PRACTICING OUR PURPOSE
OUR PURPOSE IS... TO REACH THE LOST
LUKE 15:1-10
INTRODUCTION TO SERIES: For the next several weeks I want to talk with you about the purpose of Montrose Christian Church. These will not be doctrinal "What we believe" messages. But these messages will be about why we are here and what we are trying to accomplish BECAUSE of what we believe. Just as a building is constructed according to the plan for its use, so everything we do must have a purpose. That’s why the Elders and myself have developed the purpose statement that you have printed for you underneath our logo. The "bottom line" purpose of this church is to “Make & Mature Disciples for Christ to the glory of God.”
But, for the next few weeks we want to discuss the practice statements that explain how we want to accomplish our purpose. I want every member to know exactly what we are trying to do. Because when everyone understands the purpose of our existence and the way we want to accomplish that purpose, it creates greater understanding and promotes unity within the Body. And I believe, with all my heart, that the future for God’s Kingdom, in this place, has never looked brighter than it does right now. So, with that in mind I think it’s important to understand why we exist so we can dedicate ourselves to accomplishing God’s purpose for this body of believers.
INTRODUCTION OF SERMON: Now, I believe the purpose of this Church must be consistent with the purpose of Christ & the Church in the N.T. So, the 1st statement is that we exist to share the good news of Jesus Christ with others. That means we are aggressively and unashamedly trying to motivate people to make Jesus Christ the Savior and Lord of their lives. The world may accuse us of trying to impose our brand of Christianity on other people. But we are not forcing anyone just inviting everyone, as tactfully as we can, to make Christ their personal Savior. Jesus commanded His followers to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing those disciples and then continuing to teach them to obey Christ’s commands. As a body of people who have made Jesus Christ the Lord of our lives we are seeking to obey His command to reach the lost. Paul wrote in 2 Cor.5:11- "..since then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men." And a few verses later he says, "We are therefore God’s ambassadors, as though god were making his appeal through us." We are tying to persuade people to come to Jesus Christ. The goal of our Church is to grow. I tallied up our church’s attendance for this year was thrilled that it will revealed numerical growth in every area- S.S., AM, and PM. Some of it, like in our A.M. service is quite dramatic. Now, I know statistics don’t tell the whole story but it’s an indication that our Church is growing. And it is the purpose of this church to reach out to the lost and that means we will grow.
Now, in Luke 15 Jesus told three parables to underscore the importance of outreach. He told about a lost sheep, a lost coin and a lost boy. I know these are familiar to many of you but I want to look at them again and from them see the
proper motivation, the proven method and the potential miracle of reaching the lost.
I. THE PROPER MOTIVATION FOR REACHING THE LOST:
Let’s start with a word of caution. The proper motivation for reaching the lost is critical. We want to make sure we don’t do the right thing for the wrong motives. In Lk. 15:1-2 we see that Jesus was being criticized by the religious leaders of His day for making sinful people His priority. They could not understand the motive behind Jesus’ attention to sinners. You see the Pharisee’s and the teachers of the law did not look to saving the sinner but as William Barclay puts it, "looked forward to the obliteration of the sinner." Pharisee’s were forbidden by their tradition to accompany, associate or even touch people who did not keep the law as they did. So it shocked them to watch Jesus not only accompany sinners but go into their homes and eat with them. AT Robertson, the Greek scholar, makes the point that the word here used by the Pharisee’s in vs:2 for "welcomes" is the same word used in Lk 10:38 where Mary "opens her home" to Jesus. So they’re saying that Jesus actually prefers these outcasts to respectable people (like them) and the implication is that makes Jesus like them in character & condition. So, Jesus tells these stories to explain to them His purpose. He says, "Listen, you don’t get it. God loves the lost.. loves them so much that He is aggressively searching for them. My motive in associating with sinners is because of the Father’s love."
Now, we understand how you can do the right thing but for the wrong motive. Here’s a middle aged married man who begins an exercise program to build up his body, that’s good. But his motive is not to make his body the healthy temple of
the Holy Spirit but rather it’s to influence the attentions of an attractive unmarried woman at work, that’s bad. Here’s a politician who becomes a member of the Church and that’s good but his purpose is not to glorify God but to be able to use it to appeal to voters and that’s bad. In Acts 5 Ananias and Sapphire sold a field and gave a big sum of money to the Church- that’s great! But their motivation for doing it was
egotistical. They were so hungry for the approval of others that they lied about the percentage that they were giving and that’s bad.
And we can aggressively reach out to the lost - for the wrong motive. I sometimes wonder why millionaires have to have more and more money. When do they reach a point where enough is enough? Probably the reason is that the accumulation of more wealth is a source of self-esteem, it gives them a sense of accomplishment. And I have to continually examine my motivation for wanting and praying for our Church to grow. Do I really care about lost people or is my motivation egotistical? Is 500 enough? 600? 1000? Do I have to have more people in Church this year than last because I have a passion for lost souls or do I need that for “preacher bragging rights?” Do you want this church to grow because you care for lost people or because you know that a bigger Church will mean more programs and more social interaction with others? You see it’s not always comfortable to examine motives but we must. Beloved, our motivation for wanting to grow must be, MUST BE- because we love others and desperately want them to know about Jesus! If that’s not our motivation then let’s nail up the doors to this place and never step foot in it again!
But I’m afraid we have a basic problem. As a disciple of Jesus we have failed to see what Jesus saw in people. You see, Jesus’ motivation, the reason He reached out to others was due to His compassion! Not compassion primarily for their health, financial condition or their self-esteem. Not that He was uncaring about those things but what good does it do a person if they have perfect health, all the money in the world and feels great about themselves if they are going to end up without God for all eternity? Jesus’ primary concern was for the condition of their souls and relationship to God. That’s what these three parables are all about! And I’m afraid a lot of Christian’s have no sense of compassion for the souls of others! We must get the sense that Jesus had that without Him people are going to spend eternity in Hell!
Now, if you’re unfamiliar with the Bible you’re going to think that sounds narrow, maybe even bigoted. But if that’s your mind-set I’m afraid your argument is with Him not me or us. Jesus said He is the Only Way to God. Jn 14:6- “I am the way, the truth and the life. NO ONE comes to the Father EXCEPT through Me!” You see, Jesus made it clear that those who received Him as Savior and followed Him as Lord would spend eternity with God and those who did not would be separated from God forever. He basically divided people into 2 camps: those that are going to heaven and those that are going to hell. Those that walked the narrow road that leads to life and those who walk the broad road that leads to destruction. And when people say today, "Oh, it doesn’t matter what you believe." -OR- "Surely God won’t destroy good moral people just because they haven’t followed Jesus Christ," they are missing the desperate plight of this lost world and they are disagreeing with the only One who came back from the grave! That’s why Peter said in Acts 4:12, "salvation is found in no-one else!" And if we really understand that people are lost without Christ- and if we really care for people- we must be motivated to reach them.
As you know, we have live her only a year. That makes this last year a time of significant transition for our family. We moved 2400 miles away from a place we had lived for 20 years, from an environment close to our family, we left our daughter in college in Orlando. So, I’ve tried to be very aware of my two teen-age boy’s needs, not to say too much about the phone bill from my wife and my daughter talking all the time... Understandably my mind has constantly been on the physical and mental health of my wife and children as we have made this transition. You might say, "Well, Tim it is only natural for you to feel such compassion for your kids and mate.” But as I prepared this sermon I had to ask myself- "Shouldn’t it be only natural for a follower of Jesus to be that concerned for the lost?” I mean, when is the last time I had the same intensity for someone’s spiritual health as I am my family’s physical and mental well being? When’s the last time I cried tears because of my compassion for someone’s soul? Jesus had was anguish in His voice when He looked over the masses of people seeing them as sheep without a shepherd and said, "The harvest is plenteous but the laborers are few." How many do you work with, talk with- on a daily basis that are lost? If you have a passion for the lost you will have to be want to help them come to Jesus. And that brings us to our second point -there is
II A PROVEN METHOD FOR REACHING THE LOST:
Jesus demonstrated in each of these parables that if we are going to love the lost like God does, then we are to aggressively search them out. Notice in each of these parables the urgency displayed. The shepherd, Jesus says, leaves the 99 sheep in the open field, he doesn’t even take them back home, but goes and searches for the lost one until he finds it. This concept was certainly foreign to the Pharisees. They might admit that a sinner could come crawling back to God praying for pity but they never conceived of a God who went out to search for sinners! But that’s what Jesus is saying
God is like- and it’s so urgent He’ll leave the other sheep to search for the lost one.
In the second parable Jesus says that when a woman loses something of great value that she will search diligently and urgently for it. In fact, the lighting of lamp suggests that she searched deep into the night. Several years ago my wife, Deborah looked down to discover the diamond in her wedding ring was missing! Naturally, we searched and searched. I found it hard to believe that she could lose it- it was such a huge stone.. So, being the kind of husband I am I purchased her another diamond. And then, you guessed it, she found the original one! So, now she has two.. One on her finger and one around her neck. (Yes, It did make me wonder) But when she lost that stone she looked everywhere! She went through the garbage, she went through drawers, she would let no one vacuum until she had searched the floor. She turned out all the lights and searched with a flashlight. Just like this woman in the parable there was urgency to her search.
Now, in the 3rd parable we do not see the Father going out searching. But the urgency is still there. Look at 15:20 It says, "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him..." How did the Father know to look for him? Because he was always anxiously searching for him every day! And when he sees him coming down that road he is filled with compassion and runs and throws his arms around him in joy! In every parable there is this sense of urgency.
So we are to search out the lost with the same sense of urgency as the shepherd, housewife and father. That’s what Jesus did. Tactfully, aggressively, He sought to find every- one that He could. That’s why He struck up a conversation with the woman at the well, that’s why He called Zacchaeus down from the tree, that’s why He talked half the night with Nicodemus and that’s why the very last thing that He did was
to reach out to a thief on the cross beside Him! And He commands everyone of us..not just the preacher, not just the elders, but everyone of us has been commissioned by the King to go and make disciples. As you go into your world of business education, sports, leisure you are to have in your mind... “I’m searching for the lost!” Let me ask you something.. When is the last time you tried to talk about spiritual things with a non-Christian? When is the last time you invited a non- Christian into your home or to go to a ball game or something for the express purpose of getting to know them better so that you will have credibility to lead them to the Lord? When is the last time you even invited someone to come to Church with you? People say, "Well, I don’t know whose saved and whose lost, I mean they don’t wear a sign do they?" Statistics show that less than 40% of the American people go to Church on any given Sunday. That leaves over 60% of this nations population un-churched. Are we aggressively searching for those people? Inviting someone to Church is the simplest form of evangelism and it’s as practical a way of sharing as you can practice. Let me challenge you to do something with me. How about all of us, every member of this church... Make a commitment this day, that EVERY week- we are going to invite one person to Church. They may not come but if we did it, it would mean, just counting the adults, well over 400 invitations each week!
Now, I think Jesus’ parables describe the method for reaching the lost as not only searching but also to draw others to Him. Lk. 2:52 says “He grew in FAVOR with man and God.” John 12:32 tells us that when Jesus is lifted up, He will draw all to Him. Our #1 priority is to attract others to Christ and Christianity. When you read the 3rd parable you notice that the Father provided a loving, warm atmosphere for
the boy to desire to return too. If a salesman was to attempt to sell you some fancy new tennis shoes your first question might be how much they cost. "Well, about $200." You might then question him seriously about why you would pay that much for tennis shoes. But let’s suppose you are an excellent basketball player and you need good shoes. So he says, "Well, you’ll look great in them and they’ll make your basketball playing more enjoyable. They are custom fitted to your feet so you’ll be able to jump higher, cut quicker." You listen to that and say, "Well, you know I don’t see how those shoes are going to make me a better basketball player than the shoes I have. I mean just because they are a custom fit won’t help me with my jump shot. I can’t see how those shoes will make that much of a difference and the cost is big! I’ll stick with the shoes I already have.”
I’m afraid that sometimes our sharing of the gospel is about as ineffective as that salesmen’s pitch. We say, "Receiving Christ will make your life better, more enjoyable.” But when they watch you they see you just as anxious over trouble as they are, they notice that your just as negative as they, they hear the same language, they see the same life style. Is it any wonder that they are not attracted to Christ? Is it any surprise that they say, "I don’t see how Christianity is going to make me any better a person. I don’t see how Christ is going to help me. Because in truth He doesn’t seem to be doing much for you.” Listen, Jesus’ life was so attractive that multitudes flocked to Him because they
saw in Him something worthwhile. Our lifestyles need to carry the same attraction or our words are going to be like empty sales pitches for an over priced product.
Now, our Church needs to be attractive too. One of the most practical ways that we can reach out is to provide a desirable atmosphere in the Church so that people are attracted to come here. The Church should be a place of joy, warmth, love, acceptance and where there is good spiritual food for those who are hungry. When people are beat down in sin and living in the pig sty maybe they’ll come to their
senses and say, "I know a place where I can go and do better than this-M.C.C." And my prayer is that when they come that they will feel immediate warmth. We need to recognize this Church service is one of our top evangelistic tools. It is so important
that when people come in here that they feel compassion and caring, from the parking lot to the pew. That we look for others to welcome, that we put off seeing our close friends for a few minutes to see if there is someone we don’t know and say hello.
And if we do some things that you don’t particularly like- "I don’t know why they use those slides. I don’t know why they print the sermon text on an insert- we’ve got Bibles. I don’t know why they let people clap so much." Would you please understand that this service is primarily not you and me. We’re already in the church! And there are people out there who’re so cynical about religion that we won’t reach them in traditional ways.
There are people out there that are so saturated with entertainment that we’ve got to work hard to keep their attention. That doesn’t mean we compromise the gospel. Don’t forget the old adage, "Principles never change but methods frequently do." Paul said, "To the weak I became weak, to those under the law I became as one under the law. I became all things to all me In order that I might win some people."
II THE POTENTIAL MIRACLE:
Well, finally in Luke 15, I want you to see the miracle that occurs when the lost are found. I may have shared with you that several years ago our daughter was diagnosed with a possible brain tumor. The doctors had seen something on an EEG that made them suspicious. They prepared us for the worse. As any family would, we prayed, we hoped, we were deeply concerned. I remember so vividly the morning we went for the MRI test. We were told that the results would be in late that afternoon. Our Doctor called us at 2:43pm and said, "I have wonderful news. The test is absolutely negative, there is nothing there. Whatever the EEG saw, is gone." Do you think there was happiness in our home? Do you think there was some rejoicing? When we the Dr.’s report came in we burst into tears. I couldn’t hold her close enough and I called everybody and their brother. You see, it’s only natural to rejoice with those you love when they are healed or when they have a victory. The shepherd said, "Rejoice with me I found my sheep." The woman said, "Rejoice with me I found my coin."The father said, "Rejoice with me I found my son." That’s natural.
But I’ll tell you what’s not natural. It’s not natural to love those who are unlovely. But that’s what Jesus is teaching us through these stories about God. You see, the
miracle is that God loves even those who don’t love Him. He loves those who are at enmity with Him. He loves those even if they willfully & rebelliously care less about His love. That’s not natural, that’s a miracle - because only God can love like that.
But notice that I’ve called this point the POTENTIAL miracle. Why potential? Well, because of vs:7 & vs:10 and vs:17. *READ* The miracle of God loving us no matter what we’ve done to Him is unconditional. But the rejoicing of the angels is dependant upon the lost being found. And it is abundantly clear from each of these story that the potential of the miracle revolves around a repentant heart. God will
love you no matter what, but He will not force you out of your lostness. The potential for salvation is for every person no matter what sin they have committed in the past. But God, in His infinite wisdom, has said, "I will not force you to come to me, but I’m here for whomsoever will." And each time a lost soul makes the decision to come to Him, the miracle is that He’ll treat you as if you’ve never left.
But in order for that miracle to happen the love of God must be shared- that’s the purpose of the Church... to reach the lost. There are three timely questions all of us must ask when it comes to sharing the love of Christ: 1) If not us, then who? 2) If not here, then where? 3) If not now, then when? Our message is salvation is in Christ, our mission is reaching the lost and the moment is NOW!
