Lost sheep, silver and sons. WBC 31/07/05am.
Baptism of Barry and Heather Mann. Luke 15:1-32
Philip Yancey tells the story of a prodigal daughter who grows up in Traverse City, Michigan. Disgusted with her old fashioned parents who overreact to her nose ring, the music she listens to, the length of her skirts, she runs away. She ends up in Detroit where she meets a man who drives the biggest car she’s ever seen. The man with the big car - she calls him "Boss" - recognizes that since she’s underage, men would pay premium for her. So she goes to work for him. Things are good for a while. Life is good. But she gets sick for a few days, and it amazes her how quickly the boss turns mean. Before she knows it, she’s out on the street without a penny to her name. She still turns a couple of tricks a night, and all the money goes to support her drug habit.
One night while sleeping on the metal grates of the city, she began to feel less like a woman of the world and more like a little girl. She begins to whimper. "God, why did I leave. My dog back home eats better than I do now." She knows that more than anything in the world, she wants to go home. Three straight calls home get three straight connections with the answering machine. Finally she leaves a message. "Mom, dad, its me. I was wondering 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, I’ll understand." During the seven hour bus ride, she’s preparing a speech for her father. And when the bus comes to a stop in the Traverse City station, the driver announces the fifteen-minute stop. Fifteen minutes to decide her life.
She walks into the terminal not knowing what to expect. But not one of the thousand scenes that have played out in her mind prepares her for what she sees. There in the bus terminal in Traverse City, Michigan, stands a group of forty brothers and sisters and great-aunts and uncles and cousins and a grandmother and a 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 and begins her memorized speech. He interrupts her. "Hush, child. We’ve got no time for that. No time for apologies. We’ll be late. A big party is waiting for you at home."
SIGNIFICANCE
How does God feel about people who go astray… like this… or like most of us have
- just a bit too busy at the mo, God
- I’ve got a demanding job and a family. Leisure as well
- There are things to enjoy
- …. And I’m not really SURE about you… so I’m sure you won’t mind while I pursue a few sure things. Concrete things. Things I can touch, taste and are REAL
How does God feel about us and about people who haven’t ’got it all nailed down spiritually, yet’?
- well. It depends on the picture of God you hold to:
o maybe He doesn’t care, really. God watches on with detached disinterest. Watches us insignificant beings
o Or it’s the picture of vengeance and wrath. God wants every infidel punished. Sinners are insignificant and should be blown up
But listen to the words of Jesus. Let Him paint your picture of how God feels, acts and reacts
- listen to Him as He speaks to a throbbing, seeking, crowd of ’tax collectors and prostitutes’ with a group of seething, ’sorted’ Pharisees listening on
READ Luke Chapter 15
"No one ever spoke the way this man does" Jn 7 (guards sent to arrest)
Jesus paints one picture of God through 3 stories. And the main thrust of them all is just how God feels when one person comes to their senses and comes back to Him
SHEEP
You see, the current feeling about ’sinners’ … was:
"There is joy before God when those who provoke him perish from the world"
And the feeling about ’lost sheep’ (those who hadn’t got it nailed down yet… were seeking.. or were scarred… had questions)… was:
"leave them alone. Who cares if they come home, wagging their tales behind them".
But Jesus sets the record straight. (you have to understand- Christians believe He spoke for God as He was God… come to earth)
- God’s concern is FOR that sheep
- That sheep is very significant to God
It’s a marvellous picture, actually. God calling people sheep isn’t always complimentary…but it is loving. Those shepherds loved their sheep
- but sheep aren’t known for being too bright. It goes off in search of lush pasture and ends up in thorns and brambles: torn, hurt, afraid, hungry. Easy prey to wolves
But here comes the Father. The Good Shepherd. He leaves His ivory tower and walks the hills searching for the sheep He loves. Calling by name: "Adam: where are you?"
- this should come as no surprise. Not to these Jews! But it does, somehow, as the sense of ’shame’ that comes with man’s dismissal of God has us ALL thinking we’re not significant… not worth seeking
- But the Bible speaks of God’s search for US right from the start. Right from the point we said ’stuff you, I know best’…vacated Eden… and have been destroying our world and lives ever since God has been searching for us. Calling out ’Adam, Adam, where are you? I love you!’
And occasionally you hear stories of sheep who ’let themselves be found’… and how they are picked up on the Father’s shoulders.
"perverse and foolish oft I stayed- but yet in love He sought me and on His shoulders gently laid and home rejoicing brought me"
- actually. It’s not occasional. There are people here, all over this city and country who are being found by the Father through things like Alpha.
- Hands up if Alpha has helped you (helped the shepherd find you)
Yeah- okay. It works for them. But not for me.
- anyway- I still don’t feel very significant. He only cares about 1:100
o and sheep aren’t very valuable
So, Jesus tells another story. But this time He changes the odds
- you’re one in ten!
SILVER
And you’re a silver coin. Part of a life’s savings.
Listen- if a woman lights a lamp and searches every corner of the house- how much more so will God search for you
- and the main point is: He is SO happy when He finds you!
- They have a party
- "in the same way there is much rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents"
What is this repent bit? What does it mean? I haven’t been a tax collector or prostitute!
- literally it means a change of heart and direction
o the heart bit means ’saying sorry for ignoring God… hurting Him… not living in the way He want’
o the direction bit means ’turning around and going in His direction’
That’s the bit WE all need to play. God seeks. We need to respond
- = respond, repent, receive
You may still not feel God is talking to you… seeking you… this morning
- you might have felt: "I’m one of the 99. I don’t NEED this! I’m okay Jack!"
o like there is ’safety in numbers’!
" And there is! When we’re with our 98 friends we don’t feel there’s any need to return to God. In fact- don’t even think about it
" but in the silence of our own homes and hearts…when the crowd has dwindled… we feel the hole in our hearts and the hungering for heaven
o and now the Father’s voice calls louder. It’s not to 1:100, it’s to 1:10. Your significance goes up- and so does the chance that the shepherd is seeking YOU.
" YOU are the one who needs Him, today!
SON
And then Jesus shows you truly how significant you are to Him and the Father.
- it’s now one on one
- and it’s not a beast or inanimate object: it’s a son
I won’t say too much on this, as I know Neil addressed it a bit last week and expressed how much partying there was when the son came back
- the party he had been searching for all the time (that’s why he told his Dad… God… to ’drop dead’ and left) was actually to be found in his Father’s house all along!
Do you see how significant you are to God, now?
- you’re like His son
- in fact- you ARE as valuable as His Son…. as He gave His one and only Son (not one of His sons- His One and Only Son) for you.
o To pay the price for you to be rescued from the thicket…. Redeemed from insignificance… the dust under the bed where you have fallen… the lostness of being alone now and in eternity. Saved from the pigs swill of your own making.
That’s how God feels about YOU. And that is how He has been searching for you. Waiting at the gate- looking over the hills to see ’is today the day my son will come to his senses and return to me?’
- you might have only just started to turn around. In fact- that may just be starting NOW… this very moment
- "but when he was still a long way off the Father saw him and ran to him". You take one step and God will take a million
o (He already has in coming to earth)
Again- I understand Neil explained how this blew the approach of the day. Elders wouldn’t run
- but God rises to meet you. He runs to you.
ISA 30:18 Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you;
he rises to show you compassion.
For the LORD is a God of justice.
- Blessed are all who wait for him!
We are going to close with a few songs. The first is an old hymn that speaks of God seeking us. His part. What He has done (The King of love).
- But the last speaks of our part. The part we must play- how we must personally respond to Him. Both are needed.
- And you can use these songs to help you journey back to God. In sincerity
But first…and to help you… I want to leave you with some images (backed to ’the King of love’/Dominus Regit Me) from Vogue magazine 1999.
- they recognised the spiritual hunger in people and asked Bible Society to help. Result = the prodigal daughter
o PLEASE don’t get into the clothes!
- The theme is RETURN
5 images to piano of ’the King of love’. Move on image (PPT RETURN) at the end of each verse. (ie one slide per verse- 5 verses)
Sing ’the King of love’
Sing ’O sacred King’
Sing ’Today I choose to follow you"
ALPHA Sat 24th Sept- then course here.
