Reach out
If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders.
Luke 15:4-5
This is such a beautiful story. You can picture the shepherd as he makes sure the 99 precious sheep are safe and warm, and then trudges out into the wilderness to look for the one that was lost. It’s a heart-warming story – but it doesn’t make any sense.
Economically, why would you run the risk of endangering 99 sheep by leaving them all alone in the desert to search for just one sheep, who constitutes only one per cent of your business? Surely, the shepherd should protect 99 per cent of his business and hope that the silly lost sheep would somehow wander home.
The only explanation for a shepherd acting in this way is love. He sets out to search for the lost sheep because he really cares for each of them. This gives us an insight into the way in which Jesus lived and worked. He spent a lot of time with people who everyone else considered to be lost causes.
He could have spent it comfortably, in Jerusalem, having interesting conversations with the religious people. But Jesus chose to go to the people who lived on the edge of society – poor people, children, women, people with leprosy, prostitutes and tax collectors. He was looking for the lost sheep.
In our churches today, we must ensure that we never stop seeking the lost. It is easy to get comfortable to shape our church life and activities to suit ourselves. But Jesus reminds us that we exist to reach out to people in his name. People who may be rejected by society and completely unlike us.
And when they turn to Christ and find new life in him – wow! We need to have a celebration!
QUESTION
In what way are you seeking to reach the lost?
PRAYER
Lord Jesus Christ, thank you that you have been a shepherd to me. Help me to reach out to others with your arms of love. Amen