The Lost Sheep

In Ezekiel 24: 11-16 it says that God Himself will search for His sheep and take care of them and that he would be the one looking after them. It says that He will rescue them from where they are scattered to. It says that He will be the one. It says that He will take came of them. God will be the one. God knows his sheep.

In the Old Testament shepherds weren’t looked down upon like they were in the New Testament era. Ezekiel refers to God as a shepherd, Isaiah mentions God as a shepherd, we know that King David was a shepherd in his youth and Psalm 23 refers to God as a shepherd. God is referred to as the “Good Shepherd.” Somewhere between the Old and the New Testament a transaction occurred whereby shepherds were viewed in the same light as the tax collectors. People considered the shepherd to be the “lowlife” of society. They considered the shepherd to be anything but honorable.

In Luke 15 Jesus tells a parable about three things; 1. a shepherd and his sheep, 2. a woman and her lost coin, 3. a son who went astray and was lost. When you look at Luke 15 you will notice the people were gathering around Jesus to listen to what he had to say. They weren’t the “high and mighty,” they weren’t the elite of society, nor were they the “holier than thou” people. They were present but they were standing at a distant watching. They were standing at a distant because they didn’t want to rub shoulders with those who were gathered close to Jesus. Those who were close to Jesus were the tax collectors, the prostitutes and the “sinners.” They were considered to be the lowlifes of the world. The Pharisees, the Sadducees, the scribes and the priest were there, just not very close. They just didn’t want to associate with those who were there. The religious elite really believed that the Messiah would come from their ranks. They thought he would be educated at the University of Pharisee and learned under the great Gamaliel. So when the Messiah can onto the scene, he was different than what they expected. He was associating with “sinners.” Those people the religious elite despised.

Jesus knowing all things knew what the religious elite were thinking. And knowing what they were thinking Jesus took the opportunity to teach not only those who were hungry for the Word, but to also teach the religious elite. Jesus had a way of bringing people into his stories. He starts the parable saying that suppose you have a hundred sheep. Not someone else, but you. Right away, the religious were in the story, they had 100 sheep and now he only has 99. One of them was lost. It was in the sheepfold this morning. The shepherd takes an inventory of his sheep and notices he only has 99. He does a recount and comes up with the same number. He knows which one is lost because he knows his sheep. They belong to him. He is not a hired herdsman; he is the owner of the sheep. The hired herdsman may know that a sheep is missing, but so what. A hired herdsman will go in the evening after work and tell the owner that one wondered off. This is the owner. He knows that it is the one with the black mark under its left eye, the one that was caught in the briars just a week before. It is no different than any of his other sheep except for now it is lost.

The shepherd realizing that one of his is missing becomes very concerned. The shepherd is thinking, “I must go and search for my lost sheep, if I don’t then my lost sheep will be taken by a bear, a lion or other wild predator. My sheep may end up starving to death, may fall over a cliff.” The shepherd is very concerned. The owner-shepherd must go and find his lost sheep. He is not going to send the hired hands to go and find his sheep, he is going. The hired herdsmen aren’t quite as motivated as the owner. When the going get tough, when the road is rough, the hired herdsmen may just give up. Rather the owner is going to leave the 99 sheep that did not wonder off in the hands of the hired herdsman. The 99 did not wonder off, he personally will go and find the lost one.

As the shepherd searches, he must go through the valleys, climb the rough terrain, and crawl through the thicket. It doesn’t matter where he must go, the only thing on his mind is his lost sheep and that he must rescue it. The shepherd knows that he will find his sheep. Jesus in his parable doesn’t say “if he finds it” but rather “when he finds it.” Make no mistake about it, the shepherd will find it. The shepherd will not give up until he does. After many hours of searching the shepherd sees his sheep, perhaps in a distance, perhaps ready to be pounced on by a bear. The shepherd to the rescue! The shepherd rescues his sheep and saves the day. When he finds the sheep, the shepherd is full of joy. He doesn’t scold the sheep for wondering off. He knows that his sheep needs him. He knows his sheep is dependent upon him. He knows his sheep aren’t the smartest of the animals but are none the less precious. Being full of joy he puts the sheep on his shoulders. He doesn’t make the sheep walk the long path home. The trail was rough, the sheep needs the shepherd. The shepherd would not even think about making his sheep walk the hard path home. The shepherd places the sheep on his shoulders and carries the sheep back across the rough terrain, through the thicket, back into the valley until he arrives home.

When the shepherd arrives home, he doesn’t release the sheep back into the sheepfold but rather calls all of his friends to come to the celebration saying, “rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.” Luke 15:7 says that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over the ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
Many families today have family members who have wondered off from the family. Perhaps someone in the family said something to “hurt their feelings.” Perhaps someone in the family did something to them and this one member of the family left. Maybe the one who wondered off did something that the rest of the family “couldn’t forgive.” What are you going to do about it? As a Christian you are called to forgive as Jesus forgives. As a Christian you are called to love as Jesus loves.

Within the church there have been members of the sheepfold who have wondered off. It’s not until sometime later that we ask, “Whatever happened to so and so?” Maybe they were offended by something someone said. Maybe they misunderstood something. What are you going to do about it? Are you going to simply say that they choose to leave or are you going to love as Jesus loved and find out what happened to them? In Isaiah 58 God said that if we do what we should do, we will be called, “Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.” It’s your choice! We, as Christians have been called to rebuild the walls. It is God’s will; we must be restorers because we have been restored! Amen?