What Does it Mean to Be Lost?
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If you would like to turn to this morning that is where we are going to spend most of our time.
While you are turning there I’d like to remind you about the story of Aron Ralston.
Aron Ralston had no way of knowing how much
You see Aron was in the best shape of his life. At 28 years old He had climbed may 14,000 foot peaks, he was a skilled climber and hiker and on a beautiful Saturday in April back in 2003 he had no idea that his life was about to change forever.
He had decided to go explore the canyons in Moab Utah, a place that many call the end of the world.
Saturday April 26, 2003
So imagine going to Moab, the end of the world, and then traveling an additional two hours to the Horseshoe Canyon trailhead.
Moab Utah, Beautiful day
That is where Aron started is day with plans to just go on a 1 day hike and to be back home by dark.
After all,
And so he set off, hiking and climbing and exploring and enjoying himself.
Until as he lowered himself into one of the narrow canyons not much wider than a person, an 800 pound rock tumbled down the canyon wall and came to rest wedged between the two walls of the canyon
And there, trapped between a literal rock and a hard place, was Aron Ralstons right arm.
In his book Ralston describes the panic that he feels, the shock of the thing, how he frantically pulled his arm trying to free himself, how he tried to chip away at the stone with his multitool, how he tried to tie ropes around the boulder and use pullies to leverage his body weight to lift it.
But nothing worked. And as he stood there alone, at the end of the world, trapped by this boulder he realized something terrible.
He hadn’t told anyone where he was going. No one knew where he was. And though he knew exactly where he was, to the rest of the world, he was lost.
Now don’t forget about Aron Ralston, we’re going to come back to his story later on, but for now I want to talk about that moment when he realized he was lost.
I don’t know about you but that makes my stomach churn just thinking about it, In fact it kind of reminds me of my childhood a bit
Getting lost as children stories. Walking around Sams or walmart.
Isn’t it strange how we can go from feeling completely secure to feeling all alone and lost?
It seems to me that being lost is one of the greatest fears of mankind.
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I mean think about it, just last week was the time of year where people love to watch scary movies, hear scary stories and such. I don’t personally like that because well, I’m a chicken and I believe the world is scary enough without stories that make me afraid to take out the trash in the dark.
Premise of most scary movies and scary stories starts with someone being alone and lost in the woods at night.
It’s like that immediately gets us in that frantic and panicked mindset. No one likes the feeling of being lost.
But do we
What does it mean to be lost?
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Ezekiel is writing here in chapter 34 as he himself been in Exile in Babylon for years, but in chapter 33 Ezekiel receives word from Israel that the city has been destroyed in just the way he had been prophesying, and we see in chapter 34 several things that I think will help us to answer this question this morning.
To kind of set this up though we need to remember where God’s people have come from.
Exodus from Egypt.
God set up Judges over them while HE was their king.
The people looked around them and said, “hey, everyone else has kings, WE want kings too!”
God tells Samuel to convey what they are going to get with a king
10 So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. 11 He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. 12 And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. 15 He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. 16 He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.” 19 But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
“This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle[c] and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
And wouldn’t you know it, God was right!
They had way more bad kings than they had righteous ones.
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”
Faulty Leadership is NO LEADERSHIP - V. 1-10
Kings more interested in feeding themselves instead of feeding the flock.
A life without a shepherd is a life of
No food
Weakness
Sickness
Injury
and of being devoured by wild animals.
NEW LEADERSHIP - JESUS
Jesus said he came to Seek and save the lost
Jesus said he was the good shepherd
It is said of Jesus in revelation that the lamb will feed them.
Jesus said he would separate the sheep from the goats.
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Aron Ralston Conclusion
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