Parables Of Priorities On The Way To Jerusalem Series

For my entire childhood, my mother was an avid bowler. Her social life revolved around her bowling league. She had her own team, and she was also on the sub list for the entire league. Anytime someone couldn’t make it, they called my mother.

A few months after I was born, once she had recovered from the pregnancy, she jumped right back into bowling.

Believe it or not, the bowling alley near our house had a nursery. So one morning my mother bundled me up in my car seat, grabbed the car seat in one hand, her bowling bag in the other, and headed to the bowling alley.

And I’m sure she had a wonderful morning. She bowled several games with her friends. Then she got in the car and drove home.

She pulled into the driveway, got out of the car, grabbed her bowling bag… and started walking toward the front door.

And somewhere between the driveway and the front porch she had this strange thought:

“Hmmm. I know I had something in the other hand when I left the house this morning…”

And then it hit her.

She had left something at the bowling alley.

Me!

I grew up, raised by janitors, spraying Febreze in bowling shoes so I could earn enough money for hot dogs and pizza at the snack bar.

No I didn’t. Of course I didn’t!

My mother raced back to the bowling alley and collected me—safe and sound.

Now I loved my mother, and I know she loved me. So I am absolutely certain that the moment she realized I had been left behind, she didn’t say,

“Well… I still have three other kids. Statistically the family is doing pretty well.”

No.

The moment she realized I was missing, she dropped everything and raced back to get me.

In that moment, getting her child back was her one and only priority.

Her high scores that morning didn’t matter.

The bowling bag she dropped in the middle of the driveway didn’t matter.

Traffic lights and speed limits didn’t matter.

She came to get me.

In Luke 15, Jesus tells three stories in a row to the same audience—three stories about something precious that was lost and then found. Luke is often very intentional about giving us the context and the audience for Jesus’ teachings. And he follows that pattern here. Look at 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.”

So when Jesus hears their grumbling, He tells them three stories. The first is about a lost sheep. The second is about a lost coin. The third is about two lost sons. That might surprise some of you, who have grown up hearing the story of the prodigal son. But stick with me, and you may come away from this sermon with a new understanding about this famous parable.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. For now, let’s read together the part of this chapter we are most familiar with:

READ Luke 15:11–32 ESV

[pray]

One of the interesting things about Luke’s Gospel is how often Jesus is around a table. He’s coming from a meal, heading to a meal, sitting at a meal, or telling stories about meals.

And that’s exactly what got him into trouble.

The religious leaders didn’t mind Jesus teaching sinners.

What bothered them was that he ate with them.

Because in that culture, when you shared a table with someone, you were saying: you belong here.

Luke’s Gospel suggests something profound: God’s priority is bringing the lost to the table.

A lot of times when we think about the gospel, we focus on the forgiveness that Jesus offers. Jesus died on the cross to save us from our sins. That’s absolutely correct, and we should never forget it. But we can’t just focus on the forgiveness and forget the feast.

All three stories in Luke 15 end on a note of rejoicing:

• Verse 6: “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.”

• Verse 9: “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.”

• Verses 23-24: And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’

Because the kingdom of God is not just a rescue mission.

It’s a party!

I want to focus on the parable of the lost sons, but its worth pointing out what all three stories have in common.

• In each story, something of great value is lost—a sheep, a coin, a son.

• In each story, what is lost is found.