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.
A few minutes passed and she called me. She asked if I was at my hotel. I told her I was standing outside my room waiting on her like I told her I would be. She stated that she was parked right outside my room and I was not standing there.
We compared notes. I was at the Howard Johnson on Dale Mabry. She was at the Howard Johnson on Dale Mabry. I was in front of the room. She looked and noted the same room number on the door in front of her. If I remember correctly, she also texted me a photo of my hotel door with me not standing in front of it. She began to describe the hotel she was at which was very run down and sketchy which was why she was on edge in the first place. I was at a modest hotel, but not what she described.
We figured out that there were 2 hotels with the same name on the same road that were about 5 miles apart. She was at a different hotel and felt completely lost. I knew where I was and I also felt lost!
The passage and three parables that we are going to look at today have everything to do with being lost. These are parables that Jesus gives as He is trying to defend Himself against the Pharisees and their condemnation of His interest in the tax collectors and sinners. Jesus was seeking out these sinful people and was making a difference in their lives because they were ‘lost’ and did not have God.
That was the mission of Jesus. That is still the mission of Jesus!
READ LUKE 19:10 (ESV)
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
The Pharisees saw the overall mission of Jesus and were offended and condemned Jesus for even eating with these types of lost people. The beginning of Luke 15 tells us, “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.” (verses 1-2).
Jesus wants these religious leaders to understand God’s attitude about “sinners” and those that are lost because it is His attitude. He likens God to a shepherd who seeks a lost sheep with skill and determination. Jesus wants to explain why His time is spent with people whose lives have taken a turn into sin and seem to reject God and are lost. He shares with us that God cares deeply when we are lost and away from Him. Jesus wants to share the heart of God. He lets us know that God is like a shepherd that seeks and finds those lost to Him.
NARRATIVE 3: “Waterworld”
In 1995, a jewel of a movie was released starring Kevin Costner. It is titled ‘Waterworld’ and only gets 8% on Rotten Tomatoes and was a complete flop, but I love it. I love the story and the idea. After the melting of the polar ice caps, most of the globe is underwater. Some humans have survived, and even fewer still, notably the character called the Mariner (Kevin Costner), have adapted to the ocean by developing gills. Weird, but ok. A loner by nature, the Mariner reluctantly befriends Helen (Jeanne Tripplehorn) and her young companion, Enola (Tina Majorino), as they escape from a hostile artificial island. Soon the sinister Smokers are pursuing them and capture Enola in the belief that Enola holds the key to finding the mythical Dryland. All hope seems lost.
As spunky captured Enola faces the evil ones, she says that her friend the Mariner will come for her and the bad guys will be very sorry. She says with confidence: “He doesn’t have name so death can’t find him. He doesn't have a home or people to care for. He's not afraid of anything, men least of all. He's fast and strong like a big wind. He can hear a hundred miles and see a hundred miles underwater. He can hide in the shadow of a noon sun. He can be right behind you and you won't even know it til you're dead! He’ll come for me. He will!”
With a speech like that, the movie goes like you think it will!
TRANSITION
Let’s keep reading in Luke 15 on Jesus’ parables to the Pharisees and those gathered there. He wants the religious leaders to understand God’s heart about those that find themselves lost and shaken by their own decisions in life. He has already explained that God seeks after and finds those who are lost. How does Jesus continue?
READ LUKE 15:8-10 (ESV)
“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
WHAT DOES GOD FEEL ABOUT THOSE WHO ARE LOST?
What does God feel about those who are lost? There are people that can be described as “spiritually lost”. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day just called those people “sinners.” Jesus would proclaim just a few chapters later in Luke 19, in the house of a man named Zacchaeus:
READ LUKE 19:10 (ESV)
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
God is so passionate about those that have lost their way that He sent His Son to find them and reveal the best way. God loves those that are stuck in a lifestyle of sin that He died on the cross so that their debt of sin would be paid. God seeks out those that are lost with such fervor that Jesus describes the woman in His parable as diligently and painstakingly searching her house for the lost coin. Every corner is swept out and every dark place is investigated. No piece of furniture is left standing in her efforts to find the lost coin.
It is the same with God. The parable is about God. God is the woman searching for the lost coin. We are the lost coin. God searches for us. God makes a great effort in seeking those that are lost to Him. The effort and intensity should not be missed in this parable.
READ PSALM 14:2 (ESV)
“The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God.”
The picture we get from Jesus Christ is that each and every person is very important to God. Every single soul is an image bearer and can become a child of God. We get that from this parable and also the previous parable. Don’t forget that the shepherd goes after the one lost sheep because of its importance.
You are extremely important to God and Jesus wanted you to know that.
Somebody needs to hear this today.
You are extremely important to God and Jesus wants you to know that.
TRANSITION
Let’s keep reading in Luke 15 (verses 11-32) to the end of the chapter all about Jesus’ parables to the Pharisees and those gathered there.
READ LUKE 15:11-32 (ESV)
11 And He said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. 14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. 17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. 25 “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”
WHAT DOES GOD FEEL ABOUT THOSE WHO ARE “FOUND”?
What does God feel about those who are found?
* Verse 7 says: “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.”
* Verses 10 says: “Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
* Verse 20 says: “And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. “
* Verse 24 says: “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.”
* Verse 32 says: “It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”
The word that is used most often in these two similar parables is the word “rejoice.” Rejoicing means the presence of joy. The presence of gladness. Extreme happiness. Elation. The KJV says that “joy shall be in heaven” (Luke 15:7) when someone is found. In the Bible, singing is associated with rejoicing (Psalm 5:11; 32:11). The playing of instruments like flutes is associated with rejoicing (Isaiah 30:29). Shouting is also associated with rejoicing (Isaiah 35:2; Jeremiah 31:12).
The image that we get is a huge celebration in Heaven when someone turns to faith in
Jesus Christ and comes to God. There is singing and shouts of joy and the clamor of instruments each time a person is “found.” It is a huge celebration. It is a big deal.
Jesus Christ was trying to explain to the Pharisees and anyone else who would listen and He is trying to explain to us… that Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. Period. Jesus was looking for those who had wandered away from God.
* God wanted them. He loved them. It was Jesus’ purpose to make a way for those lost ones to find their way to their Heavenly Father.
* God still wants them. He still loves them. It is still Jesus’ purpose to make a way for those lost ones to find their way to their Heavenly Father.
* God wants you. He loves you. It is Jesus’ purpose to make a way for you to find your way to your Heavenly Father.
How does God feel?
* Joyous like the shepherd who finds the lost sheep.
* Joyous and happy and celebratory like the woman who finds the lost coin.
* Relieved and full of joy just like the father in the parable.
APPLICATION
I believe two important truths about Jesus Christ that I also want you to believe them.
#1 Jesus is the answer to all our lostness no matter what kind we may find ourselves in.
Jesus claims us as His own and so none of us are ever lost in that way.
Jesus never loses us and keeps our souls in the palm of His hand.
Jesus is literally the only way for our souls to be found.
Jesus gives us direction and meaning and we are never lost without Him.
Jesus is our anchor and we are never lost to the garbage of this world.
Jesus is our intermediary between us and God and makes all things right.
Jesus makes peace and forgiveness and hope and strength attainable.
Jesus is the answer to all our lostness no matter what kind we may find ourselves in.
#2 Jesus fulfills all the cool movie quotes.
"I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want or what you have done. If you are looking for ransom I can tell you, Jesus Christ paid it already with a very particular holy life and horrible death and miraculous resurrection. The life and death and resurrection of Jesus make Him a nightmare for Satan and evil and maybe even people like you who want to reject God.
He has the Name above all Names and death has no hold on Him. He owns it all and is the King of Heaven and loves everyone unconditionally. He's not afraid of anything, devils least of all. He's fast and strong like a big wind because He created the wind. He can hear a hundred miles and see a hundred miles underwater because He created hearing and sight. He made the shadow of a noon sun and willingly died in the middle of it. He can be right behind you and you won't even know it til you're saved! He’ll come for you. He will!”
PRAYER
