LUKE 7:34; LUKE 15:1-2 “FRIEND OF SINNERS”
A) Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach.
* This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that He was
associating [being friends] with such sinful people, even eating with them.
B) Jesus’ critics despised and avoided sinful people.
* They saw them as enemies – Their strict observance of religious customs produced
an attitude of spiritual pride – They lost touch.
C) To them people far from God had no worth, no value, or no importance.
* They were unholy and an offense to God and was to be avoided.
* They concluded that God hated sinners.
D) Meanwhile Jesus intentionally befriended sinful people.
* He saw them as loved by God but caught in their sin.
* His disciples and followers were everyday people, men and women, including
those who had lived ugly and immoral lives.
E) Sinful people were drawn to Jesus not because he cut them any slack morally
but because they sensed that they truly mattered to him.
* He lived and walked among them and filled a broken place in their souls.
* He didn’t charge for teaching or healing – He was humble and approachable by the
lowest of the low and diseased.
F) And when He spoke about the kingdom of God it included them.
* I’m talking about the poor and powerless, those who needed mercy and forgiveness,
who were struggling just to live – They believed that He truly loved them.
* Luke 19:10 [Jesus came] “to seek and save the lost.”
G) [Jesus explained] that “healthy people don’t need a doctor, sick people do.”
* Mark 2:17, He said, “I haven’t come to call those who think they are righteous,
but those who know they are sinners.”
H) Jesus came to seek out people who are flawed and broken, people like you
and me who have missed the mark of God’s standard.
* I’ve not loved God above all else – I’ve not loved my neighbor as myself.
* I won’t bore you with the other commandments I have failed to keep.
I) If you are anything like me you have messed-up bad.
* This is the true human condition, fatally flawed and lost, in desperate need of
the grace of God.
* Rom. 3:23 “For all have sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”
J) Sin is not primarily the sinful things we think, say or do; it’s much deeper,
it’s a condition of the heart.
* An attitude of rebellion – Going my own way instead of seeking God’s way.
* Jer. 17:9 says that the human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and
desperately wicked – Who really knows how bad it is?
K) Jesus’ critics did not examine their hearts or motives.
* They stuck to the externals, the rules they could be proud of keeping.
* In Luke 15, Jesus answers His critics – He tells 3 stories about joy in heaven
when lost sinners repent.
(1) STORY 1: DOES ONE LOST SHEEP MATTER?
A) A shepherd has 100 sheep and one is lost.
* What value is one lost sheep if you still have 99? – Forget it? – Who cares?
* No! Sheep have names – They recognize the shepherd’s voice and follow him.
B) He leaves the 99 to seek for the one lost sheep by name and when he finds it
there is a celebration.
* He calls his friends and neighbors and says, “Rejoice with me, because I have
found my lost sheep.”
* Jesus teaches, “In the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner
who repents than over 99 righteous people who have no need of repentance.”
(2) STORY 2: DOES ONE LOST COIN MATTER?
A) A woman has 10 silver coins [each worth a day’s wage] and one is lost.
* Does the lost coin matter? – YES! Certainly – She lights a lamp and sweeps until
she finds it – Then she calls and says,
* “Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.” – In the same way, there is
joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”
(3) STORY 3: DOES ONE LOST PERSON MATTER?
A) The characters in Jesus’ 3rd story are: A wealthy landowner with hired
servants is the father of two sons.
* The younger son is angry and rebellious – The older son is angry but compliant.
* To illustrate the point further [why Jesus eats with sinners], Jesus told them this
story in v.11-12 .......
B) “A man had two sons – The younger son told his father, “I want my share of
your estate now before you die.”
* So, his father agreed to divide his wealth between his two sons.
C) Imagine the turmoil inside the younger son to make such a demand.
* He is like a shaken bottle ready to explode – What he is asking for is not done.
* An estate is divided when a person dies – The son is actually saying, “I wish you
were dead – I don’t want to wait – I want what is mine now.”
D) There is no love, no devotion or no honor in his heart.
* In his mind he has already left his father and wants nothing to do with him or his
way of life.
* He does not ask his father’s blessing but his father’s money – Their relationship
is in ruins.
E) Jesus’ critics were outraged by this part of the story.
* Why would a father agree to do this?
* The younger son is ungrateful and insulting – What he asks is worthy of the
strongest possible rebuke.
F) The father is willing to endure the pain of rejected love.
* He recognizes that his son has come of age, is distant and unresponsive.
* His son’s request has broken his heart – He knows that love and devotion cannot
be forced – He makes a hard choice, i.e. to let him go.
G) He gives his share of the estate and will wait and long for his son’s return.
* v.13 says, “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved
to a far country [distant land] and there he wasted all his money on wild living.”
WHAT IS IT THIS YOUNGER SON WANTS?
A) He wants distance from his father and no boundaries, nothing to restrict him
from experiencing the forbidden.
* So, he picks a pagan city with no moral restraints, likely a seaport with every kind
of vice, and he wasted all his money on wild living.
B) This lifestyle quickly emptied his pockets and his heart.
* What he thought exciting and fulfilling quickly disappeared along with his money.
* What was once attractive became a shadow that haunted him.
C) Every poor choice comes with a batch of poorer choices.
* v.13-16, about the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land,
and he began to be in want. [Starving]
D) He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his
fields to feed the pigs.
* The young man became so hungry that even the slop he was feeding the pigs
looked good to him – But no one gave him anything.
IMAGINE WHAT HE FELT:
A) He had rejected the moral fiber and foundation of his life – He made fleshly
pleasure and worldly treasure his god.
* He had become a broken person living in filth – The loss and emptiness he felt
was profound – In his rebellion he had not experienced genuine love or intimacy.
* He used people and was used by people who figured him a dupe – All bridges
burned he forfeited the right to be the son of his father.
B) But then he began to remember home in a very different way.
* Home is where hired laborers are treated with generosity and respect.
* Home is where there is goodness and light.
C) But can he go home? – Is it too late?
* Had his father firmly shut the door?
* Had his father disowned and forgotten all about him? – The greatest sin was not the
waste of the money or immorality, but the broken relationship with his father.
D) v.17-19, when he finally came to his senses, he said to himself .......
* “At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying
of hunger – I will go home to my father and say .......”
* “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of
being called your son – Please take me on as a hired servant.”
JUST FOR A MOMENT:
A) Imagine what else he could’ve done if he returned home.
* He could have made the mistake many of us make when there is great wrong in
our lives – We place blame on others – We excuse ourselves and accuse others.
B) He could’ve arrogantly gone home and said, “Father, here I am broke and
filthy and it’s your fault – You never should have given me the money.”
* “This never would have happened if you had been the kind of father I needed.”
* But that’s not how the story goes – The Holy Spirit broke through and the young
man saw his own responsibility for the choices he had made. [Holy Ambush]
C) A holy ambush is when the Holy Spirit interrupts your messed-up thinking
and speaks to your heart.
* A window to your soul begins to open – You begin to seek truth and become
teachable and correctable.
* You stop making excuses or blaming others or bad breaks – Repentance is far
more than words – It is brokenness.
D) The young wayward son admits – He’s had enough of what this world offers.
* His selfish choices never produced anything beautiful.
E) Breaking God’s commands was far more than foolish.
* He had broken hearts and deeply hurt those who loved him most.
* Anyone here today in need of a holy ambush?
IN v.22-24 – HE RETURNED HOME TO HIS FATHER
A) It says, “And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming.”
* “Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.”
* “His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am
no longer worthy of being called your son.’”
B) “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick, bring the finest robe in the house
and put it on him – Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet.”
* “And kill the calf we have been fattening – We must celebrate with a feast, for this
son of mine was dead and has now returned to life.”
* “He was lost, but now he is found.” – So the party began.
C) Imagine how the son felt now – Stunned – Amazed.
* Blown away by such costly love and forgiveness.
* Grateful – Humbled – Relieved – Astonished – Safe – Secure
D) Sadly, his older brother wasn’t glad to see him.
* He heard the news and the party noise and was angry and resentful – He didn’t
even go in when his father came and begged him.
* He told his father off saying that he had slaved for him all these years and gotten
nothing in return.
E) He wanted justice not mercy – Give him what he deserves – Rejection.
* His father simply said in v.31-32 “Look, son, you’ve always stayed by me,
and everything I have is yours.”
* “We had to celebrate this happy day, for your brother was dead and has come back
to life – He was lost, but now he is found.”
JESUS’ SELF-RIGHTEOUS CRITICS ARE LIKE THE OLDER SON
A) They were angry that the father was merciful to a sinner.
* They could not see their own true need, their lost condition.
B) In story 1, the shepherd went after the lost sheep until found.
* In story 2, the lady searched for the lost coin until found.
* Why didn’t the father go search for the lost son?
C) I’ll tell you why – Because God calls us, he does not coerce us.
* God sends the Holy Spirit, the “Hound of Heaven” to sniff us out and bring us
under conviction – We have to come to our senses.
D) It’s a great blessing to see your lost condition and experience a change of
heart – And if you are feeling or thinking this today, you are blessed.
* The Father didn’t wait with his arms folded and back turned for his son to return
in shame and fear – He ran to his son and embraced him.
E) There was no condemnation, no questions, or no lecture from the father.
* There was no “I told you so,” or, “You should have listened to me.”
CLOSE
A) The Father was waiting for the lost son to come home.
* Jesus was intentionally showing sinners the way home to the Father.
* Jesus gave His followers the call to follow Him and engage sinners in the kingdom
of God – Let me ask you – Are you engaging sinners today?
B) Who do you know in whom you are seeking to influence toward Jesus,
or are you satisfied to just come to church and feel good about yourself?
* Jesus still waits today for us to come home.
C) Lost sheep and lost people have names.
* He replaces our filthy rags with clean ones.
* Forgiveness is waiting and a brand-new life.
D) Not just saved people are loved by God.
* Jesus is truly the FRIEND OF SINNERS.
* Jesus is the way home to the Father.
E) Romans 5:6 “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right
time and died for us sinners.”
* What is keeping you from returning home to the Father?
