Parables Of Lostness Series

JUST JESUS: CHAPTER BY CHAPTER THRU LUKE

Parables of Lostness

LUKE 15:1-32

#justJesus

INTRODUCTION NARRATIVE 1: “Taken”

In 2008, an action movie came out that spurred 2 more movies after it and all because of one speech. 7 sentences is the crux of one movie and allowed them to make two more after it. One speech in the movie is what “Taken” hangs upon. 7 sentences upped Liam’ Neeson’s paychecks in Hollywood because in the movie, Bryan Mills a former government operative, is trying to reconnect with his daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace). His worst fears become real when human traffickers abduct Kim and her friend shortly after they arrive in Paris for vacation. With just four days until Kim will be lost forever, Bryan Mills must use every skill he learned in black ops to rescue her. Towards the beginning of the movie we have a phone call. It is THE phone call. He says:

"I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom I can tell you I don't have money, but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you, but if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you and I will kill you."

Duh duh duh.

TRANSITION

Today we are in Luke 15 where Jesus shares with us three parables that all have the same theme and all really share the same meaning. Let’s start at verse 1.

READ LUKE 15:1-7 (ESV)

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.” 3 So He told them this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 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, ‘Rejoice with 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.”

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE LOST?

What does it mean to be lost? If you were to simply look up the word ‘lost’ in the dictionary you would find that it is a surprisingly complicated word. There are a lot of small changes to the word lost that make it a significant word and depending on the context it can mean something different. I looked up the word on the internet. Oddly, when googling the word ‘lost,’ the first 7 entries are about the 6 season ABC show ‘Lost’ which does not necessarily help us this morning.

What does the word ‘lost’ mean? (merriam-webster.com)

* It means ‘not made use of or claimed’ such as ‘lost opportunity’

* It means ‘no longer possessed or known’ such as ‘lost sock’ or ‘lost keys’

* It means ‘ruined or destroyed physically or morally’ such as ‘a lost soul’

* It means ‘unable to find one’s way’ such as ‘lost in the city’

* It means ‘completely absorbed in something’ such as ‘lost in the music’

* It means ‘not appreciated or understood’ such as ‘the joke was lost on me’

* It means ‘unattainable without hope’ such as ‘a lost cause’

On the surface, the word ‘lost’ most of the time simply means “unable to find one’s way” usually in whatever context it is used in one way or another. Almost all of the definitions are a twist or a little shade different of being unable to find something or someone or ourselves.

The word ‘lost’ is used in the Bible and in churches because a person without God or someone who has serious doubts about God is ‘lost’ because we spiritually cannot find our way to faithful footing. ‘To be lost’ is to be without God, in the same way ‘to be found’ is to be with God.

NARRATIVE 2 ILLUSTRATION… Sister Visiting me at the wrong Howard Johnson (p)

When I moved to Tampa some years ago, I was staying at a hotel and my sister was coming to visit me. I was staying in a Howard Johnson Hotel on one of the main roads in Tampa. She texted me that she was almost to my hotel and so I stepped outside to greet her and to hop in her car because we were going to eat.