Joy over one

What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!' I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. "Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbours together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!' Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." – Luke 15.4-10

I love our ministry. I am grateful for where God has put us. I am glad to serve our Lord in this wonderful land of Ireland. But, like anything else we do, there can be frustrations. It’s really nothing new, but we all know that there is a temptation to measure success by numbers – be the people, or production stats, or money in the bank or whatever. There is, of course, a danger that this kind of measurement of success can creep into the church. When that happens the measure of a church becomes their Sunday morning church attendance, or how many we baptised last years, or how many professions of faith, or whatever. When that is the standard it can be tough to be part of a smaller, 'less successful' ministry. 

A danger of the numbers game is that it can eventually make us forget about the importance of the ‘one.’ People can become stats instead of souls. A mind set can develop like ‘Oh, you only had 3 baptisms last year? What are you doing wrong?’

Jesus made it clear that He is concerned about each and every ‘one.’ Here He tells the parable of the lost things. We know the story of the lost son, but before He told that story He told the story of one last sheep and one lost coin.

A shepherd has 99 of his 100 sheep safely tucked away. A woman has only lost one of her ten silver coins. In both cases they search frantically until they find the missing ‘one.’ When they do they invite their friends and neighbours to come and celebrate with them. And why wouldn’t they? These are great things to celebrate!

In both cases Jesus said that there was something even better. ‘I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance…Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’

Jesus cared about one. He said that even the salvation of one soul causes a celebration in heaven.

If the salvation of one causes such joy – should we not share in that excitement over the ‘one?’ It is great to see vast numbers turn to Christ – but let’s not discount the importance of each and every ‘one.’