Seekers And Lost Things Series

70s a new kind of church started - seeker sensitive or attractional

Model that changed things in order to entertain or entice people into a relationship with God

Has produced some good fruit and brought many people to faith

But I one of the things that we see in our text is that it’s not the lost who are seeking God, but rather God who is seeking the lost.

God called on Noah

God called Abram

If you’re a believer, God called you, he found you and you responded.

Open to Luke 15.

Background

Jesus raised the bar on discipleship, and yet crowds of people still wanted to hear him. There was something in his message that resonated with them, even if He was calling them to make Him THE priority in their lives.

As we open to chapter 15 of Luke’s gospel, we find that Jesus has some motivations beyond just making life more challenging. He is seeking peace and joy for his listeners.

In the process he is providing a not-so-subtle rebuke for his detractors.

Luke 15:1–10 ESV

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.”

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.

“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.”

Overview

three parables that are very similar and yet ever so slightly different.

two this week (the ones that we just read), one next week

Notice the setting - tax collectors and sinners drawing near to hear; Pharisees and scribes grumbling. This will be key in understanding all three of the parables.

as we reflect on these two parables, we’ll consider:

some characteristics of seekers (those who are looking for lost things)

the condition of lost things

and the consequences of being found.

So, in response to the eager listening of the crowds and the grumbling of the religious leaders, Jesus tells these parables about some people seeking things that are lost - specifically a sheep and a coin.

Let’s begin by considering the…

Characteristics of seekers

In the parables, the seekers are represented by the man/shepherd and the woman. There are several characteristics that these seekers have in common.

First of all, they…

Value lost things

This careful man/shepherd was obeying the wisdom of Proverbs 27:23–24 “Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds, for riches do not last forever; and does a crown endure to all generations?” While not a large herd (that would have been over 300 in their day (Bock)), a flock of a hundred sheep was not insignificant. And yet, he was only missing one - just one percent of his flock.

In our day of number crunching and cost/benefit ratios, we may overlook a loss of one, but not this shepherd. He valued the life of this lamb.

The woman also valued lost things. This one coin out of ten represented a day’s wage for an average worker. It was certainly 10% of her current supply, but it also represented a full day’s worth of work.

Now, Jesus is using the metaphors of sheep and coins as representative of people in order to help his listeners hear Him specifically. I think He was helping them to see how God sees people - lost people who are far from Him.

I guess the question for us is, do we value the lost around us? Do we see them as image bearers of God who need to know the depth of His love for them?

In 2023, the North American Mission board sent me a statistical report of our area. It talked about population, ethnicities, religions, wealth. At that time, within a one mile radius of our location there are: