Dear Members and Friends of St. John,
About a month ago my wife pleasantly surprised me. She had been doing some deeper cleaning than
normal. With the multiple animals we
have in our house, Kathy was working to get rid of ALL the animal hair from the floor AND from the
furniture. While she was vacuuming on a
couch in our living room Kathy came across something, way down in the cushions,
which I’ve been missing for a while – a Leatherman pocket tool.
This was not just any Leatherman. I especially bought this knife because it has
all the tools I want for fishing. It has
a blade and screw drivers and pliers.
But, it also had scissors, and a file.
I had also purchased a special belt holder for this knife so that, if I
was by the river and needed to change a fly or a lure, or if I needed to
sharpen a hook, I had everything right there with me.
However, about two or three years ago, one day after
fishing I couldn’t find the knife. It
wasn’t in my belt holder. I looked in
the boat. I searched our yard. I looked in my clothes. Finally I gave up and bought another
knife. Only, the new knife was not as
good as this knife. It didn’t have all
the same tools. The Leatherman Company
doesn’t make this model anymore.
I was so surprised when Kathy found this knife that I
thought maybe I had also lost my second knife and that is the tool which Kathy had
found. But, “No!” That newer knife is still in my tackle
box. This Leatherman which Kathy found is my prized fishing tool. So, you can understand my delight when this
long-lost, very useful, tool was found again.
Thank you, Kathy!
Jesus tells a number of stories in the Gospel of Luke
about finding lost things. In Luke
15:4-7, our Lord talks about a shepherd who loses just one of his one hundred
sheep. But, that lone lamb is so
precious that the shepherd leaves the 99 and goes searching for the lost sheep
until He finds it. What a wonderful
picture of our Good Shepherd, Jesus!
In Luke 15:8-10, Jesus tells about a woman who has 10
coins and loses one. Some have suggested
that these coins were her dowry, which would allow her to marry. According to Jesus’ parable, the woman swept,
and she cleaned, and she looked, until she found the one lost coin. The coin was so important and precious to the
woman, it was worth the effort.
Then in Luke 15:11-31, Jesus tells the story of the lost,
or wandering, or “prodigal” son. Jesus
says that a man had two sons, but one left home for wild living. When this son painfully realized the error of
his ways, he returned to his father’s home, repenting of his foolishness. The son asked simply to be a servant in his
father’s house. But the father rejoiced
at the return of his son. Instead of making
his son a servant, “Dad” threw a party.
The father gave the son new clothes and a family ring on his son’s
finger. This precious son had been “lost, but now was found.”
In each of these parables Jesus is
responding to the church leaders of His day.
These religious men had criticized Jesus for spending time with the lost
sheep of God. We are told, “. . . the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered,
"This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." (Luke 15:2). Jesus wants these religious leaders to know
that God loves everyone. The Heavenly
Father even sends His Son, our Good Shepherd, to go looking for His lost
sheep. Jesus describes the joy in heaven
when the lost are found in this way, “I
tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one
sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to
repent.” (Luke 15:7)
Jesus has two
messages for these religious leaders to comprehend. First, God does not leave the lost to their
own wandering. God loves them enough that
He sends His only Son! Secondly, Jesus
is also instructing these teachers and leaders that they too should not just
write off those living outside God’s will.
The church of God should also search for and should welcome the lost
lambs of Jesus when they hear God’s call, repent, and return home.
It is easier
when this lesson is taught to someone else.
But, it can be hard to hear this lesson when Jesus speaks it to us. Are there people you are willing to write
off? Terrorists? Criminals?
Or, might it be easy to write off those family and friends who have
deeply hurt us? Do you think God has
written them off? Or, are not those the
lost sheep for whom Jesus also came to this earth? Are not those the lost sheep for whom Jesus
also came to die? If God goes looking
for His lost children, should we not do the same? Truthfully, sometimes it is tougher to reach
out to those closest to us. But God sent
Jesus to find us. God wants us to reach out with His love to
others.
I am really
happy to have my knife back. But, this
Leatherman is just a knife, and I could and did buy a replacement, even if it
wasn’t the same knife. However, those
who anger us, who disappoint us, who hurt us, are still the beloved children of
God. These are people for whom God sent
His Son, Jesus, to seek and to save. (See
Luke 19:10) Are you also reaching out to
those in your life who need Jesus’ love?
Are you rejoicing when Jesus finds His lost lambs, and maybe you are the
one through whom God reached them?
A Child of God, Thankful that Jesus Found Me, Hoping to Reach
Jesus’ Lost Sheep,
Pastor Jonathan
P.S. Mid Week
Lenten Worship is held again this Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at St. John. Our series might be called, “Life’s not Fair!”
However, the official theme for this year’s Lenten sermons is “The On-Going Battle, Opposition by Evil to
Righteousness, Love, and Mercy.”
This
week we Luke at Luke 5:17-25, and consider the theme, “Jesus forgives, then
heals the Paralytic.” Ann Marie
Svedin and Adeline Martin will be helping with our skit.
REMEMBER,
there is a meal ahead of the service.
The meal is held at 5:30 p.m..
P.P.S. Kathy and I
were on vacation last week in Florida. I
did some fishing there. Here are a
couple of pictures of my brother Stephen and fish which he caught. (Mine wasn’t worth a
picture.) https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZyqyFxmBj9e85jnM6
P.P.P.S. I took my
son, Josh, and his four kids fishing on Monday, the first official day of
Spring break from school. Here are some
pictures. https://photos.app.goo.gl/fJNqQQhxvTf7Sk1a8
******
ABOUT ‘THOUGHTS FROM THE PASTOR’ - I am
sending these e-mail messages, hopefully weekly, to all St. John members and
friends whose e-mails I have. (I am regularly adding new names of friends
and members – in case you are just receiving this e-mail for the first
time.) However, if you do not want to receive this e-mail, please let me
know, and I’ll gladly leave your name off my list for this message.
******
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