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The 99 Are Safe - But What About the One?

Writer's picture: Lena AndersonLena Anderson

Updated: Jan 30

Hello Prayer Partners!


I was reading The Bible this morning and wanted to share my conversation with God, with you!


Before I begin, I just want to say, God's intentions are unmatched. I am always in awe of His magnificence. Like, do you ever just hit the jaw-drop at His brilliance? I am always sent on a chair spin and happy leg kick at His awesomeness. Cálmate Lena! 🤦🏽‍♀️


Ok, so today I was given a perfect example of how we can sometimes read a word, and forget about the actions of Jesus in the book of Matthew. I was reading The Parable of the Wandering Sheep (Matthew 18: 10-14) and was paused at verse 12.


“12 “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?”

When reading it along with the following verses, we know that it is an analogy used as context to build a deeper understanding of How God is. However, for me, as I read it, it posed the question within my heart. “If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?”


The moment the question pierced me, I also felt the grief of the Holy Spirit. He said - The 99 Are Safe - But What About the One?




How inundated have we become with material things, our own goals, or dismissiveness, even to the point of being cold and excluding or excommunicating another? Are we forgetting the one because the 99 is just enough? Are we justifying losing the one because we feel they are easily replaceable or not of value to us anymore?


How many times have we heard this parable? We know that there is a joy that fills the man once he finds the one that was lost. We also know that this is how our Father feels about us.

Interestingly enough, as I continued reading, Jesus shared about Dealing with Sin in the Church. (Matthew 18:15-17)


[Jesus said:] “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector." 


This felt confusing because only a few blocks up, we read that God is not willing for any of his sheep to perish. Then we read here that if a person within the church refuses to listen, even to the church, they should be treated as a Pagan or a Tax Collector. My understanding of how the world and even the church treated pagans and tax collectors wasn’t the nicest back in the day.

When I think about our world today, a tax collector is like the arch enemy of the paycheck and pagans. We clutch our pearls and grip them as we shew them away, don’t we?





But I scratched my entire head, slightly confused. I asked the Holy Spirit how this could be the way, especially with the passage being found between two parables of forgiveness, the Parable of the Lost Sheep (Matthew 18.10-14) and the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18.21-35).


The simple question given to me in return was, “But how did Jesus treat the Tax Collector and Pagans?” Do we know? Or do we use that passage to support the practices of exclusion and excommunication? 🙄

 

My daughter came to me and asked me about a video she saw on YouTube yesterday. She told me she was scared because, in the girl’s voice, she could hear spirits that would indicate that the young lady wasn’t doing well. She played the video for me and told me she was scared after hearing her. I listened to the video and while I also heard some spirits within the young lady, I was also able to hear by way of the Holy Spirit, the young ladies hurt, pain and the trauma she was afflicted by. Which interestingly enough is also discussed in Matthew 18: 6-9 - Causing to stumble, but we will get into that later.


I shared with my daughter that she didn’t need to be afraid, but we could pray for the young lady. I empathize with her concern and fear because my daughter is only 14. She may not have the level of discernment or understanding I have, or you may have. Nonetheless, in our conversation, the thought came to me – how many people see things or hear things just as she did, and scroll over them? Whether it be due to fear, a lack of understanding, or an apathetic heart posture – Do we forget about the one?


Did I digress again? 🤦🏽‍♀️ I'm going somewhere, I promise.


Back to us treating “them” as a pagan or a tax collector. On the surface it seems that the message of Matthew 18.15-17 contradicts the parables surrounding it.The key, I think, to resolving the tension is found in observing how Jesus interacted with "tax collectors and sinners." That is, it makes no sense to read Jesus as telling his followers to treat tax collectors and sinners like the Pharisees were treating tax collectors and sinners. Take a look at the contrast observed in Matthew 9.


Matthew 9.10-13a“While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house (a big-time Tax Collector), many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? ”On hearing this, Jesus said, It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”




These concluding words--"For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners"--is an almost perfect anticipation of the Parable of the Lost Sheep: "And if the shepherd finds the lost sheep, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.  🤔 "How might this understanding--we treat tax collectors as Jesus treated tax collectors--change how we’ve interpreted and then acted out Matthew 18.15-17?





Well, it changes it completely. No longer is this text read as a mandate for exclusion, as a warrant for kicking people out. Rather what we find is a mandate for inclusion, a warrant for sending and seeking and embracing. No doubt, if a brother or sister is engaged in sin, our relationship within the church is altered. You've become "a lost sheep" and a "tax collector." However, if I am following Jesus, does that mean I am excluding and excommunicating? Or, does it mean I am pursuing you and seeking you out for the betterment of your soul?


When you dig a bit deeper for yourself you'll see that our following Jesus in this manner is also a purification for our own souls? I am no better, if I to am living a life where I throw the one away.




The 99 Are Safe - But What About the One? From Prayer to Promise

That old saying: "Do as I say and not as I do," isn't the way Jesus leads us to our Father. It isn't the way our Heavenly Father desires us to magnify His love. It's a broken way of thinking, a broken way of being, and a justification for behaviors we don't want to challenge ourselves to change...Making us no different from the very "one" who is also lost, who is pagan, or the tax collector. Oop! (Don't fight me)


Jesus lived life in a manner that will challenge you, yes, but it also speaks to our ability to also live that way through Him. We can do it! He truly desires that we live as he lived, and we thank you God for being our Way-maker!


Read the scriptures mentioned in this blog and let me know your thoughts!

 


 

Here are a few questions you can ask in your time with God to induce conversation:


💬  How do I respond when I see someone wandering from the faith? Do I dismiss them, judge them, or seek to bring them back with love and grace?


💬  Do I ever justify excluding someone because it feels easier to maintain the “99” rather than pursuing the “one”?


💬  How does Jesus’ treatment of tax collectors and sinners challenge my own attitudes toward those who struggle or live differently than I do?


💬  Am I more focused on correction and discipline, or on restoration and redemption?


💬   How do I react when I see pain or brokenness in others? Do I move toward them as Jesus would, or do I scroll past and move on?


💬   What steps can I take to be more intentional about seeking out and embracing the “lost sheep” in my life?

 

  

 

 

Keep this in mind as your journey forward:

‘Let us not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.’ (Galatians 6:9)


Pursuing the lost, loving like Jesus, and walking in mercy is not always easy, but it is always worth it. Progress is the practiced faith in Christ needed to make perfect. I'm believing for you!


Till we meet again,


Abba's ready writer,Lena!

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