Parables of the Kingdom: Matthew 18:10-14

HOPE FOR THOSE WHO STRAY

 

In the day-to-day rituals of life, it is easy to take God’s presence for granted. The discipline of prayer and seeking God amid routines can become another task to do. And as we feel our relationship with Jesus fading, we find it all too easy to fall into bad habits, sin. Before you know it, you have strayed, wandered from the God who loves you. Do you feel this? 

            Do you think you are the only one who strays from God?  I feel like I am sometimes.

            I am drawn to the words of Robert Robinson in his hymn, “Come thou fount of every blessing.” He wrote, “Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee. Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love. Here’s my heart, O take and seal it; seal it for thy courts above.” 

            Acknowledging that the human heart is fickle and easily distracted, Robinson asks the Lord to chain his heart to the goodness of God so that he doesn’t forget how much God loves him. Robinson would say we are like Doug in the movie “Up,” a dog who could talk, but was always distracted by squirrels. We too are distracted by the activities that demand our attention. We are like sheep going astray by following our noses to greener grass unaware of how far we wander. 

            How does God react when you stray? Do you wonder if he still loves you? Do you question if he wants you back? Does he abandon you as you have abandoned him?

            Jesus answers these questions in the telling of the parable of the shepherd who leaves the 99 to seek the lost sheep. We all have days where we stray from the shepherd, but there is hope for those who stray. 

 

Who are “these little ones”? (10)

 

Jesus begins our text saying, “See that you do not despise one of these little ones…” (10a). To despise someone is the opposite of welcome in the broad sense. But in a more common sense, to despise these “little ones” is to not take them seriously, to consider them not worth your time and effort. But who are these little ones?

            When we read Scripture and try to find its meaning, we must turn first to context. Context is king in interpretation. Jesus first refers to “little ones” at the beginning of this chapter where we find the disciples arguing over which one of them is the greatest disciple. They did this a lot. Jesus responds by calling a little child to himself and puts the child in the center of the discussion. Then he says, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven,” (18:3-4). 

            Jesus physically sets this child in their view in hopes that the disciples would understand that his “little ones” are like this child who came when Jesus called. But the child also represents the attitude of anyone who comes to him in humble faith, like a child, not boasting of his goodness, capabilities, or status, not insisting on rights and privileges. When the child was called, he came because Jesus invited him. 

            Who is great in the kingdom of heaven? Not the people who are obvious and grab our attention. No, the people who are quiet, unnoticed, but humbly attentive to God. Don’t ignore these “little ones,” Jesus says, and don’t lead them into sin (5-6). Look after them and nurture their spiritual walk. 
[10b speaks of guardian angels – brief explanation]

[What happened to verse 11? Attend my class in fall]

 

God’s care for the wanderer (12-13)

 

Jesus illustrates God’s care for these “little ones” with a story about a shepherd. He begins by asking, “What do you think?” This is an invitation to reflect on the story and ask, “Is this true?” And the answer is a resounding “yes.” “If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?” (12). 

            We know what Jesus is driving at: the prophets used shepherd stories in the OT to illustrate God’s care for Israel, especially when they strayed. Jesus builds on that image applying it to his own disciples now. Because God loves us, he will risk everything to search us out and bring us back. 

            One question I have always pondered about the shepherd is this: Isn’t it irresponsible to leave 99 sheep unattended to go and find one lamb? 

            When the communists came to power in China in 1948, Dr. Andrew Roy was serving as a professor under the Presbyterian Church. Dr. Roy chose to stay in China, but he was soon placed under house arrest. He was interrogated for two years. His communist inquisitors kept trying to convince Dr. Roy that the teachings of Jesus were vastly inferior to those of Karl Marx and Mao Zedong. Jesus’ parable of the good shepherd was prominent in those interrogations. The communists insisted that to leave the ninety-nine in order to go after the one was irresponsible because the individual only had value as he or she contributed to the people. Jesus left the herd exposed to danger and failed in his primary task.

            Roy responded that by going after the one, Jesus gave the herd boundless security in that each of them knew “If I get lost, he will come after me.” A failure to go after the one would leave those same ninety-nine with the ultimate insecurity of realizing “If I get lost, he will leave me to die.” Risky? Yes! But the costly love given to the one assured the many. 

            Jesus goes looking for the one. In the Greek, the impression is that he goes on looking till he finds the sheep. It’s a picture that grabs you as to God’s love and compassion for you. The psalmist says, “God does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities,” (103:10). 

            Another question is: If the sheep is still wandering, does he or she really want to be found? I have often thought that it is a lamb that is tired from wandering, caught in a thicket, and fearful of the encroaching darkness of night, that finally cries out wanting to be found. Otherwise, the shepherd is looking for a moving target. Another psalmist wrote, “I have wandered away like a lost sheep; come and find me…” (119:176). 

            Andrew Bonar tells of how in the Highlands of Scotland, a sheep would often wander off into the rocks and get into places they can’t escape. A sheep may jump down to a ledge to get at some grass, but then find it cannot jump back up again. The shepherd hears them bleating but waits until they become faint and can’t stand. Why? Because if the sheep is spooked, they may jump off the ledge and be killed to get away from the rescue rope. 

            Like the sheep, we won’t go back to God until we have lost everything. If you are wandering, the shepherd will bring you back the moment you stop trying to save yourself and let him save you. And when you let him find you “he rejoices over” you exceedingly (13).

 

Sharing God’s concern for wanderers (14)

 

Jesus had one purpose in telling this parable. We can presume from it that God cares for the wanderer, the person who strays because of life’s struggles or the temptations of “greener grass.” God will bring them back if they wander and realize how lost they are. Jesus said, “It is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish,” (14). 

            But the real reason Jesus shares this story is to teach his disciples to join him in caring for the least of these, the “little ones” and pay attention to them. You and I are commissioned in this story to notice when the fellow sheep in our congregation goes missing.

            There are hurting people in our midst who quietly suffer with doubts of faith. We don’t know what their questions are or what they are hurting over. Maybe they don’t talk much or share their hearts, but we can be present with them and let them know they are not invisible. At the right time, we need to ask each other, “How are you and Jesus?” Make sure you have time for the answer.

 

God cares for the wanderer. He cares for you when you stray and will come and look for you. He’s looking for you now. 

            Have you heard the story of Shrek, the sheep that evaded capture and shearing for six years? Carol Palmer relates the story of how this sheep in New Zealand refused to go to the shearing shed and went off and found a cave to live in. Did anyone miss Shrek? He was part of a flock of 17, 000 sheep. So, no. After six years, the shepherd who found him didn’t recognize that Shrek was actually a sheep. His wool was so long it covered most of his face and legs. He could barely see to walk. 

            The shepherd took Shrek back to the shearing shed and gave him his first haircut in six years. What they cut off weighed 60 lbs, enough wool to make twenty men’s suits. 

            We are so much like Shrek’s story, for “we all like sheep have gone astray,” (Isaiah 53:6). You would think that the straying would stop after being rescued by the good shepherd. But we find ourselves straying from time to time. Don’t think that he won’t come looking again. He will. It is in the nature of our shepherd to keep coming after us when we get lost in our desires and distractions. He has made a way for us to come back again, to be forgiven again, “(Christ) himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls,” (1 Peter 2:24-25).

 

                                                            AMEN