The Lost Sheep

INTRODUCTION

Do you feel comfortable as you look around you today in the sanctuary?

Many of you know many of the folks here, and that is comfortable for many.

Do you think we have enough people here today?

What do you see when you look at the world around you and the people around you each day?

When you deal with people who are lost, what do you think?

Do we let the comfort of our situation at church make it easy to look at those outside of Christ differently?

When you look around and at lost people, what should you think, what should we feel, and what should we try to do?

How does Jesus see lost souls?

When we look around us today, do we feel satisfied with the number of people here?

This is not a numbers pride issue; it is an issue of knowing that in each of our worlds, there are people who are dying without Jesus.

How should we feel about that?

What should we do?

How does Jesus feel?

I have heard folks say they like a small church where they know everyone, and I understand that.

The problem with that philosophy is that it will take away our motivation to seek and try to save the lost.

This is not about bigger churches; although that would be a result, it is about something much more profound.

Jesus is facing another attack from the religious goon squad, and this series of three parables are designed to both refute their attacks and explain why Jesus was doing what they were criticizing Him for.

Luke 15:1–2 (NET 2nd ed.)

1 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming to hear him.

2 But the Pharisees and the experts in the law were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

Jesus will answer their question with the first of three parables.

In the three parables, we will examine and talk about four ways to become lost, all evident in this remarkable sermon.

The sheep was lost by wandering away from the flock; the coin was lost through no fault of its own but through the inability or carelessness of the woman.

The prodigal was lost by overt and willful disobedience, and the elder brother was lost through pride, selfishness, and self-righteousness.

Big Idea of the Message: Christ seeks the lost, the outcast, and the weak, leaving the herd for the sake of the one.

Our new three-week series unpacks three of Jesus’s “lost” parables: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son.

By understanding God’s heart for sinners and for bringing the lost to him, we can celebrate salvation and conversion with generous and joyful hearts.

Today we will be in the gospel of Luke, chapter 15, verses 1-7.

Let’s begin verses 3-4.

Luke 15:3–4 (NET 2nd ed.)

3 So Jesus told them this parable:

4 “Which one of you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go look for the one that is lost until he finds it?

SERMON

I. The dilemma.

The religious goon squad was continually critical of who Jesus spent His time with.

The squad was particularly upset that Jesus had the gall to eat with the sinners.

Table fellowship and breaking bread together was a sign and seal of full acceptance.

We remember the charge, which has become almost a refrain of rejection by now: “Behold, a glutton, and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” (7:34).

The attitude of those self-righteous leaders of the people who held themselves to be so far above the common class of sinners was in itself the worst of sins, and Jesus made it the climax of this sermon on the lost, as exemplified by the older brother in the third parable.

Jesus begins His parable knowing the answer.

Who among them, if they had 100 sheep and one wandered off, would not leave the 99 in the open pasture and go and look for the one who is lost until they are found?

Jesus knows the answer; all of them would.

These people would not say, well, I still have 99, and leave the one who has wandered off go.

Imagine if the shepherd had the attitude that it is just one lost sheep.

What happens when the next one wanders off?

Now you are down another one; eventually, you would have no sheep.

The shepherd loved all 100 of his sheep, and losing one that wandered off was a big deal because the shepherd placed great value on all the sheep.

Jesus does not only love those in the church or only the saved. He wants all to be found!

In Mission Impossible: Fallout, the director of the IMF speaks to its greatest agent, Ethan Hunt: “Some flaw deep in your core being simply won’t allow you to choose between one life and millions. Now, you see that as a sign of weakness. To me, that’s your greatest strength” (directed by Christopher McQuarrie [Paramount Pictures, 2018]).

In our passage under consideration, Jesus maintains this same sort of attitude: it is not enough to have ninety-nine sheep if one is lost. So Jesus goes out to reach those who seem far off, leaving the herd for the sake of the one.

Too often, we are so in love with and enamored with the 99 we pay no mind to the one.

Why should we care about the one?

We are to care about the one because Jesus does!

Who is the one you are seeking?

When the shepherd left the 99, they were safe together; they would be safe if the 99 stayed together.

The one who wanders away is unsafe; the one who wanders away is in danger!

Luke (Jesus Tells the Parable of the Lost Sheep / 15:1–7 / 159) (Life Application Bible)

There is wisdom in choosing friends wisely.

Sports stars are told not to hang out with gamblers.

A teenager who runs with druggies stands a good chance of becoming one.

In big cities, caring parents forbid youngsters any contact with street gangs.

In Jesus’ case, however, time spent with sinners was part of a mission to spread the Good News to all people.

Churches today should be like an oasis in the jungle for sinners of all notorious types.

Instead, they often care only for the clean-shaven and well-healed.

The religious leaders fancied themselves as the shepherds of Israel, yet they did not want to be around their flock; they wanted to be around the other religious leaders.

Luke (Jesus Tells the Parable of the Lost Sheep / 15:1–7 / 159)

It may seem foolish for the shepherd to leave ninety-nine sheep to go search for just one.

But the shepherd knew that the ninety-nine were safe, whereas the lost sheep was in danger.

(Most likely the other sheep were left in the care of a fellow shepherd in a makeshift wilderness corral or shelter.)

Because each sheep was of high value, the shepherd knew that it was important to search diligently for the lost one.

The dilemma is, what do you do when one of the flock wanders off?

The answer is you give pursuit.

We see so many lost sheep; we must pursue them and try to bring them to Jesus or back to Jesus!

Let’s look at verses 5-6.

Luke 15:5–6 (NET 2nd ed.)

5 Then when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

6 Returning home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, telling them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.’

II. The reaction.

The shepherd would count his sheep each evening.

When one was missing, he would pursue the missing sheep, leave the 99 behind in safe hands, and personally try to find the lost sheep.

The shepherd did not hire someone else to go after the lost sheep; he did it himself.

When you have lost sheep, it is your job to go after them for Jesus!

When the shepherd in our parable went to find the lost sheep, he found him!

When he finds the sheep, the shepherd places it on his shoulders and returns it to the flock!

The shepherds of the east often carried on their backs the lost sheep of the flock; this could be done with less trouble than driving the sheep.

Carrying the sheep back to the flock showed compassion and care for the lost sheep.

When sheep wander away from the flock, they are in danger!

The parable also has utility as a warning.

The lost sheep, separated from the flock and the shepherd, is a warning of the state of any child of God who wanders away from the church and from the Shepherd.

Finding and bringing back the lost sheep took much effort, but the effort was worth the work.

We need to understand that bringing in lost sheep takes effort; we cannot just sit around and hope they come back.

Who did Jesus spend time with?

Those He was seeking to save.

As a church, we are called to spend time with those we are seeking it save.

The leaders, the “shepherds” of Israel, would not lift a finger to reach those who needed to be reached; instead, they looked down on them.

Ezekiel 34:4 (NET 2nd ed.)

4 You have not strengthened the weak, healed the sick, bandaged the injured, brought back the strays, or sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled over them.

This passage from Ezekiel was a prophecy against the shepherds of Israel.

The shepherd is unwilling to cut his losses and count his blessings; instead, he hunts for the lost sheep.

The Gospel according to Luke (The Lost Sheep and Lost Coin (15:1–10))

He is concerned about one lost sheep. One sheep in danger takes precedence over all other sheep well and safe.

Consider the following facts about a lost sheep:

(1) it is defenseless, not even having the gift of swiftness in flight from danger, its very cries being but the signal for the closing in of its enemies. Let the backslider behold here his danger and helplessness.

(2) The lost sheep is without any sense of direction.

A carrier pigeon would find its way home, and a dog might do so, but a sheep never!

(3) Dangers surround the lost sheep.

There are beasts of prey, poisonous shrubs, and weeds, and even the elemental forces of nature are hostile to a lost sheep.

Many insurmountable dangers confront the lost sheep, and it is no less true of the Christian who has forsaken the flock and the shepherd.

What happens once the lost sheep is found?

What is the reaction of the shepherd?

First, it is one of love.

The shepherd hoists the sheep onto his shoulders and carries it home.

What is the shepherd doing on the way home?

GRUMBLING AND COMPLAINING AND BLAMING THE SHEEP FOR BEING STUPID FOR WANDERING OFF!

NO!

The shepherd is rejoicing!

What does the shepherd do when he gets back, he calls his friends to celebrate with him the finding of the lost sheep!

Let’s move to verse 7.

Luke 15:7 (NET 2nd ed.)

7 I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent.

III. The rebuke.

This part of the parable had to make the religious goon squad very angry.

I can imagine Jesus looking right at them when He ends this parable before He moves on to the next.

After the shepherd’s radical act of love in going out to find one lost sheep, he returns and calls his friends to “rejoice” with him (v. 6).

In this, there is greater joy in the heavens over the salvation of one than over the righteousness of the ninety-nine (v. 7).

This is not meant to set up a hierarchy but to condemn the Pharisees.

The Pharisees should have been the “friends” here, rejoicing over the salvation of sinners.

And yet they were grumbling and complaining about Christ’s ambivalence toward some of the purity law traditions.

When Jesus speaks of the 99 righteous people who do not need to repent, He is speaking specifically to the religious leaders as well as any who think they are self-righteous enough not to need repentance or that they are so good they have earned their salvation!

Heaven itself is concerned with the salvation of the lost.

“Joy in heaven!” is a pledge that the unseen creation is interested in rescuing fallen men.

We need to guard ourselves against thinking we are better than the lost and have the passion to seek and save the lost.

People who are lost are in danger.

Our nation is sliding into hell in part because so many lost people are looking for answers and not finding the right answers.

We need the passion and energy to reach out to the lost!

CONCLUSION

By way of application, first and foremost, we should be meeting with and showing love to those far from God.

This means building relationships with the people who might turn heads or start rumors.

Following Christ’s example, we are called to associate with these people and share the gospel through our words and actions.

Further, we need to facilitate a culture of joy over those who come to faith, even if these people don’t “look the part,” so to speak.

If Christ cares for the sheep who are far off, weak, and hurting, we are also called to love and care for those far from God.

Application Point: We should be meeting with and showing love to those who are far from God, facilitating a culture of joy over those who come to faith.