I wrote a sermon on the following passage, from the vantage point of the ninety-nine—The Ninety-nine, Including Fred, but I envied the one lost lamb:
“Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming to hear him. But the Pharisees and the experts in the law were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” So Jesus told them this parable: “Which one of you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go look for the one that is lost until he finds it? Then when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing. Returning home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, telling them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.’ I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent” (Luke 15:1-7).
The lost lamb gets most of the attention: the shepherd (God) found him, placed him on his shoulders, and hosted a party on behalf of that lamb. “There is more joy in heaven over the ONE than over ninety-nine….”
Some might wonder, “So, you want to become lost again?!” No, not really. However, I, like all children of God, have at one time been that lost lamb. We decided, then, to repent and receive God’s gifts of grace, forgiveness, and salvation.
The lost lamb in the story is in a good place; when the shepherd came, the lamb didn’t resist, but he allowed the shepherd to get him to a better place in life, which brought happiness.
In essence, the lost lamb did what’s in the following: Searching? Consider this…
Can you share about an experience of being lost, and then being found? What was that like?