Chasing The Ninety-Nine

“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’ So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” ??Luke? ?15:1-7? ?

As I sat listening to the story of a man we met the other day, the Lord reminded me of this passage from Luke. Standing strong with scars on his arms, he told us about his battle depression. He became a drug addict to numb the pain of the emptiness and loneliness plaguing his life. His friends dealt him drugs and encouraged him in his practices. As a father of eleven, three of which are his own, he struggled to provide for them and his wife. He struggled to be a good father, often leaving them without this figure in their life. As tears began to fill his eyes, he shared how he had searched the world to satisfy the inner cravings of his heart, but ultimately he walked away feeling more empty and hopeless than ever. The cycle of his life continued, leading him down a really dark path. At the darkest point in his life, he made the decision to check himself into a rehab center, hoping to find something worth living for. People over the years had shared with him the love of God but he never believed it because he never felt like he found what he was looking for. However, this time, in the midst of his brokenness the Lord showed up in a such a way he could not doubt His existence. He found a kind of love that supernaturally changed the course of his life. When asked what changed, he simply responded with this: “I felt like for the first time in my life that I was loved unconditionally with no regards to my past, my present, or my future. I felt an embrace I had never before experienced and it was undeniably the presence of something bigger than myself. I felt like I had purpose.” From that moment in the rehab center his life was radically changed. He turned from his old ways and began to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which he had been called. (Ephesians 4:1) These people he used to call his friends, were now his enemies because they encourage him to go back to the life he was living before. He cut these people out of his life and started a new life. A new life focused on the Kingdom. Through his experience at the rehab facility, he was able to put his full trust and faith in the Lord to be the strength he needs to fight off the ongoing temptation of drugs.

That day we were able to encourage him in his faith and in his new walk with the Lord. We were able to pray for him and his family as he embarks on this new life ahead of him. The entire time I sat there listening to him, I was able to see the joy of the Lord exuding from every word he said. What I saw in front of me, was a man who had been chased down by the Lord in the darkest season of his life and redeemed in order to bring Kingdom to those around him. We rejoiced with him and his family that day as their brothers and sisters in Christ. (Romans 12:15)

This story is powerful. It’s a story that I believe fully embodies the heart of what is said in the Parable of the Lost Sheep. This man was lost and searching for something he could only find in the Lord, but the Lord chased after him and found him. I want to share the chorus and bridge to one of my favorite worship songs that I think fits this passage of the scripture beautifully:

(Chorus)

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending reckless love of God

Oh, it chases me down, fights ’til I’m found, leaves the 99

And I couldn’t earn it

I don’t deserve it, still You give yourself away

Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending reckless love of God

(Bridge)

There’s no shadow You won’t light up

Mountain You won’t climb up

Coming after me

There’s no wall You won’t kick down

Lie You won’t tear down

Coming after me

(Reckless Love by Cory Asbury)

Odds are you’ve probably heard this song on a Sunday morning at church or in the car on the radio but it’s a lot deeper than just a song. It’s a story from Luke and a testimony from each of our lives, put into art. When we sing the phrase the reckless love of God we’re not saying that God Himself is reckless, this is often a common misconception, He’s not crazy. We are however, saying that the way He loves is in many regards quite so. What I mean is this, He’s utterly unconcerned with the consequences of His actions with regard to His own safety, comfort, and well-being. His love isn’t crafty or slick, it’s not cunning or shrewd. In fact all things considered, it’s downright ridiculous. His love doesn’t consider Himself first. It isn’t selfish or self-serving. He doesn’t wonder what He’ll gain or lose by putting Himself on the line. He simply puts Himself out there on the off-chance that you and I might look back at Him and give Him that love in return. His love leaves the ninety-nine to find the one every time. To many practical adults that’s a foolish concept, but what if he loses the ninety-nine when finding the one, right? What if? Finding that one lost sheep is and will always be supremely important to Him. 

His love isn’t cautious. It’s a love that sent His own son down to Earth to die a gruesome death on a cross. He, in love, willing and purposefully chose us. There’s no plan B with the love of God. He gives His heart over to us so completely, so preposterously, that if refused, we would think it irreparably broken. Yet He gives Himself away again, and again, and again. Make no mistake, our sins do cause Him pain. Seventy times seven is a lot of times to get your heart broken. Yet He opens up and allows us back in every single time. He says “I don’t care what it costs me. I lay my life on the line as long as I get your hearts.” He has found you in your weakness. He has found you in your darkness. He has found you in your sin. He has found you when you think He’s not there. He has found you in your pain. He has found you in your suffering and He’s found you when you had nothing left. He has put you on His shoulders and He has carried you home with Him because He’s just that good. He’s just that kind. He’s a father that never gives up and he’s a God that loves us unconditionally.

This is the kind of love that the Father we serve gives to His children. His love us much bigger than anything we could ever imagine. His love chases after the one every time, and there’s nothing we can do to change that. Romans 8:37-39 says this: “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Nothing can come between us and God’s love, nothing. Now, if I’ve ever heard something worth sharing to the masses, it’s God’s love. The love that the man we met had received from God was brought to him by the workers at that rehab facility. They shared this love with him and brought him something that could transform him if accepted. They shared it with him on the off chance that he would accept it and turn his life back towards the Lord. Look what happened to the life of this man. He has been radically changed forever. The love of God changes everything in someone’s life and it has done the same in our lives. If you don’t believe me, look back to when you truly accepted the love of God and look at your life now. I assure you, you will find change. 

As believers, having received this love, how much do we have to hate someone to make us decide not to share this love with them? How much do we have to not care about them to not share with them what we already have? To share with them something that will radically change the course of their life eternally. This love has changed all of our lives, so why not share? 

Therefore, my challenge to those of you reading this is: Who are you going to share the love and word of God with? The great commission says: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” We are called to share what we have received with others because of the radical power it has on the lives of everyone who accepts it. 

Making disciples of all nations is a really lofty thing to be called to do, but thank the Lord that He’s gracious enough to put people in our lives who do not believe. These people he’s put around us, are there for a reason, nothing is by chance in the perfect plan of God. For those we know that do not believe, our calling is to share the love we have received with them, so that they may believe. For those who do believe, our job is to teach them all that the Lord has commanded us, so that they may become disciples, not just believers. Imagine how different the world would look if each believer made just one or two disciples in their lifetime. Just one or two, no more, no less. That’s a much more obtainable goal than making disciples all around the world and I guarantee that we would see world wide impact if we all just simply made one or two. So my question for you reading is, who are you going to share the love of God with?