Ezekiel 34:11-12, Luke 15:3-7
The REAL American heroes I believe are our Fire Fighters, EMTs, good, devoted police officers, the doctors and nurses in our hospitals and ERs or that lifeguard on our many of our beaches or that of the Red Cross workers, or our National Guardsmen or Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen; these are our real American heroes.
Ever since 9-11, these men and women have done the impossible in order to rescue those from a flood from hurricanes or a burnt-out home that interrupts and destroys a family dream but a wiliness to go on.
These are the real American heroes we need to acknowledge for a job well done that they do.
The History Channel gave us 5 of the best rescues in our lifetimes and I’ll mention a few.
It was an ordeal with an unprecedented international audience: the struggle of 33 Chilean miners to survive more than two months underground after a shaft of the copper mine in which they labored in Copiapó, Chile crumbled in August 2010. As rescue workers attempted to retrieve the men, other mine shafts they used for the work caved in. Meanwhile, the men were stuck behind 770,000 tons of rock as their families waited breathlessly, many in tent camps on the surface, for word that they had survived.
In October 1987, 18-month-old Jessica McClure became a household name when she stepped into an abandoned water well at her aunt’s house in Midland, Texas. Stuck 22 feet beneath the surface in a slender well shaft, she was trapped in the well for two and a half days as rescue workers struggled to determine how best to extract her. As the media circled, rescue workers considered and abandoned a number of plans before deciding to drill another well shaft next to the well, then create a tunnel between the two shafts. The rescue played out on live television, creating accusations of a media circus.
When the SS Andrea Doria collided with a Swedish ocean liner in 1956, it could have been another Titanic. The Italian liner hit the MS Stockholm due to operator error during a foggy afternoon in the waters off of Nantucket Island, and the nearly head-on collision couldn’t be averted by panicked crew members. Onboard Andrea Doria, passengers felt a huge jolt along with the sound of clanging metal. In one of the lounges, the ship’s orchestra was playing “Arrivederci, Roma” when they were hurled from the stage by the sheer force of the crash. As crew members workers struggled to figure out how to load the remaining lifeboats, other ships in the vicinity hurried to help rescue the passengers and crew. The Titanic disaster had been characterized by a sluggish response and a lack of help from other ships, but this sinking ended up being a triumph of teamwork and organizational skill.
Now in our Scripture, both Prophet Ezekiel in the Old Testament and Jesus Christ in the New Testament talks about sheep. I often wondered why sheep are a such an important animal out of all those in the Aminal Kingdom.
The reason in a Biblical sense why God chooses sheep it represents purity, meekness and humble.
I.GOD’S PLAN FOR SHEEP FROM A BIBILICAL PERSPECTIVE.
A) In Genesis 21:28 – Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves.
B) Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and told them to draw out and take lambs according to the families to kill for Passover according to Exodus 12:21
C) Josiah gave to the children of the people, of the flock, lambs and a young goat, for Passover offerings that they are too present according to 2 Chronicles 35:7.
D) John the Baptist called Jesus “the Lamb of God” right before John baptized Jesus in the Jordan according to John 1:29.
II.GOD’S PLAN FOR SHEEP IS FOR THE SALVATION OF MANKIND. Sheep were important to the nomads and agricultural life of the Hebrews and similar peoples. Secondly, sheep are used throughout the Bible to symbolically refer to God’s people. The very first shepherd was Abel. He was also humanity’s first murder victim, slain by his brother Cain.
In times of trouble when other animals are likely to steal or eat them, they are in need to be rescued that’s why they have sheep dogs to protect them.
Even in your own life, when you were lost in a world of sin, you tried alcohol, you tried drugs, you tried wine, women and song but one day Jesus rescued you just like the illustration Jesus told of the lost sheep. And that’s when Jesus picked you, cleaned you up, turned you around placing your feet on solid ground and then He told you that you are His own; His child, that lost child because John 3:16 tells us, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His own begotten son that whosoever believe in Him will not die but have everlasting life.”
Acts 4:12 reminds us that, “And there is salvation in no one else under heaven giving among men by which we must be saved.”
III.THOSE SHEEP WHO ARE LOST CAN FIND THE WAY. If you are tired of being sick and tired? Are you on your last leg of hope and just want to give up? There is a “rescue plan” in place that the Father had more than 2,000 years ago when His only begotten Son died on that rugged cross for the sins of those who are lost for one reason or another.
I am letting you know that you cannot rescue yourself but there is one greater that rescue you, but I want you to remember what Jesus said,” I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” John 14:6.
Isn’t wonderful to know that we have a Savior who rescues those who are lost? Isn’t wonderful to know that you don’t have to stay lost? “Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” Romans 10:9.
If you are struggling with drugs, Jesus can rescue you. If you are struggling with alcohol, Jesus can rescue you. If you are struggling with those deep dark voices that speaks to you, Jesus can rescue you. No matter what the situation is God can handle it.
Don’t you dare let one day or one hour or one moment of your life pass you by and surrender to the Master so that He can rescue you.
God rescued me from alcohol and had not touched the stuff for more than 20 years or so. Over 20 Years sober and it seemed like God just took the alcohol away from me or just slapped that taste out of my mouth and now I am free from that mess. There are other things God is working me on, but I am free.
How about you, are you a lost sheep? Then God can rescue you today. Just reach out and touch the Lord as He passes by. Amen.
