One is not a lonely number
Pastor Joe Fuiten, September 25, 2005
For being such a skinny number, “1” can be looked at from a
lot of angles.
Forbes
magazine comes out with their annual list of the 40 best cities for singles.
The cities on the list are ranked according to various criteria which include
nightlife, culture, job growth and, of course, the number of other singles in
the city.
The song writer didn’t seem to find happiness in either one
or two. He wrote
One is the loneliest
number that you'll ever do
Two can be as bad as one
It's the lonliest number since the number o-o-one
No is the saddest experience you'll ever know
Yes it's the saddest experience you'll ever know
Oh-oh-oh
'Cause, one is the loneliest number that you'll ever do
One is the loneliest number, when you're lost at two
The Lord
himself got into the “1” business when he answered the question about
commandments. (Mark 12:28-31) “Noticing that Jesus had given them a good
answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most
important?" 29 "The most
important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O
Jesus added to it in John 14:15-21 "If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever- 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
He went further in John 17:20-23 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
Paul contributed to it with 1 Corinthians 8:5-6 “For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"), 6 yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.”
What emerges in these passages is the essential unity of the Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ. They are one. There is a sense in which we are also part of that unity because we are in Christ and Christ is in us. We are not just followers of an idea. We are people in whom the Holy Spirit dwells.
Jesus told
several parables or stories to illustrate how important one is to him. They are in Luke 15. 1 Now the tax
collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. 2 But
the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes
sinners and eats with them." 3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4
"Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not
leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he
finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes
home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with
me; I have found my lost sheep.' 7 I tell you that in the same way there will
be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine
righteous persons who do not need to repent.
This is not about ignoring the 99. They were fine in the open country. It was about the celebration that happens when one sheep is found, when one sinner repents. It was about why Jesus made friends with people who were not religious. He loved them too. He showed it by being friends.
The second parable was about a lost
coin. When the lady recovered the coin
she was thrilled. She had many other
coins but finding the one she had lost meant something special to her. 8 "Or suppose a woman has ten silver
coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search
carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends
and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.'
10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the
angels of God over one sinner who repents."
The parable of the prodigal son which begins in verse 11 illustrates the same point. The return of the wayward son produced a great celebration in the father’s house. 11 Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them. 13 "Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 17 "When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' 20 So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 21 "The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' 22 "But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate. 25 "Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' 28 "The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!' 31 "'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.'"
This message was sparked in my heart by two events of this past week. First was the Teen Challenge service. I was amazed at the goodness of God as he has pursued the lives of those women. They have suffered so much yet the mercy of Jesus reaches out to them and they are being saved. I was also impacted by the number of women who had connections with church before they began their journey into drugs, alcohol, prostitution and the like. As they told about connections to church that somehow did not take it spoke to my heart.
That message was again quickened in my heart when I
learned this week that a man who had been in our services last Sunday has been
missing these last few days. His family
suspects he might have gone on a drinking binge since he has done that in the
past. Even so, it made me feel guilty
that I had not done more praying or preached a better sermon or done something
that might have turned him more in the Lord’s direction.
All this made me realize that people are passing through
these doors every week and not all are doing well. I think Jesus wants this whole city to know
that he loves them. I think he wants all
of us in this room to know that as well.
Every child in Sunday School or in
I was proud of our Cedar Park Counseling Network who had
a suicidal person come in recently. By
working together they were able to turn that situation around. One person saved and heaven rejoices. Pastor Sue’s prayer last night reflected the
day when she had given up hope and attempted suicide. Praise be to God that she has been saved from
death, saved for heaven, and now works at
The message you need to hear today is how important you are to God. He cares about you. He has good in mind for your life. If you will just come home, there will be great rejoicing in heaven. Maybe no one on this earth really cares about you but Jesus does. You might be a child, a teenager or a senior citizen. That part does not matter. What matters is that you are one. You are one that Christ died for. You are one that he loves. 2 Peter 3:9 “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”