A Lesson on Lostness -- Part 1

One of the perks of my job is that, in addition to teaching 5th grader Social Studies and Language Arts, I also get to teach Bible.  It is such a blessing to be at a Christian school where we can pray as a class; talk about God as a class; and read the Bible.  This semester, we have been studying the parables of Jesus.  I have always loved studying the parables, and I love teaching them just as much!  Jesus was the Master Teacher, and He spoke in parables to assist his disciples in better understanding His message.  I learned as a child that a parable is "an earthly story with a heavenly meaning."  The truths Jesus taught two thousand years ago are just as valuable and viable today.  Maybe even more so.

In Luke 15, Jesus deals with the idea of "lostness." He illustrates his point with a story of a lost coin, a story of a lost sheep, and a story of a lost (prodigal) son.   Jesus spoke on this theme to show us that God really cares for those who are away from him.  He will actively search for His children that are away from Him.

I remember a Bible lesson many years ago on the lost sheep.  It was in a pre-school Sunday School class.  We glued cotton on our little lambs, and they were all part of the story.  My little lamb was chosen to become the "lost" sheep.  As Mrs. Moore, my Bible teacher began the story, I became very sad.  I got so upset, as I watched her put my little white lamb to the far side of the flannel board, far away from the shepherd.  I was probably four years old, and I remember Mrs. Moore's reassurance,  telling me to just wait for the end of the story.  I was elated when the Shepherd found my lamb and brought it back with the others.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and so many times, we act like dumb sheep.  We wander, and we find ourselves lost.  We are in a foreign place, and we are lost, confused, and desperate.  How did we get here?  How do we get back on the right track?  How did life become such a mess?  Where is the loving Shepherd?

He will "leave the other ninety-nine" in order to search for the "one" that is lost.  That idea is amazing.  That "one" REALLY matters.  That "one" has been me many times during my life, and it probably has been you, as well.  Sometimes I think we forget about how important we are to God.  How important I am.  How important you are.  He knows us intimately--down to the number of hairs on our head.  And He wants us near Him, and He wants to be near to us.

He doesn't rationalize that the lost "one" doesn't matter.  He doesn't settle for the "ninety-nine" sheep that are safely in the fold.  He knows the one that is missing, and He lovingly searches for it, and brings it back.  He doesn't kick it, and scold it about wandering.  He doesn't threaten that it better not happen again.  He doesn't bring up the other fifty times it has been lost in the past.  He lays it around His shoulders and carries it home.  He calls in friends and neighbors to join in the rejoicing over the one that was lost, and is now found.

Sometimes God may use us to seek out a sheep that has gone astray.  We need to be ready and willing to be part of His search party in actively looking for that little lost lamb.  We need to imitate the actions of the Shepherd and lovingly bring those who have strayed away back into the fold.  It is not our job to judge or condemn a wayward child of God.  It is our duty to show him his extreme importance to the Father.  It is our duty to show her that God wants her back, and that we want her back.  Too many times Christians seem to "kick" fellow believers "when they're down."  Well-known minister, Rick Warren, tweeted recently that "The Church is a hospital for suffering sinners, not a hotel for smug saints."  How true!  As Christians, we are sometimes guilty of "shooting" our walking wounded rather than truly ministering to them.   

As the years have passed, I don't know what ever happened to my little cottony lamb.  My mother kept it in a memories box for many years, but somehow it became lost, once again.  Even without it, the story is permanently imprinted on my heart.  What a gift we have in knowing that we can never be so far away from God that He cannot find us, and we can return to His fold.