Sermon Tone Analysis

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Sermon Introduction: In 1981, a Minnesota radio station reported a story about a stolen car in California.
Police were staging an intense search for the vehicle and the driver, even to the point of placing announcements on local radio stations to contact the thief.
On the front seat of the stolen car sat a box of crackers that, unknown to the thief, were laced with poison.
The car owner had intended to use the crackers as rat bait.
Now the police and the owner of the Volkswagen Bug were more interested in apprehending the thief to save his life than to recover the car.
Often when we run from God, we feel it is to escape His punishment.
But what we are actually doing is eluding His rescue.
(http://ministry127.com/resources/illustration/the-poisoned-crackers)
Scripture Introduction: The three parables in Luke 15 are a result of criticism Jesus receives regarding his time spent with “tax collectors and sinners” (see Luke 15:1-2).
In Matthew 11:19 we learn that Jesus is called a “friend of sinners.”
Although this term was meant to be a criticism it was actually a compliment.
Jesus can be the best friend a wayward sinner can ever have.
Jesus is on a “Search and Rescue Mission” for Heaven’s Most Wanted!
Jesus shares three parables in Luke 15 as a response to the criticism.
Each of these parables reveal similar stories and each of them teach important lessons.
I believe each one of them give insight and reveal WHY Jesus is a “friend of sinners.”
That should bring all of us joy and comfort today, because that means no matter how sinful we have been He desires to be our friend as well!
The first reason I find in the text is because Jesus knows...
Sinners Without Him are LOST!
Notice the first parable in Luke 15:3-7…
Explanation:
As Jesus responds to the complaining about Him receiving sinners and eating with them, He poses a question to the Pharisees and Scribes.
What shepherd, if he lost one sheep out of the fold of 100, would not go looking for the sheep that was lost?
As a matter of fact he would go to great lengths to find the LOST sheep and when he finds the sheep he will return with rejoicing at the success of his mission and the fact that the LOST sheep had been found.
He would celebrate with his friends and would be glad that all the sheep were safely in the fold.
William Barclay, in his commentary on the Gospel of Luke, gives us some insight on the shepherd’s mindset:
The shepherd was personally responsible for the sheep.
If a sheep was lost the shepherd must at least bring home the fleece to show how it had died.
These shepherds were experts at tracking and could follow the straying sheep’s footprints for miles across the hills.
There was not a shepherd for whom it was not all in the day’s work to risk his life for his sheep.
Many of the flocks were communal flocks, belonging, not to individuals, but to villages.
There would be two or three shepherds in charge.
Those whose flocks were safe would arrive home on time and bring news that one shepherd was still out on the mountainside searching for a sheep which was lost.
The whole village would be upon the watch, and when, in the distance, they saw the shepherd striding home with the lost sheep across his shoulders there would rise from the whole community a shout of joy and of thanksgiving.
Jesus goes on to indicate this is similar to what happens when “sinners” repent and are no longer considered “LOST.”
Jesus wants them to know that the sinners they are now despising are cared about by God and there is great JOY in Heaven when ONE sinner repents!
As a matter of fact there is no joy in Heaven over the self-righteous people who think they do not need to repent, but there is JOY in Heaven over the sinner who does repent!
The idea of repentance is two fold.
It is a feeling of remorse, but it is more than that.
It is a feeling of remorse that leads to a change of mind and ultimately a change of action!
Sinners do not just need to be sorry for their sin, but they need to have a change of mind about their sin and about the Savior, Jesus Christ and turn to Him and allow Him to forgive them.
Their repentance and faith mixed with the life changing power of the Gospel and the Holy Spirit will ultimately change their heart and life.
Illustration:
Once again we turn to William Barclay to gain some insight on why Jesus may have used the shepherd illustration.
He says about the shepherd:
That is the picture Jesus drew of God; that, said Jesus, is what God is like.
God is as glad when a lost sinner is found as a shepherd is when a strayed sheep is brought home.
As a great saint said, ‘God, too, knows the joy of finding things that have gone lost.’
There is a wondrous thought here.
It is the truly tremendous truth that God is kinder than men and women.
The orthodox would write off the tax-collectors and the sinners as beyond the pale and as deserving of nothing but destruction; not so God.
We may give up hope of a sinner; not so God.
God loves those who never stray away; but in his heart there is the joy of joys when a lost one is found and comes home.
Application:
The word that Jesus uses to describe the sheep is “lost.”
It literally means: “destroy, die, lose, mar, perish (Strong, J. (2009).
A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible (Vol. 1, p. 14).
Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software.)”
In other words this sheep was not just lost, wondering around, but this sheep was in imminent danger.
It was on the brink of death.
Without the shepherd’s intervention, it was as good as dead.
The same is true of us without Christ.
Without Christ we stand already under the condemnation of God.
John 3:18 says:
Ephesians 2:1-2 illustrate this as well:
It is imperative for us to understand that individuals without Jesus are LOST.
They are spiritually dead and separated from the abundant and eternal life of God.
But just like the shepherd went looking for the lost sheep...
Jesus is on a Search and Rescue Mission (Luke 15:8-10)
Explanation:
The next parable is another illustration used by Christ to answer the criticism weighed against Him regarding His relationship with the “sinners.”
The first parable focused on a man who had 100 sheep and LOST one.
The second illustration is about a woman who had 10 silver coins and now one of these precious coins is lost.
Once again we turn to William Barclay for insight:
THE coin in question in this parable was a silver drachma.
It would not be difficult to lose a coin in a Palestinian peasant’s house and it might take a long search to find it.
The houses were very dark, for they were lit by one little circular window not much more than about eighteen inches across.
The floor was beaten earth covered with dried reeds and rushes; and to look for a coin on a floor like that was very much like looking for a needle in a haystack.
The woman swept the floor in the hope that she might see the coin glint or hear it tinkle as it moved.
Many have speculated through the years about the importance of this silver coin.
It was worth about a day’s wage and many in this region were very, very poor.
So it could have been just a monetary issue.
It is quite possible she needed this coin to survive and provide for her family.
Another potential lies in the fact that married women would have a headdress, that would be very similar in importance to a wedding ring today.
Within that headdress were 10 silver coins, so losing one of them would be very devastating to a bride and she would want to recover it and place it back in its proper place.
Regardless of the reason, this coin was important and precious to her.
She wanted and desired to find it.
She went on a “Search and Rescue Mission.”
She lights the lamps, she sweeps the house and she SEARCHES DILIGENTLY until she finds it!
When she finds it she celebrates!
She runs outside and calls out to her friends and neighbors and they celebrate together for the lost coin that has been found.
Illustration & Application:
Did YOU know Jesus is on a search and rescue mission?
He is searching out EVERY soul that is lost.
He is searching for YOU.
The very reason some of YOU are here today is because Jesus has been searching for YOU.
He has been speaking to YOU.
He has been inviting YOU.
He has brought YOU here and allowed YOU to be here so the LIGHT of the Gospel could shine down on YOU and so the convicting power of the HOLY SPIRIT and HIS WORD could sweep over YOUR soul today and remind YOU that He is on a search and rescue mission for YOUR SOUL!
Just listen to the words of the following Scriptures:
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