Several years ago, 44-year-old Gary Matthews petitioned the court in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania to have his name legally changed to “Boomer the Dog.” In his petition, Mr. Matthews stated, “I've been known as Boomer the Dog by friends in the community for more than 20 years. I want to bring my legal name in line with that.”
Judge Ronald Folilno denied Mr. Matthew's name-change request, arguing that it would cause too much confusion. Judge Folino's decision included the following example:
Petitioner witnesses a serious automobile accident and [calls 911]. The dispatcher queries as to the caller's identity, and the caller responds, “This is Boomer the Dog.” It is not a stretch to imagine the telephone dispatcher concluding that the call is a prank and refusing therefore to send an emergency medical response. I am denying the petitioner's request.
The judge concluded his order by observing, “Although the petitioner apparently wishes it were otherwise, the simple fact remains that he is not a dog” (“Furry Logic,” Harper's Magazine, December, 2010, p. 27; www.PreachingToday.com).
People the world over are lost, not realizing their true value. They see themselves as less than human, some even as “trash” in the eyes of God. But nothing could be further from the truth.
If you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Luke 15, Luke 15, where Jesus tells three stories to illustrate your value to God and to all of heaven.
Luke 15:1-2 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them” (ESV).
There are two kinds of people in Jesus’ audience—the religious and the rebellious, the Pharisees and the sinners, those whom the culture respected and those whom the culture despised. In Jesus’ day, yes, and even in our day, respectable people stay away from liars and cheats (like the tax collectors back then).
After all, Psalm 1 says, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers” (Psalm 1:1). So it horrified the religious people that Jesus would welcome such “sinners” into His circle of friends and even eat with them.
Luke 15:3-7 So he told them this parable: “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? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 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.’ 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 (ESV).
To the religious people, Jesus is saying, “You should rejoice like all of heaven when I seek out and save those who are lost.” To the sinner, Jesus is saying…
REALIZE YOUR VALUE TO GOD.
Recognize that all of heaven treasures you and celebrates when you turn from your sin and let Jesus bring you home. Please, grasp in your own heart how much God prizes you, so much so that He throws a party with the angels in heaven when Jesus finds and rescues you!
Now, a full-grown sheep in Jesus’ day weighed 150 to 200 pounds! So the shepherd in Jesus’ story was carrying an animal equal to or greater than his own weight! It was not an easy task. In addition, the sheep was probably sticky with lanolin (a fat found in the sheep’s wool). It was smelly and loaded with dirt. But the shepherd is glad to bring his lost sheep home! (Victor Yap, The Shepherd and Overseer of Our Souls, Dec 26, 2007, www.Sermon Central.com).
Maybe, like this sheep, you’ve wandered far away from God. Now, you find your life smelly and loaded with dirt. Even so, Jesus is looking for you to bring you home with Him. He loves you, no matter how bad your life has become, and He is glad to carry you on His shoulders.
In the 4th century there was a holy man who lived in the desert. His name was Abba Abraham, and he was known for his great devotion to God, his simple life, and mostly for his love. When his married brother in the city died, he left a seven year old daughter with no one to care for her. Abba Abraham took her into his own home.
Her name was Mary, and through the years Mary grew into a beautiful and very devout girl, just like her uncle. Then one day a very bad man traveled by their place in the desert and was captivated by her beauty. He grabbed her, raped her, and then left her all alone in the desert in great despair.
The experience broke her. Mary blamed herself, thinking she could never again be loved. Then she punished herself even more by going to a brothel in a distant city, convinced that God could never forgive her.
Meanwhile, Abba Abraham looked everywhere for his niece. After two years, he finally learned what had happened to her and where she was. With a father’s love, he determined to win her back. So he took off his simple clothes, put on a military uniform, pulled a big hat down over his ears, borrowed a horse, and set off for the city.
There, he found her in a tavern where she is staying, and he said to the innkeeper, “They tell me, friend, that you have a fine prostitute here. I’d like to have a look at her, if you would.” So he sat down, ordered a drink, and soon Mary was brought in. She didn’t recognize him. So he yelled out, “Innkeeper, make us a good supper, because I plan to spend a lot of time with Mary.” He said, “I’ve come a long way for the love of Mary.”
After supper, Mary took him to her room, and for the first time they were alone. As she bent down to take off his shoes, he said again, “I’ve come a long way for the love of Mary.” Then she recognized him and fell at his feet in tears, as suddenly she realized what he’d done for her. Abba Abraham, known for his simple life, would never have done these things if he hadn’t loved her so much and forgiven her everything. And through his love, she was able to imagine God’s love and forgiveness as well.
So she left the brothel, went back to the desert with her uncle, and gave her life to the Lord. She helped a lot of people find healing, and she is known to many today as St. Mary the Harlot (Belden Lane, Bethany Press; Victor Yap, The Shepherd and Overseer of Our Souls, Dec 26, 2007, SermonCentral.com)
Like Mary, you may find yourself lost and all lone. Maybe you think God could never forgive you, but that’s not true. God is looking for you right now to bring you home. In fact, God Himself became a man, so he could find broken, lost sinners like you and me. He came into our world, died on a cross for our sins, and rose again to rescue you from your sin. All you need to do is trust Him with your life. Please, let Him carry you on His shoulders all the way to heaven. Realize your value to God like that of a lost sheep.
More than that, realize your value to God like that of lost silver.
Luke 15:8-10 “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? 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.’ Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (ESV).
The coin here was a Greek drachma, worth about a day’s wages. However, its value was not so much in what it was worth, but in its significance to the owner.
Warren Wiersbe says, “When a Jewish girl married, she began to wear a headband of ten silver coins to signify that she was now a wife. It was the Jewish version of our modern wedding ring, and it would be considered a calamity for her to lose one of those coins… [So] imagine her joy at finding it!” (Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, Victor Books, 1996)—like finding a lost engagement ring.
One fine day in 1941, Violet Bailey and her fiancé Samuel Booth were strolling through the English countryside, deeply in love and engaged to be married. A diamond engagement ring sparkled on Violet's finger—her most treasured possession.
Their romantic bliss suddenly ended. One of them said something that hurt the other. An argument ensued, then escalated. At its worst point, Violet became so angry she pulled the diamond engagement ring from her finger, drew back her arm, and hurled the treasured possession with all her might into the field.
The ring sailed through the air, fell to the ground, and nestled under the grass in such a way that it was impossible to see. Violet and Samuel kissed and made up. Then they walked and walked through that field hunting for the lost ring. They never found it.
They were married two months later. They had a child and eventually a grandson. Part of their family lore was the story of the lost engagement ring.
Violet and Samuel grew old together, and in 1993 Samuel died. Fifteen years passed, but the ring was not forgotten. One day Violet's grandson got an idea. Perhaps he could find his grandmother's ring with a metal detector. He bought one and went to the field where Violet had hurled her treasured possession 67 years earlier. He turned on his metal detector and began to crisscross the field, waving the detector over the grass. After two hours of searching, he found what he was looking for. Later, filled with joy and pride, he placed the diamond ring into the hand of his astonished grandmother Violet. The treasured possession had come home (“It wasn't all bad,” The Week, 2-15-08, p. 4; www.PrechingToday.com).
In the same way, God rejoices when you come home to Him! You are His treasured possession, so please, realize your value to Him. Realize your value to God like that of a lost sheep. Realize your value to God like that of lost silver.
And realize your value to God like that of a lost son.
Luke 15:11-12 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. 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 (ESV).
Now, the younger son’s share would have been one-third of everything his father owned (Deuteronomy 21:17). And by asking for it early, the younger son basically expressed his wish that his father was already dead. Imagine the audacity of the younger son asking for his share of the estate before his father had died. However, even more amazing is the fact that the father granted his younger son’s wish. The father gave him one-third of all he owned.
Luke 15:13-16 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. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything (ESV).
Pods were the seeds of the carob tree, common around the Mediterranean and used for pigs’ food (Liefeld). So here you have a Jewish boy wanting to eat pig slop. It’s gross for anyone, but especially for a Jew who considered pigs unclean.
Luke 15:17-20 “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! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” ’ 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 (ESV).
Since the father saw his boy coming from “a long way off,” that can only mean the father was waiting for him, perhaps daily searching the distant road hoping for his appearance. Moreover, the father ran to his son, something old men rarely do, especially in that culture, where out of respect the young approach the older, not the other way around (Liefeld, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Zondervan Publishing House, 1984).
On top of it all, the father embraced his son, who had brought such disgrace to his family and village. Wiersbe suggests that, according to Deuteronomy 21:18-21, the village men should have stoned such a rebellious son. But had they done so, they would have hit the father embracing his son (Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, Victor Books, 1996). Is that not what Jesus did for us on the cross? He took the punishment for our sin, embracing us with His love and receiving the blows of condemnation, so God could honor us instead.
Luke 15:21-24 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.’ 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. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate (ESV).
They celebrated, honoring the lost son who had come home. For, you see, the robe was what a guest of honor would wear. The ring signified authority, and only free men wore sandals, not slaves (Liefeld, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Zondervan Publishing House, 1984).
Wow! What a powerful story, but hard to grasp its impact to Jesus’ original audience in the First Century. So author and speaker, Philip Yancey, retells the story in a more contemporary setting, which brings me to tears every time I read it.
A young girl grows up on a cherry orchard just above Traverse City, Michigan. Her parents, a bit old-fashioned, tend to overreact to her nose ring, the music she listens to, and the length of her skirts. They ground her a few times, and she seethes inside. “I hate you!” she screams at her father when he knocks on the door of her room after an argument, and that night she acts on a plan she has mentally rehearsed scores of times. She runs away.
She has visited Detroit only once before, on a bus trip with her church youth group to watch the Tigers play. Because newspapers in Traverse City report all the bad things that go on there, she concludes that is probably the last place her parents will look for her. California, maybe, or Florida, but not Detroit.
Her second day there she meets a man who drives the biggest car she’s ever seen. He offers her a ride, buys her lunch, arranges a place for her to stay. He gives her some pills that make her feel better than she’s ever felt before. She was right all along, she decides: her parents were keeping her from all the fun.
The good life continues for a month, two months, a year. The man with the big car—she calls him “Boss”—lets her stay in a penthouse, where she orders room service whenever she wants. Occasionally she thinks about the folks back home, but their lives now seem so boring and provincial that she can hardly believe she grew up there.
She has a brief scare when she sees her picture printed on the back of a milk carton with the headline “Have you seen this child?” But by now she has blond hair, and with all the makeup and body-piercing jewelry she wears, nobody would mistake her for a child. Besides, most of her friends are runaways, and nobody squeals in Detroit.
After a year, she begins to get sick, and it amazes her how fast the boss turns mean. “These days, we can’t mess around,” he growls, and before she knows it she’s out on the street without a penny to her name. What little money she finds goes to support her habit. When winter blows in she finds herself sleeping on metal grates outside the big department stores. “Sleeping” is the wrong word—a teenage girl at night in downtown Detroit can never relax her guard. Dark bands circle her eyes. Her cough worsens.
One night as she lies awake listening for footsteps, all of a sudden everything about her life looks different. She no longer feels like a woman of the world. She feels like a little girl, lost in a cold and frightening city. She begins to whimper. Her pockets are empty and she’s hungry. She needs a fix. She pulls her legs tight underneath her and shivers under the newspapers she’s piled atop her coat. Something jolts her mem¬ory and a single image fills her mind: of May in Traverse City, when a million cherry trees bloom at once, with her golden retriever dashing through the rows and rows of blossomy trees in chase of a tennis ball.
God, why did I leave, she says to herself, and pain stabs at her heart. My dog back home eats better than I do now. She’s sobbing, and she knows in a flash that more than anything else in the world she wants to go home.
Three straight phone calls, three straight connections with the answering machine. She hangs up without leaving a message the first two times, but the third time she says, “Dad, Mom, it’s me. I was won¬dering about maybe coming home. I’m catching a bus up your way, and it’ll get there about midnight tomorrow. If you’re not there, well, I guess I’ll just stay on the bus until it hits Canada.”
It takes about seven hours for a bus to make all the stops between Detroit and Traverse City, and during that time she realizes the flaws in her plan. What if her parents are out of town and miss the message?
Shouldn’t she have waited another day or so until she could talk to them? And even if they are home, they probably wrote her off as dead long ago. She should have given them some time to overcome the shock.
Her thoughts bounce back and forth between those worries and the speech she is preparing for her father. “Dad, I’m sorry. I know I was wrong. It’s not your fault; it’s all mine. Dad, can you forgive me?” She says the words over and over, her throat tightening even as she rehearses them. She hasn’t apologized to anyone in years.
The bus has been driving with lights on since Bay City. Tiny snowflakes hit the pavement rubbed worn by thousands of tires, and the asphalt steams. She’s forgotten how dark it gets at night out here. A deer darts across the road and the bus swerves. Every so often, a billboard. A sign posting the mileage to Traverse City. Oh. God.
When the bus finally rolls into the station, its air brakes hissing in protest, the driver announces in a crackly voice over the microphone, “Fifteen minutes, folks. That’s all we have here.” Fifteen minutes to decide her life. She checks herself in a compact mirror, smooths her hair, and licks the lipstick off her teeth. She looks at the tobacco stains on her fingertips, and wonders if her parents will notice. If they’re there.
She walks into the terminal not knowing what to expect. Not one of the thousand scenes that have played out in her mind prepares her for what she sees. There, in the concrete-walls-and-plastic-chairs bus termi¬nal in Traverse City, Michigan, stands a group of forty brothers and sis¬ters and great-aunts and uncles and cousins and a grandmother and great-grandmother to boot. They’re all wearing goofy party hats and blowing noise-makers, and taped across the entire wall of the terminal is a computer-generated banner that reads “Welcome home!”
Out of the crowd of well-wishers breaks her dad. She stares out through the tears quivering in her eyes like hot mercury and begins the memorized speech, “Dad, I’m sorry. I know...”
He interrupts her. “Hush, child. We’ve got no time for that. No time for apologies. You’ll be late for the party. A banquet’s waiting for you at home” (Philip Yancey, What’s So Amazing About Grace).
My dear friends, God loves you like that father. Please, realize your value to Him. Realize your value to Him like a lost sheep. Realize your value to Him like lost silver and realize your value to Him like a lost son (or daughter). Then…
REPENT.
Turn from the sin which has ruined your life and just take one step towards God. Like the prodigal son, acknowledge your horrible, sinful condition and by faith, move in your Heavenly Father’s direction, even if it’s just a little bit.
For when you do, He’ll see you from a long way off and come running towards you. That’s because Heaven is getting ready to party when you turn from your sin to Him.
That’s Jesus’ message to every sinner, but that’s also Jesus’ message to every self-righteous, so-called saint. For they too need to repent if not of their actions, then certainly of their attitude. Look at what Jesus says about the Scribes and Pharisees, the older brothers, who are also in His audience.
Luke 15:25-28 “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 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.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him (ESV).
Literally, His father came out and came along side his son. He came out to his older son just like he had done for the younger son. I can see him putting an arm around his son, begging him to come to the party. For God not only loves the prodigal; He loves the pharisee, as well.
Luke 15:29-32 …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. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found’” (ESV).
The older brother’s actions on the outside looked good. But on the inside, he was full of bitter resentment. He was as far away from his father emotionally as his younger brother had been physically. So the older brother too needed to repent—He needed to change his attitude about his father and his brother and to replace his resentment with rejoicing.
Warren Wiersbe says, “Everybody in this chapter experienced joy except the elder brother. The shepherd, the woman, and their friends all experienced the joy of finding. The younger son experienced the joy of returning and being received by a loving, gracious father. The father experienced the joy of receiving his son back safe and sound. But the elder brother would not forgive his brother, so he had no joy. He could have repented and attended the feast, but he refused; so he stayed outside and suffered (Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, Victor Books, 1996).
Please, whoever you are, whether you consider yourself a sinner or a saint, don’t stay outside any longer. Realize your value to God and repent. Turn to the Lord and accept His invitation to the party.
Marx Barnes—now named Steve Carter—born in 1977, had no inkling he was a lost, missing child until January 2011. He was doing a search on missingkids.com and found himself staring at a composite image created to show what Marx would look like as an adult.
“I got chills,” Carter said.
A DNA test ultimately confirmed his identity.
Marx went missing at 6-months-old on June 21, 1977, when his mother placed him in a stroller and went for a walk on one of the Hawaiian Islands. Through a strange series of events, Marx's mother was placed in a psychiatric hospital, while Marx was placed in protective care, ultimately becoming a ward of the state. Marx was placed in an orphanage only 30 miles from where he lived with his parents. As an adult, Carter “never had any strong desire to locate his family.”
By contrast, his half-sister had only one desire in life: to find out what happened to her brother. It was her efforts—convincing officials to reactivate the investigation—that led to the composite image Carter discovered online. An official from the Missing Child Center in Hawaii said, “If it wasn't for her, it would still be a cold case” (Joey Bartolomeo, “Alive, 34 Years After He Went Missing,” People, 4-30-12).
Like her, Jesus “came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10), but you have to know you are lost in order to be found. Please, if you haven’t done it already, acknowledge your lost condition and trust Jesus to save you today. Then join the party and rejoice with us and all of heaven when other sinners repent, as well.
