Adam, a bright-eyed 3-year-old, had been told
of his German heritage. After church in early December, I asked him if he had
a part in the Sunday school Christmas pageant.
"Yes,"
he replied, his eyes filling with joy. "I am going to be a German
shepherd!"
--
Eileen R. Halstead, Marlboro, N.Y. "Kids of the Kingdom,"
Christian Reader.
Intro: How
much does He love me? The
Shepherd became the Lamb. How
much do you love him? How much do
you love his sheep?
Luke 15:1
(NIV) Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around
to hear him. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered,
"This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." 3 Then Jesus told
them this parable: 4 "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses
one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go
after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully
puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and
neighbors together and says, `Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' 7
I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over
one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need
to repent.
I. The
Shepherd loves the sheep. -
Jesus loves the lost - those out of the fold.
II. How
much does He love them?
A.
He left the Heavenly throne.
B.
He came to find them.
C.
He died for them. He cares!
III. Have
you been found?
If not - then He's looking for you
If yes, then (John 21:15-17).
He says, Feed my sheep.
John 21:15 (NIV) When they
had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do
you truly love me more than these?" "Yes, Lord," he said,
"you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
16 Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?" He
answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said,
"Take care of my sheep." 17 The third time he said to him,
"Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus
asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you
know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my
sheep.
IV. He
wants you to be a shepherd.
A.
Know Him - know them. Who
are they? Where do they live? Go
out
to them.
B.
Love Him - love them. Care
for them. Provide for them. Care
&
feed
them.
C.
Believe Him - believe in them. See
them as He does - what they
could
be.
D.
Committed to Him - committed to them.
How committed was He -
are
we?
Matt 25:35 (NIV) For I was hungry and you gave me
something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a
stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was
sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' 37
"Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see you hungry
and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see
you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When
did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' 40 "The King will
reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these
brothers of mine, you did for me.'
V. Would
you be His lamb?
He was yours. Let Him care
for you.
There's
a line in the Old Testament written by Isaiah that tells the result of God's
gamble, Isaiah 53:6: "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us
has turned to his own way." Although God has a right to own us because he
created us, he gave us the option of freedom, and we all left. We chose sin
and did not love him as he wanted to be loved. In response, he chose to send
out his own son to look for us, to hunt us down, to find and redeem us at a
terrible cost--the cost of his own life.
A
shepherd notches the ear of a lamb born to his flock and has rightful
ownership. That lamb deliberately walks away. The shepherd searches near and
far to get that lamb back. A long time later, he finds not a baby lamb but a
grown sheep for sale at an animal auction. The shepherd recognizes his mark on
that sheep's ear. He goes to the auctioneer and says, "I can see the
mark. That sheep is mine."
The
auctioneer says, "Listen, you must bid and pay just like anybody
else."
The
shepherd bids and pays an outrageous price, far above any reasonable market
value in order to get his lamb. He now has a double right to own this sheep:
from birth, from redemption.
God
has a right to own us as creator and because he has paid the blood of his own
Son--an outrageous price far above our market value--in order to redeem us
back again. -- Leith Anderson,
"The Lord Is My Shepherd," Preaching Today, Tape No. 136.
VI. Would
you be His shepherd?
Care for His sheep - the lost ones.
I own a marvelous little book
written nearly a quarter of a century ago by a former shepherd, Philip Keller.
He titled the book A Shepherd Looks at Psalm Twenty-Three, He tells about his
experience as a shepherd in east Africa. The land adjacent to his was rented
out to a tenant shepherd who didn't take very good care of his sheep: his land
was overgrazed, eaten down to the ground; the sheep were thin, diseased by
parasites, and attacked by wild animals. Keller especially remembered how the
neighbor's sheep would line up at the fence and blankly stare in the direction
of his green grass and his healthy sheep, almost as if they yearned to be
delivered from their abusive shepherd. They longed to come to the other side
of the fence and belong to him.
Christians understand that the
identity of the shepherd is everything. It is wonderful to be able to say,
"The Lord is my shepherd."
-- Leith Anderson, "The Lord Is My Shepherd," Preaching
Today, Tape 136.