Jesus tells us three stories that arrives at a climax with a return of a son to his family and his father. These three stories, finding a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son, form a pyramid where the three show us the same truth but each side shows a different shade and nuance to God’s love.
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
3 So he told them this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 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 that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
11 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. 14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.
17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
25 “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’” (Luke 15:1-32)
It’s easy to lose things – cell phone, keys, and sunglasses and wedding rings. The average person will spend close to one year of their lives searching for lost items. I read about one person even lost their dentures at the Minnesota State Fair in the recent years. I’ve lost several sets of key through the years, my original wedding ring at the bottom of the Buffalo River, and even a child or two along the way.
Yet, some things we lose are far more serious. It was 10:45 pm on June 9, 1995 in the little town of Alma, Arkansas – little more than five hours drive from here. Morgan Nick is six years old and is catching lightning bugs while her mother talks with friends while a little league baseball game goes on in the background. Morgan stops to empty sand out of her shoes just yards away from her mother when she never to be seen again. A massive manhunt ensued but Morgan Nick remains missing some nineteen years later. There have been thousands of leads as well as the offer reward money but no one’s telling the whereabouts of Morgan Nick or her abductor.
I’ve met Morgan’s mother, Colleen, and met the men who still work to solve her case in the sheriff’s office of Alma, AR. It’s incredibly sad and all because a little girl is lost for the better part of twenty years. The FBI reports more than 84,000 cases of missing persons at the close of 2013
Jesus tells a series of three stories about three items that are lost: a sheep, a silver coin, and a son. While Jesus offers three stories, yet He considers them just one “parable” (Luke 15:3). There’s a connection between all three and Jesus wants us to see this connection. He wants us to keep the image of a pyramid in mind as the three have one essential truth but each story represents a side where God’s love is shown in a little different light. Upon hearing the three stories the first time, you imagine the shepherd to be a shepherd, the woman to be a woman, and the father to be a father. Yet, Jesus shocks us at the end because the shepherd, the woman, and the father explain what Jesus is doing. But it’s two short stories that prepare us to really feel the joy of the missing son that we’ll see next week.
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Jesus Eats with Outcasts
Lost
God is Happy
1. Jesus Eats with Outcasts
Tone: mildly funny: You’re a security worker at TCU and it’s late on Thursday evening when you arrive at the Greek Fraternity Houses just off campus. You know the big stately houses that sit really close together and neatly until the weekends and the partying begins. The front door opens and you see your pastor inside talking to young college men. Each of them have poker visors on in a room filled with cigar smoke. Money sits on the table and people are laughing and having a good time. Poker chips are clearly on the table when he says to you, “Hey Mike, do you want to join us?” You want to ask him, “What are you doing with people like this?” but you are speechless.
Notice that sinners surround Jesus. As Luke had just quoted Jesus saying “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Luke 14:35b) and no sooner had these words crossed over the lips of Jesus, then we see Jesus surrounded the refuse of society. The most despised class of sinners were those most willing to lend Jesus their ear. This is most of the surprising things about Jesus. No one has been more inclusive of sinners than Jesus. And no one has been more intolerant of sin. Jesus has no locks on the door of His home… …He has no guard dog to chase you off. He welcomes sinners.
1.1 The Wrong Glasses
Yet, for many Jesus kept the wrong company. Jesus is revolutionary because His gospel is for outcasts. And because of this, the Pharisees grumbled (Luke 15:2). This isn’t the first time we’ve seen them grumble (Luke 5:29-30) – they grumbled when Jesus ate with Matthew, a tax-collector and later one of Jesus’ twelve disciples. And it won’t be the last time (Luke 19:7) – they’ll grumble when Jesus goes inside to eat with Zacchaeus. They’ll grumble all the way through the gospel of Luke. Essentially, they are accusing Jesus of going soft on sin. It’s because the religious teachers grumble that Jesus offers this parable, this three-sided pyramid to show how wrong they were and how loving God is. The Pharisees represent religious insiders and “respectable” people. The Pharisees represent a respectful, rule-keeping, church-going middle class person. He has no felonies on his sheet and he’s the kind of person you’d leave your nephew and niece with in a pinch. A Pharisee sees the world through different glasses. They should be happy because God is happy and because the angels surrounding God’s throne are happy. Instead, they criticize Jesus and grumble. The Pharisees grumbled because they couldn’t see this – they had the wrong glasses on. You know you’re wearing the Pharisee’s glasses when you think: good people are saved and bad people are lost.
By the time we get to the famous story of the Prodigal Son, Jesus is going to place these respectable, middle class, church-going Pharisees into His story as the older brother. You see, the story of the Prodigal Son is that there are two sinners. When the story ends, the older brother’s badness is more of a barrier than the younger brother’s goodness. The father had two sons and both were far off from the Father, both were alienated from the Father. Some of you operate like these Pharisees, you’re wearing their glasses. It’s these glasses that make us think that God only wants good people. Your “goodness” is more of a barrier than a prostitute’s badness.
1.1 The Wrong Glasses
1.2 Jesus the Story-Teller
You’ve got to watch carefully Jesus’ camera angle in telling this parable. Think of these stories not as texts to be read but imagine if they were short-films to be viewed. Jesus’ storytelling is from the angle of the woman. A little later in the chapter, Jesus’ storytelling is from the angle of the shepherd. Jesus’ camera doesn’t fixated on the dust corner in the woman’s house where the lost coin hides until the woman appears in the screen upon locating her coin. Jesus’ camera isn’t fixated on the one lost sheep who over several hills from the remainder of the sheep. Jesus’ camera angle is on the shepherd looking for the sheep. Jesus’ camera angle is on the women searching for her coin. Why’s this important?: Jesus is showing you not the misery of the sheep but the efforts of the owner. Again, the shepherd, the woman, and the father all search for what they lost. If shepherd, women, and fathers search for what they’ve lost, shouldn’t God? Marvel at how He loves us, despite us running from Him. The shepherd, the woman, and the father are doing exactly what you’d expect them to do – looking for that which was lost.
Jesus Eats with Outcasts because He’s searching for us outcasts…
2. Lost
Three Observations…
2.1 Forgotten?
Neither the lost sheep or the lost coin was forgotten. They may have been lost but they weren’t forgotten. The shepherd knew he had a hundred sheep originally. The woman knew she has ten coins in the beginning. If you were a shepherd, you’d count your sheep before putting them up for the night. He realizes his missing one. At the end of the day, the shepherd intends have one hundred sheep. Neither the woman or the shepherd has forgotten. Though you wandered off from Him, God hasn’t forgotten you. The Bible says this: “God is love” (1 John 4:8). Marvel at how He loves us, despite us running from Him.
For those who are hurting… For those who are doubting… Let the righteous middle class, respectable sinners grumble all they want to, Jesus doesn’t forget about you.
2.2 Value
It wasn’t obvious to me when I first read this, but when you compare three lost items, you’ll see that each item increases in value. The lost sheep is one out of a hundred while the lost coin is one of out ten. The shepherd only lost one sheep out of hundred, the woman lost one silver coin of out of ten, while the father lost one son of out of two. I don’t know what else the shepherd and the woman had to do that day, but I know they made finding the sheep and the coin their first priority. Maybe the women had shopping to do that day or family coming in from out of town, but she dropped everything to find this one silver coin.
Looking with My Mouth
When my children look for something, they look with their mouth and not their eyes. Here’s how my children look for their lost phone, “Mom, have you seen my phone?” And the thing is my wife usually knows where it is. She’s amazing. She knows where the phone is now and where it was the last time they lost it and the time before that when they lost it. He doesn’t forget about us… He finds that we have value…
And lastly…
2.3 Until They Found It
I also noticed the shepherd didn’t stop “until he [found] it.” The woman didn’t stop “until she [found] it.” The woman didn’t stop until she found the coin. The shepherd didn’t stop until he found the sheep. Jesus anticipates as much when He begins with this leading question in verse four: “What man of you…” Of course, you’d look for your coin. Of course, you’d look for your lost animal. No one would nonchalantly say, “You win some; you lose some.” The shepherd and the woman searched “until [ they found] it.” What I need you to see is that the one lost sheep was the stupidest of all the sheep. The one lost sheep had no chance on its own. The one lost sheep was deserted and in a matter of hours broken.
The Sheep & the Coin Join in the Searching
In many places in our world, it’s the opposite of the numbers Jesus presented. One sheep is safe and ninety-nine are lost. Today, approximately 66% to 75% of people will not attend church in Texas. Among a group of ten million or more Muslims in the southwest part of India, only a few sheep have been found. The only thing worse than being lost is to be lost and no one is looking for you.
Can you believe it, little sheep, that you have been brought back to the fold? Can you believe it, little coin, that you have been brought back?
Jesus Eats with Outcasts
Lost
3. God is Happy
I’m sure it’s the same in your neighborhood as it is mine. It seems as if every light pole is filled with a sign that calls your attention to a lost pet. You’ll see the picture of the pet and a number where you can call. Yet, God searches in ways that are unlike are “lost dog” posters. He’s actively searching and not waiting on others to call if we find lost sinners. Jesus says, “I am like the shepherd; I am like the woman; I am like the Father who searches and searches.”
It’s because of the muttering, grumbling Pharisees that Jesus tells these stories. God seeks out sinners and when He finds them, He’s happy. Do Celebration and Repentance Really Belong Together? Jesus brings together outsiders to Christianity, celebration, and repentance. Most believers could bring together two of three easily. I could easily see liberal Christians and non-Christians coming together with no talk of repentance. “God affirms you no matter what you’re doing,” would be the conversation. But I could also see a fundamentalist church speaking about repentance. “You’ve got to change and become a good person, like us,” would be their conversation. But it’s so rare to see repentance and celebration where non-Christians and Christians come together – only Jesus does that: “…he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4b)
Jesus’ Mission
We need to ask, “What was the Mission of Jesus?” Is it to make people nicer? Was His mission to get your candidate elected? Or to make people recycle? Jesus’ very reason for coming was for sinners: “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:32) “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17)
What kind of farmer doesn’t get his hands dirty? What kind of doctor doesn’t see sick patients? “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)
Shepherds are happy when they find lost sheep. Women are happy when they find lost money. And God is happy when lost people are found. Jesus eats with sinners because God feels for the sinner. Jesus eats with sinners because people matter to God.
Do You Have the Wrong Glasses On? Indeed, I need you to compare this lost sheep to the elder brother…
Do you see the elder brother there with his arms crossed and with all his “checked-boxes” where he’s worked the hardest and done everything possible to do right by his parents… Jesus is the shepherd who loves the sheep whose performance is the worst. He loves in spite of your poor obedience, your poor performance. No one has been more inclusive of sinners than Jesus. And no one has been more intolerant of sin.Can’t you see God’s joy at finding sinners? It’s only this group finger-wagging, “pious,” and self-righteous religious people who aren’t happy. Earth should join the celebration in heaven when sinners repent.
