Going After The One

Going After The One

Matthew 18:10-14

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost ~ September 7, 2008

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ. The transition in Matthew has happened and Jesus has now made it clear that He is going to Jerusalem to suffer, die and rise again. And today we get a piece of Matthew chapter 18 which we could spend many sermons and Bible classes on. One of the main focuses of this chapter is on reconciliation through forgiveness and the greatest of these is God’s reconciliation to us through Christ.

The text we heard read this morning was the section on how to treat someone who has sinned against you (go to them first, take some witnesses, take it to the church and/or treat them as a Gentile). This is an awesome text on conflict resolution but I want to take a step back and look at the section just before this in verses 10 through 14. Here Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep and the Shepherd that goes after the one.

This is a beautiful picture of how personal and individual God’s love is for each and every one on us. Often when we speak of the Gospel, or salvation we speak in general term like “Jesus died for the whole world” or “The salvation of all people is found in Christ.” And these sayings are true – Jesus did die for the world. But it is much more intimate than that. Jesus died for you and for me, for each of us as individuals. Like the shepherd who goes after the one lost sheep. Jesus knows each of us better than we know ourselves and calls each of us by name to be His child. Not just a call to the world but a specific call to you and me – God says, “Mike, you are mine. Jim you are mine. Sally, you are mine, Mary, you are mine.”…

The shepherd in the story doesn’t say, “Well, it is only one sheep. I still have 99 that will be enough.” No, he leaves the 99 and goes after the lost one. He values the lost sheep so much that he takes the risk to go after it. He focuses on the needs of the one. Our God does the same for you and me. He calls us by name to be His child! Yes he died for the whole world, but Jesus also died for each of us individually as well. If only one person in all of history would have believed in Jesus He still would have suffered, died and rose again for the one.

Wow, the power of the God for the one. It is like taking John 3:16 and instead of saying, “For God so loved the world…” we can say, “For God so loved me…” This is the heart of reconciliation – that God loved us so much that He did not leave us in a lost and broken condition but came and sought out each of us and restored a right relationship with Him through Jesus. God goes after the one – you and me and the world.

And He invites us into this mission of reconciliation to the world. We are called to share in this powerful ministry and bring God’s forgiveness to other people, the lost sheep. And I think the principle of going after the one is a good one for us to follow. It is a simple, yet amazing way to be the Body of Christ in mission.

I bet each of you today know of at least one person who is a “lost sheep”. This is a person who either never knew Jesus as their Savior, never been to church or knows much about the Bible, or someone who has wandered away from the church and is “lost” in this world. Building a relationship with this person who you know is a great start to “finding the lost.” To take the opportunities that arise to spend time with this individual can be very powerful. And somewhere along the way, bringing them to worship or a Bible Study or a fellowship activity can go a long way to bringing a “lost sheep” to their Shepherd – Jesus. And this fits our mission to Reach out to someone lost, to Care for them as we build a relationship with them, and Build them up as we bring God’s Word and the fellowship of believers to them. It is like the shepherd who left the 99 for the one – we go out after the one.

Now I want you to stop and imagine if we each focused on one person, one “lost sheep” to bring into God’s fold. It seems really simple, right? Well we know that bringing the love of Jesus to others can be a long process and not always easy, but we need only focus on one person, and that time and effort will pay off. But also imagine this for the church, for Mount Olive. We worship about 500 people each weekend. Now, if each of the 500 will commit to reaching out to one person in the next few months and if we all had success in bringing one person to worship that would mean 1000 people! We would be out of space – but wouldn’t it be fantastic! And then, to continue the principle, each of the 1000 focuses on one person who is lost and brings them to worship we would have 2000!!! Are you getting the idea here that something as small as focusing on one can multiply Mount Olive, God’s kingdom? It is truly amazing. By each of us focusing on just one person the Body of Christ will grow exponentially. Just by focusing on one person! Wow – isn’t that a great vision for our church. One by one, reaching, caring and building, we can make a huge impact for the Kingdom of God.

What is great in this process is that we know we don’t do it alone. We may have one individual in mind, but God will have many ways that person will be reached and you will have many people supporting you along the way. One by one we grow the kingdom, we bring people to the Shepherd, the lost are found. And what did Jesus say in this parable? There is more rejoicing in heaven over the one found – it is a party, a celebration when one is found. We can rejoice each time the one we were focusing on is found in Christ. We become God’s hand and feet, the “Mask of God” as the Shepherd goes after His lost sheep. One by one we grow. One by one we rejoice. One by one God is given glory and heaven rejoices.

You are here today because at least one person made sure you knew about the love of God in Christ Jesus. Maybe a parent who brought you to baptism and church. Maybe a friend you helped you when you were hurting. Maybe a fiancée that wanted you to become “Lutheran” before you got married. Maybe a stranger who spoke the Word of God that transformed your soul. Whoever and whatever the situation, you are here because God, through His people, sought you out and brought you in. Now we are called to do the same – each one bring one to Jesus. And imagine that God will break the simple rules of math – 1 + 1 will not equal 2 but it will equal more, more and more brought to Jesus, our Shepherd who loves His sheep and calls us by name.

Amen.