The car made its way along the rough, rocky county road. The idyllic pastures and the cattle they contained gave way to woods as the road gained elevation. Finally, after a sharp bend in the road, the surface became smoother as the road neared the top of the mountain. When the car climbed out of the woods, the view opened and revealed a beautiful mountaintop home. Standing at attention at the corner of the property was a large, imposing-looking dog. His sleek, short coat shone with the lean, muscular build of an athlete.
This scene repeated itself many times as we made our way up the mountainside to visit my cousin. The dog, a Boxer, would always be standing there with a majestic pose. His well-developed muscles visible under his tight skin gave him the air of a bodyguard. When we drove onto the property, he would be there to escort us up the driveway and greet us when we got out of the car.
Although the Boxer’s physique suggests that he would be aggressive, he is a gentle giant. He loves people and wants to be with you. According to the American Kennel Club, “The breed’s most appealing traits is a tremendous love for their humans and a need to be loved in return. A Boxer is happiest when he’s with his family.” My wife and I loved the Boxer, and he loved us.
While we were visiting one Saturday afternoon, the Boxer and one of the family dogs went for a romp in the woods surrounding the house. An hour or so later, the other dog returned home, but the Boxer didn’t. When another hour passed and the Boxer still wasn’t home, we began to get worried. So my cousin and I went walking through the woods looking for the Boxer. After walking and looking for a long time, we widened the search by driving down the mountain and circling through town to the east side of the mountain. Still, there was no sign of the Boxer. Finally, after several hours, we gave up the search. We hoped that he would come home, but we feared the worst.
Boxers are prone to hereditary heart disease, aortic stenosis, meaning an obstruction underneath the aortic valve. This medical condition can cause sudden death, so the dog looks fine one minute and keels over the next. We knew that Boxers are prone to heart problems, so we feared that the Boxer had suffered a heart attack. With sadness, we resigned ourselves to never seeing the Boxer again. However, not knowing what had happened to him was the hardest part.
One evening later that week, my wife and I were sitting in our living room when the phone rang. My wife answered the phone. “You will never guess what happened,” said the voice on the other end. “Our boy is home.” Just a few minutes earlier, my cousin had been outside his house when he saw the Boxer running as fast as he could towards home. What a joyous reunion that was. I don’t know who was happier, the Boxer or his people.
In Luke chapter 15, Jesus tells three stories, with each story describing a lost item and the joy and celebration when they were found. The words, “he was lost and has been found.” Luke 15:24 (NASB) could be referring to the Boxer. When Jesus was telling the story of a lost sheep, He said, “you will continue to search for it until you find it. And when you find it, you will be very happy. You will carry it home, go to your friends and neighbors and say to them, ‘Be happy with me because I found my lost sheep!’” Luke 15:4-6 (ERV) The story made me think about the phone call we received telling us that the Boxer was home.
The stories of the lost items in Luke 15 are about God’s love and mercy for sinful human beings. Jesus is telling us that he wants us to rejoice with him. He says, “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:10 (NKJV) “We had to celebrate and be happy, because your brother was dead, but now he is alive; he was lost, but now he has been found.” Luke 15:32 (GNT)
Are you looking for the lost? Are you celebrating and rejoicing when they are found? In Luke 19:10 (NRSV), Jesus says that He “came to seek out and to save the lost.” And the same Jesus who came to seek out and save tells us in John 20:21 (NIV), “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
Looking for hurting people and saving them was a priority in Jesus’ life on earth. It should be a priority for his people as well. But to do that, we must engage the broken and hurting people around us. Unfortunately, too many Christians do not want to seek out and save the lost. They are pleased to point out sin in the world and declare that those sinners are lost, but they don’t want to engage with them. Ed Stetzer, an American author, writes, “it’s fascinating that a lot of Christians don’t seem to like non-Christians, often referred to as the lost or the unchurched. Often, we want to keep away from messy people.”
The focus of too many Christians is pointing out the sin in others. Daniel Darling states, “we must not allow our protest against values with which we disagree to overshadow our responsibility to show Christ’s love for the world. It may very well be the person who offends us the most whom God is in the process of saving. And our gracious response might be the bridge that the Spirit uses to usher him from death to life.” Many people who claim to love God don’t have a genuine love for other people. But 1 John 4:8 (NKJV) tells us, “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
Gentle Reader, do you have compassion for those who are lost? Today, I challenge you to see the lost way that Jesus sees them and rejoice with Him whenever one of his lost sheep comes home!
