“…Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.” Luke 15:6
My first encounter with a Muslim cemetery was in a small mountain village in Kosovo. We were hiking the mountains and made a stop at a level spot just behind a cemetery. I propped myself against the fence surrounding the graveyard to catch my breath only to have it quickly taken away. My view of symmetrical gray headstones backed by a mosque and stunning mountains was interrupted by a familiar voice softly saying, “These are my sheep that never made it back.” These words revisited my thoughts during a prayer walk in Selçuk, Turkey. As I watched elderly Muslim women attend the graves of their loved ones, my heart broke knowing that these people may never enter the Kingdom.
These are my sheep that never made it back
As a lukewarm Christian most of my life, it was easy for me to sit back and rest on the assurance of my own salvation. To go to church, read my Jesus Calling book every morning, and to listen to K-Love every once in a while, that was good enough for me. It was SUPER comfortable for me to throw my faith into neutral knowing that everyone around me had not only heard the name of Jesus but also attended church regularly. My salvation was good and set; everyone else’s salvation was their business.
But now…NOW I have left those old expectations in the dust. I have moved on to the meat and potatoes portion of my faith journey and I am driven by an urgency that can only be described by my tears hitting the peeling paint of the fence in that remote mountain village as I realize the eternal weight of some people never even hearing the name of Jesus. This is merely one of many realizations I have had spending time in this part of the world. My prayer is that all who are lost realize they are lost and become desperate to know the truth. I pray they encounter Jesus in their dreams and they are shown righteous love by Christians around them.
