Read: Luke 15:1-7
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
3 So he told them this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5 And 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 that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
As I, Brycen, type this devotional while working in one of the office rooms at Salem, I can see a table that many would call “the Lost & Found.” This fine collection contains dirty coffee thermoses, sunglasses, small stuffed animals and a bag with the name Nate on it that has been here long enough, the change of clothes inside would no longer fit either young Nate in our congregation. Rick and I refer to this assortment not as the “Lost & Found”, but simply “the Lost.” These things have no consciousness of their abandoned state nor would you find their owners scouring the building to find them.
This condition of lostness reflects the condition of both the sheep and the Pharisees and scribes in our text. As many have heard, sheep are stupid. I haven’t personally fact checked this assertion, but I trust those I know who have and they would tell me that the sheep spoken of in the parable would quite possibly not even know it was lost.
The beauty of the parable lies not in the sheep but the shepherd. The shepherd tears apart the countryside in search of the sheep. Upon finding the unaware fluff ball, he brings him home and throws a party to celebrate. This of course mirrors the pursuit Christ undertakes to seek and save the lost in this world. The sinners Jesus is accused of eating with (and He did) in verse 2 are the broken in this world who are aware they aren’t in the best situation, but don’t know they are lost, as they didn’t know who they needed to be found by. Jesus finds them nonetheless and brings them to the celebration of a new home in Him!
Do you have that story of salvation in your life? Were you lost without a full awareness of how lost you were? Did Jesus come and find you and carry you home? Praise Him for that story and share it with someone this week!
The second group whose condition reflects “the Salem Lost” probably even more, are the Pharisees and scribes in verse 2. The sheep represents the broken sinners this party judged and they at least knew of their brokenness. The Pharisees and Scribes, however, sit in the presence of the one all their studies should have pointed to and yet they don’t recognize they need to be found by Him. They sit unmoved from their table of lostness, not because there is no one ready to find them and carry them home, but because they refuse to admit their condition. Their position in their minds finds security in self-righteousness, and yet placing their security in this keeps them lost, not experiencing the joy and party of finding their home in the fields of Jesus’ grace and mercy.
Take time to reflect:
Are you tempted to sit in a security of self-righteousness and mistakenly forget that you need to be found by Jesus just as much as the “sinners” of your world?
What areas do you find a judgmental attitude creep in towards the struggles of those around?
Read John 10:27-30. What areas of your life are you slow to recognize your drift from the Good Shepherd’s guiding voice? How can you get back to following Him?
As you pray to the Lord on these things, don’t forget to check “the Lost” this Sunday and turn it into a “Lost & Found.”