Opening illustration: Did you ever have a kid in your neighborhood that always hid so good nobody could find him? We did. After a while we would give up on him and go off, leaving him to rot wherever he was. Soon or later he would show up all-mad because we didn’t keep looking for him. And we would get mad back because he wasn’t playing the game the way it was supposed to be played. ‘There is hiding and then there is finding,’ we would say. And he would say, ‘It is hide and seek, not hide and give up.’
And we would all yell about who made the rules and who cared about who, anyway, and how we wouldn’t play with him anymore if he couldn’t get it straight. And who needed him anyhow. And things like that. Hide and seek and yell. No matter what, though, the next time he would hide too good again. He is probably still going to do the same thing and make everyone mad. God is unlike that. When God seeks us, will He truly find us? Or are we just going to keep playing Hide and Seek with Him?
Introduction: One Bible commentator said sheep tend to nibble themselves lost – they graze from one tuft of grass to the next all day long with their heads down and, when they look up, they don’t know where they are or how they got there, and they certainly don’t know how to get back to the flock. It’s not that they’re particularly stubborn or rebellious or stupid, it’s simply their nature: Sheep stray and, when they do, they get lost. The Bible says, “All we like sheep have gone astray and turned everyone …” (Isaiah 53:6).
How does God pursue to seek the lost?
1. A Father’s COMPASSION for the LOST (v. 4a)
Rev. Branch of a church on the East coast said he felt that the Spirit was leading him to go down that street. He didn’t want to go. He wasn’t interested in what the folks down there had to offer. Plus, he was concerned about what his parishioners would think if he was seen on that street. He put up quite a fight, but, in the end, he went where the Spirit led him.
He said he drove his truck down the street and parked by the curb and asked the Lord, “Now what?” He sat there for a while, and slowly, people started coming up to the window and talking to him. They all knew who he was. They wondered what he was doing there. When they were convinced he wasn’t there to condemn them or cause trouble, they began opening up to him.
He came back to his church the next Sunday morning and told his congregation what he’d done. At first, they were pretty upset. “Why are you wasting your time associating with those people?” they wanted to know. He said, “Because some of those people are your sons and daughters, your brothers and sisters, your aunts and uncles.” He wasn’t kidding, and they knew it.
In time, it transformed the church. They started taking food to the neighborhood one day a week and feeding all who’d come a delicious hot meal. As they ate together, people started talking to each other. But, before long, reconciliation began to take place, relationships were restored, and lost souls were brought back into the community of faith.
The Parable of the Lost Sheep speaks to us best when we hear it in the context of the MIAs – those individuals and families we know and love with whom we have, for whatever reason, become disconnected.
Illustration: William Barclay tells a little story in his layman’s commentary that I just love. It’s a little dated – set, I’d say it’s set in the 19th Century, but it makes a good point. A young doctor was backpacking across Europe. He’d traveled for several weeks – much of the way by foot – so that, from his outward appearances, he looked like a bum. He hadn’t shaved, his hair was long and matted, his clothes were dirty and worn. For some reason – I forget the circumstances – he became seriously ill. A couple of strangers found him lying half-conscious by the side of the road and got him to a hospital. The attending physicians examined him and shook their heads. One looked at the other and whispered in Latin, “What a worthless bloke. We’d do him a favor to let him die.” The young doctor lying on the table understood every word. He looked up and replied, also in Latin, “Never call a man worthless for whom Christ has died.”
So often, we give up too easily. When others fall through the cracks, we’re quick to write them off: “You can’t win ’em all.” Not so in the Kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is like a good shepherd who has a flock of a hundred sheep who, losing just one of them, will leave the others and go after the one that is lost until he finds it and brings it back to the fold.
With God, nothing is lost. That’s the first point, and the second is this: With God, we live in community with each other, so that to talk about being lost is really to talk about being separated from each other. In other words, the sheep was lost because it was part of the flock to begin with. The very fact that it belonged to the flock led to the fact that, when the shepherd counted heads, it was obvious one was missing.
2. A Father’s COMMITTMENT to FIND the LOST (v. 4b)
For the shepherd, the search was dangerous, and death was a possibility. The Father knows that the sheep are not strong animals. They are not smart. They are not swift. They need a shepherd, and if they become separated from the flock, they are unable to find their way back to the shepherd. He must go after the sheep, or they will be lost forever. If He doesn’t go after them, they will die. Remember the price Jesus paid extended far beyond Calvary (Phil. 2:5-8).
The word “lost” is the same word that is translated “perish” in John 3:16. It means “to be lost, ruined, or destroyed.” It is used to refer to being sent away into Hell! In other words, this little sheep is in great danger!
It cannot defend itself. It cannot find its own food and water. It cannot outrun any enemies that would attack it. There is the possibility it will be devoured by wolves. There is the danger that it will fall into a crevasse, or off a cliff, and die. There is the very real possibility that it will wander in the wilderness until it starves to death. This sheep will perish, unless the shepherd finds it.
This sheep on its own is headed for ruin. This sheep is headed for destruction. They will also ruin their environment. The shepherd knows this. He understands the dangers, and He is concerned about the welfare of the sheep! He is moved to do something. He is moved to do everything in His power to save this lost sheep.
When the shepherd in this story realizes that one sheep is missing, he goes after it. He secures the other sheep in the “wilderness.” This word means refers to “their usual grazing place.” He is willing to risk everything to retrieve the lost one. He secures the other sheep, and he goes after the lost sheep.
The Good News is the good shepherd comes looking for them, and he searches until he finds them, and, when he does, he brings them back to the fold. That’s a model we’d do well to follow in the life and witness of this church – not to be content with those who show up on Sunday morning, but to be persistent about reaching out to those who don’t.
The shepherd was undoubtedly committed to save that which was lost and bring it home to rejoice over that was lost and is now found. The shepherd did not stop until his mission had been completed and the sheep had been found! Jesus did not stop on His quest until He was able to cry, “It is finished”, John 19:30!
3. The Father’s JOY of FINDING the LOST (vs. 5-7)
The sheep has been found and is rescued from the danger in which it had been! (Ill. The word “saved” means “to rescue from all harm and danger”. That is what the Great Shepherd does for all His sheep! His delivers them from the danger and the damage of their sins! The sheep is not responsible for getting itself home. It may have wandered away, but the getting home is the responsibility of the shepherd! After it is saved, it finds itself resting upon the strong shoulders of the shepherd!
The shepherd was able to lift the sheep and bear it upon his shoulders all the way back to the fold. He had sufficient stamina to finish what he had started. (Ill. The Lord did not start this mission to fail. He went after the sheep for the express purpose of bringing them home! Notice His confidence - Luke 19:10, “to seek and to save”;
(i) When the shepherd of our parable finds the sheep, he rejoices (vs 5). When he comes home he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, "Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep" (vs 6). The shepherd and the community rejoice that the lost sheep is found. One of the community's flock has been found and restored to the fold, so there is joy.
(ii) Jesus drives home His message about this joy. He turns to the scribes and Pharisees and says,
(Lk 15:7) 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.
The scribes and Pharisees should rejoice and not murmur when one of the lost sheep of Israel is restored to the fold. There should be joy in the community of Israel when this happens. "There is joy in heaven when a sinner repents," says Jesus. So, there ought to be joy on earth too.
The shepherd and the community rejoice when the lost sheep is found. The angels rejoice when a sinner repents. The scribes and Pharisees ought to rejoice that tax collectors and sinners come to Jesus. Likewise, the church and Christians ought to rejoice when a sinner repents.
(iii) The Lord rejoices over the righteous in the church. He takes great joy in every member. He is happy when little children are presented for baptism. He is glad when someone stands before God and His people and professes His faith. But He especially delights in the repentance of sinners:
(Lk 15:7) ... there (is) more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
This shepherd was able to rejoice with his friends and neighbors because his lost sheep was found. He was overjoyed with the rescue of this one, lost sheep. (Note: Jesus makes it clear that Heaven gets excited about the salvation of just ONE lost soul! Why? Because fellowship has been restored, Eph. 2:12-17; Job 9:33.
Application: Just as lost souls matter to God, do they really matter to us? Just as God found us when we were lost, do we really take the initiative to bring the lost back to the Kingdom of God?
• Do we have a Father’s heart of compassion for those that are lost?
• Are we committed to pursue the lost souls for Christ so that they are found by Him?
• Do we rejoice not only individually but as a church when lost souls are found?
• Do we go out of our comfort zone, make sacrifices and take risks so that the lost find comfort, encouragement, hope and direction in life where Christ is the center of all things in life?
