Seeking sinners and waiting for sons

She disappeared. (They usually do.)

Jeff slid into bed late last night and said it quietly, “I can’t find Grace.” There was a tinge of concern in his voice. I was heavy with sleep, but perked up. Should we go looking? 

We keep the chickens in their coop, but because Grace is beakless (read: defenseless) we keep her in the yard so the other chickens don’t peck at her. She’d always stayed in roughly the same spot … until now.

Again, chickens are like people, like sheep. We’ve had some in our house, too, who wouldn’t stay put. Sometimes they wander, get hurt, come back.

But then sometimes they disappear.

By far the hardest part of ministry, of loving people, whether in your home, your church, wherever, is that sometimes … they disappear. Without a word, they pull back, don’t show up, don’t respond … vanish.

It’s so hard to not get discouraged. And it’s hard too, to know how to respond. Jesus tells two stories about this, not just one. Meaning, there’s a decision to be made.

First He tells us a story about a lost sheep (Luke 15:3-7). Of course, Jesus says, you leave the 99 and go after the one that is lost, until you find it.  The context is that Jesus is dining with sinners, not just preaching at them but hanging out with them. What?! The Pharisees and scribes were appalled and Jesus is appalled at them, hiding in their holy huddle without reaching out, into the broken dirty places of society. When these lost sheep are found (and repent) there is exceeding joy in heaven.

But then just a few breaths later He tells another story. This one’s about a prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32). This time, the son takes off, but nowhere does it say that the father goes after him. The father stays at home, waiting and watching for the day when his son will come to his senses and return. When the son does return, we find that glorious scene where the Father sees him when he’s “still a long way off” and runs to him and embraces him and kisses him. I can’t sing Josh Garrell’s song Coming Home  at church without crying, because I’ve seen this–and done this–so often.

All repentance is, is coming home.

So when do we “go after” and when do we watch and wait? We could make some observations here, such as the context of the first story is seeking after sinners, and the context of the second story is watching and waiting for a son.  The shepherd goes after the sheep because it’s lost. It cannot find its way home, there is no way you can expect it to. It is a clueless, aimless, lost sheep.

Lost people are lost sheep. We chase after baby goats who can’t get home.

But then, there’s the son. He knows the way home. He knows exactly how to find his street, his driveway … his dad.

But he wants to go his own way. Some call this the story of the “Lost Son” (in keeping with the chapter headings of Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, etc.) but I like Prodigal Son because this one’s different.

This kid knows what he’s doing.

And his father knows too. He knows he can’t force repentance. It won’t do any good to go drag his boy home, because his son has left in his heart. And while this isn’t in the parable, we can rest assured that the “going after” work done here is surely done in prayer.

Only God can bring hearts back home.

My intent here isn’t to give a definitive answer on when to chase after people and when to wait, but I know these passages have proven helpful for me as we’ve navigated when to seek sheep and when to wait, prayerful, and keep a watch out for whenever that child will come home.

And, as I sit typing these words, I look up, out the window, and there she was: Grace. Standing next to the bird bath, beakless, drinking on her own. 

She’s home.

{Father, give us wisdom as we seek sinners and watchfully wait for sons. Have a blessed weekend, friends. Thanks for reading.}