Gatherers, Not Mutterers: Seeking the Lost with the Shepherd

When we come into these parables, the parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, the very first thing I notice is that there are two distinct groups of people doing two very different things. There are the tax collectors and ‘sinners,’ and there are Pharisees and the teachers of the law. It is fascinating that the tax collectors and ‘sinners’ were gathering around Jesus to hear Him, while the Pharisees and teachers of the law muttered. It suggests that when Jesus is involved, we can either be ‘Gatherers’ or ‘Mutterers.’ My prayer this morning is that we will be ‘Gatherers’ and truly hear Him. To that end, let’s pray together.

This part of the Bible records three stories that Jesus told. We start with the parable of the lost sheep.

Friends, when the Word of God compares us to sheep, it is not a compliment. Sheep are headstrong, they wander, and without a shepherd, they would perish. The Bible says, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way…” (Isaiah 53:6). But when Jesus tells the story of the man who had a hundred sheep and one goes missing, the story isn’t really about the sheep—it is about the Shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to go after the one until He finds it.

They wander. They will follow their nose wherever and never pay attention to where they are or where they are going. But they are also followers of one another. I remember the story of the primary school math teacher who was trying to get simple subtraction through to her students, who were farm kids. So she put it in agricultural terms. “Billy, if you have 27 sheep in the pen and one gets out, how many are left in the pen?”

“None Ma’am, “ says Billy.

“Come on Billy. Twenty-seven sheep in the pen and one gets out. How many are left in the pen?”

Again Billy says, “None, Ma’am.” 

Teacher says, “Look Billy, if there are 27 sheep in the pen and one gets out there are 26 left in the pen. I can see that you really don’t know math.”

“Ma’am,” says Billy, “if there are 27 sheep in the pen and one gets out there will not be any left in the pen. I can see that you really don’t know sheep.” 

Sheep are like that. They follow one another. 

But they are also headstrong. They have a mind of their own. Judi and I were visiting friends in South Africa during a trip we made with Food for the Hungry back in 1999. They live on a semi-rural property and they have, among other things, some sheep. In the morning, their little daughter, Angela, comes in a bit excited and tells her daddy that the sheep are out. So, out we all go on a sheep round-up. Well we got 2 back in quite easily, but one was not cooperating. We kind of corralled it and moved towards the gate and all of a sudden the sheep would bolt and go the other way. 

After a couple of attempts at this some editorial comments on the general intelligence of the sheep arising out of our frustrations, Angela – she was maybe three- says, “But Daddy, the sheep wants to do what the sheep wants to do.” 

And that’s the problem with sheep. The Bible says it like this:

“We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way…”

Isaiah 53.6

The sheep wants to do what the sheep wants to do. 

So when Jesus tells the story of a man who had a hundred sheep and one goes missing, this is not a surprise to anyone who knows sheep. But the story is not really about the sheep. The story is about the shepherd. 

“Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?” 

A couple things:

• How did he know one was missing? Two possibilities: Either he knew each one by name and one failed to answer the roll call, OR, he counted them. I put this in because it is not uncommon in churches to frown on the idea of counting. But when we count, what we’re doing is exercising care for God’s people. We want to know, are we all here and accounted for or is somebody missing and maybe in need of some help?

• Second observation. He didn’t leave the 99 in danger. He left them in open country, which by nature would be relatively safe from predators. It’s important that we understand that God’s care extends to every one of us. The 99 can huddle together for their safety and sheep do that too. Friends, God is mindful of the care needs of the people inside the Church as well as the people outside it. He doesn’t forget about the 99 while he goes in search of the one. 

How long does he search? “…until he finds it.” God is not willing that any should perish, and this story gives us a glimpse into how committed he is to that task. How long does the Lord Jesus seek for a lost soul? Until he finds it. How long should we maintain our soul-winning pursuit of a particular person? Until they’re found. I want to jump quickly in and out of part two of the story. How long does the woman search for the lost coin? Until she finds it. 

Angels in Reality

Roland Buck was the pastor of a church in Boise, Idaho, for many years. He’s gone to be with the Lord now, but about 35 years ago, Pastor Buck had an unusual series of events unfold in his life. He had a series of visitations by angels and one of the things they told him was how they cooperate in seeking the salvation of people. They told him that they arrange a set of circumstances to bring a person to the place where they have to make a decision, either for Christ or against him. Here’s what struck me.

“If that person chooses not to surrender to Christ at this moment, do not be discouraged. We do not give up; we simply begin again. We will arrange a new set of circumstances to bring that individual back to the point of decision. We will do this as often as it takes, UNTIL that person either accepts Christ or dies refusing to do so.”

If that person at that point in time, chooses not to surrender to Christ, the angel told Pastor Buck, they do not get discouraged or give up; they simply start again to arrange another set of circumstances to bring that person again to the point of decision. And they will do that as often as it takes, UNTIL that person accepts Christ or dies refusing to do so. 

I think God might be saying to us, “Keep on keeping on. “ Don’t be weary in well doing for in due season you will reap a harvest if you don’t faint. Don’t stop praying for that person. Don’t stop looking for opportunities to share Christ . Don’t stop helping your neighbour. Don’t stop serving the Lord. Don’t stop meeting together; in fact, do it more than ever, Scripture says, as we see the day approaching. How long do we keep at it? “…Until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11.26) . It’s always too soon to quit.  

What happens when the shepherd finds the sheep that was lost? “He joyfully puts it on his shoulders and carries it home. Then he calls his friends and neighbours together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.”

This is his point: “In the same way there will be MORE rejoicing in heaven over one sinner that repents than over 99 just persons who do not need to repent.”

“The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

Luke 19.10

And he keeps on seeking until he finds. We have a seeking Saviour. A huge part of our calling is to join him in his search for the lost. 

Okay, we’ve been out in the field, out in the meadow; let’s go into the house. Here’s a woman who has 10 silver coins and she loses one. This coin would have been part of a set – possibly part of her wedding dowry which she might have worn on a chain or kept in a pouch. The chain thing makes sense because that would account for her losing it. For whatever reason, this coin was very precious to this woman, and she was determined to recover it. So she lit a lamp, swept the house and searched carefully – how long? – UNTIL SHE FOUND IT. “And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbours together and says, ‘Rejoice with me, I’ve found my lost coin.” In the same way there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” The joy here is that the set is complete again. The lost has been found. The angels of God rejoice when one person comes to repentance. 

A couple more observations: 

• There is a Shepherd seeking the lost out there. He has invited, may I say, conscripted us to join him in his efforts. But there is a woman in the house who is seeking for what is lost in the house, and may I say, that is speaking directly to us. The church is always represented as a bride and redemption is always typified under the symbol of silver. So we, the church, need to be diligent in our own house, to keep our lamps lit and burning, to search carefully for anyone who may be among us that might not know the Lord. 

• Neither the sheep nor the coin knew it was lost. A person can be lost out there in the world and a person can be lost right in the church house. One of the amazing facts of life is that lost people most of the time don’t know they are lost. If they knew they were lost they would probably do something about it. And it’s interesting when Jesus gets to part 3 of the story – the younger son- it’s when he realises that he’s ‘lost’ that he makes the decision to return to the Father’s house. 

So, what do we have here in the story? We have joyful celebrations when lost things are found. And we have the comparison that Jesus makes saying there is joy in heaven when one sinner repents and there is even more joy in heaven over one that repents than over 99 who don’t need to repent. And if we want to know how that works, heaven rejoiced earlier when each of those 99 repented. 

And then Jesus told the third story, the people story. The younger son, who deliberately walks away from the Father’s house, squanders his resources and winds up in the pig pen. I have said before that it’s hard to imagine anything worse for a Jewish boy than to have to feed pigs. But there he comes to his senses and he repents and returns to the Father’s house. 

You might ask, “Why did the Father not go out looking for him? “ To which I will reply that the Father did go out looking for him. Probably every single day and continued to do so UNTIL that day when he saw him coming while he was still ‘ a long way off’. He looked for him but he did not chase after him. Why not?

Because that boy did not just wander off. He left willfully and deliberately and he knew exactly where he needed to come back to. A sheep can’t make that kind of decision. A coin can’t make that kind of decision. But a person can. There can be a seeking shepherd and there can be a searching church, but people, every person that repents of their sin and surrenders their life to Christ must, and I repeat, must make a conscious choice to leave sin behind and come home to Jesus. 

And it is here that the stories come together. The Father immediately initiated a party reflecting the joy in heaven among the angels when a lost one is found. 

But, when you ask, what’s the deal with the older brother? Remember where this started? The tax collectors and sinners were gathering to hear Jesus. They are the lost sheep; they are the lost coin; the are the lost sons. And God the Father, Jesus the Son, and all the angels in heaven are delighted that they are gathering and hearing and believing and repenting and receiving. 

The elder brother represents the Mutterers. The critics. The ones who don’t think God should be so merciful. For those who heard last Sunday’s message, these are the ones who want to do their own push-ups. And they don’t think that others should get the donut when it was Steve that did the push-ups. 

But when we see how heaven rejoices over one sinner that repents, when we see how the Father throws a gigantic celebration when one lost child comes home, it ought to move us to seek for the lost sheep too, and keep on doing so until they are found. 

After the lost sheep, Jesus tells of the woman who loses one of her ten silver coins. She lights a lamp, sweeps the house, and searches carefully—until she finds it. And when she finds it, she rejoices. In the same way, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

There is a Shepherd seeking the lost out there, and He has conscripted us to join Him. But there is also a woman in the house seeking what is lost, which speaks directly to us. We need to be diligent in our own house, keeping our lamps lit, searching for anyone among us who might not know the Lord. Lost people often don’t know they are lost, just as the sheep and the coin were unaware.

Finally, Jesus tells the story of the younger son who leaves the Father’s house. Unlike the sheep or the coin, this son makes a willful decision to return. When he returns, the Father initiates a party that reflects the joy held by the angels in reality when a lost one is found.

When we contemplate the parable of the lost sheep, we see the heart of God. If we want to align ourselves with that heart, we must stop being ‘Mutterers’ and start being ‘Gatherers.’ When we see how heaven rejoices over one sinner that repents—when we see how the Father throws a gigantic celebration—it ought to move us to seek the lost and keep on doing so until they are found.

Sermon notes written by Arni.