Randall Caselman
Bella Vista Church of Christ
2/21/99 pm
Becoming Sheep In His Pasture
Reading Luke 15.1-7 & Psalm 95.6-8
Paul tells us in Romans 8.29 that God has predestined us to be conformed into the likeness... Into the image of His son, Jesus.
This morning we noted that Jesus was and is the Good Shepherd. So, if we are conformed into his likeness, into his image, then we too will become shepherds. The points of our lesson was how...how do we cultivate the heart, the spirit of a shepherd?
FIRST - WE MUST KNOW THAT WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ONE ANOTHER.
No man is an island. No man lives and dies to himself. All of us here tonight, in the kingdom, are here because some one cared enough to bring us to Jesus. Others have cared enough to keep us safe and saved in the fold -- in God's pasture. Without them, where would we be? Where indeed...indeed!
SECOND - WE MUST UNDERSTAND THAT ALL STRAY SHEEP BELONG TO GOD.
God is not into percentages - 99 out of a hundred is not enough for him and must not be for us. We must not be into percentages but into people...individuals...souls. We must understand that each one counts one.
THIRD - AS A SHEPHERD WE MUST SEEK, SERVE AND SAVE THE LOST.
The Greek means that we not be passive but actively pursue the lost and the strays. God is a God of the chase. As shepherds, we are commissioned to go into all the world.
FOURTH - WE MUST EXIT OUR COMFORT ZONES AND SACRIFICIALLY GIVE OURSELVES TO HELPING THE STRAYS FIND THEIR WAY HOME, BACK TO GOD.
As shepherds we are to shoulder and carry them, if need be.
FIFTH - WE NOTED THAT CORPORATELY, AS A CHURCH, WE MUST BE WILLING TO PLAN FOR FUTURE SHEEP.
We must not allow our focus to turn inward toward self...we must not be consumed by brotherhood issues, traditions and by personal preferences to the point that we lose sight of what the real work of a shepherd is...laying down his life for the sheep. No...not dying for them, living for them.
I want to look at this narrative and its parable through totally different glasses, from a totally different perspective. I want us to see ourselves, not as shepherds, but as sheep in God's pasture. Listen closely again to what David says in Psalms 95... Come, let us bow down in worship. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker for he is our God and we are the people of His pasture. We are the flock, the sheep under his care. Today, if you hear his voice, harden not your heart.
Church, notice closely what David says: He is our God, present tense. We are his sheep, present tense. Question! Can we say honestly God is (present tense) my God? I am (present tense) a person of His pasture?
- I am convinced that some of us cannot, with integrity, say these words. We can't honestly claim to be His sheep.
- I am convinced that some can honestly say these words tonight but, we are astray from God Monday through Saturday, right?
- Some of us are guilty of grazing in other pastures and following other shepherds.
So, by way of application tonight, what will it take for us to be a people and person of His pasture? Sheep in His care? Just how must we live to validate the fact that we belong to Him... That we are under His care?
FIRST, BEING A PERSON OF HIS PASTURE AND A SHEEP UNDER HIS CARE MEAN WE MUST ALWAYS BE WHERE GOD IS.
- What causes sheep... people... to be lost is that He is no longer near. We are no longer in the vicinity of the shepherd, right?
- Being lost means we have strayed from the place we were meant to be.
- Lost is not being at home...look at verses 5 & 6. The shepherd goes out after the lost sheep, puts him on his shoulder and goes where? Home!
A boy and his grandpa went for a walk. Grandpa said, “How far do you think we are from home?" "I don't know", the boy replied. "Well, do you know where we are?" "No". Grandpa says, "well it sounds like your lost". The grandson said, "No, I'm not lost, grandpa, I'm with you". For this boy, being with his Granddad meant the difference between being lost or not lost. He could be anywhere, but as long as he was with his Grandpa, he wasn't lost.
As sheep, we can be anywhere, but if we are with our shepherd, if we are in the presence of God, we are not lost. Sheep were meant to be in the presence of their shepherd, people were created to be in the presence of God. For us, home is where God is.
- Adam and Eve were placed in a garden where they were at home with God. They walked and talked with Him in the cool of the evenings.
- Enoch walked and talked with God...and God took him home to His house.
- For the children of Israel, God came to live in the tabernacle. He lived in the middle of their camp. They were at home with God.
- God came to live in Solomon’s temple.
- Isaiah 43.7 says God created us to be His people and glorify His name.
- Jesus says in John 14.23 that He and God comes to live in our hearts when we obey his commandments.
- Paul tells us in I Corinthians 6 that we are the temple of God and that he lives in us.
Folk, home is where God is. Are we willing to make a commitment tonight to always be where God is?
Now we must know that there are a lot of places in our world where God is not... WHERE HE IS NOT PRESENT. And we were not meant to be anywhere where God is not present. Scripture tells us God does not dwell in the midst of darkness...In the midst of sin. Isaiah 59. 1 & 2 tells us that sin separates us from God.
- If we're in the back room of the Gentlemen's Club on Highway 71 near Jane, we are separated from God. God is not there. We're not at home.
- If we're sleeping with someone not our spouse, we are separated from God. God is not there, we're not at home, we are astray.
- If we're into alcohol, illicit or prescription drugs, we are separated from God. He is not there, we are not home, we are astray.
- If we are treating our spouse and or children disrespectfully, subjecting them to emotional, physical, sexual or mental abuse; God is not there, we are not home, we are astray.
- If we are gathered with friends exchanging racial slurs, off-color stories, gossip, vulgar language, God is not there, we are not at home, we are astray.
- If we are living in a perpetual lather of pride and arrogance over our accomplishments, position, title, education, appearance or possessions, we are separated from God, he is not there, we are not home, we are astray.
- If we are stringing one lie after another for whatever reason, God is not there, we are not home, we are astray.
- If we are coming to church every Sunday to worship and have an unreconciled relationship with a brother, God is not there, we are not at home, we are astray.
Having the Lord as our shepherd means that we must make a commitment to be where He is...and being in sin is where He is not. Folk, we must make a commitment to stay at home:
- At home with God.
- Near our shepherd
- We must be His sheep.
- We must be a person, people, of His pasture.
Well, preacher, you've told us some places where God is not... Tell us where He is. Give us some places where we can find God... Where we are at home. I'm glad you asked - I was going to do it anyway!
FIRST, GOD IS PRESENT WHEREVER AND WHENEVER BELIEVERS GATHER IN HIS NAME.
For where 2 or 3 are gathered together in my name, there I am with them. Matthew 18.10.
God is where believers are gathered in His name.
- That means He is here on Sunday mornings... Are we?
- That means He is here on Sunday evenings... Are we?
- That means He is here for Ladies Bible Class... Are you?
- That means He is here in all our Bible classes... Are we?
- That means He is present in our care groups... Are you?
- That means He is present in our family devotionals... Are we?
Just how committed are we to being sheep of his pasture?
SECONDLY, GOD IS PRESENT WHENEVER AND WHEREVER WE MINISTER TO OTHERS... WHENEVER AND WHEREVER WE HELP OTHERS.
Listen to Matthew 25. 31-40, When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. "Then the King will say to those on his right, `Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' "Then the righteous will answer him, `Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The King will reply, `I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Perhaps we will never be any closer to home, closer to God, than when we are serving the Jesus in others. For when we do it to them, we do it to Him.
NUMBER 3. GOD IS PRESENT WHENEVER AND WHEREVER WE LIVE OUT WHAT WE BELIEVE IN.
Psalms 41.12 says In my integrity you uphold me...and you set me in your presence forever. David is saying that when we live out what we believe in, then God sets us in His presence. A person of integrity is one who:
- Lives what they believe.
- One who integrates convictions with actions.
- One who practices what they preach.
- One whose beliefs regulate their behavior.
God says... God promises to live in such a person, to be present with such people. They are sheep in his pasture. This is why Paul said, What you have seen and heard of me...put into practice...live it out...and the God of peace will be with you. This is why James says, We must not be hearers only but doers of the word. This is why James said, Faith without works (action) is dead. Believing in something and not practicing it is dead faith. God is not present in such faith. If He were He would be present with the devil... Right? God is present when we live out what we believe in.
FOURTHLY, GOD IS PRESENT WHENEVER AND WHEREVER WE INTERACT WITH HIM.
Paul says in Philippians 4: Be anxious in nothing but in everything...in everything great and small, make your request to God and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts in Christ Jesus. God... His presence... His peace is with us whenever and wherever we interact with Him in prayer.
THEN NUMBER 5. GOD IS PRESENT WHENEVER AND WHEREVER WE INTERACT WITH HIM IN THE WORD.
Listen to this. All scripture is God breathed. Folk, if we are living in the breath of God...in the word of God, then I would say, He is close, right?
With these five things in mind, let me ask you again, have we made a commitment to be the sheep of his pasture? Have we made a commitment to be where God is? Are we living daily in these five places where He is found?
THEN SECONDLY, TONIGHT, TO BE THE PEOPLE OF HIS PASTURE, THE SHEEP UNDER HIS CARE WE MUST ALWAYS BE AWARE OF WHERE WE ARE AND WHERE GOD IS.
Not one of us wake up in the morning saying, thinking, intending to rebel against God; to stray from the fold; to just disregard our spiritual upbringing. We just don't do that. Most often, straying is a slow, gradual and almost unintentional series of events.
Palestinian shepherds will tell you that sheep nibble their way into lostness. It is a gradual process. Then before you know it, they look up and there is no shepherd, no flock. They are lost.
We've all done it haven't we? We miss a Wednesday night class, then another. Next we miss Sunday morning Bible class; then a few months later we have something else to do on Sunday evenings. Before we know it we don't even come to Sunday morning worship.
We don't pray much anymore or read our Bible. We just don't think much about God and His people. We look up and there is no shepherd, no flock. We have strayed, we are lost and we ask:
- How did I end up in the back room at the Gentlemen's Club?
- How did I end up in bed with her?
- How did I become addicted?
- When did I start treating my spouse & children this way?
- How did I get into such a conversation anyway?
- How did I get into the trap of weaving one lie into another?
- How did I get into this pride thing in the first place?
- How did I get into hating that brother or sister so much?
- Why did I stop going to church?
The answer is always the same... We nibbled our way there. One compromise led to another until we had gone beyond where we never thought we would go.
Listen to me church: Sin will always:
- Take us farther than we want to go;
- Keep us longer than we want to stay,
- And cost us more than we want to pay.
On October 31, l983, the Korean Airliner 007 took off from Anchorage, Alaska on its way to Seoul Korea. Unbeknown to the pilot and his crew, there was a 1 l/2 degree error in the flight navigation system. Just l l/2 degrees! 150 miles out the error was so small it went undetected. Over the Aleutian Mountains, the error was still too small to be noticed. But they were moving further and further and further right until before they knew it, they were in Soviet air space. A 1 1/2 degree error resulted in their eventually being hundreds of miles off course.
Soviet radar picked up the errant plane and sent up fighter planes to investigate. You know the rest of the story... 473 people died because that plane nibbled its way into Soviet air space - not intentionally, not all at once, but slowly, undetectably. They went where they never intended to go, stayed longer than they intended to stay and paid more than they intended to pay.
- Having an error...a compromise in our navigation system can be fatal.
- Having an error...a compromise in our spiritual navigation system will take us places we don't want to be and never wanted to go in the first place.
Here is the bottom line, church, we must learn to navigate according to a desire to be close to the shepherd and sheep of his pasture rather than according to our desire of the moment. You see, lost sheep are those who are more concerned with the present moment than their concern for being with the shepherd and being sheep in his pasture. We must always be aware of where He is and where we are.
- If you’re here tonight with a desire to be the sheep His pasture... People under His shepherding care... You can be by faith, repentance, baptism - immersion in water for the forgiveness of sins.
- Perhaps you have nibbled your way into lostness and need to recommit to the shepherd and return to doing those things you used to do before the compass strayed. We welcome you home. We will pray for you and with you. We will rejoice and celebrate your return with the angels of heaven.
Become sheep in HIS pasture... Come to Jesus tonight!!
