G ò0 dNews for Everyone
Lost Sheep… Are we really that interested? By Pastor BJ Miller
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uke 15:3-7 is part of the inspiration for many familiar paintings and images of Jesus carrying a little lamb over His shoulders. It is such a beautiful image, such compassion, and caring, such tranquility. We love this story of the Jesus who leaves everything to go looking for the little lost lamb. It is so precious, innocent and adorable. We just can’t get enough. Have you noticed that our culture has become obsessed with animals? We’ve fallen all over ourselves in love with furry creatures. We like to think of them as little people… attributing human form or personality to them. I think we all know that scientifically speaking, animals are not human. Are they capable of love? Well, they are certainly capable of affection and loyalty, loneliness, joy and despair and a whole array of other emotions similar to humans. Is love too complicated a concept, or is love a universal language that crosses even the barriers between species? You’ll have to be the judge on that one. Our humanization of animals leaves us vulnerable to a good story about a cute and defenseless little lamb. We imagine all the terrible things out there that would love to do harm to the lamb, perhaps see it as its next meal. We imagine the worst that could happen to that poor creature, suffering, all alone, afraid, nowhere to turn, no one to help, no one to rescue it, no one who cares. And then Jesus enters the picture and saves the day by rescuing the lamb. But the lamb isn’t really a lamb. The lamb could actually be someone who might do harm to you or your family. It might be someone who doesn’t dress like you, someone who frequently uses drugs or abuses alcohol, someone whose speech is laden with profanity, someone with markings covering their body, someone with piercings you find peculiar. It could be someone not looking for help, someone not interested in the compassion Jesus has for them, someone bent on destruction, someone whose beliefs and values are the polar opposite of yours. It could be someone who looks and acts religious but who has no idea what a relationship with Jesus is. It could be someone who looks just like your co-worker or next door neighbor, who seems to have it all together, but who is secretly fighting a battle for their very soul. It could be your wife, your husband, your son, your daughter, your brother, your sister, your parents, your best friend. It could be you. Do we imagine the worst that could happen to that defenseless person (lamb), suffering, all alone, afraid, nowhere to turn, no one to help them, no one to rescue them, no one who cares. Regardless of how you identify the lamb, October it represents a sinner in need of repentance and forgive-
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ness. Then Jesus enters the picture and saves the day because He has already made a way to rescue the lamb. The amazing thing is that Jesus is willing to leave everything and seek the lost one out. That is His mission, to seek out and save the lost (Luke 19:10). I’m not convinced that is our mission, though. See, if Luke 19:10 is the Mission of Jesus, then to be His disciples means Luke 19:10 is also OUR Mission! Churches do a lot of different things, but most can be broken down into Mission (Luke 19:10) and Maintenance. If there is no Maintenance then the Mission of the Church ceases to move forward because there is now no longer any way to support it. We must train and equip people, we must encourage them and help them get established in their faith, we must invest in literature, and if we choose to keep a building then we must pay the utilities and the required service of that building. This is all Maintenance. Without it we may find living out the Mission has become increasingly more difficult. But here’s the thing… if there is no Mission, then we cease being Christian and Church, and we become merely a social group who gathers together because we have similar interests. While it is necessary to do Maintenance, we WILL NEVER BE Disciples of Christ if we are not actively engaged in His Mission… to seek out and save the lost. We get caught up in the story of the cute and cuddly lamb because that is who we’ve become. We’ve chosen to stop seeing what the lamb is meant to represent.
Luke 15:7 reads this way, “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.” Our purpose must be mirrored in the response of Heaven. It is wonderful that we do Maintenance. It is fantastic that we keep the machine going, that we pay the light bill, that we educate and equip the saints, that we have sermons and lessons that are thought provoking and challenging. They help us to grow. But if there is no Mission, then we cease to be Christian and Church. The lost are all around us. We must see the desperate conditions, we must see their lack of hope and we must take action. For all the wonderful things we do FOR the people already in our Churches, we must be reminded that Jesus was willing to walk away from it all to seek out one lost soul. Heaven rejoices over one sinner who repents.
I long to hear them cheering...