Part five compassion or obligation?

I awoke early this morning; couldn’t get that lost sheep out of my head. And I thought about where he had come from and where he was heading. A sheep doesn’t do very well by itself. A sheep needs it’s shepherd and it will only follow the true shepherd. It knows the shepherd’s voice. It also recognizes the rod and the staff.
I’m thinking what is the value of one lone sheep? I know the price of lamb is quite high, that’s one reason we seldom buy it. Another reason is that I’m the only one who likes it. But seriously what is the difference if one sheep out of one hundred does stray away and gets lost. After all it should have stayed with the flock. At first glance we wouldn’t have noticed that it was gone. In some or should I say most of our churches we certainly would not notice.
So if it gets lost and dies out there in the wilderness it serves it right, amen? After all that the shepherd has done for it…it still shows it’s gratitude by wandering off in the wilderness some place.
Stupid sheep…It deserves what it gets…? What value is it then? One out of one hundred…one percent. Collateral damage. That is what they call it in warfare and this Christian walk truly is a warfare. The closer you get to the Saviour…The more intense is the heat that the enemy turns up. If you have a desire to serve God with your whole heart and you are available to Him, then the devil will come at you with every trick in the book, every dirty trick
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Back to the sheep. I don’t know all that much about sheep but I know that if one ends up on it’s back that it could very well die there. It is called a “cast” sheep. Also they need each other, they do not do very well on their own. Get the picture?
I started this entry with the sub title: compassion or obligation?
Paul said in Romans 1:14, “I am a debtor both to Greeks and barbarians, both to wise and unwise.” We have an obligation (talking about people now) to see that they hear the Gospel. It’s really a debt according to the apostle. So it’s more than an obligation in my way of thinking. A debt is even a stronger term than an obligation….some will say that they are the same thing. O.K. but it’s serious business isn’t it? I am a debtor. And it is incumbent upon me that the lost sheep is at least searched for.
But what about the idea of compassion? Didn’t the shepherd in this parable epitomize what compassion really is? And look at the third parable of Jesus in this 15th. Chapter of Luke’s Gospel. What compassion the father showed for his lost son who came to himself and came home. Unless our obligation is motivated by compassion, what good can we do? There must be compassion when we deal with those who have despitefully used us. There must be compassion for the lost sheep. It is our motivation. My prayer today is Lord fill me with compassion for the lost.How about you?

Part three: Lost while still in the fold?: Values

Where are our values today? Are they in things material or in Spiritual things? In th second parable of Jesus as it is recorded in Luke 15, Jesus asks this question vs.8: “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?” Verse 9 says, “And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors
Together; saying, “ Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!” Now verse ten, “Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents.”
Is this parable all about a coin? No prosperity doctrine here, He’s talking about souls….your soul and mine that once was lost and bound for hell but we have been redeemed by the shedding of blood. His blood. All we have to do is accept it by faith.
One sinner who repents causes all heaven to rejoice. Heaven is a joyful place. And when a sinner repents it is of much greater importance than a discovering of a lost coin. But Jesus uses this analogy so that we can understand better.
I can’t help but think however about the circumstances. This coin was lost at home. The thought came to me of how many of our loved ones right in our own home are lost today? I repented of my sins many years ago and accepted Christ as Savior in a little Baptist congregation after the pastor of that church invited me to do so. But the real influence was my parents example that led me to the Lord. Right in our own home the Gospel was lived out every day. Are we doing the same thing and in that way sweeping and searching carefully until we find that lost one at home? A coin is worthless compared to a soul. Jesus did not say anything about rejoicing over a lost coin as far as heaven was concerned. He repeats the same message that He told when that lost sheep was found in the first parable in Luke ch. 15 There is rejoicing in heaven when a soul finds salvation….when he/she repents.
You can be lost while still at home,that is why it is important to sweep the house every now and then to find that lost one…..the angels will rejoice….never give up on them.

Part four: never give up on that lost one.
The next parable from Luke ch. 15 is the parable of the prodigal son. It is really about the love of a father….the love of our Heavenly Father. You can read it in ch. 15 verses 11 through 32. I think this is one of the most outstanding parables Jesus ever told. It offers great hope to that mum or dad whose son or daughter has strayed far from home. If the path you’ve trod takes you far from home (a line from a song called "your in Father’s house, you are not alone"); the prodigal son had gone down that path and he found himself living in a pigpen, starving to death. But the Bible says that while he was in that pigpen that he came to himself. If your son or daughter is in a pigpen of sin somewhere then pray that prayer first. That he/she will come to themselves. VS. 17 says, “But when he came to himself, he said, “how many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!” That was the first step in his return home…he came to himself. He began to think straight. Sinful living is riotous living…it is mob psychology it doesn’t think right. It lives from one sinful act to another; it is only intent on gratifying the flesh. The old philosophy of the so-called “new morality” that rose up back in the sixties said, “if it feels good…do it” That is not thinking right. It only satisfies the flesh but unfortunately that satisfaction does not last very long. The prodigal son ended up homeless and hopeless thinking like that. But then he came to himself. He began to think straight. And he thought of home. Perhaps you are reading this blog somewhere today or tonight and it has caused you to think of home, heaven and home. You can do what the prodigal did…come to your senses. Sin is not sensible.
It will destroy you. “Sin when it is full grown, brings forth death.”
James 1:15. Don’t let sin become full grown. The Bible states here in James’ epistle ch.4 vs 7: “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Firstly you have to submit to God because you cannot resist the devil in your own strength. The first thing you have to do is to repent like the prodigal son did. He said, “I will arise and go to my father, (that was the smartest thing he had ever done up to this point in his life) That is the first step in repentance….to acknowledge your sin…and so did the prodigal son, because he said ,I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned “
That is what the Father wants to hear us say…”Father I have sinned”….I’m a sinner not worthy to be called Your son. But the Father is always there waiting for that lost son to return home…in fact He is always waiting and watching because the Bible says here inLuke 15:20, “But when he was a long way off, his father saw him and had compassion……it didn’t matter what he had done..he had compassion…..he saw his son and he had compassion. I believe that is a picture of how God looks at us. He sees us and He has compassion. There does not seem like there is a lot of compassion in this day and age. Compassion is a God given quality. The compassion is God’s part. Forgiveness is God’s part. Repentance is our part. We must come to ourselves. And oh the rejoicing! A line of a song goes like this…”what rejoicing on that day, when the saints arise, headed for that jubilee, yonder in the skies….oh what singing, oh what shouting on that happy morning when we all shall rise”. I believe it is the same rejoicing as there is in heaven when a sinner returns home….when a sinner repents. Do you want to make all heaven rejoice? Confess your sins to Jesus..repent....I have

Forgiveness part 2:

Yes there is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner that has repented than over ninety nine just persons who need no repentance. Jesus said that in Luke 15:7. And yet we spend more effort and more time, yes more of our resources pampering the ninety and nine. And if the lost sheep(that one lost sheep) happens to wander in to our sheepfold we pay little or no attention to it.

I was given some statistics from a missionary friend we met in Spain recently who along with another friend there whom Judy and I have known and loved for many years( he happens to be a pastor) and they have come together to encourage Christians in Morocco and Tunisia. It won’t hurt to tell you that these two countries within the 10-40 window have very low statistics when it comes to true Christians. For example Morocco has app. 30 million people and 2000 Christians. The story gets worse in Tunisia…200 out of 9 million and in one small city…..3 known Christians. (that’s in Morroco) But where are the ninety nine? In the sheep fold enjoying praise and worship and a time of praise and worship is proper and good and right but at the same time let’s not forget the lost. Now make no mistake ; the ratio today in these countries of the so-called 10-40 window the figures are reversed; there are not ninety nine percent in the fold. In fact there is much less than one per cent in the fold. No wonder Jesus said in John 14:12, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also, and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” By the sheer force of numbers that task is much greater than in Jesus’ time here on earth.

In our own province we are attending to the ninety and nine but what about the lost one? That one that is, “ out on the fields alone far off from the gates of home”, the old song goes.

There is a wonderful ministry in place for women who need restoring called Samaria house. It is an excellent facility already in place, but there is a severe lacking of funds and laborers also. This place is a haven for women who have lost their way and need attention from Christian women. A wonderful place of restoration.

It is important to feed the “ninety and nine” but let’s remember the words of Jesus quoted earlier in this blog “ I say to you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than ninety nine just persons who need no repentance.” Something to think about isn’t it? Only God knows the magnitude of the task and only through prayer and strong crying out to God can there be an answer. God still answers prayer. The Pharisees of Jesus day were the “religious right”, the self proclaimed “moral majority” and they accused Jesus of being a friend of sinners. And they were right. He was and still is a friend of sinners. Could we be accused of that today?

Forgiveness is from God: collateral damage

Forgiveness is not all that popular in our times. It is not the human thing to do. It is a God given characteristic (for want of a better term) and seldom originates in the heart of a man or woman unless that person is born of the Spirit of God. There are three parables in the Bible found in the Gospel of St. Luke that deal with recovering something or someone that is/was lost.

The first one is the story of a shepherd who has lost a sheep and it was one of a flock of one hundred. So in my calculations the shepherd had lost only one percent of his herd or flock or whatever you call a bunch of sheep. On any given week in most of our churches a one percent loss wouldn’t even be noticed. So that’s part of life. We don’t even shrug our shoulders over one lone sheep. What do they call it in war? Collateral damage?

But the Good Shepherd is prepared to risk the other ninety-nine for this one sheep! I can’t believe it! Is one lone sheep that has strayed from the sheepfold worth this kind of risk? A risk that the Shepherd himself would leave the sheepfold for, in the wilderness

at that and go off to find the lost one? Now he probably left them in a sheepfold, at least they were together. But what a risk for one percent of the congregation.

You see, Jesus was telling this true story to a group of people who were made up of sinners and also some self-righteous religious people who were criticizing Him for sitting with these sinners and

Heaven forbid! He was even eating with them! Great balls of fire!

Can you imagine? Befriending sinners? He was supposed to condemn them…right? He told how God looks at sinners. You see this little sheep had sinned…he strayed away from the flock and sinned. But the Good Shepherd left the flock in the desert where there were all kinds of risks like wolves or lions or whatever…. And went out into the darkness of night and at a considerable risk to himself and not without a great cost to find that lost one who had sinned. And did He scold that little fur-bearing varmint? I should say wooly critter? Nope, he did not condemn him but rather He forgave him. I read that when He found it, He lays it on His own shoulders ….rejoicing none the less…and carries it back to safety and when He gets home, He calls His friends and neighbors.

And gets them all together for a time of celebration, saying, “rejoice with Me for I have found My sheep. You know that lost one; the one that is weak in the flesh and every now and then wanders off? But I have found him and brought him back home again.” You say does the Bible say all of that? I am talking about some real life situations and, yes, the Bible says that, maybe not in so many words but it says that. Sad to say but in most of our churches today that person would go unnoticed. Forgiveness is from God. We expect there will be some collateral damage…just part of the picture…..to be continued

Our Amazing God. Last week, during a drive through our province of New Brunswick, I was once again reminded of the greatness of our God. For many miles, it was so foggy that I could not see very far ahead of the car. Sometimes, this dense fog would have bothered me because of the danger it might create for me. However, I was not in a hurry, traffic was light, and so I was not concerned about the heavy fog.

So, as I was driving along, I was overcome with the thought that “only our Almighty God would have the ability to cover half of our province at the same time with a blanket of fog.”

While I was in this same train of thought, I remembered showing a National Geographic video in my classroom on Volcanos. I showed this particular film every year for about 5 or 6 years when that topic came up in Science class. After seeing it the first time, I always listened carefully as one of the two volcanologists from France made an amazing observation - about God! This married couple of scientists had spent many years following active volcanos all over the world - always in the most dangerous situations. I remember seeing them dressed in their special fire resistant suits because they were standing so close to the bubbling lava on the rim of an active volcano. Also, they had to wear specially made boots that would not burn through on the bottoms because the ground was almost on fire. But it so blessed me when the female volcanologist mentioned God in one of her comments - when the mountain trembled, she made mention that this must be God - how else could such a massive mountain tremble like that.

Just some musings. Doesn‘t hurt to be reminded of the greatness of our God. And, this great God loves us - isn’t that amazing?

Submitted by Naida