The Joy of Being Found

Some stories stick because they’re funny. Others stick because they’re true. This one is both.

Sarah Beth and I used to live on a farm in Milton, West Virginia, and I got roped into a lot of jobs I wasn’t exactly trained for. One of them was feeding the sheep. I’d stop at Southern States, grab those 50-pound bags of feed, haul them back, and stash them where the sheep couldn’t get into them—while still making it easy for them to eat. The only catch was that to do that, I had to walk right past the sheep… and there was one sheep in particular who made that a problem.

His name was Hank. We called him “Satan,” because that’s how he behaved. Hank wasn’t gentle or calm or easy. Hank was the kind of sheep that kept your head on a swivel.
And that’s where I wanted to begin the sermon: not with an idealized picture of sweet, cooperative sheep, but with the honest reminder that a lot of us are more like Hank than we’d like to admit. We aren’t always soft and agreeable. We aren’t always easy to love. And yet Jesus—the Good Shepherd—still comes after us. He still pursues. He still brings people home. And when He does, He rejoices.

Joy belongs to those who come home—because the Shepherd is joyful to bring them home.

In Matthew 18:10–14, Jesus shows that everything about His pursuit of wandering sheep is rooted and grounded in love, and that heaven’s joy is real when even one person is brought back.

A command that reveals God’s posture
Jesus opens with a clear instruction: “See that you do not despise one of these little ones” (Matthew 18:10). To despise isn’t only hatred. It can also mean looking down on someone, dismissing them, treating them as insignificant, or acting like they don’t matter.

Jesus does not allow His people to hold that posture toward the “little ones”—toward the vulnerable, the overlooked, the hurting, the weak, the humble. The reason is not that they are impressive. The reason is that they are loved.

Before Jesus ever tells a story about a sheep going astray, He establishes the heart underneath the story: God’s love is not a shallow affection that disappears when someone becomes inconvenient. It is a committed love that sees people others might ignore.

Heaven is attentive to God’s children
Jesus adds a line that sparks curiosity: “their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 18:10). Scripture doesn’t invite us to build elaborate charts about angels. But it does assume something steady: God, in His love, cares for His people in ways we often don’t notice.

If you belong to Jesus, you are not overlooked. You are not forgotten. Heaven itself is attentive to the children of God—not because we are impressive, but because the Father’s love is real.

The shepherd leaves the ninety-nine
Jesus asks us to imagine a simple scene: a shepherd counts his sheep and realizes one is missing. He still has ninety-nine safe on the mountains. But he goes after the one.

“Does he not leave the ninety-nine… and go in search of the one that went astray?” (Matthew 18:12). The assumed answer is yes. Of course he does.

Try to slow down here because this is where so many of us misread God. The shepherd’s movement is not driven by annoyance. It isn’t driven by embarrassment. It isn’t driven by a need to scold the sheep. It’s driven by love.

Love gets up. Love goes out. Love steps into difficulty for the sake of someone who has wandered. Even if that sheep is difficult—yes, even if it’s a Hank-type sheep—the shepherd still goes.

The shepherd’s joy is the headline
Jesus says, “If he finds it… he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray” (Matthew 18:13). That word rejoices is the key.

We often read this parable as mainly about the sheep’s joy—our relief, our gratitude, our “I’m back.” But Jesus spotlights someone else: the shepherd. The primary joy belongs to the One who seeks, searches, and bears the cost.

No one is happier when you come home to Jesus than Jesus.

This matters, especially for those of us who grew up around church and carry a subtle fear that God is waiting on our return with crossed arms and disappointment. Jesus gives a different picture. The Shepherd is glad. He rejoices when the wanderer is brought back.

Joy spreads to the whole household
In Luke’s telling of a similar parable, the shepherd gathers others to share the celebration (Luke 15:4–6). The point is simple: when someone is brought home, joy is meant to be shared.

There is no rightful place for jealousy when someone repents. No rightful place for suspicion, comparison, or cynicism. People who have been found learn to rejoice when another person is found.

And the sheep’s joy is assumed too. Scripture speaks of believers rejoicing in Christ with deep, living joy (1 Peter 1:8). And it speaks of “fullness of joy” in God’s presence (Psalm 16:11). We all have moments that feel like home—a family dinner, a place you return to, a moment of meaningful service. Those experiences can be echoes of something deeper.
Home, in the deepest sense, is the presence of God at the feet of Jesus. That’s what our hearts were made for.

During Advent we often look to Luke 2:8–20. Shepherds were out in the field at night—ordinary men, in the dark, watching their flock. And into that darkness came light, along with an announcement of “good news of great joy” (Luke 2:10–11).

Advent is the reminder that the Shepherd didn’t stay distant. God came near. The Messiah arrived. And those shepherds went with haste and found the child (Luke 2:16). Joy spread: joy for the shepherds, joy held quietly by Mary, and joy that overflowed outward as the shepherds made the news known (Luke 2:17–20).

For those unsure about faith: come home by being found
This passage is not mainly a call to improve yourself first. The main character is not the sheep; it’s the Shepherd. Jesus goes looking. Jesus bears the cost. Jesus carries the lost.

Coming home begins with repentance and faith—turning from sin and trusting Jesus as Savior and Shepherd. Not promising you will never wander again, but trusting that His cross is enough to bring you back.

For believers: live like the beloved
If you belong to Jesus, you are loved by the Father—even when you wander. He does not despise you. He does not dismiss you. Don’t live as if God is irritated with you; that posture keeps you stuck. Live as someone who is welcomed home.

Keep coming home—and rejoice when others do
Coming home isn’t a one-time event; it’s a lifelong rhythm. And when others come home—when someone repents, is saved, or is baptized—our response should be joy. A church that understands grace celebrates loudly, because the Shepherd rejoices.

Matthew 18:14 ends with the Father’s heart: “It is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” God is not indifferent toward wanderers. He is purposeful in His love.

This Christmas season, whether you’re coming home for the first time or the hundredth time, the invitation stands:

Come home. Joy belongs to those who come home.