Finding the Lost Sheep
I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I do not forget Your commandments. Psalm 119:176 NASB
Do not forget– What does it mean to be lost? Our common assumptions probably arise from the evangelical interpretation of the state of the lost, that is, the condition of those who do not know God, have no relationship with His son, and are bound for hell. The entire institutionalized trauma message of the Church follows this line of thought. You are lost unless you embrace the biblical message of true repentance, turn your life over to the Lord and experience the salvation of your soul.
But David’s text, often quoted in evangelical appeals, doesn’t quite fit this scenario. Notice a few things about David’s exclamation.
“If the Psalmist compares himself to a ‘lost [oved] sheep,’ there follows naturally an appeal to the shepherd to seek him out . . . This appeal is based on the claim that the lost one has not entirely lost all connection with home. The Psalmist still ‘remembers’ God’s commandments: they are not ‘lost’ to him, as Ibn Ezra puts it. Here, the danger of being lost is focused in the problem of forgetting. And the real drama, the dialectical tension of ‘lostness,’ lies in the consciousness of the lost one, in the vestiges of memory that appeal for reintegration . . . Here, two views of time—linear and cyclical—oppose one another. If va-avadtem [Leviticus 26:38] means final destruction, this is congruous with a view of time as irreversible—‘One never crosses the same river twice’ (Heraclitus). If, however, it means exile, diffusion, loss, this is congruous with a cyclical view of time and a dialectical view of history: the darkness is a phase in a returning cycle; the exile moves both away from home and toward it. But the question of reading remains unresolved: the concept of ‘loss’ invites radically different responses, . . “[1]
David doesn’t seem to treat “lost” as if it means, “totally removed from God.” His idea of being lost means something like wandering away from what he previously knew. Finding the lost sheep isn’t preaching to complete pagans. In fact, God’s appeal to complete pagans seems to travel along the lines of warning and punishment, not carrying them back to the fold. If we understand “lost sheep” in David’s sense, we have to admit that these sheep are characterized by service to God and recognition of past obedience. But something has happened that has caused a detour in their lives. Now they want the shepherd to steer them back to the right course.
If we understand “lost” in this sense, then we discover something else. We discover that Yeshua’s claim about coming to the lost sheep of the house of Israel makes perfect sense within his culture. And we discover why he seems to have very little concern for those outside the house. Maybe we need to rethink our evangelistic emphasis. Maybe it’s a lot more about returning to God’s instructions than it is about saving souls.
Topical Index: lost sheep, commandments, Psalm 119:176
[1]Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, The Beginning of Desire: Reflections on Genesis, pp. 295-296.
It is true that we have to realize we are lost before we open ourselves to being found. In this sense, it is better to have “loved and lost” than never to have loved (or been loved) at all. The work, shall we say, of salvation for this class is all on the sheep to return (repent). (However, I have found that the hard part with these folks is to get the sheep to admit they are lost!)
When it comes to those who have never known the love of God, or known OF His love, I have found that I run into a completely different dynamic. Those who never knew the rules of love in the first place are not going to respond to appeals to return to love: they need to be loved first before they know the difference. The hard part, then, with this class, anyway, is to love them; to demonstrate the love of God for them. The onus, or burden, of salvation is all on the one who is a walking witness of the love of God. These folks already know what cold (lack of love) is like; what they don’t know is the hot of love. The threat of destruction is a PART of that hotness, but it is not all of it. Threats are toothless if there is no valid alternative made available. Jonah’s sermons held weight to the extent that salvation (safety) was a viable alternative. We have to hold a door open to community to those we wish to impress with the inevitable destruction to be found outside of that community.
Skip is right: I think it is when we get the two classes of people confused with those two different approaches that we can run into problems. Surely it is time to clean up the language and learn when and how to apply the correct approach to get the best results.
David certainly knew the Voice of His Shepherd. He also knew how to be a very good shepherd. I think the effects of loneliness and isolation and his family’s opinion of him caused David to struggle with self love. I find myself often praying, “I believe. Please help my unbelief.” David knew he was part of the fold of the Shepherd because he esteemed and wanted to hear/obey His Voice. Yeshua said, “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.” There are many people who worship on Mt. Gerizim. They worship what they don’t know, but they are worshipping as they have been taught. Maybe the best way to bring in lost sheep is to become a sheep of Yeshua who is also a shepherd like David.
The story of my life in 8 simple words.
I once was lost, NOW I am found.
I once was lost, NOW I am found.
I once was lost, NOW I am found.
I once was lost, NOW I am found.
Ad infinitum.
I don’t remember being lost as Abba showed up inquisitvly questioning my heart of obidiance; I was four. “Are you going to waste that apple” says he . I am so glad I innstinctvely responsed with “I’m sorry” . After picking up and finishing that green apple I had thrown away after one bight, I think He said to himself ” now this little fella I can walk with.”
So I can not say I was lost, I can say if I was lost He came to find me even bofore I knew it. That however did not end the trubble for the real trama was about to begin. My mother abandoned myself and my two sisters a year later and we where put into the hands of an unstable caregiver. But that’s old history that Abba has been resolving into his purposes for a long time as we have walked through it all together. I clung to him lIke a flag pole in the huricane that hit my life.
What I would like to share however off subject is a quote from a Wikki on Reinhold Neibuhr the theologin described as a realist and founder of the “Neo Orthodoxyy movment ” He is best known for the “serenity prayer” I have been praying daily for the last few years. If you , as most people, only know the first verse check out the last line of the second of three stanzas.” May I , like Jesus did, accept this sinful world for what it is, not what I would have it be”. This prayer is a game changer for my heart and mind. I found this quote applicable to our other discussions some how..”Influenced strongly by Karl Barth and other dialectical theologians of Europe, he began to emphasize the Bible as a human record of divine self-revelation; it offered for Niebuhr a critical but redemptive reorientation of the understanding of humanity’s nature and destiny.[41]” I agree with that profoundly simple defenition of holy writ. Do you?
I love what you said, “the institutionalized trauma message of the church”. Boy, isn’t that true! Good news?!?
Thank you for putting into words what I have felt for so long. History. After seeking to please God for so many years and then wandering off into what I thought would bring me a sense of fulfillment and completion, where I supposedly would find myself, after the chastisement of the pig trough, I saw that he was still there! He hadn’t left! I didn’t remember that he said he would never leave us nor forsake us ! Just because I changed, didn’t mean he did! God is not a man that he should lie ! Jesus Christ, the same yesterday today and forever. He remains ! Hallelujah. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness, I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus name!”.
Jesus comes to us in our sinfulness to restore and redeem. It’s only when we begin to realize that His love passes knowledge, that his desire is toward us, that he is for us and not against us that we are changed! For God so loved the world…herein is love, not that we loved him but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins and not for our sins only bought for the sins of the whole world! The good news ! Do not forget…. we are engraved on his hands !
Hi Larry great response. Might I be so bold as suggest a sweet simple little book by Bill Thrall,Bruce McNicol and John Lynch. “True faced” is subtitled ” Trust God and others with who you really are.” Based on W. Shakespeare ‘s line “God hath given you one face, and you make yourselves another”. Chapter two is the heart of the book. Introducing a brilliantly composed analogy with these words “As we’re walking down lifes’s road, we all arive at a tall pole with signs pointing in two different directions. The marker leading to the left simply says “Pleasing God”. The one leading to the right reads Trusting God”…
If I may be so blunt, what is your point? Please feel free to say whatever you feel, I won’t be offended, in fact, I would look forward to honest feedback. Your words, “great response “. Why is it ? Sometimes, we can’t see the forest for the trees. I feel like I am in the best spot of my life spiritually and I want to continue to grow while at the same time fulfilling that which God has on his agenda for me. I enjoy and also I am intrigued by what you share. I will follow up on those books, or that book, that you recommended. It may be a couple weeks because I’m in the process of moving and that combined with working is keeping me hopping. Blessings on you.
I said great response for the same reason I recomend the book True Face. Your words suggested a self aware yet one grounded and saturated by the awareness of Messiah. The power of the book is founded in getting to the heart of the spiritual issue Motive= Values= Actions. When ones heart is fixed on Christ as your words suggest yours is things are in proper alignment. As my wife Katheryn would say “keep the pot on center” she is throwing pottery on a wheel these days. If a pot is on center , the potter can make it easily shape it it his ideal. Looks to me that your “on center” and that’s just a great place to be…..
Thank you so much brother for the clarification. Very helpful. Blessings on you.
Also, thank you for that song Resistance. Excellent, excellent, excellent!
Yeshua spent most of his time in Galilee and surrounding district preaching to the remnant of the 10 “lost sheep” diaspora of the Northern tribes of Israel and he was successful and he never preached to the gentiles. Yeshua specifically told the Samaritan gentile woman that he was NOT sent to save her or her daughter but did so after hearing of her faith in him and his message.
The Judeans in the South still had the temple, the priests, the rabbis, the Pharisees and the Scribes for another 40 years and many of these rejected the Messiah when he did go there to die but before doing so Yeshua said to Peter (three times), “feed my sheep.” Who was he speaking about?
It was Paul’s job to go well beyond the Northern Kingdom and nearby towns to the many lost sheep Hebrews who were out of covenant living widely spread and assimilating amongst the Gentile pagans in places like Corinth, Ephesus, Athens, Berea, Laodicea, etc. and for Peter to do the same in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. There was only a handful of Hebrews still in covenant in places such as Philadelphia and Smyrna. The rest were mostly “lost sheep.”
They both ended their work living in Torah covenant appropriately in Rome, the heart of paganism where 3 centuries later much would have changed.The soon to become “Christians” also got the message, somewhat as a by-product of who the message of the Torah Covenant Messiah was truly addressing himself to but this was absolutely intended as well. Found.Two for the price of one!
God does not belive in waste. His first words to me confirmed that. If one chose ‘ s to belive he still speaks to Isreal. ..
We’re all born and equipped with all we need to find
our way back to the Father. Some get there more easily
than others. Some struggle greatly. Some arrive and fall
away. Some don’t seem to know or care.
Sheep are a diverse lot. Yeshua speaks about them.
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep
know me — just as the Father knows me and I know the Father —
and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not
of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice,
and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” Jn 10: 14-16
His business is drawing all men to Himself. The sheep find Him.
We’re asked to go and make disciples, providing the loving examples
of what He has done through us. It’s the old one-two punch, and I have
to believe it’s working.
It’s just wonderful!
It’s good to be a sheep if you stay on the path. Not so good if you wander off. I was a lost sheep for a period. Frozen with fear and certainly surrounded by lots of chaos. I guess this makes me wonder what being “saved” and “baptized” meant when I was a young girl. All I know is I held onto those images of Yeshua hanging out with the outcasts when I became a young adult because I became one of those outcasts. Becoming part of God’s covenant family means I learn how to speak sheep. God shepherds me when I act like a sheep and not a goat. Becoming a sheep means you trust God.
You can learn how to speak sheep by listening to Skip’s audio presentation on Psalm 23. 🙂
Honestly the more I read here the more I am seeing what Jesus implied when he spoke on taking up his yoke because his burden is light. Organized religion seems to place burdens and lots of “rules” on it’s followers. Step out of line in any Protestant group n the old “you’re headed for Hell” threat rolls out. Seems to me it is much about conforming to mans rules.
Hi Dawn. Josh Garrles sings in his powerful song Resistance (link follows ) “My rest is a weapon aginst the oppression of man’s obsession to controll things.” Yeshua (Jesus) said ” come unto me all who are weary. ..and I will give you rest. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” As a first century Rabbi he would have understood the word yoke to mean his interepetations of the the correct application of Torah. Since most Christa leaders have all but dismissed Torah they are required to use other means and methods to keep their sheep in line.. Shabbat Shalom. Rest is a weapon….
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DnKN7a_Wna3U&ved=2ahUKEwiG8bz63bbeAhUzoFsKHX4tAB0QtwIwAHoECAkQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0I-tifyZZA_w1cJPFLJ4t0
I guess I do not follow that Jesus cares so very little for those outside the house? If Israel was suppose to the light to all nations, but did not follow through on this? I understand you are saying that Torah applies to all as being part of God’s family -e.g. If we don’t follow the instructions then can we say we are part of God’s family, but why is it that Jesus only comes for those who are part of Israel?
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep
know me — just as the Father knows me and I know the Father —
and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not
of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice,
and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.” Jn 10: 14-16
Dear sister Meg;
Yeshua is not ethnocentric. But the scriptures do make distinctions between the house of Isreal, Judah and the sons of Abraham. Distinctions that denote responsibilities to Torah and YeHoVaH.
We are a people called to be separate both for the Torah and as a witness of it and YeHoVaH. As I understand this responsibility it has absolutely nothing to do with being saved or not…
To clarify. For my sister Laurtia et all….It’s my opinion, the love grace , mercy and longsuffering of YeHoVaH expressed through Messiah Yeshua is absolute and universal. It is toward all mankind equally. Yet there was something about Abraham, his love of truth, love of reality his faithfulness it captivated God. He was the first man declared Gods “friend”. Such that God determined to show the world through the descendents of Abraham who God was as He chose to reval himself directly to Abrahm. He by covenant knit himself with Isreal. He reveals himself to Abraham and continues to do so throughout the history of mankind. That is the destinction. The covenant to redeem the earth was made to Abraham and his offspring, for the sake of God’s frendship with an individual. Both as a purposed exprerestion of his heart and character toward an inividual ( Abraham) and for Gods purposed redemption of mankind. Meg God will be as faithfull to you as he has shown himself to be to Abraham. That I think is the point. It’s a good thing if you have the faith to trust and see his point. (If that is the point, I am sure there are far more profound considerations in the covenants than this Laurita as expanded on just a few).
Meg, you asked a good question. The answer, of course, is that He came for everybody, as the Bible states in many places, but He needed to recruit the Team first. He had a hard enough time appealing to His own people, and time and again had to dodge their wrong ideas about Him. He retreated to Galilee, for example, because the folks in Judah were trying to kill Him before His time, but the ones in Galilee had to be dodged because they wanted to forcefully crown Him king after they realized He could feed an army, heal all the wounded and raise the dead. He had to work within the paradigms of the time, too, and the Jewish paradigm at the time was very exclusive. If He had tried to reach out to other nations, the Jews would have rejected Him altogether!
If you think about WHY YHVH developed a relationship with Israel, it wasn’t only because He needed a bloodline, it was also because He needed a people who would recognize Yeshua when He showed up; recognize that He came from THAT God, and not some random other one. They had to recognize Him by His character (Name), so the entire Jewish economy was built around His character (“called by His Name”). How would the heathen have recognized Him? By seeing that He was the JEWISH God.
Finally (because this was such a great question!), there is an order to things. “Judgment must begin first at the house of God”. God had to get it straight with those who were looking for him first, for better or for worse. The nation split apart because of Him. It is estimated that about a third of the Jews ultimately became believers; largely after the Resurrection and preaching of the Apostles. Thus, the fighting that started immediately (witness the stoning of Stephen) was largely Jew on Jew. Then Jerusalem fell.
“This gospel of the kingdom must be preached in all the world and THEN shall the end come”, too. Somebody, then, had to be the recruits to preach it. Witness is how the heathen get it; personal testimony. They have to see what love is for humans by means of other humans. The heathen would not have known WHICH GOD they were being introduced to, without the Jews, but they also would have been impressed with the WRONG THINGS about Him. Besides, if you can’t get it straight with your own family first, how convincing would you be to anybody else?
That is what I have been able to figure out so far. I would love to see what anybody else has figured!
Thank you Mark and Laurita for expanding perfectly on what I said that kickstarted this thread. You are both infinitely superior to me on the fuller development of topics. I am still a novitiate but I try to learn something every day such as this which I have only recently come to an awareness of. Thanks.
George, you have the knack of starting great threads but you also have come such a long way already. You CAN teach an old(er) dog new tricks! You have been one of the better inspirations for me – if you can get it, anybody can! Your reading stack has to be impressive; judging by what I know of it so far.
We all are just muttering through, after all. Lets keep right on muttering together.
Thank you, Laurita and Mark. You have given me some clarity and good thoughts to meditate upon. Blessings to Skip and all those couples involved in workshop today. May healing occur where needed. YeHoVaH is so awesome.
Even exile substantiates relationship.