Lost Sheep
For the One • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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INTRODUCTION
Look at Jesus eating with sinners! 1-2
The issues that give rise to these “Lost Parables of Jesus” are:
The people Jesus chose to be with
The people who saw Jesus with them
Luke 15:1–2 (ESV) — 1 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.”
Tax collectors – hated for connections with Romans – seen as traitors
Sinners – broad category of immoral people who live their lives opposite of the religious Law
Pharisees – religious leaders
Scribes – Bible teachers and theologians
“grumbled” – tense in the Greek indicates ongoing grumbling. This was the common attitude toward Jesus because of his interaction with sinners
“This man” – derogatory
“receives. . . and eats” – He’s a friend of sinners (Matt 11:19)
ILLUST – Equivalent today:
Going to a bar with a group of non-religious people from work
Being seen at a gay pride event
The rabbis had a rule, ‘One must not associate with an ungodly man’, and they took this rule so seriously that they would not even teach the Law to someone they understood to be ungodly
- In other words, they would not allow sinners into their equivalent of church
“A Friend of Sinners” Sounds like a bad thing unless, of course, you’re a sinner. Any sinners here?
Jesus knows what the religious leaders are saying about him. He knows who the sinners are, and he knows what they need.
“SO” he tells them a parable
Parable – a story his audience would be familiar with and one that gives a lesson much deeper than the story itself. Earthly story / Heavenly meaning
In the telling of this parable, Jesus actually speaks to both groups of people listening: the lost sinners and the religious church-goers
And so through this parable, Jesus will speak to us in two different ways:
1. We will see the heart that Jesus (the Good Shepherd) has for sinners (you and I)
2. We will also see the heart that we, who are called to be like Jesus, should have toward sinners
The tension of the lost
Parable opens with the tension of a lost sheep. *How many of you have lost a sheep before?
Illust – A lost remote, lost keys, lost child
Sense the tension of the shepherd?
*How many of you have ever been lost YOURSELF?
Sense the tension of the sheep?
With this in mind. . .
Look at the length he went to for the lost. 2-4
He left the safe for the risk
- Leaving the ninety-nine who were in safety for the one who was in danger was a risk, there was something on the line
o “the open country” sounds like something that would put the flock in danger. In reality a majority of the shepherds in that time used these sort of portable fences that had barbed wire like defenses
o Shepherds would even sleep with the sheep when it was warm
o It was the fact that the one needed saving, not the 99.
- It was not that the one was by any means more important or held any more intrinsic value than the ninety-nine, but it was the shepherd mission to bring the one back to safety
o That was the responsibility of the shepherd
o V. 4 “Doesn’t he leave…?” implies that this would be “normal” or expected in some way
- It is a conscious, unwavering pursuit of the shepherd into danger for the one that displays the sacrificial love that goes beyond reason and gives meaning to the relationship between the shepherd and his sheep
o The shepherd is not called to remain safe himself, but to bring that which he possesses out of danger
§ This means he puts himself at risk, counts the cost, and accepts the repercussions regardless of the outcome
· Sound like anyone you may know?
o Jesus
He didn’t wait, he went
- In v. 4 Jesus says the shepherd, “went after the lost sheep”
- The shepherd could have waited for the sheep to somehow return to safety on its own
o ILLUST. Lost kid finding his/her way back home
§ They need guidance, incapable of doing it on their own
- The shepherd seized the opportunity to fulfill his calling
He didn’t stop
- In the final part of Jesus’ question of v. 4, he says, “until he finds it?”
o This small, but vitally important ending to Jesus’ question does more than show the heart of a shepherd, it reveals the character of God
§ Romans 8:38
- Tell a bit of my story, not too in-depth
o For most of my life I would have said that I was safely in the flock. But really I was lost, I just didn’t know it. After high school I thought I had life figured out and could do anything that I wanted to. Until day after day and moment after moment I was left feeling empty and hollow which brought me to a breaking point
o Though at that time I was making my own decisions, God was placing people in my life and preparing encounters for me so that He could show me that he had never stopped chasing after me, and he never will
- Maybe some of you here feel empty or hollow at times, feel abandoned, or even forgotten…
o Let this be a sign to you, not because of me or my words, but Jesus’, that God is still pursuing you more than you could ever understand and when he picks you up and puts you on his shoulders you’ll see
(Jordan)
This is the length Jesus went to for each of YOU
Look at the joy he had for the found. 5-7
Look at the three areas of joy when the shepherd finds the sheep:
Luke 15:5–7 (ESV) — 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, ‘Rejoicewith 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.
While not stated, there is actually a fourth – the sheep.
Think about how the sheep feels when it’s found? Is it scolded? Is it beaten? Is it judged for being stupid / bad? The shepherd is not embarrassed of the sheep – he’s filled with JOY
**When you repent of your sin, Jesus doesn’t look at you with disappointment, embarrassment, frustration, irritation – He says, ‘There you are! I’ve been looking just for YOU!”
He carries the found with joy
He ‘lays it on his shoulders’ – common way to carry sheep – says “I don’t want you lost again.” Now that your found, I’ll do the walking to make sure you’re safe (eternal security)
He celebrates the found with his community
He throws a party with those who understand the importance of finding the lost sheep. The shepherd has joy because he completed the mission – to find the lost.
Luke 19:10 (ESV) — 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
He echoes the joy of heaven
Edersheim quotes a Jewish saying, ‘There is joy before God when those who provoke Him perish from the world’.
Here Jesus says, there will be more joyin heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
Not that there is not joy for the righteous, but there is MORE joy for the lost to be found than for already saved.
ILLUST – I don’t all that excited to see that the remote is NOT lost (well, maybe in our house I do)
Why is there more joy over one sinner repenting? BECAUSE THAT IS THE MISSION OF HEAVEN!
We celebrate when we win. This parable shows us that the “win” for heaven is a sinner repenting and being “found.”
It’s been said that it is not the case that the “Church has a mission; rather, God’s mission has the Church.”
Ever since Genesis 3, God has been on mission to seek and save the lost!
Jesus didn’t come to mingle with the religious elites, to simply hang out with the churched people. The win for Jesus was to find the lost and reach them with the gospel of the Kingdom.
This is the joy Jesus has for YOU
The Shepherd looked for you, and now you should look like the Shepherd.
We cannot wait. We must go.
ILLUST - Death rate = 1.8 people every second
3731 people during this message
X60% = 2239 people go to hell during this message
- Not a scare tactic, but it is reality
Matthew 28:19 (ESV) — 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
GO – Jesus’ command for the disciples (and for us) is to GO not wait
Go where? – “GO” = participle, and could better be translated “as you are going” make disciples / look for the lost / share the gospel / life / love / teaching of Jesus
So, where are you going? On Monday, Tuesday – do you have lost co-workers, neighbors,
This parable, though, describes not simply the tactic to follow Jesus’ Great Commission, but the heart behind it.
The shepherd didn’t simply say, “Well, if the lost sheep stumbles across my path I’ll then help it.”
His heart was to RUNand RISK to save the sheep!
Seeking the lost is not meant to be a program of the church but the heart of every believer.
Not everyone may be called to share the gospel in the same way but we all participate in sharing the gospel.
ILLUST - looking for lost sub
people with different gifts abilities and skills all looking for the lost
Saved sheep are sent sheep!
Our win is the mission until the mission is won.
- Because the shepherd was obedientto his mission, he was filled with joy by finding the sheep
o There is no celebration without simple obedience
o We have to take the first step, but remember that there is no “last step”
- We cannot look at our salvation as the endgoal, but the first step to becoming disciples who make disciples who make disciples
o ILLUST. A race without a finish line (build this), because Jesus already finished it for us (Heb. 12: 1-3)
- So what does that look like?
o Praying for the Holy Spirit to guide us into opportunities to share the love of Christ
o Getting into life groups and creating a community that desperately wants to reflect Jesus
o Becoming a volunteer on Sunday mornings as a greeter, a kids ministry teacher, etc.
Our win is the mission.
Personally
- Day by day participating in the grace Jesus gives individually through prayer, the Word, and other acts of simple obedience
Communally
- Becoming disciples who make disciples by being a church marked by compassion, that means we are willing to leave the safety of the flock at times to seek the ones that are lost
Until the mission is won
- By joining the rejoicing heaven
CONCLUSION
I’m not sure which tension you’re feeling right now
You feel lost spiritually – You certainly don’t see church like the rest of the flock – you feel a bit vulnerable and pretty alone.
Look at the heart of the Shepherd!
Jesus is looking for you! He’s not waiting for you to find him – He is pursuing you! Don’t believe me? You’re hearing this message today when you need it, aren’t you?!
Or maybe you’re realizing you don’t really have a heart like Jesus, the Good Shepherd
If you’re honest, you don’t think much about the ‘lost.’ You don’t really know the lengths YOU’D go for the lost because your heart is a little more like the Pharisees and scribes.
*PRAY* (Jordan)