To Leave & Follow

Learning to Leave

When we first make the choice to follow Jesus it is the most real time for us to know a sense of leaving behind who we have been so that we might become who God is calling us to become.

The video we watched at the start of this message asks us some hard questions about who we are and what we are willing to leave behind for the sake of following Jesus into the mission field. In many ways this is also one of the most common themes that I find myself preaching on. Why is that? It is because we are often secure in what we know, what is familiar and that is one of the most comfortable things to us.

I am sure that right now some in worship are ready to leave, I mean really… the pastor thinks he can can a video of his sermon and pass that off as what we want.

This morning what we are doing in worship is a bit of an experiment and a bit of anticipation of the leaving that is already having to happen within churches in the UMC, other denominations and that is on the rise for churches regardless if they like it or not. The way we have done things as a church has been lost in some ways so lets look at some things that were lost, some found, some differences and some opportunities.

Luke 15:3–7 CEB

Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose someone among you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them. Wouldn’t he leave the other ninety-nine in the pasture and search for the lost one until he finds it? And when he finds it, he is thrilled and places it on his shoulders. When he arrives home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Celebrate with me because I’ve found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who changes both heart and life than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to change their hearts and lives.

Luke 15:3-

Luke 15:8–10 CEB

“Or what woman, if she owns ten silver coins and loses one of them, won’t light a lamp and sweep the house, searching her home carefully until she finds it? When she finds it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Celebrate with me because I’ve found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, joy breaks out in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who changes both heart and life.”

Luke 15:22–24 CEB

But the father said to his servants, ‘Quickly, bring out the best robe and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet! Fetch the fattened calf and slaughter it. We must celebrate with feasting because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life! He was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.

Stories of Losing Things

I want you to close your eyes for a moment and think back to a time when you were lost. Don’t worry, we’ve all been there… we all have been lost at some point. I was lost when I grew up in a new sub-division and I hadn’t learned the new roads and the new houses that were added since we moved in. I’ve been lost in ever single town I’ve moved into, yep… even in LeRoy.

Now, as you come back into this space, remember how did you find your way back? I’ve gotten lucky and just found my way back. I’ve been helped by strangers when I yelled out as a child. I have learned to recognize major things like water towers to sight me home.

What was it like to be back to the familiar? What was it like for you to go back?

God’s Heart

These three parables in are connected! They build on each other and begin to give a picture to those who first heard it. But what was that picture?

The first story is of a lost sheep. It’s heart warming isn’t it! It’s also the most foolish to the first hearers of Jesus day. If you lost 1% of something that’s unpredictable and particularly vulnerable if you or someone for you is not around to defend it, you DO NOT go out after 1%. This is bad business, sure a loss is a cost but the vulnerability you open yourself up to is far greater. In this story, we learn that the heart of God is not in the normal security we find our peace in. God’s heart is in risking greatly for each and every one. In this story we learn that to follow Christ we must be willing to leave behind the common notions of what business as normal would tell us and be willing to risk so that we can reach those outside our already existing protection.

The second story is of a lost coin. Now I’ve been dead broke before! I can remember looking at my bank account before getting gas while in college so I knew how much I could put in before getting a fine for getting too low. This woman looses not 1% but 10% in the loss of her coin. That hurts! I’d look for 10% as if that was my only purpose. But think on this for a moment. In her loss she begins to spend… she spends the cost of lamp oil (not a cheep led flashlight you got for free here). She doesn’t wait till light. She then finds the coin and calls her neighbors over to celebrate. When I’ve been lost the last thing I want to do is point it out to anyone. I don’t want to make a fool of myself. I also don’t want to incur the expense of the required hospitality of her day when she invites them over. She found a coin but she spent a coin in the process. This story of loss points to God’s willingness to spend what it takes to find the lost and the willingness to celebrate the found. God’s heart is up at night, doing what it takes to find us when we are lost.

Last is what is likely the most commonly known and debated of the three. The lost son. This is the hardest loss. What happens when someone we know and love chooses to become the lost? What happens when we choose to go away? We spend the painful time staring out into the vastness and even though we may be one of the wealthiest, remember this man was one of the most wealthy of his time with servants and land and animals, we have nothing without the lost. The lost comes home and is “found” again and for that we give back again the world. We give it back though the society says it’s not the way to do it. We give the best even though it angers another whom we love. We give all of what we can offer because God’s heart is in the lost becoming found.

Why these parables?

offers us these parables as Jesus response to the question of the religious leaders of his day who questioned whether or not a true man of God should associate with sinners and cheaters.

Luke 15:2 CEB

The Pharisees and legal experts were grumbling, saying, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

Jesus doesn’t try to make excuses for his actions, instead he points to the heart of God. He shares that God’s heart is with the sinners, tax collectors and those who are distant from God. These “leaders” who are questioning Jesus hadn’t even considered that they should care about the lost! How many of us today struggle here two fold? First, our culture is obsessed with who is right and who is wrong. We want to be right at all costs, even at the cost of being correct. Next, when we are faced with the questioning of the opposition to justify our action we start by defending the actions themselves. Jesus could have responding with comments about how he was just witnessing to the sinner, offering the proper, proscribed, ritualistic and socially accepted way to be restored to the community. We want to do that! We want to be right so we justify the actions. Jesus goes to the heart of God. The heart of God is already there, with the lost. In telling the religious leaders this he is challenging them to leave behind their old understanding of things and follow him to the heart of God!

Reflecting on the parables I want to ask a few questions

What are some things that keep us from following Jesus and seeking the lost? What are our excuses?

What are the common sense arguments we offer to justify not breaking the norms and doing what is unexpected by humanity yet expected by God.

What keeps us from welcoming the son home?

Turning into the Party

At the end of each of the parables is a celebration. Each one is more elaborate based on how much greater the finding of what was lost is to them. So many people mourn that they were lost or that they lost something that they hind the embarrassment of it. In the parables of Jesus, when what is lost gets found, all common forms of restraint are cast off and the people throw a party. They are truly excited.

In this year’s sermon series on our Mission and Vision as a church I am going to be challenging you to find your purpose in the direction of God’s heart. This means that you will need to turn and follow Jesus again. You will have to learn to leave something behind. You are going to have to give up on something that is good in your life and trust that to someone else or just trust it to be let go of. What that will do to you is free up the space that you need to open up and follow Jesus in a more dedicated, intentional and life giving way.

When you do that, you will be chasing the lost.

At the end of that work is always Celebration!

Today you worshiped with me in a video… I promise I won’t do that next week, I’ll be here, live in church and I am excited. But I am also excited that we took this time today because in the future Churches like ours will be asked to let go of some security, to trust God and find the lost people and even the lost churches of this area and risk boldly to return them into the heart of God. When we learn how to do that, we will be ready to celebrate again. We will throw a party! We will invite the neighbors and tell them about how the lost are found, how the son has come home, that the family is being restored.