For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them gets lost, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountain and go in search of the one that is lost? Matthew 18:11-12
We went on a much-needed vacation a few weeks ago, and we were looking for souvenirs for our grandchildren and we found a very interesting place to purchase the gifts. It is called the Straw Market and they have rows and rows of booths that are piled over 7 feet tall with things the many individual vendors were trying to sell. We settled on purchasing some carved wood gifts, and after we paid for our selections, the shop owner pressed a carved starfish in my hand and said “This is something extra for you.” The wooden starfish was a very thoughtful and generous gift that touched my heart. As my fingers traced over the shape of the starfish, I felt like God reminded me of the story of the starfish.
There was a terrible storm that washed thousands of starfish up on the beach, and the starfish would shortly die if they were not returned back to the water. A young girl who was vacationing near the beach decided she would rescue the starfish by throwing them back into the water. Even though she worked diligently throwing the beached starfish back into the ocean so they could live, she was not putting much of a dent in her rescue efforts. The locals sat in chairs watching the sweet girl knowing there was no way she would “rescue” all the beached starfish. Finally, an older man could not stand to watch her work so hard on an impossible mission, came up to the little girl. He kindly encouraged her to look at all the starfish that still needed to be rescued. He gently told her, “Honey, look at all the starfish that are on the beach, there is no way you can get them all back into the water and make a difference.” The excitement on the little girl’s face quickly faded to discouragement and as she stood there looking at all the starfish that needed to be thrown back into the ocean. The look of discouragement was quickly replaced by a look of determination, she bent down and picked up a stranded starfish and threw it back into the ocean, defiantly telling the older gentleman, “Maybe, but I made a difference for that starfish,” and went back to saving as many starfish as she could. Next my mind went to the parable Jesus told in the bible, about the lost sheep in Matthew 18:11-13. It is a familiar story that many of us learned as a child. A man has one hundred sheep. There is no doubt that all the sheep belong to him. A true shepherd knows his sheep, he’s familiar with them and knows their habits, he defends and protects them from the animals that would like to make a meal of them, he leads them to green pastures to eat and by the still waters for refreshment and rest. At the end of the day, when it is time to lead the sheep back to the fold so they will be safe for the night, he noticed that one of the sheep did not make it safely back. After making sure the ninety-nine were safe on the mountain, he left them and went in search of the missing sheep. The Bible does not give any details of how long the shepherd searched or what kind of terrain he retraced, the only thing we know that he did not quit looking until he found the lost sheep. Luke 15:5 adds more detail to the story, “And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.” Not only does he find the lost sheep, he places the sheep on his shoulders and carries it back to the fold. This parable has primarily been used to talk about a sinner that has lost his way and how The Good Shepherd, Jesus, goes out looking for the sheep to restore him to the fold. Sin is not the only thing we can get “lost” in. The bible does not give enough details as to whether the lamb was just lost, or if it got stuck or injured on the journey.
All we are given is that it did not make it back to the fold at the end of the day. While I know Jesus will look for and pursue the person that finds themselves drawn away and enticed by sin. The one that thought sin looked good and instead of just tasting it, the sin becomes an addiction, an affair, or something else that takes deep dark root that tangles them up so that they do not feel worthy to run after the Shepherd the way they used to. I love 2 Peter 3:9 “ The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” God’s heart is for all His children to be in heaven and Jesus always pursues His own, ready to help them to bring them home. The more I thought about this story, I started thinking about other things that keep us form going home. In the natural a prodigal may leave home out of rebellion and a sinful lifestyle, but there are other reasons they leave home. There may have been a death and home just does not feel the same anymore with that person gone. Abuse can cause a person to leave home, even if it is not someone in the home that is the abuser. How many children leave home because of disillusionment or disappointment? The same emotions that will cause us to leave our natural home, can cause us to lose our relationship with Jesus. When someone loses a close family member or friend, it is not uncommon for them to start questioning God. Martha did when Lazarus died, she told Him “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” John 11. At least she had the strength to tell Jesus how she was feeling so He could address her emotions. Mary just shut down and did not even seek Jesus out after the death of Lazarus. Grief can distract us and keep us away from Jesus. Other Christians have been abused in bad church situations or have lasting pain over church problems and their desire to be part of a church family is no longer there. They project the hurt that they received from an abusive church leader on to Jesus and they think that they cannot please Jesus either, and just shut down. Then there are those who fully followed God and when life became difficult, they became disappointed and it turned into disillusionment. Thoughts like “how could God allow this to happen, I have been faithful, I have prayed and held on to my faith and God did not answer my prayers.” Then bitterness sets in and we get stuck and quit praying and spending time with God. We have an awesome God and instead of washing His hands of us or judging us harshly, He comes looking for us. Yes, I understand that He is all knowing and knows where we are at any given moment, but He comes to the place we get stuck in and works to free us and to gently take us home where we belong. Jesus is the Good Shepherd and He is searching those who have wandered away, whether because of sin, grief, disillusionment, abuse or any other reason. He knows where you are and He has promised to never leave you or forsake you! You are not reading this by accident; Jesus wants you to know that He loves you and He is coming to restore the years that have been stolen from you. Maybe the enemy has told you that you have gone too far, you are too broken, or past saving. Going back to the story of the starfish, if just a piece of the starfish makes it back to the ocean, it can regenerate and make a whole new starfish. If we make it back into the ocean of God’ love, the broken discarded pieces of our lives can find healing and produce a new creation that is whole once again. It seems like God always does His best work when things seem hopeless. Will you listen for His call and comeback into relationship with Him? Will you trust Him to take the broken pieces that you think are beyond repair and let Him do a new thing in you? I love you and more importantly Jesus loves you and He is pursuing those that life has kept stuck.
Cathy Nesmith