Some very astute person once said, "We never know the love of the parent until we become parents ourselves." I thought that I’d give you that statement as a lead-in to my editorial today. In last week’s editorial I told you about certain things that I particularly like to use as bases for my scriptural lessons and I’m going to use two of them again today. Those two things will be a parable spoken by Jesus which provides us with a beautiful hymn.
Like all the parables of Jesus, they have an earthly story which everyone can understand and then He would lay a heavenly lesson alongside the parable story. Our parable is found in Matt. 18:11-14 and Luke 15:3-7. I’m going to cite to you Luke’s version of this parable simply because I like the phraseology seen in that account of Christ’s story.
"And He spake the parable unto them, saying, What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance."
Yes, I know that the parable story is using "sheep" and their relation to the shepherd and people, back then and today, easily relate to how a shepherd feels about his "sheep." But, I see this parable story also teaching us about parental love. The love that parents have for their children. Hopefully, by the end of this lesson, I will have successfully presented my thoughts well enough that you’ll see this connection too.
The Bible, many, many times, refers to God and His "Children." From the time of creation, those faithful to His Word have been depicted as being members of His family, so to speak. Here’s just a few verses that show the faithful and obedient as His Children: (Matt. 5:9, Luke 6:35, Luke 20:36, and probably the three best: Rom. 8:16-17, Gal. 3:26 and Eph 1:5). Of course the Bible also shows us who the father of the "children of disobedience" is in 1John 3:10.
Yes, the faithful, the "Church" are seen in the picture of the family of God with Him being presented as the ultimate parent. We see this picture portrayed to us in Luke 11:13, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him." I don’t think it’s very hard to see the love God has for us - His Children.
The parable told by Christ, presented in the form of the shepherd and his sheep, by comparison with the heavenly side, vividly shows us the "parental love" that God has for us. His concern for His "sheep" - His "children" - His "faithful followers" - His "family."
You know, after reading the parable of the lost sheep, it occurs to me that I don’t think that most men think that way today. People today seem to think "cost effectively." I mean, they’d probably reason the situation this way: Hey, I’ve got 99 sheep here, I’m not going to abandon them for the sake of one more. The one that wandered off and got lost. I’ve got to see the "big picture" here and hold on to what I’ve got.
But, thanks be to God, He doesn’t think like man. Let me try my hand at making a parable and see if I can put our lesson in a "parental way" that lets us see how God looks at this situation.
Lets say that a father and mother have 10 kids. One of them rebels, becomes disobedient and because of his ways, almost dies. You’re free to pick a scenario. The other 9 children are healthy and obedient and are still at home. But, one has gone away and might possibly be lost forever. But wait, now he’s found. He’s brought back to the family. He’s safe.
Now, we need to ask and answer some questions. First: do the parents love the other 9 children less than the 1 who was lost? Or, asked another way: do they love the 1 more than the others? The answer: No! Of course not!
Secondly: Do you think the other children resent the return of the lost one? No, they rejoice too. And thirdly: Do they expect some extra reward for having been faithful and obedient? For NOT getting lost and almost perishing? Again, No! Of course not!
And why is that? Because they are all of the same family and all of them rejoice when one of their own comes home. And this brings us to the hymn so beautifully and eloquently brings home this lesson about God not subscribing to "cost effectiveness." That He loves and cares for ALL His "children." That the price paid for them won’t allow Him to abandon even one of them if they can be rescued.
The hymn, of course, is THE NINETY AND NINE and it was originally written as a poem by Elizabeth Clephane who was inspired by the parable that we just discussed. Her poem was published in a local paper. How this poem became one of our most beloved hymns is a great story in of itself. I’ll try and give you as concise an account of this occurrence as I can and still get across the interesting circumstances involved.
If you look at this song in your books, you’ll see that the music was added by Ira D. Stankey, an American gospel singer back in the mid 1800's. He many times accompanied a famous preacher of that era, Dwight Moody, and sang at his revival meetings. They were in Scotland to hold some meetings and were in route by train to Edinburgh. Prior to boarding, Stankey bought a newspaper to read on the trip.
This happened to be the local paper having Elizabeth’s poem in it. Sankey was struck by the words of the poem and cut it out of the paper, putting it in his pocket. On the second day of the meeting, Moody preached a sermon on "The Good Shepherd." After closing the sermon, he asked Sankey if he had a closing song to sing.
Sankey remembered the poem in his pocket and he took it out and sang it as a song, putting music to the words as he sang it. At the conclusion of the poem/song, it’s reported that Moody was crying and asked where he had gotten the song. I imagine that he was as astonished at what had happened as anyone. An interesting addendum to this story is, that Elizabeth Clephane wrote her poem in 1868 and died a year later, never knowing the impact that her words have had on the world.
You’ve probably never thought of this song as being a lesson in "Parental Love" but, that is exactly what it is. And just like the old saying that we started with - until children become parents themselves, they can’t realize:
"BUT NONE OF THE RANSOMED EVER KNEW,
HOW DEEP WERE THE WATERS CROSSED.
NOR HOW DARK WAS THE NIGHT THAT THE LORD PASSED THRU.
ERE HE FOUND HIS SHEEP THAT WAS LOST."
Respectfully submitted,
Ron Covey
No comments:
Post a Comment