This is the second devotional in a however-many-part series based on the movie “We Were Soldiers”. Before they went into battle, Mel Gibson’s character stood before the troops and promised that he would bring every one of his men home. Good men were going to die, but dead or alive he would make sure that they came home. So during the course of the movie, we’ve come to know some of the men very personally. Like “the enemy” in the last devotional, the movie has “some other Americans” that are just basically the “We Were Soldiers” version of the red shirt guys from Star Trek…they’re just there to be dead to add to the body count. Those are the easy ones to talk about. Those aren’t the guys talking about their baby being born today, or the ones that had a baby just before they left and prayed with Mel Gibson’s character about what it all means with new life and war. And we see the new father as he prays has a pink bracelet with his baby’s name on it…to make his arm easily identifiable when we see it later in the movie dead on the ground. And this soldier with the bracelet – who gave his life to save another soldier that had been shot – lay out there somewhere on the battlefield when Mel does a troop count. He realizes that he has two men missing.
Mel Gibson and Sam Elliot go back out into the field – searching for the 2 lost soldiers. He promised to bring them all home…and two of his men were out among the dead unable to be brought back home. We hear the gunshots fired around them and the explosions as artillery hits nearby targets, and they waited until it was night to go searching…but Mel Gibson leads a group of soldiers out into danger to find those two men.
John 10 tells us that Jesus is the Good Shepherd. A shepherd that is willing to lay down his life to protect his sheep where a hired hand would not. And that the sheep know His voice and listen to Him. And then in Luke 15, Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep (and the lost coin)…how the shepherd will leave the ninety nine that are safe and go find the one that is missing. Because that one sheep means so much to the shepherd. I thought of these two parables as I watched that scene with Mel Gibson and Sam Elliot and the group of “some other Americans” walking through that battlefield looking for those two lost boys.
And after I thought of those two parables, it hit me just how long I’d been content to be one of the ninety nine safe sheep. I know the usual application is that Jesus wants everyone to be saved, and that the parable isn’t really an illustration on the Great Commission in Matthew 28 – or used as a condemnation on our failure to do it. But that’s what I thought of this time. How often instead of going “into all of the world making new disciples and baptizing them into the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit” are we content being the ninety nine safe (saved) sheep? How often have I thought, “Jesus is the Good Shepherd, so He’ll do all the looking and hunting and braving of the dangers to go find the lost sheep…they know HIS voice, not mine…He even said so in John 10.” And not that it’s an active decision we make to let the lost be lost – but a complacency that just happens over time. “They know HIS voice, those lost sheep, not my voice…they won’t listen to me. And I’m worried about keeping myself safe…it’s scary out there. And the Shepherd will risk HIS life – He said so in John 10. Already even died for those lost…and I was a lost, but now I’m found, so I’ll be safe in this pen while the Shepherd goes looking for that other lost sheep. I’ll just be safe and sit right here…being safe.”
But the lost sheep parable is about how much the lost mean to Jesus. The parable of the talents in Matthew 25 shows how we’re really supposed to act. A man went on a long journey – like Jesus crucified and ascending to Heaven. He left some talents to his servants…10 to one, 5 to another and 1 to the last. And when the man comes back, he goes to the servants. The first two had doubled his money. The last? Well, that guy said that he knew the man worked hard for what he had…was scared to lose it so he buried it. Sat in the pen. Content to be one of the ninety nine safe sheep instead of getting out and finding more for the man. And the man became angry and told the last servant “you KNEW how hard I worked for my money (looked for sheep), and yet you did absolutely nothing with what I gave you to try and help me get more while I was gone.”
Listen for the Whisper that tells you that, yes, Jesus is the Good Shepherd – but He wants His sheep to help. Genesis tells us how God led the animals one at a time before the man and whatever the man called them, that was their name. After creating the universe, I’m feeling pretty certain that God was capable of naming the animals and then telling the man, “Hey, Jethro! This is an elephant. This is a camel. This is a dog. No, that’s not a monkey, THIS is a monkey.” Just like our parents did on zoo trips when we were little kids. But God gave man work to be useful in the world. And God wanted man to work. And God wants the sheep to get out of the pen and help Him find his lost sheep.
You’re only lost if you don’t know where you are. The two dead soldiers couldn’t make it back to the group, but the other American soldiers that were with Mel Gibson and Sam Elliot knew exactly where they were…following their leader. A leader they trusted. A leader they respected. A leader that they knew would come looking for them just like they were looking for the two that they were looking for now. And where are you? Are you lost? Have you wandered away from the flock and now you have no idea where you are? Call out to the Shepherd. He’s looking for you. Are you out following the Shepherd? If you are, then you know exactly where you are. You’ve left the pen but you haven’t left safety. You’re still following your leader. The leader you trust. The leader you respect. The leader that you know died for you just like He died for the ones you’re out there looking for now.
Do we know of those out there that wandered away from the pen and have become lost – maybe they used to sit next to you at church, but quit coming? Have you done what the Good Shepherd did and gone after the one that was lost? Leaving the others to go find the two that are lost out there somewhere? Or have you been content to be one of the ninety nine safe sheep. “We’re all safe, and it’s a scary world out there. I’ll let Jesus do His thing out there in the scary world, and I’ll just sit here in the safety of the pen and sing praises about how glad I am He saved me.” And never mind those other sheep lost out there? That’s not what we’re called to do. The Great Commission tells us to get out there. Follow your leader and follow the Shepherd. When Mel Gibson finds the soldier with the bracelet, he sees that he’s died carrying a soldier that’s been shot – making sure that everybody comes home. He looks at the bracelet and says, “He died keeping my promise”. Are you willing to die keeping Jesus’ promise to seek and save the lost? He wants to make sure that every single one of us comes Home. Are you out there helping him look?
~Dwayne
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