Named, Not Numbered

“So he told them this parable: 4 “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? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” Luke 15:3-7

This is a silly story to most people. What shepherd would risk the safety of 99 sheep by leaving them unsheltered in the open country, where anything could attack them, in order to go fetch a single lost one? And yet, this shepherd does this. Jesus does this, coming after each one of us lost in this broken world, to bring us safely to himself—because he values us that highly.

Refugees and immigrants to the U.S. aren’t used to this kind of care. They are living with a system where numbers mean everything—how many people are being admitted from your country this year? How many months or years must you wait to get an answer on your application? How much support can you find to sponsor a loved one? Their humanity gets lost in the numbers—but not to God.

Nobody is a number to Jesus. He calls us all by name. He died and rose again to put his own name on us, to make us members of the family of God. As you pray for your new neighbors in this country, pray also that they may come to know and believe how much God values them—so much that he sent his own Son Jesus to gather them together and bring them home to him.

Dear Father, gather us all to yourself through your Son Jesus, especially those who don’t yet see how much you value us. Amen.

By Dr. Kari Vo