“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?” Luke 15:4 -> me: Marianne and I have been internalizing the effects of centuries of oppression and hurt on those in the black community and what we can do to make change happen. I want to point you Marianne’s post (the one just before this one) for her thoughts on this topic. She has captured her own heart in such a beautiful way. As we were talking today, she was talking about this verse which is quoting Jesus to His disciples. In our minds, those who are oppressed are like the one that Jesus would leave the ninety nine (who are fine and not in trouble) to go save the one. My heart hurts for anyone in this position and there is no way that this white man is ever going to be able to understand what my black brother or sister in Christ has had to endure in their life-times. What I can do is stand up for them, I can question my own unconscious bias, and I can speak up against implied racism when I see it. It is time we seek out, focus on, and help the one. Final thought – God knows the number of hairs on a person’s head, that person infinitely matters to Him. Jesus would stop, separate Himself from the throngs, and single out thrown away people who mattered nothing to the baa’ing sheep around them, but that person who didn’t matter to anyone else, mattered the most to Jesus. Not only that, He knows them, their heart, and their sin, but He loves them more than they themselves will ever understand. As a man of God who is in fellowship with Jesus, am called to love this way. Now, is the time to act and show this love.
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