"One in a Hundred"

Sermon by Pastor David Layman

October 7, 2007

Matthew 18:10-14

As we consider Jesus' parable of the lost sheep, it might be helpful to begin by asking "How do sheep get lost?" Sheep don't tend to be like prodigal sons who decide they've had enough of the old homestead and have an itching to squander their lives on riotous living. After all, have you ever seen a sheep stumble out of the "Stumble In" tavern, or exit from the "Inn Zone"? Have you ever seen a sheep frequent the Chug a Lug Pub? I haven't either! I suspect a sheep normally doesn't get lost by evil intent. But the sheep is so content eating grass, he just keeps his head down, nibbling the grass in front of him. He moves ahead, nibbling, nibbling, and suddenly, the sheep looks up and says "Where are the other 99 sheep? Where'd they go? I'm in a baaaad situation!" Then the lost sheep starts running around, trying to find his way home, with nary a Bo Peep to be found. The next thing you know, this sheep is hopelessly lost and confused. And maybe it even gets its wool caught in a thicket, or stumbles into a ditch, without a beep alert to call someone and say "I've fallen and I can't get up!"

Jesus notes that the shepherd doesn't say "I've still got 99 sheep; 99 percent is an A plus!" Instead, the shepherd leaves the 99 (under supervision, surely) and goes in search of the one sheep that went astray.

They say sheep are not the most intelligent of God's creation. This surely makes sheep analogous to human beings. We make mistakes without realizing it, take wrong turns, and the next thing we know, we're lost.

Sometimes we get lost in discouragement. "Boy, have I gotten a rotten deal in life", we tell ourselves. "What's the use?" Sometimes we become lost in suffering. Or shock. Or hurt. We're not always prodigal sons when we get lost. Sometimes we're sheep. I've known people to develop addiction problems not because they start out saying "I just want to go out and get drunk!" Instead, they have back pain because of an accident and get started on prescription pain medication. Or they're sensitive souls who are hurting and in search of some relief and escape. They wouldn't hurt a flea when sober. But the time may come when they're not sober very often!

Sometimes, sheep that are found get angry and upset with sheep that get lost. Why should we be inconvenienced because another sheep did something stupid like keep its head down and nibble itself into oblivion? Why should we have to wait supper on him? National Parks such as the Grand Canyon report that they frequently have to go searching for tourists who decide they want to take a sight seeing hike down into the canyon, not realizing how hot and exhausting it can get down there. They also don't realize it's a lot harder hiking up out of the canyon than it was strolling down into the canyon. The rangers could say to themselves "We've posted warnings at the beginning of every trail about going into the canyon unprepared. Why should we have to spend so much time and money looking for a handful of fools that get lost or suffer heat stroke? There are plenty of other tourists; we shouldn't have to risk our lives going after a few fools!

But Jesus proclaims a different way of viewing the lost. Jesus in talking about "little ones" is not just speaking about children, but those young and immature in their faith. Jesus says that "little ones" each have angels in heaven that continually see our Heavenly Father's face. And Jesus says "It is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost." (18:14)

Glenn McDonald tells of how, when his three children were young, they'd go into downtown Indianapolis and recreationally ride the elevators. It was cheap entertainment at its best! The McDonald children's favorite elevator was at the Hyatt. The elevators are glass and look out over a vast atrium. The elevator they were riding stopped suddenly at the 17th floor. Glenn's oldest son Mark got confused, and exited the elevator along with several others. Before Glenn could say anything, the door closed and the elevator descended. His young son was left behind, all alone on the 17th floor of a downtown hotel! Glenn looked at the child holding his left hand and the child holding his right hand and thought "Hey, at least I've got 2/3 of the kids I came with. That's not bad for a family trip." Just kidding! He was filled with panic and terror, all focussed on one unrelenting mission: "I've got to find the one who is lost." He was holding on so tightly to his two younger children that one cried out "Daddy, you're squeezing me." When they at last were together, there was a major celebration! (The Disciple Making Church, Faithwalk Publishing, Grand Rapids, 2004, pp. 201-2)

There was a wonderful elderly member of another church I'd served whose father had been a doctor. Esther's deceased husband had been a band director in the school system. She lived in a rambling old house that in years past must have been a grand place, but it had seen better days. Esther had a son who was a gifted musician, but went off to the big city early in life and wound up struggling with various problems. Perhaps that gave Esther a special concern for lost sheep. Every now and then I'd look out in the sanctuary and see a stranger sitting beside Esther--someone that looked bedraggled and needing to find his way. Other members of the church just shook their heads and chuckled, "That's Esther. She doesn't believe there's any such thing as a lost cause." What these members may not have realized was that Esther was much more like God than they were in her concern to seek and save the lost! What kind of church might it have been if every member cared about the lost the way Esther did?

Have you ever been lost? When asked this, the pioneer Daniel Boone once replied, "No, I've never been lost. But once I was bewildered for two weeks!" Have you ever been lost? Or bewildered?

Shortly after I began my year as youth director of the Union Church of Guatemala, one evening a youth asked for a ride home after a youth meeting. The church hadn't gotten me a car yet, and I hadn't driven around Guatemala City. So I wasn't familiar with the streets at all. He said it was easy to get to his house, and he'd show me the directions so I could find my way back. The pastor said I could borrow his car. The youth lived some distance from the church. I dropped him off, and started back all right. But I took a wrong turn off the limited access main road, and then ran into one way streets and got turned around in the dark. I spoke very little Spanish, and was warned not to ask for help from the Police. The police made little money, and would ask for bribes. I kept driving around and around, and didn't see any land mark I recognized. It's a miserable feeling to be lost in a strange city at night and not speak the language! Needless to say, I prayed fervently. And after a period of time, I recognized a landmark on the north side of Guatemala City that I'd seen when I was taken to a meeting the night my plane arrived. I then found a thoroughfare and headed to the southern part of the city where the church was.

Matthew 18:13 tells us that "If" the Shepherd finds his lost sheep, he rejoices over it more than over the nine-nine that never went astray." There is great joy over being found after being lost, I can assure you! It is not the will of our Father in heaven that one of these "little ones" should be lost.

Are we content to be a fellowship of the found? Or will we join the search for the lost?

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