The One - week 1
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Misfits Welcomed
Misfits Welcomed
As we begin the New Year, we are going to look at three parables this month, with the series titled - The One
Two weeks ago I announced that we were changing the name of the church.
This decision was not a quick one, but one that was prayed over, discussed with wise council, and researched.
After prayer, discussion and research, the new name will be Refuge Family Fellowship - where Misfits are welcomed, Broken are made whole, and Family is found.
The three parables in Luke 15, helps explain the new name and tagline
In Luke 15, Jesus teaches three parables, the first is the parable of the lost sheep, the second is the parable of the lost coin, and the third is the parable of the prodigal son.
Luke 15 begins with sinners coming near Jesus to listen to His teachings, and the Pharisees and the scribes began to complain about it.
As we begin to look at the purpose and reasoning behind the new name and tagline, we first will look at Misfits are welcomed.
The definition for misfits here is: a person who is poorly adapted to a situation or environment.
For me a misfit is someone that does not feel like they fit in with others.
Misfits could also be called or considered - outcast, black sheep, loners, or oddballs.
Look with me at our text this morning Luke 15:1-7
1 Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him.
2 Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
3 So He told them this parable, saying,
4 “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?
5 “When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
6 “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 which was lost!’
7 “I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
Pray
Pray
The three parables here in Luke 15, serve both as a defense of Jesus’ ministry to outcasts, and an appeal to His opponents to join in celebrating their entrance into the kingdom.
There are three things for us to see in this first parable, first is the sinners.
The Sinners
The Sinners
1 Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him.
2 Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
In chapter 14 of Luke Jesus teaches a parable of the dinner, this is the one where a man plans a big dinner, and invites people to it.
When it was time for the dinner, the man sends his people out to those that had been invited to let them know the dinner was ready.
As the slaves go to those invited each person has an excuse for not being able to attend the dinner.
The slave returned to his master and reported that the invites were not coming, the master then instructs the slave to go out and bring back the poor, crippled, blind, and lame.
The tax collectors were employees of the Roman government that collected money for the government, their wages were determined by the amount that they collected.
The tax collectors were hated because dishonesty was common, even to the point that they were not accountable in court as a witness.
Thus tax collectors were often associated with sinners and prostitutes.
The tax collectors and sinners, now the sinners were those that the dinner host sent his slave to invite after the original invitees did not show up.
Thus the sinners were considered the poor, crippled, blind, and lame.
Thus because of the parable of the dinner, the tax collectors and sinners found Jesus and His teachings attractive.
They wanted to hear more and to see what Jesus would do for them.
Verse two tells us that the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble about Jesus spending time with the tax collectors and sinners.
The Pharisees and the scribes were the religious people, or what many call church people today.
I hear a lot of people talk about how the church people are judgmental, that they look down on the poor, crippled, blind, and lame.
Ask a waitress when she receives the worst tips of the week, and they will tell you that those on Sundays after church, the church people are the worst at leaving tips.
The Pharisees and the scribes in our parable this morning were very judgmental, and thought they were holier than the sinners.
The Pharisees and scribes were grumbling about the fact that Jesus was spending time and eating with the tax collectors and sinners.
These tax collectors and sinners could be referred to today as misfits.
These misfits were rejected by the religious people of their day.
Second we see how Jesus responds to the Pharisees and scribes.
The Missing One
The Missing One
3 So He told them this parable, saying,
4 “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?
Jesus responds with a parable, now a parable is a story intended to teach a basic truth or moral about life.
This story that Jesus uses here is about a lost sheep, this would connect with many in the crowd as they either owned sheep, were shepherds, or knew people that dealt with sheep.
Sheep are dumb animals, that get frightened and spook very easily.
Sheep have a tendency to go astray, and that is why they need a shepherd.
Jesus tells this parable of a man that has a hundred sheep notices one has gone astray.
The man leaves the 99 that are in the safety of the open field and goes after the missing one.
The Pharisees and the scribes had no problem seeing the tax collectors and sinners as the lost sheep, but they would not apply that image to themselves!
Isaiah writes in Isaiah 53:6
6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.
Isaiah made it clear that all of us have sinned and gone astray, and that includes religious people.
Paul wrote to the church in Rome, Romans 3:23
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
The shepherd was responsible for each sheep, if one was missing, the shepherd had to pay for it unless he could prove that it was killed by a predator.
10 “If a man gives his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep for him, and it dies or is hurt or is driven away while no one is looking,
11 an oath before the Lord shall be made by the two of them that he has not laid hands on his neighbor’s property; and its owner shall accept it, and he shall not make restitution.
12 “But if it is actually stolen from him, he shall make restitution to its owner.
13 “If it is all torn to pieces, let him bring it as evidence; he shall not make restitution for what has been torn to pieces.
This explains why the shepherd would leave the flock and go searching for the missing sheep.
Not finding the lost sheep meant money out of his own pocket, plus the disgrace of being known as a careless shepherd.
By leaving the 99 sheep, the shepherd was not saying they were unimportant to him.
The 99 sheep were safe, but the one that was lost was in danger.
The fact that the shepherd would go after one sheep is proof that each animal was dear to him.
Jesus was not suggesting that the Pharisees and the scribes were not in need of salvation, for they certainly needed salvation also.
We then see the outcome of finding the lost sheep.
The Rejoicing
The Rejoicing
5 “When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
6 “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 which was lost!’
Jesus says when the shepherd found the lost sheep, he picks it up and rejoices.
When the shepherd gets back he calls others together to rejoice with him.
The lost sheep would cost the shepherd financially, and socially, therefore, when the lost sheep is found the shepherd rejoices.
Jesus takes it one step further in our text this morning.
7 “I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
99 self-righteous people who keep all the rituals, festivals, and rules bring no joy to heaven.
One sinner confessing his sin and repenting sets off a party in heaven.
God is concerned about the lost who will admit they are lost and turn back to Him.
God wants people to put the sinful life behind them and follow Him.
The Pharisees never do this, why? Because they never realize they are lost!
They always count themselves among the saved, even though they have never repented of their sins.
Whenever you assist in leading a lost soul to faith in Christ, you experience a wonderful joy within.
Someone who I consider godly wise counsel said to me one time, any time we plan anything, do anything, - like how the sanctuary is set up, the color of the walls or carpet, the music we use for the service, every detail we need to think of how will the one receive, accept or reject it.
The one he was referring to is the one that God would send next for us to minister to and reach.
In our parable this morning Jesus states that the Shepherd leaves the 99 to go after the one.
We need to realize that as believers we are already in the safety of God’s family, but the one, the lost one, the one that needs salvation is not in the safety of God’s family.
I say this a lot, and we need to hear it clearly this morning, it is not about me, it is not about you, it is about the lost person that God is leading us to minister too.
We all know at least one person that needs salvation, and just as the shepherd went after that lost sheep, we need to go after that person that we know that needs salvation.
That does not mean we go harass them, but we need to pray for them, we need to be the light of Jesus to them, we love on them, we share our faith with them.
Just as a shepherd has a relationship with his sheep, we need to build relationships with those that we know that are lost and in need of a Savior.
Just as we see Jesus in our text spending time and eating with the tax collectors and sinners.
Jesus did not participate in the sins of the people, but He spent time with them building a relationship with them in order to minister to them.
When we think of the one, the misfit, the broken, the one that is searching, we need to think of not what or how we want things but what will connect with those that are lost .
Jesus stated in Luke 5:31-32
31 And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick.
32 “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
As born-again-believers we already have Jesus as our Savior, those that are lost need the Savior.
It is those that are lost that we need to think of, that we need to consider.
