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How many boys and girls have ever been lost? Were you afraid? It's awful to be lost and I know it. I've been lost before and I didn't like it one bit. I was not only afraid of being lost but I was afraid to go home because I knew that my father and mother would be very unhappy with me. Do your mothers and fathers ever get angry with you when you get lost or don't come home on time?

This all reminds me of a story Jesus used to tell people when they asked him about how God felt about certain people. The people who asked Jesus wanted to know how God felt about people who made bad mistakes and strayed from God's family. Well, Jesus told them a story that went a little like this.

Once upon a time there was a Good Shepherd who took very good care of his sheep. He gave them all of the advantages that good sheep generally have, including a fine pasture where there was plenty of good grass to eat and a safe place to sleep where no wolves could get them at night and a fine stream of water from which they could drink. One of the other things that a good shepherd did was name his sheep so that he could call them and make them feel like they belonged to him. Well, our story is about one of those sheep, called Ishmael. Ishmael was not very old, as a matter of fact some would have even called Ishmael a lamb, he seemed so young. One day the good shepherd had taken his sheep out on a hillside to a new place to eat some fresh and tender grass and get a different view of the world. Ishmael thought to himself, "This is my chance. No one will miss me until I am gone a long time and I will be able to see the world for myself. The shepherd makes us stay together so much that I hardly ever get to see anything myself. All I ever do is hear from this sheep or that sheep about what is going on in the world and I never see it for myself."

Ishmael hunched up and when the shepherd wasn't looking began to take very small steps away from the other sheep. Pretty soon he saw a big rock and he knew that if he could just get that far away before anyone saw him he would be able to hide until everyone left and then he could go on his own. Soon it began getting dark and the shepherd started calling to the sheep to start home. He could hear the shepherd calling some of the sheep by name and he could even hear some of the other sheep telling each other what a fine day it had been on this new grassy slope. Then it became very quiet and Ishmael knew that he was very much alone. My, how he wished the moon would come out for it was very dark and he could hardly see his hoof in front of him. But Ishmael was thrilled to be on his own and he could hardly wait to see all of the things that he had heard so much about. All of a sudden, without even a warning, Ishmael felt himself falling, falling, not knowing what had happened. Just as quickly he stopped with a thud. There he was, cut and bruised, laying in a bramble bush on the side of a hill. Oh, how lost he felt. "No one will ever find me here," he thought. None of the other sheep even knew he had left and there were so many other sheep, some that even looked just like him, that the shepherd would never even miss him. But Ishmael deserved it. That's what happens to us all when we disobey. "Boy," Ishmael thought, "I don't know what would be worse, to just stay here and die all alone or have the shepherd find me and really punish me." It sure was awful out there all alone with no one around to help and the night air getting cold and the brambles picking away at his wool. Just then he heard a voice, "Ishmael, Ishmael." It was the shepherd, the good shepherd wandering over the hills in the dark looking for poor Ishmael. Ishmael tried to bleet, make a sound, but his sides were so sore that even to make a noise hurt. "The good shepherd will miss me," thought Ishmael. "He will never find me in the dark." But the voice came closer and closer. "Strange," he thought, "the good shepherd doesn't seem angry, but he must be, having to come out on a dark, cold night like this for me, Ishmael, a foolish sheep." Before he knew it the good shepherd had arrived at the place on the hill where Ishmael had fallen. Very slowly he made his way down the side of the hill, picked up Ishmael and carried him back to the top. After fixing his wounds, he put Ishmael over his shoulder and started back to where the other sheep were staying. All the time he walked he sang a hymn of love and thanksgiving for finding his lost sheep. Well, that's the story, the one that Jesus used to tell.

Oh, by the way, boys and girls, Jesus told that story so that people like you and me would know how God really feels about people who get lost from him. People who do bad things, people who quit loving and instead hate, and people who just don't believe anymore. They are the ones whom God still goes out to look for so that they can be found and brought home wherever they are. That is the way God is to all his people. He is the Good Shepherd and he doesn't beat or scold but he cares for and loves those who have been lost ... and by the way, Jesus says that God is so happy when he finds the lost ones that he rejoices and shares the good news with everybody. So we never have to be afraid to tell Jesus what we have done. We never have to run and hide, because Jesus loves us and cares for us and wants us to be with him always. That's the way it was for Ishmael and that's the way it is for you and me.