Luke 15:4-5 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

If you have attended Sunday school, you have heard this passage taught. If you have not, allow me to expound on some important issues. This story of the Good Shepard is about all of us.

Do not think that this telling is about Christians that might have gone astray. The Good Shepard is the creator of the universe and all of us belong to Him. All of us belong to Jesus, like it or not.

Note that the ninety and nine are left alone in the wilderness. They are all lost so why is the one important to the Good Shepard? That sheep knows he is lost and seeks to be rescued. Secondly the Good Shepard does a personal search, He is the One who finds the lost.

When He finds this lost sheep, note the rejoicing first, a change in attitude, then a moment of security by placing the lost on His shoulders. The lost sheep’s burdens are over, the Good Shepard bears the weight of those burdens. Now comes the real kicker and most people lose sight of it. In is contained in verse six.

“And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.”

He takes that sheep home to friends and neighbors. He does not return that found sheep to the ninety and nine that are still in the wilderness.

Does that change your perception of the ninety and nine? They are still in the wilderness. Because of their surroundings they do not believe they are lost.

Are you one of the ninety and nine or the one?

Romans 8:20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope (ESV)

We are born into the enemy camp through no fault of our own. Everyone is born into this world with that distinction. The futility of our situation is lost on most of us. If we have good Christian parents, we will be trained up in ways to recognize that fact and not be resentful for it. We are all on equal footing until we step upon that Solid Rock, our firm footing, our Savior Jesus Christ.

Jesus asks us to go out and proclaim the gospel to those who have not heard this. Some will be heavily entrenched in the enemy’s camp without knowing their commander. They may have some idol, deity, sovereignty or philosophy to hang onto, but it is all different posts within the same camp. Then there are those wandering about the camp holding onto nothing.

While many of them are at war with us, we are not at war with them.

Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Sometimes that is hard to remember when we are being screamed at by angry fanatics. Our task is to speak the truth in love. It doesn’t sound like that to them and they will stop listening altogether if we raise our voices to them. We are not salesmen in a commercial, we are not trying to sell a product. We are demonstration specialist.

This is what Christianity looks like. This is how Christ loves. This is not a competition. We can only demonstrate there is a better way.

1 Corinthians 12:20, 24c Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular….shew I unto you a more excellent way.

Show them the love.