Sermon Tone Analysis

INVITATION II

Vision of House - The Shepherd metaphor became a primary way to look at God in OT - He was caretaker of his people.

Doesn’t it seem strange that a shepherd would endanger 99% of his flock for the sake of 1%.

Point is the rejoicing and for the sake of 1% not in the neglect of the 99%.

No creature strays more easily than sheep.

Sheep are careless, inattentive, unmindful, and there incapable of finding there way back to the flock.

When it has gone astray it will run in an opposite direction.

The lost sheep can never save themselves.

or find the shepherd themselves.

If the shepherd did not take action, the sheep was doomed.

Many rabbis of that time believed that God received the sinner who came to him the right way.

But in the parable of the Shepherd and the Sheep, Jesus taught that God actively seeks out the lost.

Instead, he searches after them.

God finds the sinner more than the sinner does find God.

When Jesus finds His people He also carries them.

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

He lays it on His shoulders.

Only thing you do when God finds you and rescues you is REPENT.

KJV

15:3–5 So he told them this parable: “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?

When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices.”

The grumbling Pharisees wanted to demonstrate their disapproval of Jesus’ actions, but Jesus didn’t say a word in his own defense; instead, he chose to speak a parable.

The religious leaders were to picture themselves as shepherds (in reality, as leaders of the nation, they should have been serving as shepherds of God’s people).

15:3–5 So he told them this parable: “Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?

When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices.”

The grumbling Pharisees wanted to demonstrate their disapproval of Jesus’ actions, but Jesus didn’t say a word in his own defense; instead, he chose to speak a parable.

The religious leaders were to picture themselves as shepherds (in reality, as leaders of the nation, they should have been serving as shepherds of God’s people).

Each shepherd has one hundred sheep—a typical number for the average flock of sheep.

Shepherds counted their sheep every night, for sheep would easily stray away and get lost.

When this shepherd counted, he was missing one sheep.

Jesus used the shepherd’s concern for each sheep to set up the question: “Which one of you … does not leave … and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?”

The answer was obvious to these listeners—any caring shepherd would do so.

He would search, find the lost sheep, carry it back to the flock, and rejoice.

It may seem foolish for the shepherd to leave ninety-nine sheep to go search for just one.

But the shepherd knew that the ninety-nine were safe, whereas the lost sheep was in danger.

(Most likely the other sheep were left in the care of a fellow shepherd in a makeshift wilderness corral or shelter.)

Because each sheep was of high value, the shepherd knew that it was important to search diligently for the lost one.

God’s love for each individual is so great that he seeks each one out and rejoices when he or she is “found.”

Jesus associated with sinners because he wanted to bring the lost sheep—people considered beyond hope—the good news of God’s kingdom.

Just as the shepherd took the initiative to go out and find the sheep, so Jesus actively seeks lost souls

Barton, B. B., Veerman, D., Taylor, L. C., & Osborne, G. R. (1997).

Luke (p.

369).

Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

Barton, B. B., Veerman, D., Taylor, L. C., & Osborne, G. R. (1997).

Luke (p.

369).

Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

The “what” of Moses’ encounter with the Angel of the Lord at Mount Horeb refers to the substance of what was conveyed to Moses there.

God called Moses to Mount Horeb because he had a mission for Moses and he communicated it to him in no uncertain terms: “So now, go.

I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt” ().

It was this calling that would drastically alter the trajectory of Moses’ life.

Vision of God - it is abundantly clear that Moses encountered the living and powerful God who manifested his presence to his servant by means of a burning bush and the angel of the Lord.

The “who” of this life-changing encounter was the Lord Almighty.

God intruded into Moses’ life at Mount Horeb.

As is always the case with such manifestations of God’s power and presence, there was a distinct purpose behind this miraculous display of his glory.

God had a mission and mandate for Moses.

This brings us to the “what” of this encounter.

But Moses’ encounter with God was also quite different from our personal experience of encountering God.

What Moses experienced at Mount Horeb was a unique, one-time event in redemptive history in which he physically encountered the angel of the Lord: “There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush.

Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up” ().

Who was this angel of the Lord?

Who met with Moses that day?

Was this encounter similar to that of Zechariah in the New Testament where an angel of the Lord visited Zechariah to declare the forthcoming birth of John the Baptist ()?

It is unmistakable from the text that Moses did not meet with an intermediary sent from God that day at Mount Horeb, but rather with God himself.

We can tell this because it is God’s voice that speaks to Moses from the burning bush: “When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, ‘Moses!

Moses!’ ” ().

In addition to the presence of God’s voice, the text also reveals that this voice clearly identifies who he is:

“Do not come any closer,” God said.

“Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”

At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

The one whose voice cried out from the bush declared himself to be God.

Moses did not meet with a mere angel that day, which would have been extraordinary in its own right; instead, Moses experienced something even more extraordinary that day: he experienced a direct personal encounter with the Great I Am.

This conclusion finds further support in the fact that Moses is instructed to take off his sandals because he is standing on “holy ground” ().

One might think that Moses’ reaction to such an illustrious calling would be to express gratitude to God or to be puffed up with pride.

After all, God was choosing Moses from among all of the Israelites to lead God’s people out of bondage.

God was appointing Moses as the supreme commander over the liberation of the Israelites.

What a privilege!

The last time Moses had a sense of this calling it had gone straight to his head, and he usurped God’s timetable by killing the Egyptian who was abusing a Hebrew.

But Moses was not the same man now.

He had his forty years’ experience of humbling in the desert of Midian.

His first reaction to God’s awesome calling upon his life was neither gratitude nor pride; rather, it was doubt and humility: “But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’ ” ().

Moses never spoke more true words than when he stated, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” ().

It is often the case that the greatest spiritual strides forward in our lives begin with the question, “Who am I?” The question reflects awareness that without God we can do nothing.

This is what Jesus taught when he spoke of the vine and the branches: “I am the vine; you are the branches.

If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” ().

To say “Who am I?” when called to a challenging task does not reflect cowardice or a lack of faith, but rather reflects the knowledge that in our own strength we will fail.

Moses now understood his weaknesses and this displayed that he was ready for his calling.

God did not accuse Moses of lack of faith, but instead encouraged Moses: “And God said, ‘I will be with you.

And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain’ ” ().

Note that God encouraged Moses by conveying two things to him—God’s presence with him and a sign that assured Moses that his mission would be a success.

God filled the void of Moses’ self-acknowledged weakness with the fullness of his loving assurance.

Moses knew that the Angel of the Lord was with him.

Moses never spoke more true words than when he stated, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” (Ex.

3:11).

It is often the case that the greatest spiritual strides forward in our lives begin with the question, “Who am I?” The question reflects awareness that without God we can do nothing.

This is what Jesus taught when he spoke of the vine and the branches: “I am the vine; you are the branches.

If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

To say “Who am I?” when called to a challenging task does not reflect cowardice or a lack of faith, but rather reflects the knowledge that in our own strength we will fail.

Moses now understood his weaknesses and this displayed that he was ready for his calling.

God did not accuse Moses of lack of faith, but instead encouraged Moses: “And God said, ‘I will be with you.

And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain’ ” (Ex.