Lost Sheep
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Introduction
Paul has been going through some of the lost heroes of the bible in the month of July. Today we’re starting a new mini series on Lost things. And we’re going to sit in and walk around Luke 15 for the next few weeks - I’m not sure how many weeks - but each week will be different.
We’ll be looking at lost things, but different things from different angles and perspectives, and seeking the Lord’s voice on issues of the ‘lost’.
And before you think to yourself that you’ve heard these parables before - let’s look for something new as we study these passages together over the next few weeks. Let’s even ask the Lord to show us or reveal to us something new from these passages.
We don’t believe in any new revelations from the Spirit outside of Scripture, but there’s a wealth of NEW revelation that the Spirit can bring to us FROM within Scripture so let’s ask for that.
So we’ll approach these well-known stories with an open mind.
And to set the scene for this parable of the Lost Sheep, I want you to imagine what it would be like if God started working in some of the more run-down or seedier parts of Belfast or Lisburn. Imagine that the Spirit of God was unleashed and people of all walks of life were giving their lives to the Lord - and when I say all walks of live, that includes some of the more dodgy walks of life.
So how would you feel if a handful of ex-prostitutes started attending Hillhall? What about drug dealers? What about domestic abusers? How would you feel if these people found the Lord and wanted to be part of this community of believers at Hillhall?
What kind of response would they get here? We’ve talked about this in some ways before.
But let’s flip it around…
Think of the most vile criminal you can imagine - The worst of the worst person - and ask yourself honestly. How would you feel if they were brought before the Lord and he destroyed them. I mean he obliterates them - annihilates them right in front of you. In other words - they get what’s coming to them. How would you feel about that?
Would there be cheering and rejoicing over that sinner who got destroyed?
That’s what Pharisees would have thought in Jesus’ day. That there would be joy in heaven over a sinner who get’s what’s coming to them - there would be joy in heaven over a sinner who feels the full wrath of God on them.
Pause
Jesus has something to say to that.
And so Jesus tells 1 parable against that thought. look at the first 2 verses of Luke 15...
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable:
Now notice the context for this story.
One of the mistakes that we make when teaching these stories - especially to children - is that we tell the story of the lost sheep as a stand-alone story.
And I’ve said this before, but it’s worth saying again - when you take a story or a parable in the bible as a stand alone story, the meaning can be vastly different than what was intended.
So it’s always good to look at the context when looking at bible passages. What was said and why was it said? What’s the purpose of this parable?
And this parable is 1 parable in three parts. This isn’t 3 parables - so there’s a connection between them all. Now, we’re going to split it up because we don’t have time to go through all 3 parts in one sermon - but this is 1 parable.
But what’s the purpose of this parable? Why is Jesus telling this story?
It’s there on the screen in verses 1&2.
Tax collectors and sinners are drawing near to Jesus, and Jesus is welcoming them. And not only that, he’s eating with them. Which means that he is going to their house to share a meal - and in the context of the Greek, Jesus might also be entertaining them too - having them come to visit with HIM.
And to share a meal meant more than having dinner together - it meant sharing life…And incidentally, this is why the Lord’s Supper is so important, because of the meaning of the meal - sharing life together over the common bond that we have in Christ.
We don’t see the cultural significance of this today because times have changed.
Best thing I can think of is a wedding. Having a wedding reception is more than having dinner. You’re sharing an amazing experience with friends and family - there’s community, there’s love, there’s joy. Everyone is celebrating.
That’s kinda what mealtimes were like back in Jesus’ day.
And so for sinners to be part of that was scandalous to the Pharisees, which was why they were grumbling with each other about it. Because you don’t share life with ‘those’ type of people, because by doing that you were making them equal to yourself. And the Pharisees were SO MUCH better than the sinners of they day.
And so Jesus, by his actions, was giving the sinners of the day some value, some sense of worth and importance - perhaps for the first time ever. The Pharisees wouldn’t have done that - there would be more joy in heaven over one of those sinners being destroyed by the wrath of God.
And if these sinners were like sheep - then the Pharisees wouldn’t go after one of them - good riddance to them. Let them get eaten by a wild animal. They’d get what they deserve.
Pause
And so it is within this context that Jesus tells this parable. Look at the first part of it now...
“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?
Now, notice what Jesus says - he puts the Pharisees as the shepherds - suppose one of YOU have 100 sheep. But he’s not just putting them as shepherds, Jesus puts them as BAD shepherds - because he says, ‘suppose you have 100 sheep AND YOU LOSE ONE OF THEM (cos you’re a bad shepherd)’.
So it’s not like this sheep has wandered off - the Pharisees have LOST this sheep due to their incompetence as shepherds.
And the Pharisees and teachers of the law are the religious leaders - the ones who are supposed to shepherd God’s people. But they’ve made a complete hash of it. ThinkJeremiah 23:1...
“Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord.
So Jesus, by placing the Pharisees as the shepherds in this part of the parable, is essentially saying, ‘you call yourselves the shepherds of God’s sheep? Ok then, if you have one of them and you lose them because you’re a bad shepherd, which one of you would go after them and trudge through the dirt and face up to the wild animals in order to bring that sheep back?’
Of course the answer is, none of them.
Because it’s one thing being likened to a shepherd of God’s people. Being a shepherd of God’s people was an esteemed title - one of importance and prestige.
But being a physical shepherd of sheep is a job for the lower class people - the people they wouldn’t associate with...‘Eugh - that’s disgusting. That’s unclean - looking after sheep? oh no way, I wouldn’t be seen dead doing that. That’s for the uneducated.’
And back then that’s exactly what it was like.
It’s not like today where shepherds or farmers are well respected businessmen and women - hard working and entrepreneurial.
So which one of you would go after the one sheep that is lost? NONE of them would. That’s below them. They were far too important and too well-to-do to be at something like that. Can you imagine traipsing through mud and dirt, getting dirty and smelly, becoming unclean, physically and ceremonially, looking for 1 sheep? No way, not me!
Pause
“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?
Now, remember the reason for telling this story - Jesus is being accused of ‘sharing life’ with sinners - of intentionally going after the lost ones in society - the outcasts, the ones that are NOT part of the herd.
And so now that the Pharisees are shown to be the BAD shepherds of Israel, Jesus tells them what the GOOD shepherd would do - the likes of a shepherd in Psalm 23.
Because the Good shepherd would leave the 99 and go after that 1 sheep. He would roll up his sleeves and traipse through the dirt and the mud, making himself unclean all for the sake of the 1 sheep that is heading to their peril. All to save that one sheep.
And when the shepherd finds that sheep there is restoration - but there’s hard work to be done...
Because when a sheep gets stuck it lies down helplessly and refuses to budge. And a shepherd has to then carry the sheep on his shoulders...
And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
But a shepherd wouldn’t rejoice at carrying a sheep on his shoulders - especially over a long distance. BUT THIS ONE DOES. Because this is the Good Shepherd. And this GOOD shepherd will not only traipse through the mud and dirt, this GOOD shepherd will not only make himself unclean, but he will rejoice in the work that he has to do to get this sheep back, because this sheep is important to the shepherd.
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.’
You see, when this good shepherd comes back with the sheep, this sheep is home. It is safe, and the community rejoice because the sheep has been found.
And to the Pharisees, who would let that sheep die - for there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who is destroyed by the wrath of God - to those Pharisees, Jesus ends the first part of his parable...
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.
Pause
So in this first part of the story - Jesus has shown the Pharisees up for who they are. They are the bad shepherds of Israel that Jeremiah spoke of. They are the ones who are scattering the sheep and who are too big for their boots that they won’t consider anyone who is in a lower class than they are.
They are only concerned for their own. And if you’re not one of us, we will NOT share life with you - we will not entertain you and you are NOT welcome to spend time with us.
Pause
Now, this part of the parable speaks to US in two ways, among others.
First of all it speaks to the lower classes in society - that Jesus loves them - that nobody is too low for Jesus. That nobody is too bad a sinner or too worthless for Jesus.
In fact, Jesus rolled up his sleeves, stepped out of the glory of heaven to come and traipse through the mud and dirt on this earth, suffering abuse and shame and ridicule and eventually death - and he did it to seek and to save the lost.
Jesus became sin for us - he made himself unclean to rescue us and he counted it joy...
looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
And he did it for the prostitutes and the drug dealers and the abusers of this world. He did it for the liars and the thieves and the gossips of this world. He did it for the adulterers, the cheats and the murderers of the world. To anyone who is a sinner and who comes to repentance, Jesus rolls up his sleeves and finds them. He did it for me, and he’s done it for some of you.
You see, in this parable, repentance isn’t so much what YOU do, it’s what Jesus does FOR YOU. He takes the initiative to go looking for you. And HE is the one who saves you - from the lowest of the low to the heights of royalty - nobody is beyond his love.
But there needs to be a recognition of sin and a turning away from it. And for many people, that is something that they don’t want to do…and so they stay lost.
Pause
The second way this parable speaks to us is in the same way it spoke to the Pharisees. This made them uncomfortable. Jesus was crucified because he put the Pharisees in a bad light. They thought they were doing well. They thought they were well-to-do leaders of God’s people, but Jesus showed them up for who they were - the bad shepherds of Israel - and they were affronted.
You don’t kill someone for telling nice stories about shepherds finding sheep.
But this parable has spoken to me this week. Because if there is anyone here who has been saved by the grace of Jesus Christ, it’s because Jesus has rolled up his sleeves, became unclean to find you.
And the point of the parable to the Pharisees is this...
Jesus is saying...The Good shepherd sought the lost, I seek the lost, and so should YOU.
But back to the question at the start…would we want prostitutes, drug dealers, abusers, liars, adulterers, murderers, ex paramilitaries in Hillhall? Would we want rough and ready people worshiping withs us? People who have found Jesus and want to come to church - would we want them here?
Now, chances are we already have some of these people in our midst but we don’t realise it, but regardless of that - what are we doing to bring people like this into our church? Is Hillhall Presbyterian just for whilte middle-to-upper class?
Jesus’ teaching is clear here…we need to take our example from HIM - the good shepherd who shared his LIFE with sinners, with the lower classes of the day to bring them into the kingdom.
How are we doing that? You are YOU doing that? How am I even doing that?
Guys, things have got to change - starting with me. Because I love being in the presence of people with money and people who are well-to-do. I feel comfortable with these type of people. I don’t feel intimidated or uncomfortable, which is why churches are great places, because in the vast majority of cases, churches are made up of white middle-to-upper class people.
But that’s NOT the way of Jesus. Jesus doesn’t call us to be comfortable!
Jesus stepped out of his comfort-zone in heaven, and we need to step out of ours if we care at all about what’s important to Jesus.
But it takes us to roll up our sleeves, to make ourselves unclean by association and to share our life with those whom society has written off. And to do that we need a change of heart and a desire for the lost.
I need to change and chances are there are others here who need to change too.
And here’s the twist to the parable...
Because we can identify with one of two people...the Good shepherd or the bad shepherd.
If you think, ‘I need to do something about this. I need to have a heart for the lost. I need to welcome everyone here’ Then you’re identifying with the Good shepherd - and that’s GOOD! That’s what Jesus did and you’re aligning yourself with him. That’s brilliant.
And you may still feel uncomfortable about doing it, but you know it needs done.
But there may be people here who think that they can’t do this… ‘I’m not doing THAT - there are other churches that cater for those type of people, let them go there. I’m not going to go looking for people like THAT.’
If you’re thinking that, then chances are, you’ve just identified yourselves with the bad shepherds - the Pharisees.
And the twist is that the Pharisees were the ones who THOUGHT they were ‘IN’ - who thought they were holy, who thought they were special…and what this parable does is shows them up for who they are - people who are even MORE LOST than that one sheep.
The good news for you is that Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost - so repent and trust in him, otherwise you may never get home.
Let’s pray.