Find One, Fetch One
2 Part Series
Part 1 - Seek And Save
October 25, 2015
Luke 15:7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away! (NLT) Bringing people to salvation is a matter of primary importance to God. Not only did He give Jesus, His son in order to make this possible, He also expects of us to set aside every excuse and to lay down our lives in pursuit of connecting people to Him. God wants every single one of His children to be fruitful when it comes to soul winning. His heart is that none should perish; therefore our hearts (and actions) should be that none should perish… In Luke 15:1-7 Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep to demonstrate the fact that Heaven rejoices more over one person getting saved than over ninety nine saved people getting together for a religious meeting. Considering this, the Church should never be a group of pious people getting together to be personally blessed. Much rather than a ‘feel-good’ meeting, the Church is a rescue operation that should have every resource bent on paving a way for the lost to be saved. Jesus, as the Chief Shepherd set the perfect example for us in this regard. As the saved, God has called us to operate on the level of shepherds. When we start thinking and behaving like the sheep, our purpose and mission become compromised and we fail to do what we were called to do. Sheep are needy and prone to complaining, shepherds on the other hand take responsibility and lead. In order to be good shepherds we have to: Know the flock: A good shepherd spends time with his sheep so that he knows each one of them on a personal level. He carefully takes stock regularly to ensure that the flock is complete and if he misses one, he goes to look for it. Be an expert tracker: Knowing where to find a lost sheep correlates closely to knowing the sheep that is lost. If we know the people we are responsible for, we will also know where to go and look for them when they fall away. Know how to fight: One of the main attributes of a good shepherd is the extraordinary love and passion with which he tends the flock. Protecting and fighting for them with fervor born in love is an ever-present part of the make-up of a good shepherd. Even in the face of disappointment and discouragement we never have the option to give up on people or to stop fighting for their spiritual breakthrough. Know how to dress wounds: A good shepherd knows how to care for his sheep. Likewise we should know how to minister so as to bring healing and restoration to people’s lives. Under the direction of the Holy Spirit we have the ability to help others with their marriages, children, finances and life issues. Learn to carry people: God carries us every moment of every day. We should in turn learn how to carry people when they need it. Integral to this stands our capacity to set all personal plans and agendas aside in order to provide help where and when it is needed. When the good shepherd found the lost sheep, he picked it up and carried it back. When people backslide they sometimes need an extraordinary amount of support and help to get back to where they are supposed to be. Because we have the Holy Spirit in us, we have the ability to do this. God does not require perfection from us; He requires a heart that is willing to take responsibility for the people with whom we share our world. As the called of God, we operate under the supernatural power of God. He has personally enabled us through the Holy Spirit to preach the Gospel, pray for the sick and set the captives free. We, however have to answer to the call by making a concerted decision to stop living for ourselves and to be available to be used of God, even when it is costly or inconvenient. This week determine to let go of a sheep-mentality and to instead step up and take responsibility as a shepherd in your community! Find one that wandered off and fetch a new one before you go to cell and when you come to church! Every part of who we are, every resource we have, geared towards finding one and fetching one, this week and always!
Part 2 - The Compassion Of Christ
November 1, 2015
Matthew 9:36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (NLT) Jesus provides us with the exact example of what we should be like as God’s children. The way He loved, gave of Himself, taught and shepherded people provides us with the standard according to which we can align who we want to be and what we want to do for the Lord. During His time on earth, Jesus took responsibility for every person that crossed His path. He did this with the attitude of a parent loving and helping his own child. Likewise as shepherds in the Kingdom, we are required to take responsibility for others rather than expecting others to take care of us. Matthew 9:36 beautifully portrays the heart and attitude with which we are to do this. In this particular passage Jesus looked at the people and saw, with a deep sense of awareness, the condition of confusion and distress they found themselves in. Not only did He see, He was also moved with compassion because of what He saw. In a world saturated with brokenness and anguish it is easy to become desensitized and as a result to stop seeing people with the heart of Christ. Since we all have to face personal challenges and overcome obstacles in the course of our lives, we are often tempted to zoom in on ourselves at the cost of seeing those around us. When we live without seeing people, it becomes impossible to connect them to the Lord. The heart and the very essence of being a shepherd in God’s Kingdom is love. Love compels us to notice people as individuals with very unique needs, hurts and stories. Seeing with the eyes of Christ enables us to see the multitudes that are weary and scattered all around us in such a way that it moves us with compassion and prompts us to respond. Compassion, in the truest sense of the word, refers to experiencing an emotional response that goes so deep that it seems to have a physical effect. It is a response that directly relates to the deep, intense love God has for every individual. Working in God’s Kingdom without it, lies at the root of the kind of shepherding Ezekiel identifies in Ezekiel 33:34 – shepherding for selfish gain with no regard or real love for the sheep. The Pharisees and Sadducees fitted this description perfectly. They meticulously focused on the Law and even added more burdens and laws without meeting the requirements they set themselves. Instead of helping to ease the load and pave the way to serving God, they were more concerned with what they could personally gain and so disempowered those who wanted to serve the Lord. Jesus on the other hand was determined to respond to the crisis with very real help in the form of empowered shepherds! In Matthew 10:1 He calls the twelve disciples and gives them authority to cast out demons and heal all diseases. In the course of the three years Jesus spent with them, He instructed them, taught them everything they needed to know in word and by example and then sent them, no longer just disciples, but apostles (sent ones), leaders that could take care of the sheep in the very same way they were taken care of. They were mandated to share the message of a shepherd as found in Matthew 11:28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (MSG) How do we become expert shepherds? Just like the original disciples, we need to connect ourselves to someone that is already doing it successfully. God’s heart and desire is for all to be saved. This is the dream we walk in and the goal we work for. When we give all our earthly pressures and burdens to Jesus in exchange for this yoke, He takes care of us as we pursue in everything we do to further the purpose of the Kingdom – that none should perish and all should be saved.