SEEKING THE LOST

LUKE 15:1–7

“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?”

(Luke 15:4)

The major theme of the parables in Luke 15 is that of seeking the lost. The Jews had isolated themselves. The idea of going out into the unclean world to “seek the lost” was foreign to them, but this is exactly what Jesus taught. Salvation is to be preached not only to the Jews but the Gentiles as well. The Gospel message would go beyond the borders of Israel and spread to the corners of the earth because, as Jesus said, there are other sheep than those in the fold of Israel. This message crumbled the traditional walls the Jews had built up around themselves, and it is a message that still resonates in the church today.

The lost sheep might be in your own family, in the neighbor’s house across the street, and even in your church, but they are to be found in other places as well. They are in the neighborhood downtown. They are in other countries, in other communities, in other tribes. And the church is duty-bound to preach the Gospel to all nations so that the lost sheep might be found.

This does not mean that every single person in the church is called to become a missionary or even to engage in a local outreach to a neighborhood across town. Some people, such as mothers with small children, are not in a place to seek the lost directly. But, like all missions, everyone can play a part, either by actually preaching to the lost, by praying for them, or by providing the means for others to go. What matters is that we have a right understanding of our role. Too often it is easy for us to sit back and assume that if we leave the lost sheep alone they will come home. But this is not what happens. Paul asked, “How will they hear unless a preacher is sent?” We must go out and search fervently for the lost, and be used as a means in God’s sovereign hand to bring them into His kingdom.

Part of the mission of the church is to preach the Gospel of Christ to the lost—to seek them out, as the woman searched for her lost coin, as the shepherd searched for the one sheep who had wandered from the ninety-nine. This search is costly, it is difficult, but it is the will of God, the joy of Christ, and the delight of the church when a lost sheep is found and brought home.

CORAM DEO

Jonah

Revelation 9

Start developing a more godly and active attitude about seeking the lost. Start by making a list of cities or countries, or even famous people you don’t know personally—any person or place that comes to mind. Pray consistently through your list that God will bring the Gospel to those people.

For further study: Matt. 9:10–13 • Luke 15:8–32

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