbehaving sheep, and break its leg.

Yes, you heard that right. I wish I had time to tell some of us today at Wesley that sometimes God must break our legs to keep us from running off. I wish I had time to tell the church that sometimes the shepherd has to say no to the sheep to keep the sheep from running off into danger, Lord I wish I had just a little more time to deal with the fact that sometimes the preacher has to do things that the sheep don’t like in order to befit the 100 sheep and not just the 1. Oh, I really wish I had time to tell some of these folks trying to disaffiliate that there are consequences to running off.

Do You hear me?

1. The shepherd needed to teach the sheep a lesson. It wasn’t a lesson of punishment but rather one of obedience.