The Parable of the 99 Sheep

The parable of the lost sheep/good shepherd is very well known, especially in church circles.  I learned the parable in Sunday school, and I've heard sermons on it many, many times from many different preachers and teachers.  It's a reminder to the church that God, the Good Shepherd, wants to gather as many people into the church as possible, and it's frequently used as part of what might be called a recruitment drive - time to evangelise to neighbours, friends and family who aren't part of the flock.  After all, the sheep are all equally valuable, and introducing more sheep to the flock is a good thing.

Here it goes:

"Suppose one of you has 99 sheep, and you decide you want to increase your flock by one.  Would you not leave the 99 sheep in the open country, and go out to find a hundredth sheep, and bring it home on your shoulders with rejoicing?  In the same way, there is more rejoicing over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who do not need to repent."

As you can see if you check your Bible, that's not what the parable says.  

But when it's read out in church, the message that often accompanies the reading is the 'recruitment drive'.  It's as if the parable says we need to get the hundredth sheep because the hundredth sheep is equally important to the 99 already safe in the flock.  And: we the church need to get the extra sheep.  I'm not saying that evangelism is unimportant (it's crucial), but there's another way of reading this parable:  what does Jesus say?

Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Matthew 18:10-14; Luke 15:1-7; John 10

At the start of the parable, the shepherd already has 100 sheep in the flock.  And the truth is that sometimes, sheep wander off.  It's in their nature - they keep their nose to the grass, and they follow their instincts towards what they think is the next best grass... the next thing they know, they're not in the flock any more.  And we are just the same.  Yes we are.  We go to church every Sunday, we join house groups and we attend the prayer meetings.  We all think we're so clever, and we know what's going on in our lives, but we get comfortable, and then we get distracted from where we're supposed to be going.  And then suddenly, we're not sure where we are any more.

It happens.  Christians get criticised for being willing to identify with sheep, but we people aren't half as clever as we think we are, and we follow the crowd far more often than we'd like to admit. 

Sometimes, even members of the flock need to be found. And it's ok if that's you (it's been me).  If you read the parable, you'll notice that there is no blame attached to the sheep.  The sheep isn't berated or criticised, because sheep are sheep (that's why they need shepherds).  Also: it's the shepherd who goes to search and retrieve the 100th sheep, not some of the 99. 

The parable isn't described as the parable of the bad sheep, it's the parable of the good shepherd - who cares when a member of the existing flock wanders off and gets lost.  He doesn't shrug his shoulders and say, "Oh well, a 1% loss is acceptable for this year's performance, I still have the other 99 and that'll balance the books."  He's searching for even one who goes astray, just as much as for the ones who aren't yet part of the flock.  

Other articles I've written based on Biblical principles

10 things I learned from not quite reading the Bible in a year
Advent and a Trip to London
Advent: Names and Titles
Reading Matthew 1
My reading of Matthew 2
The Parable of the 99 Sheep
Why I Like Snow (it's not as crazy as you may think)

2017 New Year's Resolutions, Reviewed

At the start of 2017, I made four New Year's Resolutions.  We're now half way through 2017, so this seems like a good point to review my progress on each of them.

1.  To give more than I receive
On the surface,I think this one has been easier than the others. It's been an exciting challenge, and throughout the year I (and we as a family) have  given away all sorts of items - but we've still received many things too.  I had my 40th birthday in February and was astonished by the generosity of my friends, which made giving more than receiving a real challenge.  I was also very pleased by my friends who made charitable donations on my behalf, and a survival shelter (UNHCR) and drinking water for 10 people (Oxfam) were donated for me.   This is giving and receiving simultaneously - I love it.

However, this has also been very challenging:  who am I giving to, and is it really giving?

Matthew 5:46-47
If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 

So, it's great to be able to post items on Facebook ("Free to good home...") but it's also self-filtering, since I'll only be giving to my friends ("those who love me") - so is that really rewarding? And it's hardly giving in secret if it's plastered all over social media.  And that's something else: it's difficult to say, "Oh yes, I'm doing really well at giving," without sounding like I'm boasting about it.  So I'll reiterate that it's been challenging to give to strangers, and to give without expecting reward, and I'll mention this verse, which has been a source of encouragement to me.

Proverbs 19:17
Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed.

And we will continue to make regular donations to our local Salvation Army shops. 

2.  To spend less time on trivial matters

Trivial matters are things that serve absolutely no practical purpose. Except that sometimes a bit of no practical purpose is a good thing.  Sometimes, after a busy day at work and having put the children to bed, trivial matters are a welcome break.  So no, I haven't completely cut out social media, TV, DVDs and the like, but I'm spending far less time on Facebook, almost zero time on Twitter and I am being more selective about what I watch on television.  And deleting the Facebook app from my phone was a good move - I'm no longer interrupted by the latest event being promoted by someone I follow, or by "Somebody else commented on the post you commented on a couple of days ago."  I am gently nudging myself to do something else while watching TV in the evenings... like writing articles for this blog, for example.

It's also made me think about what's actually trivial.  Building a Lego model with my children:  trivial or important?

3. To produce more than I consume 

No.  I am producing more than last year, and I am consuming less (and of better quality), but I don't think I'll ever tip the balance. After all, I have only one mouth but two ears.  However, there are a number of things I've 'produced' this year (and this is just a selection I can recall off the top of my head):

- A board game to play with two of my children (we titled it "Back to Base", and it's a huge three-player game played on a triangular board, currently on its fourth version)

- Pieces to play "Back to Base" (we each need five pieces, and they've become more elaborate over the months).  This has become almost a repair-not-replace, as I've kitbashed a number of figures from other games (for example, a figure of Christophe from Frozen - as found in a charity shop - became an astronaut with a camera).

- More blog posts than last year - that's easy to measure (this will be number 13 this year, compared to 14 for the whole of last year), and now I'm aiming to improve my quality as well as quantity.

- Various VHS to DVD conversions for friends (family weddings, for example)

- A couple of pieces of music (in draft)
And I am consuming less - yes.  Less TV, for sure.  I'm reading instead - and mostly non-fiction.

4.  Repair, not replace

This hasn't been on my mind as much as the others (I had to look it up to remember what it was); I've repaired various toys for my children, and made various fixes around the house, but I haven't consciously repaired anything I'd otherwise have thrown away.

With one exception:  one of my pairs of jeans developed a small hole, and so I decided to patch it up.  It was only a small hole that wasn't immediately obvious, so only needed sewing back together and a small patch. I completed the repair with a small patch on the inside to hold my sewing together.  I then realised that the jeans were actually too small, so they went in the charity shop bag.  Repaired, not replaced, and then given away: two for the price of one! :-)

I will provide another update around Christmas time (when I shall be able to work on my giving!).

My New Year's Resolutions, over the years:

My New Year's Resolutions for 2017
Spend Less Time on Trivial Matters
Give More Than I Receive
Repair, Not Replace
Produce More Than I Consume
A review of my 2017 resolutions
Don't Moan, Complain

Ten Things I learned from not quite reading the Bible in A Year

My 2016 sort-of New Year's Resolution was to read the Bible in a year. I've not tried it before - and it wasn't until the start of February that I decided to go for it. I'd read all of Genesis in 2015, so in order to catch up, I started with Exodus. The church I attend was providing reading plans showing that it was possible, and what to read each day. I started February by keeping track and ticking boxes, but then I lost my reading plan in the middle of May 2016 - and carried on anyway. I didn't quite manage it (it's late January 2017 and I'm still in 1 Corinthians), but here's what I learned.

1. Reading the Bible in a year is a lot like running the four-minute mile.  It's likely that you'll be so busy trying to read your daily quota and trying to keep up the pace that you won't have much time to think and you certainly won't get chance to smell the roses.  It's relentless, and if you start slowing down, you'll need to up your pace for the following days just to keep up. If you want to read, consider, ponder and meditate on the Bible, then you're going to have to go more slowly.

2.  If you read the Bible chronologically in a year, you're in for a tough ride. If you read it sequentially (from cover to cover, like I did) it's going to be challenging.  For a start, you won't meet Jesus in the flesh until September or October.  That's a long time.  You'll get plenty of hints and clues about him, but he doesn't arrive until the last quarter of the year. Hang on in there.

3.  It's more fun reading it when we're winning.  Moses, Joshua, Saul, David, Solomon, Gideon and so on - all big winners, and all interesting and easy to read.  It's definitely easier than some of the later stuff, when it's doom and gloom; exiles and punishment; warnings, wrath and judgement.  The narrative of the early Old Testament is more straightforward than some of the symbolic stuff that comes later on.

4.  April will feel like a repeat of March as you read 1 and 2 Chronicles after 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings.

5.  There are spoilers all the way through the Old Testament.  The prophets persistently warn about desolation, destruction and devastation, but they almost all break off briefly to say, "God's going to send somebody to fix all your mess."  Keep reading - it's worth it to find these snippets, and they'll keep you going through Lamentations, and the last few minor prophets.

6.  Some of it is downright confusing (even the Old Testament).  When they aren't warning God's people, or telling them to repent, or reassuring them that God will send somebody to help, some of them even have visions of heaven, or of the distant future.  You thought the living creatures and the elders were only in Revelation?  So did I, until this year.

7.  Your speed through the Bible will probably change dramatically, depending on where you are.  It's possible to "read" large parts of Numbers very quickly - 132,000 of this tribe, 89,000 of that tribe, and so on. Remember how I said reading the Bible in a year is like running a four-minute mile?  Well, this mile-long track is not flat; you'll definitely run different parts of it at different speeds.

8.  When you do reach the start of the New Testament, it'll feel like a breath of fresh air.  Yes, there's the genealogy stuff that we had in the early parts of the Old Testament, but it gets going again - and you'll slow down again. There's just so much happening in each chapter. And when I finally started picking up the pace (through Acts), I slowed down again (Romans, with its exceptionally long, parenthetical, phrases, and therefore I couldn't go as quickly - or as rapidly, therefore - as I could through some of the other books).

9.  On the subject of the New Testament: one advantage to reading sequentially is that you start to notice themes and patterns that you wouldn't spot if you were just reading sections or passages.

For example:  Matthew's gospel frequently refers to "your heavenly Father", which is a very welcome change after God Above in the Old Testament.  There really is a massive change of tone between Jesus and the prophets who came before him - Jesus really knows about heaven.  Mark - immediately.  Jesus is quite clearly in a hurry.  Everything is immediately.  Matthew spends a few chapters with Jesus' genealogy, birth and childhood.  But Mark?  "This is the good news about Jesus: this is what he did first", and Jesus has carried out miracles by the end of the first chapter.   Luke - I didn't find anything specific in Luke, but John is all about "eternal life."  Inheriting it, getting it, having it.  I don't remember reading much about eternal life in the other gospels, so John is clearly compensating :-)

10.  Regular reading works.  I try to read at the same time each day, after the children have gone to bed and are settling down to sleep.  This works providing they sleep at the same time, and the rest of the daily routine works.  I didn't read as much when we were on holiday, and I didn't read as quickly when they stayed up late or didn't go to sleep as usual.  If you can find a fixed, regular time, that'll probably work better.

It's now late January, and as I said, I'm working through 1 Corinthians, with a view to completing the New Testament by the end of February... the finish line is in sight!  This year, I'm taking a far more measured approach - when I've finally completed the New Testament, I'm just going to loop round the gospels for a bit.  The aim of reading the Bible in a year isn't really to read all the pages in 365 days.  It isn't even to read all the pages eventually (although it's a worthwhile aim).  It's to learn to read the Bible regularly.  It's not about running a four-minute mile, it's about building strength and keeping fit.

Other articles I've written based on Biblical principles

10 things I learned from not quite reading the Bible in a year
Advent and a Trip to London
Advent: Names and Titles
Reading Matthew 1
My reading of Matthew 2
The Parable of the 99 Sheep

Giving Away More Than I Receive

New Year's Resolution number two is to give away more than I receive, and it's as simple as it sounds. Also, I'm anticipating that it will be the easiest to achieve, but we'll see.

I have, over the years, accumulated a large amount of stuff, and I now have far more material possessions than I really need which take up more space than I can really manage. Stuff is becoming clutter and so I've decided enough is enough.

Do I really need two bikes? No. I may have ridden my old bike all round Cambridge when I was a student, but it's worn out and is well past repairing  (I replaced it 18 months ago *because* it was beyond repairing back then). So why have I still got it? Sentimental attachment. I'm not exactly a hoarder, but... :-) 

So, anything that I have but only have a sentimental attachment to: it's going. I'll be donating bags of usable stuff to charity shops, offering items on social media and forums and so on.  I already have plans to donate my old bike to a charity that specialises in restoring and repairing rusty bicycles.

Additionally, we have been given many, many things recently - and we're constantly being given or offered more things (baby clothes and toys are good examples).  In the same way, our children are growing through their clothes and it makes sense to pass them on too. I've said before that it feels like we just can't give things away fast enough.

More importantly:

"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."  Luke 6:38

"Freely you have received. Freely give." Matthew 10:8

“Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” Luke 3:11

"[Remembering] the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' " Acts 20:35

My New Year's Resolutions, over the years:

My New Year's Resolutions for 2017
Spend Less Time on Trivial Matters
Give More Than I Receive
Repair, Not Replace
Produce More Than I Consume
A review of my 2017 resolutions
Don't Moan, Complain

Why I Like Snow

 I'm writing this on a wintry evening, with an almost-certain forecast of heavy snow for tomorrow.  I've mentioned this a few times on Facebook, and posted screenshots of weather forecasts from the Met Office and the BBC Weather site to share my excitement at the prospect of a large fall of snow tomorrow.  Some of my friends share my love of snow.  Some don't.  In fact, some positively dislike it; I expect, given the opportunity, they'd shake their fists at the sky and disapprovingly wave their fingers at the clouds at the first suggestion that there may be a few flakes falling in the near future.

The media often report snow in terms of traffic delays, travel disruption and so on.  Consequently, many people have a negative view of snow (and its apparent 'partner in crime' - ice).  Might I suggest that if you have a negative view of snow for this reason, that you allow extra time for your journey, give up on the idea of driving at normal speeds and pay attention to the change in road conditions?  Leave extra space between you and the car in front, drive carefully, accelerate steadily, brake smoothly and steer a little less dramatically?  If we all did this, then we'd all travel more slowly but we'd all arrive safely, and with fewer accidents.  

So, having addressed the main negative reaction to the snow and the disruption it causes, I would like to turn to the questions, "Why do you like snow?  What's the obsession?  What's so good about snow anyway?"

Here's my reply.

1.  It's photogenic.  Very photogenic.  During the annual time of long, dark nights, with overcast and grey days; lifeless and leafless trees, and general dullness, the arrival of snow heralds a widespread brightening and improvement in the landscape.  Even on a cloudy day, snow can brighten the landscape considerably.

2.  It's fun.  Sledging (which I only discovered a couple of years ago); snowballs, snowmen...  sometimes there's no point trying to take snow seriously.

3.  And this is the most important to me:  it's a great visual reminder of some Biblical truths.  In order from 'resonates with me a bit' through to 'hits home every time I see snow', here are some Scriptural principles and the Bible verses that I see when the snow falls.

a)  Snow is a good description of what angels look like.  Matthew 28 reads:

"After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.  There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow."

On a sunny day, just a glance at snow can be dazzling - that's why skiers wear sunglasses (or ski goggles) even in winter.  What do angels look like?  Answer:  they wear clothes that are as bright and white as snow.

b)  Snow comes down from heaven, and is a reminder that God keeps his promises.  Isaiah 55:10,11

"As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth:  It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

God set the rainbow in the sky as a reminder that he keeps his promises (in particular, He's not going to flood the whole world again), and sends rain and snow to remind us that His word, which he also sends from heaven.  Snow doesn't just evaporate its way back to the clouds.  It waters the earth, and makes things grow.  So it is with God's word - when He sends it, it fulfils its purpose.

c)  This is my most favoured one; there are plenty more references to snow in the Bible (and none of them, by the way, are negative), but this one is one that resonates most strongly with me - it hits me where I live.  Isaiah 1:18 says:

“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord.  “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."

I'm not perfect.  In fact, if you were to look at me as a weather forecast, it would be dull and gloomy with black clouds.  However, in this verse, God invites Isaiah to sit down and talk.  God knows that Isaiah isn't perfect - in fact his record is stained with scarlet and crimson, which are deep, dark dyes - but God says he will wash them out and Isaiah's sins - his mistakes and wrongdoings - will be as white as snow.  Pure, clean and white.  God washes whiter than Persil, and puts Isaiah (and me) in a position where he's able to sit down and reason with God.  It's an invitation to talk, where Isaiah is as white as snow... which is as white as the angels.

So, why do I like snow?  Because it reminds me that with my sins forgiven, I'm as white as snow.  And it's fun, bright and cheerful, and makes for great photographs.

Other articles I've written based on Biblical principles

10 things I learned from not quite reading the Bible in a year
Advent and a Trip to London
Advent: Names and Titles
Reading Matthew 1
My reading of Matthew 2
The Parable of the 99 Sheep

Word 3:45 Two: Matthew 2

Matthew 2

Matthew's gospel moves very quickly from Jesus's genealogy, a few paragraphs about his birth (compared to Luke who spends two chapters there) and straight on to the visit of the Magi, then Herod's plans to find and kill Jesus.

Verses 22-23 of Matthew 1 reads, "All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet 'The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel'(which means “God with us”)."  This is a recurring theme throughout Matthew's gospel; he constantly points to the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah, and then shows that Jesus was fulfilling them.  The phrase, "this took place to fulfill the prophecy.." or similar, occurs once in Matthew 1 (not including the entire genealogy, which we saw last time is a great long list of fulfilled promises) and three times in Matthew 2, and that's just for starters!

In Matthew 2 we get political refugees and infant genocide.  We wouldn't normally call it that, because it's all couched safely in different words than that, but that's what it comes down to.  Joseph and Mary have to flee to Egypt with Jesus, to avoid the slaughter of all young boys that was ordered by a paranoid Herod.  

Matthew 2 is a short chapter, just 21 verses, and most of it is very well known.  It's straight-forward enough, but one question I have is why go to Egypt?  Why not forget about the whole incident, or perhaps God could have directed the wise men directly to Bethlehem instead of to King Herod?  There are parallels with Moses, who led the people out of Egypt and into the Promised Land, which could well be what Matthew is highlighting here.  

I should mention at this point that Luke's gospel doesn't have the 'flight to Egypt', but Matthew and Luke aren't contradicting each other - it's just that they're highlighting certain events.  Luke doesn't feel it's relevant to include the flight to Egypt, but Matthew does, for other reasons.  Matthew is aiming throughout his gospel to highlight how Jesus was foretold in the Old Testament, and the parallels with other Old Testament characters help him to support and highlight this point.

Other articles I've written based on Biblical principles

10 things I learned from not quite reading the Bible in a year
Advent and a Trip to London
Advent: Names and Titles
Reading Matthew 1
My reading of Matthew 2
The Parable of the 99 Sheep
Why I Like Snow (and isn't as crazy as you may think)

Word 3:45 One: Matthew 1

Matthew 1

Matthew begins his gospel with the ancestry of Jesus, all the way back to Abraham.  For a Jew, it was very important that they could demonstrate they were one of Abraham's descendants, and were therefore thoroughbred Jews.  We'll see this frequently in Matthew's gospel.

Most people reading Matthew 1 today don't see the relevance - even taking into consideration that Matthew was demonstrating Jesus' validity as a Jew.  However, Matthew was also demonstrating a key point: God always keeps His promises.  God had made promises to a number of people in the Old Testament, that one day, their descendant would be the Messiah.

Let's look at a few examples:

Abraham

Genesis 12 v 2-3

'I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed'.


Judah
Genesis 49:8-10
"Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; 
   your father’s sons will bow down to you. 
You are a lion’s cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son. 
Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? 
The sceptre [a symbol of royalty] will not depart from Judah, 
   nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come"


David
2 Samuel 7:16 
"Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever."


And another more obscure member of Jesus' ancestors:

Zerubbabel (Matthew 1:12.  Zerubbabel  led the work on the reconstruction of Jerusalem from the rubble that was left when the Israelites returned from their exile).

Haggai 2:20-23
 ²⁰ The word of the LORD came to Haggai a second time on the twenty-fourth day of the month: ²¹“Tell Zerubbabel governor of Judah that I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. ²² I will overturn royal thrones and shatter the power of the foreign kingdoms. I will overthrow chariots and their drivers; horses and their riders will fall, each by the sword of his brother.

 ²³ “‘On that day,’ declares the LORD Almighty, ‘I will take you, my servant Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,’ declares the LORD, ‘and I will make you like my signet ring, for I have chosen you,’ declares the LORD Almighty.”

The signet ring in Old Testament times was a royal symbol.  A signet, engraved with the king's seal, was used to endorse official documents.  To guard against misuse, the king wore it as a ring or on a necklace.  God declares here that He's chosen Zerubbabel and would keep him safe to fulfil his appointed purpose; since this didn't happen during his lifetime, we can see that this would extend to one of his descendants... and sure enough...

There are quite a few other interesting characters in Matthew 1... and I like to think of it as a roll of honour.

Other articles I've written based on Biblical principles

10 things I learned from not quite reading the Bible in a year
Advent and a Trip to London
Advent: Names and Titles
Reading Matthew 1
My reading of Matthew 2
The Parable of the 99 Sheep