{"id":1662,"date":"2018-08-30T10:27:16","date_gmt":"2018-08-30T10:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/sitenews\/2018\/08\/30\/the-missing\/"},"modified":"2018-08-30T10:27:16","modified_gmt":"2018-08-30T10:27:16","slug":"the-missing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ted.adventist.org\/news\/the-missing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Missing"},"content":{"rendered":"

30 August 2018 | Belgrade, Serbia [Julian Hibbert]
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You can\u2019t fall asleep when Pastor Ian Sweeney is the preacher \u2013 even after a full day of seminars, workshops, fellowship, and for some, walks around the beautiful city of Belgrade.  Sonja Kalmbach, a pastor in Sweden confessed \u201chis sermon really touched me!\u201d<\/p>\n

Pastor Sweeney, British Union Conference president and former winner of the Times Preacher of the year competition, chose to base his Wednesday evening message at the European Pastors\u2019 Council on the trilogy of \u2018lostness\u2019 parables found in Luke 15.\"EPC18<\/p>\n

In the first parable Jesus posed this question in verse 4: \u2018Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn\u2019t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?\u2019 The wording of the question seems to presuppose a confident \u2018Yes!\u2019 response, doesn\u2019t it? However, as Pastor Ian pointed out, our practice and statistics testify that we are not so good in searching for those lost sheep.<\/p>\n

It was the second parable though, that the preacher was really interested in: \u2018Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?\u2019 (Luke 15:8) Here the answer Jesus anticipated is a resounding \u2018Yes!\u2019<\/p>\n

According to Pastor Ian, \u2018it was not the intention of Jesus to say the same thing in each of the three parables! . . . Now [in the first parable] we preach and paint the picture of the sheep being found and being carried around the neck of the good shepherd. In the third parable we preach and paint the picture of the Father God running to receive His son back home.\u2019 However, as he correctly points out about the second parable: \u2018it does not carry the same force or intensity as the other parables, maybe because it is not a cute lost lamb, or a son beaten up by sin. In this second parable, it is an inanimate object, a coin.\u2019<\/p>\n

This parable is more disturbing than the other two, however, because the \u2018woman of this parable lost her money in her own home.\u2019 What does it suggest?  Simply that while we are trying to bring more \u2018coins\u2019 into the church, some of those who are already there may actually be lost! \u2018They are not on the mountainside like the sheep, or in a far country like the younger son, . . . They are still at home, their names are still on our membership roll, but they are lost!\u2019 As Pastor Ian puts it, we shouldn\u2019t be surprised that we can lose something as precious as our fellow brothers and sisters in the house that we call church. For in the days of King Josiah of Judah (2 Kings 22) \u2018they managed to lose the Word of God in the Temple.\u2019 \u2018If we can lose God’s Holy Oracle in the one place where it should always be available, let’s not be surprised that we can lose His precious people in the selfsame place!\u2019<\/p>\n

Another reason why this parable is most disturbing is the way it attributes blame for the loss. Those who are lost within the church are lost because of us. Yes, you and I can be one of the main reasons people are lost within the church. And to make it all worse there is this pertinent comment: \u2018Angels weep, while human eyes are dry and hearts are closed to pity.\u2019 (Christ Object Lessons, page 191) We don\u2019t care!<\/p>\n