BIBLE: Leave 99 and Go for 1

Matthew 18:12-14 (MSG)

I'm one of those sinners.  I'm one of the ones who claims to have a relationship with Jesus, yet I've got a past that would lead some to question.  I'm not proud of my past at all!  I'm reminded of it every day because the devil makes it his business to do so.  But in the middle of one of my "past" seasons, I read the above referenced verse and it changed my life!  But first, just a little bit of background.

I'm not going to go into what all I've done.  It's really not important at all.  Suffice it to say that it was something that I shouldn't have been doing as a believer in Jesus, much less as a Worship Pastor in a church!  But I validated my poor choices because life, at the time, was hard for me.  I, and other staff members at the church where I served, were being abused by the Pastor.  There were many more before us (and some since), but I chose to ignore some red flags when interviewing for the job and went anyway.  So as a result, my experience was no different than that of my predecessors.  This hardship led me to believe I deserved something to make me "feel better."  How many of you have learned that life isn't based on how you FEEL?

What I thought was a hardship at the time was made to look like a cakewalk to the season that followed!  My wife and I lost EVERY friend we had (for two separate reasons) and for the first time in 20 years of marriage, we found ourselves alone with only each other.  For over a YEAR, we had ONE common friend that would get together with us when she could (which due to busy schedules only equaled to about 4-5 times throughout the whole time).  I was isolated.  My wife was there, but because of my mistakes, I was experiencing guilt, anger, bitterness, and brokenness.  I wasn't the model husband at that moment!

It took almost half of that year for God to get my attention and begin the healing process, a process which continues today.  I've come a long way, too!!!  But along the way, God took me to these verses listed at the top.  I had always thought that the 1 that the shepherd left the 99 for was in the category that the church world calls "lost."  (meaning someone who does not trust in Jesus as their Savior)  But that's not what Jesus is saying here at all!!!

The "1" was once a part of the 100!  He was a full fledged part already.  Initiation completed.  Name on the dotted line.  Wool imparted.  Black socks doled out.  This was a SHEEP!  And it was part of the flock!  It just wandered off.

Now, the majority of church folk will tell you that hey don't believe in a God that carries a lightning bolt waiting to strike down that heathen sinner who slides his toe across the Spiritual out-of-bounds line.  BUT, let one of their own mess up...DIFFERENT STORY!!!!  Suddenly it's almost like the whole bunch is pointing not only to the mess, but the mess-er!  We can't believe that one of our own would act like that!  "Why, scripture tells us we're to have no part of someone who does stuff like that!"  Oh no it doesn't!!!  That Matthew chapter 18 (from which the above passage is taken) we often refer to as being on "church discipline" isn't focused on that at all!  It's a chapter on how to be REDEMPTIVE with someone!  Here.  Read the whole thing for yourself and make your own opinion.

When shepherds watched over sheep, they carried a staff.  It was pointy on one end and had a crooked hook on the other.  The staff had three purposes.  First, it was a way for the sheep to see the shepherd.  It stuck high in the air and was taller than the shepherd, so it was easier for them to see.  Second, it was a weapon.  Wolves would be out trying to kill he sheep for a tasty meal.  And the shepherd, who genuinely loved his sheep much like we would a pet in today's society, would use the pointy end of the staff as a weapon against impending predators.  And third, it was a tool of rescue.  Sometimes the sheep would be about to get into danger, or would be in water and couldn't swim.  The hook on the other end would be used to reach out and hook the endangered sheep and pull him to safety.  Jesus was talking to shepherds here.  They knew EXACTLY what he was saying and telling them about the character of God!

When we stray, God doesn't leave the 99 to come and execute His wrath on us for wandering off!  NO!  The wages of our sin are still death!  The eternal part is handled if you're a believer, but not the earthly temporal!  He knows the wolf, the devil, is out there and that we're in danger!  That's right.  His leaving is a RESCUE MISSION!!!  He comes running, calling our names, and seeking us out.  And when He finds us, He doesn't rush over to us.  He knows that would startle us into thinking He is going to be angry.  Instead, He lovingly calls us back to Him.  And if and when we go, He scoops us into His arms and hightails it back to the 99 so that the family is under his safe watch again.

Now here's the hard part, yet it's beautiful at the same time.  The shepherd then breaks the leg of the sheep.  WHAT?!?  I can hear your gasps from here!!!  That's right.  Why?  He does it because though sheep are extremely dumb animals, they have remarkable hearing.  So He takes away their ability to run away by breaking their leg, but then He holds them and nurses them lovingly back to health.  AND as He does this, He always carries the sheep in His arms with the sheep's ears over the left side of His chest...because that's where His heart is.  See, a sheep, when used to hearing the shepherd's heartbeat, won't stray outside earshot of that heartbeat when it's once again released on it's own.  There may come a time when it starts to make a wandering move (it's a dumb breed of animal, remember?), but it will be a long while.

That's the way you truly redeem and treat a Christian who's messed up.  You bring them back in as fast as you can by gently calling them.  Don't bash them or panic and scare them away for good by displaying anger!  But doing everything in love, rescue them from certain danger.  Bring them in.  Hold them accountable by talking away some freedom, maybe.  But constantly surround them and cheer them on letting them know that you are there for them and want nothing more than to see them restored.  Then understand that it is the Shepherd who makes the decision when healing is done and releases them back among us.  That decision is not ours!  No matter how many "Christian counselors" we've been to, know, and have in our Rolodex.

This isn't what was done for me.  But it's what I'll do for someone!  My wife, my parents, and some people I didn't even know prayed for me while Jesus came after me.  I'm walking on my leg again.  It still smarts a little!  But I'm getting there.  :-)