Ninety-Nine
There once was a shepherd who had one hundred sheep. He loved his sheep and tenderly cared for them every day. Each and every day (no days off!) he was walking with them, guiding them to places where there was water and grass to nibble. As they ate, he would sit on the hillside and check the flock to make sure none had gotten lost. Sheep are wonderful creatures, but they had a tendency to wander off, to follow one tuft of grass to another tuft of grass and "nibble themselves lost."
So one day he was there, on the hillside, and he counted. Actually, he didn't so much count as he listed them by name. He knew each and every one of them by name. And so he went through the list and when he got to Joel...well, Joel wasn't there. He did tend to be the one who would wander off. And so the shepherd thought to himself, "Oh, well, I still have ninety-nine. Who cares about the one?" And he went on about his day. The End.
Oh, wait a minute...rewind that for a moment. That's not how Jesus told the story, is it? Let's see...let me flip my Bible open to Luke 15 and check it out...
Oh, yes, that's right. Let's try again.
So one day he was there, on the hillside, and he counted. He didn't so much count as he listed them by name. He knew each and every one of them by name. And so he went through the list and when he got to Joel...well, Joel wasn't there. He did tend to be the one who would wander off. And so the shepherd immediately got up, left the ninety-nine eating grass, and went in search of the one who was lost.
The shepherd's job was not to tend to every single need the sheep might have. The shepherd's job was to find the lost and bring them back. The shepherd made sure the sheep had a place where they could feed and grow stronger, but he did not feed each one of them. The shepherd kept his eye on the flock but he wasn't with each one of them every single moment. The shepherd kept his eyes open as to when a sheep was lost and needed to be brought back into the flock. The shepherd's overwhelming concern was for the lost, not the found.
So let me extend that metaphor into the church today. Are we more concerned about our own needs, comfort and security (our "food") or are we more concerned about the least, the last and the lost? If we're already in the flock, are we willing to give up on having all of our needs met so that the church can find the lost? If we're already in the flock, can we stop bleating long enough so that the shepherds can attend to the lost? If we're part of the flock, is it enough to give thanks for being found? Can we also celebrate when others are found?
Many of us in the church today are more concerned and consumed with our own needs than we are with the lost. Some will even intentionally absent themselves for a time from church attendance to see if anyone notices, and then cry "hurt" when few come running after them. It reminds me of a conversation I had with a pastor a long time ago about a couple that had left our church and gone to another one in town, and then did that same pattern again. His observation was that they wanted to constantly be treated like guests, so they would go from place to place until they were became part of the family, expected to live like members rather than guests, and then they would leave and become guests elsewhere.
Friends, if we're part of the "found," if we're part of the flock, our focus is no longer to be our own needs, but the needs of the lost. That's why the shepherd left the ninety-nine to find the one. He was focused on the lost. Are we?
So one day he was there, on the hillside, and he counted. Actually, he didn't so much count as he listed them by name. He knew each and every one of them by name. And so he went through the list and when he got to Joel...well, Joel wasn't there. He did tend to be the one who would wander off. And so the shepherd thought to himself, "Oh, well, I still have ninety-nine. Who cares about the one?" And he went on about his day. The End.
Oh, wait a minute...rewind that for a moment. That's not how Jesus told the story, is it? Let's see...let me flip my Bible open to Luke 15 and check it out...
Oh, yes, that's right. Let's try again.
So one day he was there, on the hillside, and he counted. He didn't so much count as he listed them by name. He knew each and every one of them by name. And so he went through the list and when he got to Joel...well, Joel wasn't there. He did tend to be the one who would wander off. And so the shepherd immediately got up, left the ninety-nine eating grass, and went in search of the one who was lost.
The shepherd's job was not to tend to every single need the sheep might have. The shepherd's job was to find the lost and bring them back. The shepherd made sure the sheep had a place where they could feed and grow stronger, but he did not feed each one of them. The shepherd kept his eye on the flock but he wasn't with each one of them every single moment. The shepherd kept his eyes open as to when a sheep was lost and needed to be brought back into the flock. The shepherd's overwhelming concern was for the lost, not the found.
So let me extend that metaphor into the church today. Are we more concerned about our own needs, comfort and security (our "food") or are we more concerned about the least, the last and the lost? If we're already in the flock, are we willing to give up on having all of our needs met so that the church can find the lost? If we're already in the flock, can we stop bleating long enough so that the shepherds can attend to the lost? If we're part of the flock, is it enough to give thanks for being found? Can we also celebrate when others are found?
Many of us in the church today are more concerned and consumed with our own needs than we are with the lost. Some will even intentionally absent themselves for a time from church attendance to see if anyone notices, and then cry "hurt" when few come running after them. It reminds me of a conversation I had with a pastor a long time ago about a couple that had left our church and gone to another one in town, and then did that same pattern again. His observation was that they wanted to constantly be treated like guests, so they would go from place to place until they were became part of the family, expected to live like members rather than guests, and then they would leave and become guests elsewhere.
Friends, if we're part of the "found," if we're part of the flock, our focus is no longer to be our own needs, but the needs of the lost. That's why the shepherd left the ninety-nine to find the one. He was focused on the lost. Are we?
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