It
is part of the human condition that we assign value to things and determine their
worth. We determine whether it is a worth taking a trip based on how much it
will cost us. We judge the value of land, cars, smart phones, and gym
memberships. But, the human condition does not stop there. Not only do we
ascribe worth to things, but we also assign worth to people. We value our
relationships based on the recognition they might bring us. We judge our
friends based on what they do for us. We decide whether to help a person in
need based on the recognition it might bring us or the value that the act might
bring to our society.
In
fact, we even have names that we give to people to communicate just what we
think their value is. We may call someone who doesn’t dress or act like us a
thug, a redneck or a bumpkin. We might call someone sheepish if they are meek
and don’t know how to stand up for themselves. We might call a little child a
lamb, partly for the cuteness of the child, but also because that child is
helpless. We might say that people who follow a person blindly are just a bunch
of sheep. We could go on and on with names that are meant to subtly demean the
person to which they are ascribed.
This
condition is not something that is new to humanity, though. This condition
began with the first man and woman, Adam and Eve. After they had rebelled
against God by eating the fruit of a tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
the very next thing that they noticed was that they were naked, and it made
them ashamed. Before their sin, they were naked and unashamed. Now, they could
not look at one another without feeling shame. What changed? Among other
things, they became prideful. They had already judged the gifts of God in
giving them every tree for their good to be lacking. Now, they looked at each
other and made the same judgment. They had ascribed value to one another and
both had come up lacking.
The
story does not improve from there. The next story in the Bible tells us of Cain
and Abel. In that story, Cain killed his own brother, Abel, out of jealousy for
Abel’s acceptance before God. Again, we find that Cain valued his own pride and
recognition more than the life of his brother, and for it he was cursed.
On
and on the stories go, whether it is the people of Noah’s day who were filled
with violence, the brothers of Joseph, who were willing to sell their brother
into slavery to gain their father’s acceptance, the Egyptians who enslaved the
people Israel and killed their children to gain wealth and fame, or Saul, who
hunted David because God had anointed him to be king. The Bible shows us that
the human condition is one that values possessions and recognition more than we
value other humans who are made in the image of God.
The
people of Jesus’ day were no exception, either. In fact, the religious leaders
of Jesus’ day had enshrined the practice of placing value on people into the
very law of the land. In Matt. 15:4, Jesus rebukes the religious leaders
because they had made up a rule that one could give away his possessions to the
temple and avoid honoring his father and mother in their time of need. In John
4, we find the story of the woman at the well, who knew that Jews shouldn’t
speak to Samaritans because of the vile racial hatred between those two
peoples. In Luke 7:36, the religious leaders rebuke a woman for wasting good
perfume on Jesus, when the woman was rightly worshipping the Son of God. And,
we all know the ultimate devaluing of human life, when the religious leaders
held a sham trial for the true Son of God and judged him to be a rebel and a
blasphemer.
These
same religious leaders look at Jesus’ actions in Luke 15:1-2 and they grumble
because Jesus was receiving sinners and eating with them. Jesus values people
differently than we do. His whole life was a picture of the world’s value
system turned upside down. He was born to a poor carpenter and peasant woman.
He was born in the lowliest of positions, lived in a small, insignificant town,
and started his ministry in the backwoods of the world. When many disciples
started following him, he scared them off by telling them things like “Foxes
have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his
head.” When great crowds began to follow him and wanted to make him king, he
would get in a boat and go to the other side of the lake. When great crowds
would press in on him for healing, he would turn to the woman with an issue of
blood. When a rich young ruler that could bank roll his ministry came to him,
he told him to sell all of his possessions in order to follow him. He marveled
at the faith of Gentiles and rebuked the faithlessness of the religious
leaders. And, on the day of his crucifixion, when others would fight tooth and
nail for their freedom, Jesus offered no defense, took the place of a murderous
zealot, and led a thief to salvation before giving up his life for people who rejected
and scorned him.
Jesus
does not value life the way we do. In Luke 15, after hearing the grumblings of
the religious leaders, he tells a parable about a lost sheep. The man of the
parable loses one sheep out of 100, and leaves all of his wealth in the other
99 sheep to go find the one that is lost. And, when he finds the sheep, there
is no rebuke. Instead, he takes the sheep, puts her over his shoulders, and
carries her back. Notice, in verse 5, he says that he does this all while
rejoicing. Not only that, but he calls all of his friends together and they
have a big party because this lost sheep was found. Jesus even tells us in
verse 7 that this very type of celebration goes on in the throne room of heaven
when one sinner repents.
Do you see
brothers and sisters, that this attitude towards the lost represents the very
heart of God? This isn’t something that changed with Jesus. God has always
loved to save those who were weak and lost. He has always loved to save those
who could not save themselves. Cain was rejected for his hubris and lack of
faith, but Abel was accepted because he knew that only a sacrifice would do. Abraham
was a man who was as good as dead, married to a woman who had a dead womb, and
yet God chose them to be the father and mother of the Church. Rahab was a pagan
prostitute, David was a ruddy shepherd boy, and on and on the stories go. God
revels in our weakness. David exclaims in Psalm 32:2, “Blessed is the one whose
sin the Lord does not count against him”. God does not help those who help
themselves. God helps the helpless. He defends the fatherless, the widow, and
the sojourner. He blesses the poor in spirit and the meek are those who inherit
the earth.
Oh, brothers and
sisters, don’t you see that for this very reason, Jesus came. Think of those
who Jesus pursued. He called a tax collector, fishermen and zealots to be his
disciples. In a great crowd of people who would have loved to host Jesus for
lunch, Jesus sought out Zaccheus, a tax collector to dine with that day. As his
ministry was blooming, he left the crowds to go to the land of Samaria for a
woman who had been married five times and was then living with a man. Jesus
came to seek and to save that which was lost. These are his sheep. In John
10:14-16, Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know
me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life
for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring
them also, and they will listen to my voice. So, there will be one flock, one
shepherd.” Jesus would cross heaven and earth to find one of his sheep. He
would risk his fame to reach a Samaritan woman. He would risk his health to
heal a leper. He would give up the kingdoms of men to minister to 12 country
boys from Galilee. But, the greatest evidence of Jesus’ love for his sheep is
found in his life-giving sacrifice on the cross. Jesus would lay down his life
for every last one of his sheep.
But, brothers and
sisters, these sheep that we find in Scripture are not the only sheep that
Jesus has. As Jesus says in John 10:16, “I have other sheep… I must bring them
also.” Jesus is still seeking and saving the lost today. He is still looking
for those lost sheep. And, the most thrilling aspect of that fact is that he
has chosen us, his church, to be the instrument through which these sheep are
found. Oh, do you see what a great tragedy it is that our attitude towards this
very task can be so lacking? For one, we do not value the sheep like our Savior
does. Where Jesus sees a sheep, we see a bum who needs to get a job. Where
Jesus sees a sheep, we see an infidel on whom we should visit all of the
justice of our great country. Where Jesus sees a sheep, we see an annoying
sibling who has always gotten more attention from our parents. Where Jesus sees
a sheep, we see a perfect example of a thug. But, Jesus loves his sheep. Jesus
rescues his sheep. Jesus carries his sheep when they are weak and he rejoices
over them when they are brought home. We are charged with the task of finding
and feeding these lost sheep.
Many times,
though, it is not our heart that is the problem, but our actions. Sometimes, we
just have other priorities. Many times, we are so concerned with the cares of
this world that we are frozen in place, unable to reach the sheep that Christ
has tasked us with finding. We are frozen in place by our own complacency,
satisfied with our little circle of friends, our safe and comfortable
surroundings. But, the man of Jesus’ parable left into the desert to find this
lost sheep. He left all and he risked all for the sake of his lost sheep. Oh,
how differently do we look. In Matt. 5:11-12, Jesus tells his disciples,
“blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds
of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward
is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
That statement means nothing to the American church, not because the world
likes Christians here in America or because of our First Amendment, but because
we don’t care about the lost sheep. Paul tells Timothy in 1 Tim. 3:12, “All who
would live godly lives will face persecution”, yet we don’t face it in America
today, why? Maybe it is because living a godly life is something different than
political authority, writing the right laws, and having the right judges on the
bench. Maybe what the Bible means by godly and what we think it means are two
totally different things. Maybe, to be godly is to have the heart of Christ, to
have the same concerns as Christ, to be found with the poor, outcasts, and the
sinners and to be rejected by the political elite because of it. Maybe, the
heart of Jesus looks like having compassion on the downtrodden or eating a meal
with the unclean.
This is the love
of Christ, that he would risk everything, that he would give everything, for
the sake of his sheep. Brothers and sisters, we are called to that same love
and that same risk. We cannot hide behind our reputation or our safety or our
family or our work. We cannot assume that someone else will come along who is
willing to save the sheep. It is our task, and may we be about doing it.
But, maybe you
have heard all that I’ve said and have thought, “But, Preacher, I’m just too
weak and I’ve lost my way. I believe, but I just don’t know that I’m one of His
sheep.” Beloved, you can never be too weak and needy for Jesus. Jesus loves his
sheep, and he rejoices over you, even as he carries you on his shoulders. You
may be weak in faith. You may have sin that entangles you. You may have the
prowling lion, Satan himself, hounding you and telling you how you don’t
deserve this love of the Savior. But, Jesus loves you, anyway. He did not come
to save the righteous, but sinners. He has not come to help those who help
themselves, but to help those who are helpless.
Friend, perhaps
today you are hearing this, and you have come to recognize that you are a lost
sheep. Perhaps today, maybe even for the first time, you realize that although
you thought you could make it on your own, blaze your own trail, you are
helplessly lost, too weak to make it on your own. You know that your sin is too
heavy a burden to bear on your own. You know that this life that you are living
ultimately has no purpose. Friend, Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and he has laid
down his life for such as you. He has given himself for your sins. He will take
you, though you may be so very weak, he will take you nonetheless. And, he
won’t take you with a grudge, but with rejoicing! In Christ, your sins are
forgiven and you will have newness of life that will last for all of eternity. Come
to the good Shepherd today.
