Redefining Lostness
MARK 2:16-17 When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, "Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?" And hearing this, Jesus *said to them, "it is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
LUKE 19:10 "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
LOOKING FOR THE LOST The boss of a big company needed to call one of his employees about an urgent problem with one of the main computers. He dialed the employee’s home telephone number and was greeted with a child’s whispered, "Hello?" Feeling put out at the inconvenience of having to talk to a youngster, the boss asked, "Is your Daddy home?" "Yes," whispered the small voice. "May I talk with him?" the man asked. To the surprise of the boss, the small voice whispered, "No." Wanting to talk with an adult, the boss asked, "Is your Mommy there?" "Yes," came the answer. "May I talk with her?" Again, the small voice whispered, "No." Knowing that it was not likely that a young child would be left home alone, the boss decided he would just leave a message with the person who should be there watching over the child. "Is there anyone there besides you?" the boss asked the child. "Yes," whispered the child, "a policeman." Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee’s home, the boss asked, "May I speak with the policeman?" "No, he is busy," whispered the child. "Busy doing what?" asked the boss. "Talking to Daddy and Mommy and the Fireman," came the whispered answer. Growing concerned and even worried as he heard what sounded like a helicopter through the ear piece on the phone, the boss asked, "What is that noise?" "A hello-copper," answered the whispering voice. "What is going on there?" asked the boss, now alarmed. In an awed whispering voice, the child answered, "The search team just landed the hello-copper!" Alarmed, concerned and more than just a little frustrated, the boss asked, "Why are they there?" Still whispering, the young voice replied (along with a muffled giggle), "They are looking for me!"
Different ways in which we are lost…
The Lost Sheep – The one who wanders away…
The Lost Coin – The one who just doesn’t know…
The Younger Son – The deliberate step
The Older Son – The one who doesn’t know it
The Lost Sheep – The one who wanders away…
A. The lost sheep. READ VERSES 4-7
1. Explain the Shepherds job.
2. The sheep strayed off because it was not thinking or paying attention to what was going on around him.
3. Nibbling away living life, and then he was lost.
4. The sheep represents the person who foolishly wanders from God. The person who really has not given any thought to life and its questions.
B. The Shepherd.
1. God’s concern for the lost one. He left the 99 to find the one.
2. He did not just write off the sheep.
3. He did not beat the sheep when He found it either.
4. The shepherd tenderly carries home the lost sheep.
C. Conclusion
1. Losing a sheep was a serious matter. The Shepherds reputation was at stake. If he lost the sheep, he would have to pay for it. Jesus already paid the price for the lost sheep, God wants us to try to round them up!
2. A sheep was valuable, but ……
The Lost Coin – The one who just doesn’t know…
A. The Lost coin.
1. The coin was lost because it was mishandled. It was misplaced.
2. It was lost because it was badly mishandled
3. The coin’s lost condition caused the coin no discomfort.
4. It could symbolize the lost who are ignorant of their condition.
B. The Woman
1. The coin was worth about one day’s wage. This would be a lot of money for a poor person.
2. The coin could have come from the head band that married women wore. It consisted of ten coins. It could never be taken away from them. It would have been a disgrace for her to loose a coin from it. It was like a wedding ring.
3. The represents the efforts that God went to so that man could be reconciled to Himself.
4. God has done all that He can for man. We are to look for the lost.
5. It was bad to lose a sheep, it was worse to lose money, but it would even be worse to lose a son.
The Younger Son – The deliberate step
Those who have decided to follow the world. Verses 11-32.
A. The Rejection of Home 12-16.
1. This is a willful and conscience effort to leave the home.
2. It was self-determined and daring. His father could have refused to let him go.
3. When the son got his wish, he did not move in across the street, but he went as far away from his father as he could get. This way his father could not know what he was up to. I think that people act differently when they know that their father is watching them. God always knows what we are doing!
C. Reception at Home. 20-24
1. The father is pictured as waiting for his son to return home. We do not hear of him cursing the son, or talking about what a selfish loser he raised.
2. When the father sees the son, he runs to him and kisses him continually.
3. The son doesn’t even get a opportunity to give his repentance speech.
4. The father gave the son the robe which shows that son that he was being restored to a state of sonship.
5. He gave him a signet ring that represented the union of heart between the father and son, it was a sign of authority.
6. The father gave him shoes, to show that the boy was family. Only family members were allowed to wear shoes, the servants went barefooted.
7. The restoration was complete. The father did not hold the sins of the son over his head, but he forgave him.
8. The father shows God’s care and concern for the lost. When a prodigal son returns to God, God restores him, God doesn’t tell him that he is lucky that he is accepted, but that he is accepted. God’s forgiveness is true forgiveness. A lot of times we say that we forgive, but we don’t forget. God doesn’t forget the incidents, but he does not count them against us.
9. The story could end here on a happy note, but Jesus was not done with the religious leaders.
The Older Son – The one who doesn’t know it
Through moral conformity they feel they have earned … and God owes them.
???
Do we need a savior – the story of Shrek the Sheep
Have you heard the story of Shrek, the merino sheep that had evaded capture and shearing for 6 years? When he was finally discovered in his high mountain cave of New Zealand by musterer Ann Scanlan, he was almost unrecognizable as a sheep. The first thing his rescuer did was pin back his wool so he could see to walk. There was such an interest in Shrek’s return that the owner kept him in a pen for weeks so reporters and television stations could broadcast the amazing return of the lost sheep. And then, on live television, world champion shearer Peter Casserly shaved off 6 years of matted wool. As the shearer worked, he laid Shrek on his side with a foot of wool as his bed. How much is Shrek’s story like our story, for "we all like sheep have gone astray." But Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross removes all of our sin and guilt that makes us unrecognizable as children of God. This is what we remember at communion-- that the Good Shepherd "bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls."
These parables show us that God loves and cars for the lost. We see this in the parable of the lost sheep. The shepherd tenderly carried the sheep back home. In the parable of the lost coin we see that the lost are of enough value to God that He searches for them and wants them to be recovered. In the Prodigal Son we see God’s love for those who reject Him and His forgiveness for those who repent.
God does not hold our old sins against us, nor does He act like forgiveness is a favor to us, even though it is. When President Lincoln was asked how he would treat the rebellious southerners when they were defeated, he said, “I will treat them as if they had never been away.
The love of God can defeat the foolishness of man, the indifference of man, and the deliberate rebellion of man!
The lost are valuable to God. Jesus said that He came to seek and save the lost. My question is , “What are we doing about the Lost?”
