Tag: lost

Lost and Found

Today’s reading is Luke 19:1-10.

“And when they saw it, they all grumbled, ‘He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.’”

Luke 19:7

These were the comments of those who saw Jesus go to the house of Zacchaeus to spend time and have a meal with him. While none of us are probably to overly fond of IRS agents (professionally at least) and probably wouldn’t want a knock on your door from one, it’s important to understand why tax collectors were thought of in such a lowly manner in Jesus’ time. Tax collectors were traitors essentially. They were Jews who worked for the Romans who occupied the area to take tax money from their own Jewish people to give to the Roman Empire. They were paid well and may had a reputation for taking a little extra off the top for themselves (or at least were suspected of). They were outcasts for betraying their own people for money. Even their own family typically disowned them.

How often do we judge someone based on their outward appearance, their occupation, where they are from, or their family like those in Luke 19:7 did? Guilty as charged. We do not know their true heart. Jesus does. He saw it with Zacchaeus. He saw it with Matthew, also a tax collector, who he asked to be his disciple (Mathew 9:9). Many suspect that Nathaniel had been wrongly accused of something when He called him to be his disciple because Nathaniel had been sitting under the fig tree alone, some believe possibly upset, and Jesus said to him, “’Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit (John 1:47)!’” He finds the good and knows when someone is not acting or living in a manner reflective of their true self. A question for me to reflect on today, do I find the good in people like Jesus?

Another question, do I try to help bring out the good in people by loving them and letting the know about the loving and forgiving grace of Jesus? I love the quote, “Who you will be in 10 years is a result of the books you read and the people you surround yourself with.” I guess you could now add to this “the podcasts you listen to.” While I find this quote to be true, I believe at a certain matureness level in our faith and confidence in our proper behaviors, we are called to try to help others who are not making the best decisions find Jesus and lead them to head in a better direction by being around us. This is what Jesus did. Why don’t we do more of this? Is it our lack of confidence? Is it not knowing many of these folks or putting ourselves in environments to meet them? Or, do we know some but we are afraid of what others would say and think and the chastisement we would receive like Jesus received in Luke 19:7?

I’m challenged today to think about Matthew 22:36-40 to go along with our text and story today about Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10. Jesus tells us that after loving God, loving your neighbor as yourself is the next most important thing without giving any conditions to how that neighbor acts or whether he loves God or you back. I have to ask myself whether I’m doing this consistently and would encourage you to do the same.

Luke 19:10 says, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” We must realize we are all lost without him. We all need Him.

Nathanael

Today’s reading is John 1:43-2:11 and John 21:1-13 as we look closely at one of the twelve disciples in Nathanael.

You may recall Nathanael, who was from Cana in Galilee, was asked by Philip to “Come and see” Jesus of Nazareth saying He was the Messiah they have long awaited. However, Nathanael doubted saying in John 2:45, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” However, with Philip’s prompting..he went. When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, Jesus said, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael asks Jesus how He knows him, and Jesus reveals his omnipresence by saying He saw Nathanael under the fig tree before Philip called him. From there, Nathanael stated He believed. Jesus goes on to tell Nathanael that this is just the beginning of what he will see.

Aren’t many of us like Nathanael in that we need someone like Philip in our lives to say, “Hey…why don’t you come to church with me sometime…” or “Want to join me for small group?” Most Christians come to faith because they are asked by someone else to come learn more about God. Then, God reveals to them through His Word and prayer, and in their hearts, that He’s been there all along when they didn’t even realize it. They begin to trust in the words of Psalm 139:13-18..

13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.[a]
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

God also reveals that He sees good in them despite their past failures and wrong doing just like He tells Nathanael He sees no deceit in him. They understand the truth of Psalm 103:10-13…

10 He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.

I would venture to say it’s highly unlikely that Nathanael had never done anything deceitful in his life. However, Jesus tells Nathanael how He sees Him which is different than anyone else and different than Nathanael likely even sees himself.

A few weeks ago, I scolded our 2-year-old for repeatedly disobeying as we were brushing his teeth and getting him ready for bed, and he went to sleep crying. Afterwards, I started feeling bad about it wondering if I was a little too stern and if he would even be upset with me when He woke up the next day. Would he remember his unhappiness with me when He woke up? I was a little sad as I wondered if He would send me off to work with the same hug and words of “Bye-Bye, Daddy..love you!” Guess what….when He woke up the next day He came running into the bathroom where I was getting ready, smiling and excited to see me giving me a big hug. A smile instantly came on my face with me giving thanks to God not only for this moment with my son and for him not being upset with me, but also for revealing that this is the same way He sees my sins. Instantly the verses from Lamentations 3:22-23 came to mind..

22 The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;[a]
his mercies never come to an end;
23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.

Thank you, God, for your new mercies every morning.

I found it also very interesting that in John 1:49 Nathanael says Jesus is the Son of God and believes. However, in John 1:11 after Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana the disciples (and we can assume Nathanael was there since He was from Cana and this was immediately following his calling), it says, “His disciples believed in Him.” Later, in our verses from John 21 it says this was the 3rd time Jesus revealed Himself to them after His Resurrection. Did they not believe before? Nathanael said he believed Jesus right after meeting him. God knows we have a short- term memory and need affirmations almost daily. When we stay close to Him through prayer and His Word, as they did by being with Him at the wedding and continuing to follow Him, and stay close with fellow believers through church and small group, as they did by staying together after His death and fishing together here in these verses, He will continue to re-affirm His promises and presence in our daily lives. If we don’t stay close to Him in these ways through prayer, His Word, and fellowship with other believers, we may miss Him…although He’s always there (just like He saw Nathanael under the fig tree) and looking to bring us as His stray sheep back (Matthew 18:10-14).

As we end this week, reflect on who might be a Nathanael in your life where you need to play the role of Philip by inviting them to “Come and see.”

Come Back Sheep

Today’s Reading: Matthew 18:12-14 and Psalm 112

“What do you think? 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? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” Matthew 18:12-14

Have you ever gotten lost as a small child? Most of us can remember that helpless overwhelming sense of fear as we searched for our parent in a store or at a busy outdoor festival. Even as an adult I can recall that visceral feeling of my heart pounding, my eyes welling up with tears as I shouted for my Mom or Dad. As a parent, I’m now standing on the other side of that equation. Every time I take my three children to a public place I find myself endlessly counting to three as my eyes dart around looking for each little head curls. Of course as a child you believe that when you grow up you’ll leave all that fear and dependence behind. You believe that adults are in command of their world and can control their own circumstance rather than be controlled by external forces. It’s laughable, right? If only children knew just how much less control we have as grown-ups! If only they knew that we too experience the fear and the reality of being lost. That like them we experience abandonment, isolation, persecution and loneliness.  We don’t share that part of ourselves with children because it’s our job to protect them. We shield them from the worst of things and show them the best of things. And, in turn our Father does the same for us.

A lost sheep is totally defenseless. Having no weapon or benefit of speed, all he can do is cry, which signals his enemy to close in. The sheep has no sense of direction or gift of scent. He is surrounded by enemies; whether predators or simply the elements of nature. And when that lost sheep is separated from its herd it is all the more vulnerable to the cunning wit of his enemy. Just as our children are like our sheep, so are we the Father’s. When wander off from Christian life, we are vulnerable. The predators of our world close in, and all we can do is cry out to God. What are the bright and shiny things that can lure us away from our Christian flock? For me, it’s getting out of the habit of being in His word each day and getting into the habit of sleeping in, watching too much TV, too much focus on materialism and money. Suddenly, I find myself far far away from the place I want to be in my journey with Jesus Christ. Although I am just about as defenseless as a baby sheep in God’s eyes, I do have a sense of direction. I do know the way back to God. Jesus tells us that God “rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray…” Matthew 18:13. What that means is that there is everlasting grace for those who are lost. If you are reading today, and you feel like you are a sheep on the mountain, cold and alone, call out to Him. Follow that path that has led you back to Him before. And if you are reading and you’ve never found God, start in His word. Read, and He will find you.

~have a great week sheep