September 26, 2024

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“I will signal for them and gather them in. Surely, I will redeem them; they will be as numerous as before.” (Zechariah 10.8)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

I watched a video recently which from New Zealand as a shepherd moved his herd of sheep from one pasture on the other side of a valley to one nearer to where he was. It is important to move the sheep from pasture to pasture. If the sheep are not moved, then the grass they graze upon will be uprooted and the land will become barren. I do not know which came first: the shepherding of sheep or the stewardship of farming. But the rotation of pastures and crops serve a similar purpose. It makes me wonder if there isn’t some truth in that thought process for us when it comes to living full lives. How often have we been more like locusts, grasshoppers and such insects who simply ravage the land and move on. The infestation becomes an annihilation. We have to move through life or else life as we live it becomes stagnant instead of dynamic, empty instead of prolific. I then have to wonder if that is what God was showing His people as they were carried into exile or as they were made sterile of their faith history in the land where they had sojourned self-centeredly.

Homecoming! We may more think of that term in relation to our high school and post-secondary education experiences. What is the same in any homecoming experience is that home is never what it was when you were first there. Change happens for things in this world. Even Jesus “changed” from heaven to earth to heaven again. When He returns, He will be different than when He first appeared to the people in Israel in the first century. For some, His “second” appearance may match more of the expectation they had for His “first” coming. I would suggest we all consider that without His first “appearance,” the second will be more traumatic. His first appearance spoke of love, mercy, grace and the fulfillment of all righteousness. His first appearance was speaking to the authenticity of the image in which “we,” they, were created. It matters that we consider this observation as I believe it leads us to greener pastures concerning the gospel. Jesus, as the Good Shepherd, declared “It is for this purpose that I have come: to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19.10) Highlighted by three parables (the lost sheep, the lost coin and the prodigal son), this mission and purpose of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ of God was affirmed. In each parable, there was an accountability confirmed:

The lost sheep was returned to its master (dead or alive.) The shepherd was accountable for its life.

The lost coin was returned to its full number (not lost or spent on the service of anything else but its original intent). The woman was accountable for the full amount.

The prodigal son sees the sign of the time and returns to his father (not as a son but as a willing servant recognizing he had damaged his own value; at least according to his way of thinking). The father was accountable for the son.

In each, that which was lost was found. The most important of the three, of course, was the prodigal. Why the prodigal? It is not that sheep and money are not important. They most certainly have value and worth. They have meaning and purpose. But nothing apart from God supersedes the value, worth, meaning and purpose of God’s people. In fact, it can be understood that the “prodigal” was a prophetic allusion to Jesus Himself. He had gone into the world moving from Heaven to earth. He surrendered His eternal riches to become a baby of a family who trusted God with their provision. He was deemed by the “righteous” to be unrighteous, unworthy and unclean. He returned to the Father as a servant developing the very concept He promoted among the disciples. The Father receives Him back in full and to overflowing. His cup runs over in spirit and in truth. There is a great celebration which then confuses those who claimed to be “righteous” but missed the very intention of God.

What is that intention? For me, and I offer it to you for your consideration, the intention is to move the sheep from one pasture to another. That is, to reinform and transform our thinking that “this world is all we have” to “this world is not my home.” This world will not define me nor confine me. The intention of God was to bring humanity full circle and be restored to our rightful home. It is there that we are to be “at home” with God. The purpose of righteousness on earth is to “seek and save the lost.” I believe the father of the prodigal did just that. He worked behind the scenes to keep watchful care over his son. He kept watch himself from the porch of his ranch house set on a great hill. He invested himself and his resources in maintaining the status quo for the “99” without divesting himself of his responsibility for the “1.” He made sure that light would search out every corner of the world and be made clean as signs of his promise to be accountable for the “value and worth of life” entrusted to him. He made the paths straight so that the word of redemption could not only be heard but experienced as the ultimate reality. Mighty ones of God, this is our intended “value, worth, meaning and purpose.” This is what exists in the message to Zechariah in 10.8 as the signal for return was given and the return of what was lost had increased in volume and value. There were more lives redeemed and the depth of their being and gratitude exceeded the expectation they had for themselves previously. Maybe they “walked away” as did the older son who “had it all” but could not see it. The story of the “prodigal” includes the hope of a pendulum swing so that we might hope those who believed they were found but became lost would join those who were lost and became found. Is this not the mission of the Church? Are we not meant to reveal and revel in the effort of redemption which God has extended to us in the world through Jesus the Christ who is, was and will forever be: Messiah.

Are we living in the days of when “the signal” is being given?

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit brought us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit in order that others be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind so we would know we are Your people and You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.