Title: Lost Sheep – Ministry
Theme: To show the importance of moving out and doing ministry.
Text: Luke 15
Offering Scripture: Proverbs 11:24-25 There is one who scatters, and yet increases all the more, and there is one who withholds what is justly due, and yet it results only in want. The generous man will be prosperous, and he who waters will himself be watered.
Scripture:
Luke 15:1-32 Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. (2) And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them." (3) So He spoke this parable to them, saying: (4) "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which 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 neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!' (7) I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.
Introduction
In Luke 15 Jesus shares with the crowd three parables dealing with the sinner. It is intresting how each one deals with the same topic but from different angles and theological perspectives. It almost as if Jesus was covering all the bases.
They were brought on because of the complaint that the Pharisees (the religious leaders) and scribes (the religious interpreters) that Jesus “receives sinners and eats with them.”
The sinners were attracted to the message of Christ. They were not there to get justification for their sin but to hear a way out.
Þ The true believer is to "come out from among them [the worldly] and be you separate, says the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty" (2 Cor. 6:17-18). He is not to be out in the world with sinners doing worldly things and carrying on worldly conversation (Ephes. 4:29; Col. 4:6).
Þ The true believer is to "go you into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature [sinner]" (Mark 16:15). The believer goes; he does not sit back and wait on sinners to come to him and the church. He goes out where the sinners are.
— Preacher's Outline and Sermon Bible - Commentary
Each one of these parables have a few things in common:
1) There is a tragedy (a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son)
2) There is a great search (sheep – wilderness, coin – search the house, boy – looking across the land)
3) A great celebration when that which was lost is found
a) Sheep - , he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'
b) Coin - she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!'
c) Son - , 'Bring] out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. (23) And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; (24) for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' And they began to be merry.
In two of the parables Jesus reminds us of what happens when a sinner comes to the Lord.
Sheep - I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.
Coin - Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
This brings these parables more to a Kingdom mindset. This is what the kingdom looks like. Now you may ask “Am I to believe that every time a person gets saved (come back into the kingdom) the angels rejoice?” I would say yes. This is how important a person is to God’s kingdom.
Another note is the fact that they all part of God’s kingdom at one time. Our relationship with God was broken in the garden but also in sin. Yet God wants to restore us.
This is the problem the Pharisees had, they thought they were good enough themselves (in other words they would restore themselves) yet Jesus was saying Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” No matter how bad these sinners look the truth is no body measures up not matter who they are.
So now let us take a quick look at each parable. I want to do this in reverse order so that we can end with the parable of the lost sheep.
Parable of the Lost Son (The Prodigal Son)
We have already noted a few common areas. This story deals with a family matter. The younger son decided he wanted his inheritance before his father died. So his father graciously gave it to him. This was very nice of him. The son goes out and wastes it, probably on parties, etc. He wakes up on day with nothing, not even friends. He winds up working a detestable job (especially to a Jew) of feeding hogs. With a hungry belly he decides to go back. He didn’t know what kind of greeting there would be but his father is so excited to see him. He was “lost” but now found.
I believe that this parable is more about the one who was part of the family and left it than anything. It is a sad sad state but it happens. Some people like to believe that there is no such thing as backsliding and stepping away from God but I believe scripture plainly teaches this. Now this is a tragedy. On top of that one of the hardest persons to win back is the one who has already known (Hebrews 6:4).
As I was reading this parable I asked the question, “What if the son never came back?” He would never again receive of the Father’s inheritance. James 5:19, John 15:5-6, Matthew 7:21, etc. all support this.
It is a sad state. What is even sadder is the closing of the parable as Jesus tells of the older son. When the younger son came back the father rejoiced. Yet the older son was mad because of the celebration. In other word he was helping his father for the wrong reasons.
This is a mark toward the church and the religious few. As we do draw closer to last days do we now hold up in arrogance the fact that we are saved? Or do we celebrate when a person who was part of the family comes back?
Parable of the Lost Coin
The middle parable is about the parable of the lost coin. Obliviously a coin has no conscience. The coin did not lose itself. This is a testament to the world and the people who don’t know they are lost. They would even tell you they didn’t cause it. In one sense the sin in ignorance. Yet this does not excuse them or us from sharing the gospel.
The coin is found and there is a big celebration.
Parable of the Lost Sheep
The last parable is the one of the Lost sheep. This is a little different because it deals with a larger crowd. In speaking of Jesus Isaiah said, “Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
Now let me get to what has been bothering me. A few weeks ago I was reading this parable and I finally came to an understanding of what it meant.
You see I have been bothered by this parable for years. The question I have always asked is why leave the 99 sheep for the one? In other words he puts the 99 in harm’s way to save 1 who put themselves in harm’s way.
This might sound strange but if we search our heart we will find that one of the ways that we justify a person who is lost is we say that they must have deserved it because.
We say that in hurt. We are just as bad as the disciples who asked Jesus, “John 9:1-3 Now as Jesus passed by, He saw a man who was blind from birth. (2) And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
So we don’t witness and people around us continue in their ways because, well I guess they deserve it.
But in this story Jesus leaves the 99 and goes and gets the 1. Why? Well just last week after over 25 years of looking at this passage it come to me and it answered all my frustrations. Jesus had gotten the 99 ready and prepared so that he could do this.
There must be a time in the church where the 99 can’t be left to take care of themselves so that we can go out and get the lost.
I am tired of doing church. I am tired of coming on Sunday morning and believing we have accomplished something because we just been in church. Yet we leave out Monday and never affect the world around us.
Wow! What a thought. I just want to tell you I can’t go on like this. It is time that we grew up as Christians quit spending so much time maintaining the church and what we can get out of it.
I am tired of just believing that church is a Sunday morning deal where being a part of Christ’s church is a life style. It is brining the church to the world. It is taking to the streets and to the sinners.
We spend absolutely too much time feeding the sheep that we do searching for the lost. We are doing you an injustice.
For some this may make you mad. What I really hope is that it challenges us to do ministry.
Love for the Church
Voices: I love this church, my friends go to this church. If my friends go then I go. I am here for the friendship.
Voices: The pastor has been visiting me. He visited my family. I am here because of his care and wonderful attitude.
Voices: I love the power of the church. I love the move of the church. I love the emotion of the church.
Voices: I love the church because it is God’s church and He has a plan and a purpose for me in this church.
A Church Needs All Kinds of love
Agape – to be committed to – I am committed to God, I am committed to this fellowship, this is where he put me. I hear people too much talk about how God changes His mind. One minute they tell God told them to leave.
Is this where the church typically is.
All these are good. We need to have a church
Philo – to share with, friendship, warm love and fellowship “I need to be talking to my wife”, listening to my wife
Eros – to derive pleasure from, sizzle pleasure bond, every marriage should have pleasure, don’t stop dating one another.
Storge – to care for, parental love , do things that show we value our spouse
Conclusion
I want us to conclude this service with a searching. A searching for a new plan of God’s will. A searching for a new purpose that goes beyond on needs.
