Title: The Mystery of Faith (Luke 15:1)
The Mystery of Faith to Know Your Identity
Luke 15:1-7
There is a proverb that says, “You can know a road in the water, but you don’t know a person in a road.” If you think about these words, you can see that there are parts of the human mind that I can control, but there are also parts that I can't control on my own. So, depending on which one of the two you lose yourself to, the outcome of your life will make a huge difference. There is nothing more unfortunate than living as a human being and losing the essential self. Since creation, we have been constantly answering the question of the fundamentals of life, “Who am I?”, but this problem remains an endless question again. So, even today, we wander without getting a definite answer to the question of “Who am I?”. Knowing the essential me is called “we”.
The philosopher [Aristotle] once said, “Man wants to know everything from the moment he is born.” In this way, man has a desire to know. But they say that knowing a lot is important, but what you know is more important. In other words, it is the quality, not the quantity, that counts. In fact, we know too much. However, there is also the foolishness of not knowing what is most needed. It is no exaggeration to say that this age in which we live is truly the age of the flood of knowledge. We live in this era, the more pressing question of how important we know than how much we know.
What kind of knowledge is most qualitatively necessary in our life? The right thing to do is knowledge about humans. That is to know the original human identity. Perhaps that is why people do not know themselves to such an extent that it is said to be the most undeveloped knowledge among human knowledge. It is said that this phrase “Know thyself” by [Socrates] is engraved in the temple of Delphi. With these famous words, he exposed the ignorance of all the intellectuals of his time who were literate and put them to shame. Today, we are people who think that we know ourselves better than anyone in the face of the demand to “know thyself”. How many people in the world know but do not know? However, if we get to know each other, we may live as people we don't even know each other. Because no one knows who they are. This is an eternal riddle.
You can't enjoy the true value of life by living like a faint shadow like a poet once said, "If you ask me why I live, I just laugh!" Therefore, everyone, knowing me is such an important and endless theme of our lives. No matter how much the world changes, this identity of being human should be as clear as possible. Hundreds of millions of people on this earth have different faces, different skins, different languages, different habits, but one thing that is clear and must not be different is the very nature of human beings. The essence of human beings cannot be changed just because they live in different places and in different circumstances.
How many types of coins are in circulation in your country? There are six types of coins, which are rarely used now: 1 won and 5 won coins, 10 won, 50 won, 100 won, and 500 won. However, both sides of this coin are different. The pictures are different and the sizes are different. And, importantly, its value is different. However, there is an unchanging identity. What is? That is one fact that is used as a function of money. It should not be used to make necklaces. You must not make a ring. A coin cannot change as much as its identity, which is used only as a function of money, which is its original function. No, it shouldn't change. As such, it is true of all things, but there is something that we, as God's people, need to establish clearly. What is our position as spiritual beings under God's love, gifts, grace, and authority? This is not just a human being, but a higher level problem.
In the parable Jesus gives us today, we must discover our spiritual identity. Its identity is so clear. In conclusion, let me tell you. We must be sheep. It should always be a sheep. Wherever it is, it must be a sheep. A sheep must be a sheep, whether in a pen or in a field, even if it is lost as in today's parable. A sheep must not leave the flock and become a wolf. If a sheep turns into a wolf, will you seek it for its master? Let's take a good look at today's text. If the lost sheep had become not a sheep but a different animal, would it have been worth the effort to find it? Because it was a sheep, the owner did not hesitate to even go through the rough mountains and valleys so as to injure himself. What would have happened if a sheep had forgotten its own sheep and acted like a wolf? A sheep loses its sheep, what is this? It is a loss of self-identity. Everyone! I'll say it again. We must be sheep. We must live like sheep. This is the wisdom of knowing who we are. Now, what kind of animal is a sheep?
Sheep are naive by nature. A sheep is a non-malignant animal. In a way, even a simple animal is a sheep. Simplicity goes with stupidity, but really, there is no medicine for sheep. A sheep is a pure beast that is foolish enough to sleep on top of each other when it's hot, and sleep apart from each other when it's cold. Jesus said we are sheep to see this innocence. The worst thing in the world is duality. that's cheating. Those who believe in Jesus should not have this duality. There cannot be a thing that the front and the back are different. Saying this here and that way is absolutely not for a sheep-like saint.
On the other hand, sheep are so immature that they cannot find their own home. A sheep that will not go anywhere unless the owner takes it. But we, who should be like sheep, do so well without the guidance of our master. There's nowhere I can't go. No, rather, it is not burdensome to be led by the owner. No, isn't this our true intention? How do we go about running away from us? But I don't know how stupid this is. Where alone can you find water, and how can you find grass? We wouldn't be able to do this if we knew that we are beings like sheep, which are incapable of self-reliance and incapacitated animals. Let's put it in simple terms. If you have even the slightest bit of faith, it means that you don't wander around outside the church.
Also, the quantity does not deviate from that matrix because of something else. If you do, you will get lost. But the amount of today's text was just that. While squinting, he lost his way and lost the shepherd's voice. If any of us today lose faith for the first time and live with an unbelieving self-centeredness, then my personality is the problem and my personality is the problem. You have to calm down.
In these words today, we must be able to hear the voice of the Lord, “You must be like sheep.” It is imperative that we live as sheep. No matter whether the world tumbles or decays, we must live as sheep. If it meets a lion, it is a sheep, and if it meets a wolf, it is a sheep. Sheep should always live only as sheep. There may be some tricksters like wolves in the world, and there are many other forms that are trying to devour us. But in the end we must be sheep. This being must never be disguised or transformed. You have to keep your existence until the very end.
There is a saying in the world, but a common saying about women is, “A woman becomes a dove before marriage, a sheep at the beginning of marriage, a fox after 10 years, a tiger after that, and a lion when it is old.” However, the saints should not be disguised as such. The world may say that he is a powerful man, but Jesus will want to get him out of the flock. Why? Because it has to be a sheep.
Today, a lost sheep, although lost, could have been found by its owner when it wept until the end. But strangely enough, sometimes when I see people who turn their backs on their faith for one reason or another, they don't cry like this. There are so many people shouting at the church with some lions, tigers, sometimes indistinguishable sounds.
Dear saints,
We must be sheep according to the word of the Lord until we die. When we do not lose our identity as sheep, we will be able to experience the great love of the Lord who seeks us even when we are lost and lost. If you give up being a sheep, love, gifts, and grace will disappear at that moment. May you always live your life as a sheep worthy of its owner's search, a sheep worthy of finding and feasting. This is the mystery of faith to know one's identity.