Luke 15:1-7 New American Standard Bible 1995
The Lost Sheep
15 Now all the tax collectors and the [a]sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. 2 Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
3 So He told them this parable, saying, 4 “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the [b]open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? 5 When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ 7 I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Ninety-nine and One
Luke 15:1-2 Amplified Bible
The Lost Sheep
15 Now all the tax collectors and sinners [including non-observant Jews] were coming near Jesus to listen to Him. 2 Both the Pharisees and the scribes began muttering and complaining, saying, “This man accepts and welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
There is this famous saying among Jewish rabbis:
“Whoever saves one soul, saves the whole world.”
Its wisdom is deeper than what is called “common sense.”
It is deeper than the famous Zen saying,
“Imagine the sound of one hand clapping,” which is designed to jar a person into moving beyond the limits of reason.
Some people are “numbers people,” and their contribution to the orderly functioning of society and the body of Christ is indispensable.
But in order to understand Luke’s Gospel narrative, Jesus’ story of the shepherd who leaves a flock of 99 to go search for just one lost sheep, we must remember how God made each of us in his own image.
From the first words of Genesis to the last words of Revelation, holy scripture repeatedly emphasizes and speaks about the infinite value of one single human being because each and every single one of us humans are made in God’s image.
C. S. Lewis rightly criticized the vulgarity of those who will seek to make us feel as insignificant as the dust because the universe is so huge and we are so small.
Christian Missionaries definitely treasure this single parable because they must sometimes work many years in a stubborn land to lead one lost person to Christ.
Never allow yourself to think that you count for nothing.
Think instead upon: Christ who lived, ministered among us and died to rekindle the spark of the image of God placed within His church that makes us human.
God and all of those Unthinking Sheep of His Pasture
Luke 15:3-7 Amplified Bible
3 So He told them this parable: 4 “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one which is lost, [searching] until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he gets home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’ 7 I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.
There is something unusual about sheep.
Unlike other animals they do not often deliberately run away.
A cat or dog who wants to be free, given a chance, will leave, just like that.
But sheep do not.
They only wander away.
They do not mean to.
This is the picture our Lord gives us of certain people who do not intend to get lost; they do not originally intend to wander or run away and waste their lives.
They do not intend to wander off into something dangerous and destructive.
But, little by little, concentrating only on the now, present, they wander away.
Eventually they wake up to realize they are lost, that life is suddenly empty, that their hearts are burdened, heavy with guilt — will not know how it happened.
They are not happy to be lost; they hate it.
They long to belong.
There are millions like this today.
Some are poor and obscure.
Some are intent on simply making a living, on feeding themselves.
Some are rich and prominent.
All over this vast globe, people are suffering from destination sickness,
i.e. the sickness of those who have already arrived at their destination, who have all they want; but they sadly discover that they do not want anything they have.
Notice the shepherd’s response.
He left the ninety and nine in the wilderness and went after the one.
That pictures the activity of God, as expressed in the person of the Lord Jesus himself. He left everything to come and find us.
As Paul states it so wonderfully in the letter to the Philippians, he did not count the fact that he was equal with God a thing to be held on to, but instead emptied himself, took upon himself the form of a servant, and was found in the likeness of men (Philippians 2:6-7). He left, and he came.
Philippians 2:5-11 Amplified Bible
5 Have this same attitude in yourselves which was in Christ Jesus [look to Him as your example in selfless humility], 6 who, although He existed in the form and unchanging essence of God [as One with Him, possessing the fullness of all the divine attributes—the entire nature of deity], did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped or asserted [as if He did not already possess it, or was afraid of losing it]; 7 but emptied Himself [without renouncing or diminishing His deity, but only temporarily giving up the outward expression of divine equality and His rightful dignity] by assuming the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men [He became completely human but was without sin, being fully God and fully man]. 8 After He was found in [terms of His] outward appearance as a man [for a divinely-appointed time], He humbled Himself [still further] by becoming obedient [to the Father] to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also [because He obeyed and so completely humbled Himself], God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus [a]every knee shall bow [in submission], of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess and openly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord (sovereign God), to the glory of God the Father.
In worship services it is common to sing songs of praise and hymns to God our Savior.
In many ways, the Apostles’ Creed is like a hymn, and many songs have been composed from the words of this creed.
The Bible includes many song texts as well, and this reading from Philippians 2 includes one of them.
This text in verses 6-11 appears to be a hymn (or part of one) that was recited and sung by early Christians in the first century.
And the apostle Paul uses it to summarize a number of important teachings as he urges readers to “have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.”
In some ways like the Apostles’ Creed, this ancient hymn tells us who Jesus is, what he willingly sacrificed for us, and what will happen when he comes again.
Imagine yourself in a worship service 2,000 years ago, surrounded by sisters and brothers in the Lord and singing these words together.
Then reread (or even sing) this ancient hymn that has echoed down through the centuries. Reflect long and meditate much upon the deep, life-changing truths we can each celebrate only because of “Jesus, Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord.”
This hymn in Scripture, like the Apostle’s Creed, allows God’s Word to settle deep into our hearts and souls. And it calls us to humble ourselves like Jesus in all our relationships as we seek to live for God by loving and serving each other.
Finally, notice Luke emphasizes all the rejoicing over the recovery of the lost.
Luke 15:5-7 Amplified Bible
5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he gets home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’ 7 I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.
This reveals the high value that God sets his sights on all lost men and women.
They are never worthless in his sight. They are made in his image and are of unspeakable value to God. They bear his own image, marred and ruined as that image may be, and he longs to find them and reach them all, restore them all.
Do I feel the same spirit of compassion as the God who longs to reach the lost?
Am I involving myself in this greatest enterprise of God to find these people?
Matthew 28:16-20 Amplified Bible
The Great Commission
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. 17 And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted [that it was really He]. 18 Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority (all power of absolute rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations [help the people to learn of Me, believe in Me, and obey My words], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always [remaining with you perpetually—regardless of circumstance, and on every occasion], even to the end of the age.”
To what degree, measure of Spirit does the Body of Christ, the Church which is supposed to go to all the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8) authentically participate?
To what degree, measure of Spirit does the Body of Christ, the Church which is supposed to go to all the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8) authentically value all life?
IF, and that is definitely a GOD sized IF, we ARE the authentic Body of Christ …
What of all those “99’s?”
What of all those “1’s?”
What of our 100% rejoicing for God with the same measure God rejoices for us?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
For the ninety nine and the one. Jesus, out of love, you poured out your life for us; now help us, out of love, to pour out our lives for each other. In your name, Amen.
Psalm 139 New American Standard Bible 1995
God’s Omnipresence and Omniscience.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
139 O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know [a]when I sit down and [b]when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
3 You [c]scrutinize my [d]path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4 [e]Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O Lord, You know it all.
5 You have enclosed me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in [f]Sheol, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will [g]overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
12 Even the darkness is not dark [h]to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are alike to You.
13 For You formed my [i]inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give thanks to You, for [j]I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15 My [k]frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.
19 O that You would slay the wicked, O God;
Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.
20 For they speak [l]against You wickedly,
And Your enemies [m]take Your name in vain.
21 Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
22 I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
24 And see if there be any [n]hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 