Luke 15:3-7 – Home
Mission Sunday – at
I was there. I am one of the tax collectors who had been
invited to Matthew’s home when I heard Jesus for the first time. Jesus stood
among the crowds that had gathered at Matthew’s home. Jesus didn’t seem like anything special from
the outside. He looked like anyone
else. I don’t think you could have
picked his face out of line-up. He
looked like just an everyday fellow. But
his words were powerful. When spoke, you
couldn’t help but listen.
I was there. I heard
him speak and his Word forever changed me.
He spoke in simple figures of speech using stories from everyday life –
farming, fishing, sheep herding – stuff we all knew. But they weren’t just everyday stories. They had a deeper meaning. They taught
spiritual truth in a powerful way.
I was there when Jesus told a simple story about a shepherd
and his 100 sheep. He said
“Suppose
one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the
ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5
And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and
goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, `Rejoice
with me; I have found my lost sheep.' 7 I tell you that in the same
way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than
over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”
It was quite a mixed crowd at Matthew’s house. Matthew had invited many of his fellow tax
collectors to hear Jesus speak. Because
of our work for the Roman government, we didn’t have a very good reputation. No
self-respecting religious person wanted anything to do with us. They shunned us and we knew it. People thought we were dishonest. They thought that we kept our fingers in the
public cookie jar. And we did! We lived
high. We dined at the public trough. We
did what we pleased with the tax money! We ate, drank and lived big. Only the lowest class of people in
You could feel the great divide in the room between the two
groups – “the sinners” and the self-righteous.
Everyone who heard Jesus’ parable knew that he had divided the world
into two groups as well – those “lost” and those “found.”
Jesus was really picturing people in his parable about
sheep. Where do you picture
yourself? To which group do you
belong? Jesus wants every one of us to
put ourselves into this story. Are you “lost” or “found?” I could put myself into this parable that
Jesus told. Deep down I knew that I was “lost.” I didn’t like what I had become – who I
was. I had been corrupted by wealth,
power and pleasure. I knew that I had
wandered from God so far that I couldn’t come back. I had given up all hope of being with
God. I feared standing before him. How could God stand to have me around? I knew I was lost and when God found me all I
could look forward to was being roasted on his spit for all eternity. I was in
peril. That is the peril of all those
who are lost.
But Jesus said that when the shepherd “
finds it [the lost sheep], he joyfully puts it on his
shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and
says, `Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' (v.
5-6) The shepherd takes the burden upon his shoulders. No
There
was comfort in Jesus’ words. Jesus’ was
looking for me – to save me. I later
heard Jesus say that he “came to seek and to save
what was lost." (Luke 19:10) Everyone who is lost is in great peril.
Everyone who dies without faith in Jesus Christ as his or her personal Savior
is lost for all eternity. That is why
Jesus welcomed sinners and ate with us.
He showed us our sins and where they would lead. He said, “ Come
to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matt
Jesus
left heaven to seek and to save the lost.
The angels rejoice when even one lost sheep is found for the Good
Shepherd. Because now because he loves me as the good Shepherd, I never want
for rest, refreshment, nourishment, forgiveness, restoration, fellowship,
guidance, deliverance from fear, comfort in sorrow, victory over enemies,
security in trouble-filled hours, joy in the Lord, power for service, or a home
at the end of the earthly journey. Does he leave out anything in the world that
a soul can possibly need? Every material and every spiritual need is provided
for helpless, needy creatures who look to the Shepherd
for such satisfactions. Only in him can they be found. I was lost and I have been found. Thank God.
Have you been found?
Do you know how many are still lost in your society without faith in
Jesus? Without faith in Jesus’ Christ,
there is no salvation. He is alone the
way to God the Father. Do you realize that only 41% of Americans attend church
services on a typical weekend? It is getting only worse as each new generation
becomes increasingly unchurched. Slightly over half (51%) of those born before 1946 attend church on
a typical Sunday. But only 41% of
those born between 1946 and 1964 do and 34% of those born
between 1965 and 1976. For those born
between 1977 and 1994 the percentage droops to 29%. (p. 33-34 of Thom Rianer’s Surprising
Insights from the Unchurched).
Who is looking for them? ARE YOU
LOOKING FOR THEM?
Where do you see yourself in this parable? I bet that you
think you’re either one of those still lost (and I pray that you are not) or
one of the 99 huddled together. But that
isn’t the real choice. The truth is that
you are either – the lost sheep – or you’re the one looking for the lost sheep
– because once you are found God makes you one of his helpers to seek those who
are lost. When Jesus ascended into
heaven, he left the rest of his “found” sheep with the marching orders to “Go”
to “Be his witnesses” to the “lost.” He
takes those sheep who have been found and turns us
into shepherds to seek the lost. That is…
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR ME?
There is much that he now has given his sheep the privilege to do. Do you know what you can do to find those who
like me have wandered from his flock?
I’d like to offer you six ways you can live out the privilege that the
Good Shepherd has given you. Here they
are:
1.
BE UNCOMPROMISING WITH THE TRUTH. I think there is a temptation to dilute
the truth – to think that those who are lost can’t handle the truth. But Jesus said “the truth will set you
free.” (John 8:32) Jesus spoke the
truth, day in and day out. Sure, many
people rejected the idea that you could only approach God through the sacrifice
of his Son. But there were some who
listened. Don’t stop speaking the truth
because only the truth can turn your heart from peril to praise. Without the word of the Bible – no one can be
saved. As Peter told those self-deceived religious leaders of his day “Salvation
is found in no one else, for there is no other name
under heaven given to men by which we must be
saved."(Acts
2. SPEAK THE TRUTH IN HUMBLE LOVE. That’s what got me about Jesus – his
humility. He didn’t approach me with a
“holier-than-thou” attitude. You could
hear the love in his tone. He wasn’t
like the Pharisees. The Pharisees didn’t have any good news for sinners like
me. They just said, “Reform or be
damned.” They actually taught that God rejoiced when those who “provoke him
perish from the world.” They could not
see their own need for forgiveness.
Don’t misunderstand me, I was on my way to a well-deserved spot in the
flames of hell – but they seemed to relish the flames for me. They didn’t model the truth in a spirit of
love and grace. Jesus did. Holding to the truth with real conviction is
not mutually exclusive with being a person who demonstrates Christ-like
love. It is your privilege to speak that
truth in tones of love.
3. START WITH YOUR FAMILY. When Jesus healed
a man possessed by a legion of demons, the man wanted to go on the road with
Jesus to do mission work in some exotic land.
But Jesus won’t let him go. He said,
"Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for
you, and how he has had mercy on you." (Mark
4. KEEP SEEKING
AND SMILING. It is the easiest thing in the world to focus only on yourself
and your own needs. It is easy to huddle
only with the other sheep, rather than enter the search party. Keep looking beyond yourself and your own
flock. If we could attain sinless perfection on earth, then I’d not need to
remind you to be friendly at all times. One smile, one kind word could make an
eternal difference for an unbeliever. I
know that you think you are friendly. I
am sure that you treat the people that you know here with friendliness. But think about this from the perspective of
an outsider. Everyone in the Pharisee’s synagogue used to think they were
friendly, too. And they were friendly to
the people that they knew and saw each week.
But when a total stranger showed up, they had no connections. What could they say? They ignored them. No one spoke to the strangers, especially, if
they were Gentiles from another culture.
What could a Jew say to a Gentile anyways? What did they have in common? It doesn’t help an outsider to see a lot of
people being friendly to each other. 4 out of 5 people claim that the friendliness
of the church was a factor in their joining that particular church. (p. 229 of
Thom Rainer’s Surprising Insights from the Unchurched) That doesn’t mean that a smile can save anyone! But
unfriendliness can turn the lost away. A church of smiling people who don’t
share the gospel will just smile their way collectively into hell. But why shouldn’t we who have been forgiven
by Jesus keep smiling? Jesus has
befriended us with his eternal love. It
is our privilege to share the smile that comes from our salvation.
5. KEEP INVITING
AND PRAYING. It is easy to get
discouraged. Don’t give up. Even in the business world, it is usually
said that it takes 7 contacts for a response.
If someone doesn’t respond, try and try again. Don’t just think this is
something true in the days of Jesus. The former administrator of your church
body’s evangelism commission likes to tell the story of a man he met from the
Waukesha area who had been Roman Catholic, then atheist as he described
himself, then met and married a girl from your church body. After the honeymoon, the mother-in-law
started to call on Saturday night to invite him to go to church with his new
wife and the mother. She did that weekly
for 14 years. Then, to shock her and to
"shut her up" he said, “Yes.”
The mother was speechless and just hung up the phone. He went.
He listened. He wanted more. He kept returning. Took instructions, joined the church and
became their Evangelism chairman. So
never give up! Perhaps by your kindly
persistence, they might eventually say, “You are really serious about this!
Aren't you?” You can answer -- “Yes, I
am” and so they might just come. In
other words, be patient, keep inviting, keep praying, keep
looking for opportunities to witness. We
never know when and how God will work his miracles. That’s your privilege.
6. GO WITH THE LORD AND HIS BLESSING. Once you have been found, Christ will never
let you go. When Jesus spoke as
the Good Shepherd, he said, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and
they follow me. I give them eternal
life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch
them out of my hand.” (John 10:27-28) Evangelizing is spiritual
warfare! Satan and his demonic horde will do anything they can do to
hinder someone from becoming a believer.
Only Christ’s word can break the bonds of complacency and spiritual
apathy. Satan would like to see you
discouraged, despondent and defeated.
But in Christ’s power, those bonds have been broken. Your name is in the lamb’s book of life. You have access to the Father’s throne in
prayer. You have the ability to tap into
the power of his Word and sacraments.
You have security in his promise of blessings in this battle. Remember that eternity is in the balance for
others who are still lost. Go to find them with the Lord’s blessings to carry
out what is your greatest privilege.
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR ME?
I am certainly glad that Jesus went looking for me. He found me. He now invites you to leave the
99 and go looking for others like me who are lost.
Those who are “found” will thank you eternally for not giving up the search.
May the God of peace, who through the blood of the
eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, 21 equip you with everything good
for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through
Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. (HEB 13:20)