The Parable of the Wandering Sheep

We’re going to sing the hymn Reckless Love this Sunday. It’s one of my favourite hymns. I really love the way it captures the heart of God for all people. It’s based on the parable of the wandering sheep found in Matthew 18. It’s a short parable so have popped it in the blurb for your perusal.

The Parable of the Wandering Sheep “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.” We’re continuing our series on becoming followers of the way. And this week we’re looking at the theme of being transformed by Christ.

We’re going to look at one of the greatest transformations that took place in the early church. That of Saul's conversion. As he walked on the Damascus road he was confronted by Christ with the words: “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Everyone who was a follower of the way would have been deeply fearful of Saul, he was killing Christians, persecuting them, trying to rid the Jewish faith of these heretics. And we see when the confrontation happens that Ananias is not interested in going and helping Saul despite hearing from God that it’s a good idea.

What I love about this story of Saul's transformation is that it reminds us that God chases after all of us, he wants us all to be his Sons and Daughters. He will leave the 99 and go after the 1. Even if it’s a persecutor of the church. Because we are all his beloved children. So the challenge for us is. Who are we being invited to “go after” with the gospel? To introduce to the Gospel? God Bless Sage