Reel Talk
Pt. 5 - Hacksaw Ridge
Luke 15 is unique. It is probably no more than a 20 or 30 minute slot of time in Jesus' life. However, it stands out against all other moments when Jesus speaks because the entire exchange is simply stories. Stories to respond to the religious folks and their anger towards His willingness to spend time with people that they thought were less deserving, less desirable, and less needed than them. Jesus, as was His pattern, answers their anger and accusations with stories designed to pull them into the plot and get them to examine and adjust their own attitude. May the same be true today for us. 3 stories. 2 traits.
I. Text: Luke 15:1-32
By this time a lot of men and women of doubtful reputation were hanging around Jesus, listening intently. The Pharisees and religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They growled, “He takes in sinners and eats meals with them, treating them like old friends.” Their grumbling triggered this story.
“Suppose one of you had a hundred sheep and lost one. Wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until you found it? When found, you can be sure you would put it across your shoulders, rejoicing, and when you got home call in your friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Celebrate with me! I’ve found my lost sheep!’ Count on it—there’s more joy in heaven over one sinner’s rescued life than over ninety-nine good people in no need of rescue.
“Or imagine a woman who has ten coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and scour the house, looking in every nook and cranny until she finds it? And when she finds it you can be sure she’ll call her friends and neighbors: ‘Celebrate with me! I found my lost coin!’ Count on it—that’s the kind of party God’s angels throw every time one lost soul turns to God.”
Then he said, “There was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, I want right now what’s coming to me.’ “So the father divided the property between them. It wasn’t long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any. “That brought him to his senses. He said, ‘All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I’m going back to my father. I’ll say to him, Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.’ He got right up and went home to his father. “When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: ‘Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son ever again.’
“But the father wasn’t listening. He was calling to the servants, ‘Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We’re going to feast! We’re going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!’ And they began to have a wonderful time.
“All this time his older son was out in the field. When the day’s work was done he came in. As he approached the house, he heard the music and dancing. Calling over one of the houseboys, he asked what was going on. He told him, ‘Your brother came home. Your father has ordered a feast—barbecued beef!—because he has him home safe and sound.’
“The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn’t listen. The son said, ‘Look how many years I’ve stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast!’
“His father said, ‘Son, you don’t understand. You’re with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours—but this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he’s alive! He was lost, and he’s found!’”
There are two traits or attitudes that I want to draw to your attention that these 3 stories reveal to us about our Father and call for us to emulate and embrace.
1. Awareness
It is striking to me that one thing that remains the same in each story is a sense of awareness. It doesn't matter the level of prosperity, affluence reached the main character in each story is aware of the lost. The first story makes this obvious. The shepherd has 100 sheep but notices one that is gone. That is aware! But by telling the three stories, Jesus shows us awareness at all levels. 100, 10, 2 doesn't matter they were aware when lost. Jesus makes it clear that even if you have 99 left one missing isn't acceptable. He shows us that if it is a 1%, 100% or 50% loss any loss is too much. It shouldn't be acceptable if most of your family is saved, half your school reached, or a portion of your work rescued. In fact, notice that in all three accounts the focus and emphasis shifts away from those that are safe and is placed almost entirely on the ones that are lost. We struggle with that don't we? We tend to put our focus on the saved. Jesus calls us to remain decidedly aware and focused on the ones that are lost!
2. Urgency
The other trait that is apparent in these accounts is urgency. The shepherd risks all the others to find the one that is lost. He leaves the 99 in the wilderness exposed and vulnerable. The woman tears her house up and is relentless in her pursuit of finding the lost coins.. The father daily looks for and waits for the return until he sees the son returning and he risks his own life (by running and showing legs) to get to the lost. Urgency! Desperate! Willing to go to great lengths to find. Jesus reveals, not only the heart of the Father, but at the same time calls us to have this attitude! He is in fact telling the religious leaders that have attacked Him that He is willing to lay to waste His own reputation to reach those that need to be reached! He is so urgent that if it means people talk bad about Him He will continue to spend His time with the ones others avoid.
Desmond Doss, a conscientious objector, who signed up as a medic goes into the Battle of Okinawa in WWII and without weapons or any assistance, after all the American Troops had pulled back, single handedly pulls and rescues 75 wounded men on Hacksaw Ridge. For his efforts he is the only conscientious objector to receive the Medal of Honor.
So in light of the 3 stories, the 2 traits, and this true account on video my question is to you . . .
Who is your one more?
When is last time you pulled one to safety?
I am so thankful for ones we have seen saved but our cry must be just one more. Are we we even aware of the lost? Are we satisfied with the 99? Are we content with the one that is in the house? Or are we urgent about the rescue of those who are still out there exposed to enemy fire, death, destruction? When has the cry for one more come from your heart?
Too many of us are comfortable. We have become timid, distracted and so self centered that we are no longer aware that those around us are being wounded and killed.
We must get back on task, we must value the one, we must love souls more than we love safety.
Who is your one more? Have we become so contented in our savedness that we no longer ask for what matters most? I hear cries for favor, protection and provisions but I don't hear the cry for souls!
Today I remind you that there are lost sheep. Lost coins. Lost sons. I remind you that we have been sent to rescue!
