Who Cares
WHO CARES?
A student in a huge multiversity flunks out. Who cares? A punch-press operator in a sprawling factory dies in a rush-hour traffic accident. Who cares? A tenant in a modern high-rise apartment commits suicide. Who cares?
Depersonalization, estrangement, isolation, the lonely crowd – these are the terms that characterize our age. We play the role. We pretend that it doesn’t matter. But inside we’re alone, desperately alone.
We seek acceptance and identity in strange ways. We join street gangs, beatnik societies, bridge clubs, peace marches, protest groups, country clubs, service organizations, even churches. Yet we remain dissatisfied, unfulfilled, unloved.
Beneath our thin facade of sophistication we battle disconcerting doubts, haunting fears, and crippling anxieties. Silently we cry out for someone who will listen, who will understand, who will care. Many of us conclude with the Psalmist of old, I look to the right and watch, but there is none who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me, no man cares for me.(1)
Is there, then, anyone who cares? Is there perhaps someone beyond the world who cares? Is there even anybody out there? If there is, is it possible that He, the great infinite God of the universe, is even aware of the individual member of the species homo sapiens on His microscopic planet Earth, let alone concerned?
Jesus Christ – who, confessedly, must be a liar, a lunatic, a legend, or the truth – once asked, What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? (2) He plainly implies, in other words, that the soul of one man outvalues the combined worth of all the world’s treasures.
He asked, moreover, Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s will. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows. (3) Not only is the God of the universe aware of us, He has numbered the hairs of our heads.
Jesus asked, finally, What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.’ Even so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine [self-] righteous persons who need no repentance. (4)
To God, the individual matters, matters so much that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (5) Jesus said, I am the good shepherd; I know my own any my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. (6)
To become one of “his own” you must abandon the facade and admit you, too, are a lost sinner. You must repent of your sin, be willing to turn from it. You must ask Jesus Christ to become your Savior from sin. You must invite Him to become your Shepherd, and your Lord. You must ask Him to make you a child of the heavenly Father. You must believe that He will.
To deny God’s ability or longing to meet your deepest needs is to deny the authority of His Son. It is to deny the unanimous testimony of His children down through the centuries.
To accept His offer of love is to find your hope for real peace and real assurance in this age of insecurity. To do so is to find authentic personal identity. It is to find a Friend who has said, I will never fail you nor forsake you. (7)
Who cares? God does. He sent His Son to die for you. He raised His Son to live in you. He brought this message to you.
Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you. (8)
John S. Oldfield
Bible References:
l. Psalm l42:4
2. Mark 8:36
3. Matthew 1O:29-31
4. Luke 15:4-10
5. John 3:16
6. John 10:14-15
7. Hebrews 13:5
8. I Peter 5:7
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