This past Wednesday John May spoke on the parable that Jesus told about the shepherd and the lost sheep. Just a quick recap: sheperd had 100, one got lost so sheperd left 99 behind and went after the one. Kind of a shocking story to be honest. Think about it for a second, sheep are expensive, so this sheperd leaves 99 expensive sheep alone to go find one. It's like one of us have 100 one dollar bills and having lost one in the wind we lay the 99 others down in the middle of the sidewalk and run after the one dollar. Doesn't really make sense does it? Who would do that?
I think what's even more interesting is the 99 sheep, and I want to focus a little bit on them this morning. I wonder if they even noticed the one missing sheep? Probably not, they are after all sheep you know. Most likely they were super content living out their daily lives, never noticing that one lost sheep. They simply didn't care, they lacked the capacity to care. They were surrounded by their "sheep"friends and that was all they needed. Safety, security, comfort. It probably didn't even matter to them that the sheperd had left, they probably didn't even notice.
Often times I think the church is like the 99 sheep more than we like to admit. Now, yes I've taken this sheep analogy to the farthest lengths it could probably go, and stretched the material pretty far, but think for just a second; how much time do you spend thinking about that person near you or at your school that is hurting or lost? When you come to student community at FUSION are you so obsessed with your friends and your life that you don't even notice new people? Are you just 99 sheep content with life as you know it? Did you even notice that Jesus left to go find the one lost amongst us? These are hard questions, and I challenge you today to start seeking the answers to them in your own life. Are you just one of the 99?
My husband and I have been changing our seating the past few weeks on Sundays. We have a our place that we like sit, but in order to meet new people and reach out, we've been moving around. Each week, God has allowed us to meet someone new to invite to Doulos (the young adults) and to the youth. So I challenge the youth to get out of your comfort zone. Sit somewhere new on Sunday and look for new faces. Invite the teens to Weds night Fusion or another upcoming event. And if you already are doing this..Keep it rollin'!
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