Why Seek Lost Sheep – Sermon for the 3rd Sunday of Easter

April 19^th, Year of Our + Lord 2026
Good Shepherd Sunday, Misericordias Domini
Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches
Custer and Hill City, South Dakota
Why Seek Lost Sheep?    
Ezekiel 34:11, John 10:11, 1 Peter 2:24-25

Audio of the Sermon available HERE.

     The Lord God Almighty declares: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will
seek them out.   I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 

     The Hills should green up a little, after the bit of rain and snow we’ve received.  Not enough, yet, certainly not enough to seriously reduce the fire danger.  To our east on the prairie it seems like they’ve been catching up a little, so Lord willing the livestock and wildlife will soon have some green pastures. 

     We would welcome a foot of snow, for the moisture at least.  Spring blizzards do not make it great to be a cow or a sheep, though.  Or worse, a newborn calf or lamb.  Heavy wet snow is miserable if you are a tiny creature without much body fat to keep you warm.  Spring snow makes for tough times for calves and lambs, and so also for the men and women who raise them.  Out in the pastures, early and late, checking on the stock, trying to help them, trying to provide your herds and flocks protection from the cold and wet and wind. 

     Why do they do it?  Why do livestock growers year after year face cold and dark, wind and rough country, to say nothing of dealing with the predicaments livestock are always finding for themselves?  Why search again for that cow who always finds a way through the fence, or who insists on giving birth in the deepest ravine possible?  Why fight off disease, and coyotes?  Why bottle feed bum calves and do the thousand and one hard chores that come with raising livestock? 

     Well, of course, it’s a living.  There is a profit involved, hopefully.  For a handful, it’s a very good living, a way to grow a family fortune.  But for most, the agricultural life is not so rich, the bank account not so fat.  Indeed, smaller operations have very narrow profit margins, and so have more hard work to do.  Because they can’t afford to hire it done, or buy the latest technology and equipment that would make it easier.  The stockgrowers in my extended family mostly had to have a side gig, or two, to make it work.  Haul mail, sell eggs, or run a patrol for the county.  (A patrol is what my Uncle David called his road grader.  I never did understand why.)  There are easier ways to earn a living.  And yet, for many ranchers and sheepherders, including those who are paper rich and dirt poor, they wouldn’t do anything else.  Why?  Why do they do it? 

     I have some thoughts.  Maybe you will correct or add to my ideas after service.  I know many stockgrowers do it because they love the life.  They love the countryside and being out in it.  They love the sense of accomplishment, and the independence, the responsibility.  They love seeing things grow.  And, they love their animals.  This love cannot be for their beauty, at least I do not think so.  A calf is cute, but a cow?  It certainly can’t be for the love the livestock give back.  A dog may be very affectionate and loyal.  Cows love you when you’re spreading cake, and that’s about it.  And yet, those who choose to ranch and raise sheep do love their animals, just the same. 

      Why do they do it?  I think many do it simply because that’s who they are.  Raised into it, or maybe not, still, their identity has become all tied up with livestock.  They may need to have a 40 hour per week job to keep their operation going.  Still, they could hardly be or do anything else. 

      Why raise cows or sheep?  Why seek them out when they’re lost?  Why risk life and limb for animals?  Well, there’s a profit to be had, and a life of loving animals, and for many, their identity is all connected with the “Ag” way of life.  It’s simply who they are.  And so they do the hard work of seeking after and caring for livestock, including during freezing winter nights and sloppy, wet, miserable spring storms. 

      Which brings us to our Good Shepherd.  Why does God do it?  Caring for livestock is one thing.  But caring for people?  Rebellious, stubborn, messed up people; why do that?   Why try to save sinners from themselves?  Why rescue fools from the predicaments we make for ourselves?  Why do it? 

      God has done and continues to do the work of rescuing His sheep from the wolfish schemes of Satan.  The enemy uses God’s good law against us men and women, pointing out our sin and detailing what we deserve.  He does this because he aches to share his eternal misery with God’s people.  The adversary’s hope for our destruction relies on God’s hatred of sin. 

    But God, who is the ultimate punisher of sin, postponed acting on His just anger against our sinful ways.  Starting immediately after the Fall, God began putting up with human sin, overlooking rebellion and withholding full punishment, even rescuing His special people Israel from self-inflicted wounds, again and again, all to get to the real work of salvation.  Which is finished. 

      The rescue work is done, because God did more that just overlook human sin for a time.  In the fullness of time, God took on our flesh, our creatureliness, in order to take our sin upon Himself.  Ranchers and shepherds very often sacrifice greatly to take care of their herds and flocks.  They may even, from time to time, end up smelling like their animals.  But has a rancher ever become a cow, or a shepherd a sheep, in order to save his animals from slaughter?  No. 

    But the Good Shepherd did become a sheep.  That is, God became a man, in order to save us men and women from the slaughter of eternal death.  We are in our third week of celebrating the revelation of God’s in-the-flesh victory for us, a victory won in death, a victory revealed with the new life of the Resurrection.  This 3^rd Sunday of Easter is called Good Shepherd Sunday, as well as Misericordia Domini, Mercy of the Lord Sunday.  So this is a good time to ask “Why?”  Why did the Lord show such mercy, why did He become our Good Shepherd, laying down His life, for us? 

   Why did God the Father sacrifice the life of His only-begotten Son to save wandering, thankless sheep?  Why does God continue to work, sending out His Word of forgiveness, supporting His Church, keeping her going in the most unpromising circumstances?  Why? 

     Does God do this to gain a profit?  Well, yes.  That may sound a little strange, but God does all His works of salvation in order to realize a profit, a gain.  It’s just that we don’t understand God’s method of accounting.  Looking at what God gives and receives in this salvation business, it doesn’t seem that God is coming out ahead.  But God gets to determine His own metrics for measuring profit and loss.  And, for God, the profit in salvation is you.  God’s reward for achieving human salvation is to have you with Him, along with countless other saints, holy and righteous in His presence, forever.  Now, given what we know about people in general, and about ourselves in particular, given all the obvious faults and failings of humanity, God’s way of accounting is very strange.  Strange accounting, but very good news. 

     Does God do it for love?  Yes, most definitely.  Because God loves to love.  He created the whole universe, and us, to give Himself more objects on which to pour out His infinite love.  God loves His whole creation, and most especially the crown of His creation, which is you.  You and I might expect God’s love for mankind to have faded, since we humans, once we hear we are second only to God, immediately start thinking about knocking God off His throne.  Following Adam and Eve’s example, we desire to be our own god.  It is not enough for us to be dependent on the true God who blesses us with all we need.  We want to be in charge, to make our own rules, and judge ourselves.  It would be quite right and fair if God, who is holy and righteous and all powerful, were to simply destroy us ungrateful usurpers.  But no.  God does hate sin.  But amazingly, He still loves us, despite our sin.  And this is how God the Father has loved us, by sending the Only Begotten Son to save us, from ourselves. 

     God does what He does for profit and for love.  Despite our nature that seeks independence from Him, God is our Good Shepherd.  But what, in the end, happens to sheep that spurn their shepherd?  What happens to mankind if we insist on our independence from God?  To find the answer, look at the punishment Jesus suffered.  Look at Good Friday, look at the Cross, and shudder. 

   But then, look again.  For in the same frightening Cross of Jesus the Holy Spirit also reveals to us that this is love.  Not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His only begotten Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.  What we and every other sinner deserves, and also God’s limitless, forgiving love, these are both revealed in Jesus’ death.

     Why does God seek lost sheep?  Why does He save?  Because that’s who God is.  Good News, God is love.  Like the rancher who just doesn’t know anything else to be, even more so, God cannot be anything else than love.  God is the Savior, our Good Shepherd.  God is the One who desires a multitude of people to be in the closest possible communion with Him, in joy and peace and glory, forever.  Think of it.  How sure is your salvation in Christ?  Your salvation is the very identity of God, who is life, and love, and so has done all things necessary to share His life and love with you. 

     So, when wolves are circling, trying to bite your flesh, call on your Good Shepherd.  When enemies, like temptations of the world, or your own sinful desires, or struggles that lead you to doubt God’s promises, when these or any other hound of Satan are pressing you hard, remember: God’s Son is your Good Shepherd.  Call on Him; He loves doing whatever it takes to save you.  In fact, the one thing necessary to save you is His specialty: forgiveness, reconciliation and renewal, delivered to you in His Word, and in Holy Baptism and the Supper.    

   Knowing Jesus is your Good Shepherd also helps you to live rightly as a sheep in God’s flock.  Which of course starts with humility.  For a wise sheep knows that he is not that strong or impressive on his own.  Life under the Good Shepherd includes community.  In the flock, watched over by the shepherd, is where wise sheep want to be.  God goes so far as to even use His sheep in the shepherding process, giving Christians in all kinds of situations the privilege of helping each other: parents and relatives shepherding children, friends reminding friends to come back to the fold, believers encouraging each other by singing the praises of the Good Shepherd.   Does being the Shepherd’s lamb change who you are and how you live?  Does being a Christian, joined to Christ, create differences in your life, blessings for both you and those around you?  Absolutely. 

   Living a life as a faithful, useful sheep is a real thing.  It is an important goal of God for you, and so is worthy of your best efforts.  And it is possible to pursue, precisely because living a faithful life is not our comfort, it is not the basis of our hope.  When our Christian life is less than perfect, we do not lose hope.  Because life in this world will never be the holy perfection we need to belong to the Good Shepherd.  Our holy perfection is Jesus, our Shepherd, on whom we always depend.  He sets us free to live today without fear.    

     The struggle against the devil-wolf goes on.  The final victory for God’s flock is assured, but in this life, the battle continues.  Our Good Shepherd, in His wisdom, leaves His beloved flock in this world for a time, mostly because He has other lambs to add to His flock.  And so, the struggle continues.  But we know how the evil one is defeated.    

    When Satan, or your own heart, whispers to you that God would never forgive what you have done, your Good Shepherd says “Rest in my peace, you are forgiven.”  When the evil you see in the world makes you doubt that good can conquer, your Good Shepherd, the One with scars in His hands, reaches those hands out to you and reminds you “Fear not!  I have overcome the world!  Enter into my green pastures.”  When you have yet again sinned your way into a real mess, and you think there is no way out, remember, Jesus is still seeking you, even into the valley of the shadow of death.  Jesus is still calling you by name, still preparing a table before you.  Your cup runneth over, because your Good Shepherd is filling it up, today, tomorrow, and forever and ever, Amen.