The Ninety and Nine

There were ninety and nine that safely lay in the shelter of the fold.
But one was out on the hills away, far off from the gates of gold.
Away on the mountains wild and bare. Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.
Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.

“Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine; Are they not enough for Thee?”
But the Shepherd made answer: “This of Mine has wandered away from Me;
And although the road be rough and steep, I go to the desert to find My sheep,
I go to the desert to find My sheep.”

But none of the ransomed ever knew how deep were the waters crossed;
Nor how dark was the night the Lord passed through ere He found His sheep that was lost.
Out in the desert He heard its cry, Sick and helpless and ready to die;
Sick and helpless and ready to die.

“Lord, whence are those blood drops all the way that mark out the mountain’s track?”
“They were shed for one who had gone astray ere the Shepherd could bring him back.”
“Lord, whence are Thy hands so rent and torn?” “They are pierced tonight by many a thorn;
They are pierced tonight by many a thorn.”

And all through the mountains, thunder riven and up from the rocky steep,
There arose a glad cry to the gate of Heaven, “Rejoice! I have found My sheep!”
And the angels echoed around the throne, “Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!
Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!”

I was reminded of this old hymn recently as our church has been reading through the Bible, and our pastor has been teaching Wednesday nights on certain passages of Scripture.  He referred to Luke 15 as the “Lost and Found” chapter of the Bible because it talks about a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son that were all found.  My pastor talked about the lost things being lost three different ways, and I think it illustrates many people in our world today:

• Ignorantly – (the lost sheep) –  The sheep doesn’t know any better.  It gets lost because it doesn’t know the way.  There are people in the world that are lost because they are ignorant of the Word, and don’t know the way.  They have never heard the truth about Jesus and His dying on the Cross for their sins.  Like the shepherd, we need to look for these “lost sheep” so that we can share the good news with them.

• Inadvertently – (the lost coin) – I tend to think of this kind of person that knows about God and has heard the Gospel message, but the “busy-ness” of life, and the cares of the world have taken priority in their life.  They are lost and may not even realize it.  What a sad state to be in, but in the “Bible Belt” of the United States, we probably have more of these kinds of lost souls.  They aren’t anti-God or anti-Jesus.  They are just lost in the hustle and bustle of this world, but lost nonetheless.

• Intentionally – (the lost son) – This is the famous parable known as the Prodigal Son.  As Christians, we can probably think of someone that is living a life like the Prodigal.  They know right from wrong.  They are, however, going down a path that leads to destruction, but won’t change their ways.  This parable, however, should remind us that the Father’s attitude is not one of “I told you so” or “You will get was is coming to you for doing this to your family.”  No, His is an attitude of grace and mercy.  A love for a son that is so great that he runs to him, kisses him, blesses him, and rejoices that he has come home.  I hope this parable is a reminder to us that when we see the “lost son” come back home that we don’t have display the wrong attitude towards this person.  Let’s hug their neck, love on them, and pray for them.  That is what the Father would do.

Couple of comments on the hymn:

• Are not they enough for Thee? – Doesn’t this sound like something we might say? The Shepherd has 99 sheep.  Is the one lost one really that important? More important to Him that He leave the 99 to go find the one?  I think sometimes we have that kind of attitude when we think about lost souls in our world.  Do we ask a missionary “Why would you take your family to the other side of the world where people not only don’t care about Jesus, but are anti-Jesus?”  I don’t think that this is how God views the situation.  The Bible says that “The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”  99% is not enough for the Lord.  He is seeking to save 100% of the lost.

• None…ever knew how deep…nor how dark – What a reminder of the pain and agony of the Cross.  We have no idea what Christ had to suffer to bring lost souls back to the fold.  The burden of the sin of the world.  The physical pain of dying on the Cross.  Movies can’t adequately portray it.  Reading about it doesn’t tell the whole story.  We have no idea of how “deep” and how “dark” that path was for the Lord that day 2,000 years ago.  What a sacrifice the Shepherd made for His sheep – especially for those sheep that didn’t even know they were lost, and were unaware of the sacrifice made for them!

Picture yourself the day after Thanksgiving.  You have gotten up early to be at Wal-mart by 4:00 am for those special deals.  You arrive early, stand in line in the cold with a mob of people, and finally get inside to see a huge marketing sign that reads – “1% OFF EVERYTHING IN THE STORE.”  What is your reaction?  In my book, 1% is not something to get real excited about.  I would predict that Wal-Mart would have an angry mob on their hands because the people that showed up that early were looking for more than just 1%.  Isn’t it amazing that the Shepherd was concerned about the 1% though?  He left the 99 just to find the one.  In our culture of wealth and abundance, we have probably lost sight of valuing the little things.   But God is concerned about the little things – the 1%, the lost, the unimportant in our world.  And He wants us to have the same concern for these lost souls.  So I encourage you.  Invest your “100%” for the “1%.”  That may not make sense in terms of material investments and worldly returns, but that investment will reap great returns in the spiritual world – maybe even 99 fold.