Sermon for Sept. 15, 2019

This morning I'll be reading Luke chapter 15 verses 1 through 10.

And I'll be reading the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

In these verses,,, Jesus tells 2 parables about finding things that are lost and the rejoicing that is done because of it. It's directed toward the Pharisees and scribes but we should pay attention also.

1 All the tax collectors and sinners were approaching to listen to Him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them!” 3 So He told them this parable: 4 “What man among you, who has 100 sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the 99 in the open field and go after the lost one until he finds it? 5 When he has found it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders, 6 and coming home, he calls his friends and neighbors together, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’ 7 I tell you, in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who don’t need repentance. 8 “Or what woman who has 10 silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? 9 When she finds it, she calls her women friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found the silver coin I lost!’ 10 I tell you, in the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”

God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning.

Let us pray:

Dear Lord, as we begin this morning, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.

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What is the mission statement of the United Methodist Church?

In the Book of Discipline it says: beginning in paragraph 121: under Rationale for Our Mission—,,, it says:

"The mission of the Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world by proclaiming the good news of God’s grace and by exemplifying Jesus’ command to love God and neighbor, thus seeking the fulfillment of God’s reign and realm in the world".

"The fulfillment of God’s reign and realm in the world is the vision Scripture holds before us".

"The United Methodist Church affirms that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Savior of the world, and the Lord of all".

"As we make disciples, we respect persons of all religious faiths and we defend religious freedom for all persons".

"Jesus’ words in Matthew provide the Church with our mission: “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything that I’ve commanded you” (chapter 28:19-20), and “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your mind. . . . You must love your neighbor as you love yourself” (22:37, 39)".

We cannot fulfill this mission statement if we don't pay attention to the words in the bible and abide by the words of Jesus.

And here in these scriptures,,, Jesus used these parables to teach the Pharisees and scribes a lesson.

Jesus used these parables to teach the Pharisees and scribes a lesson.

He wanted to let them know that their attitude needed to change.

And that's something that we need to watch out for today as well.

By studying these scriptures they will help us in our daily walk with God.

(4:16)

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The first thing that you will notice,,, in verse one it says: 1 All the tax collectors and sinners were approaching to listen to Him.

Why are the tax collectors singled out?

Why doesn't Luke just say "All the sinners were approaching to listen to Him."?

Tax collectors were hated by the people of that day and time because they were usually greedy and manipulative as they did their job.

The tax collectors would charge more than the government asked for and pocket the extra money for themselves.

The people didn't have any way to bring charges up against them so the tax collectors could do whatever their conscience allowed them to do.

These people would be seen as people that you didn't want to be seen with,,, the lowest of the low,,, so to speak!

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The next thing that you will see,,, the Pharisees and scribes are complaining.

In verse 2 it says: 2 And the Pharisees and scribes were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them!”

Luke writes about Jesus clashing with the Pharisees and scribes a lot.

(5:25)

Actually the Pharisees and scribes were always against Jesus it seems like,,, no matter which book you read.

They thought that their actions made them better people than anyone else.

That's why they made the statement, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them!"

This is something that they would never do.

They tried to make themselves appear righteous and holy by their actions,,, whatever they could do to make themselves appear better than others.

In Matthew chapter 23,,, Jesus told the people over and over to,,, "not do as the Pharisees",,, because they just wanted the attention their lifestyle brought to them instead of truly living out the laws that they acted like they were obeying.

This blinded them to the things that Jesus tried to teach them.

They couldn't see that Jesus was trying to tell them that they needed to change their ways and take care of the very ones that they were looking down on!

Their attitude was like the "brother" to the one that took his inheritance early and spent all of it without consideration for nothing but himself.

This parable that Jesus taught was told in .

It begins where I stopped reading this morning.

Normally when a sermon is done on that scripture,,, it usually focuses on the brother that wasted his inheritance and then is welcomed back home.

But Jesus was actually using all three of these parables,,, the lost sheep,,, the lost coin,,, and the lost son,,, as an example of how the Pharisees and scribes should act.

I will come back to the parable of the lost brother after I explain the first two parables that I read today.

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Verses 3 & 4 says: 3 So He told them this parable: 4 “What man among you, who has 100 sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the 99 in the open field and go after the lost one until he finds it?

(7:34)

At first thought,,, that seems rather extreme,,, but it's true.

The shepherd leaves the ones that he has and does everything that he can to find the lost sheep.

That lost sheep is important to him because that's part of his income.

It's the way that he is able to survive.

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Verses 5 & 6 says: 5 When he has found it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders, 6 and coming home, he calls his friends and neighbors together, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’

When the shepherd finds his sheep,,, the lost sheep that was valuable to him,,, he is so happy and relieved,,, that he wants everyone to know what happened and to celebrate with him.

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Verse 7 says: 7 I tell you, in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who don’t need repentance.

Jesus lets us know that there is rejoicing in heaven when someone repents of their sins.

That doesn't mean that those that have already became Christians aren't important,,, no more than the other 99 sheep.

If the shepherd would have gotten back and those were gone,,, he would have worked just as hard to find them as well.

Jesus was trying to tell them,,, and us,,, that we need to be worried about those that aren't here today.

Those that have been missing and they are needing to be found.

And if they are found and brought into the flock,,, there is rejoicing in heaven because of this!

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Verse 8 says: 8 “Or what woman who has 10 silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?

(9:03)

My Bible Knowledge Commentary said that one silver coin was equal to a days wages at that time,,, so it was very valuable.

The point that Jesus was trying to make would have been obvious to the ones listening that day and that was that God thought the sinners that He was associating with that day were extremely important,,, just like the coin that was lost.

Also,,, watch for the effort that she went through to find the coin.

She really worked hard to find it,,, spending time and hard work,,, lighting the lamp and sweeping the house until she does find it.

Jesus wanted them,,, and us to know,,, that it's important to Him to find everyone that He can before it's too late.

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Verses 9 & 10 says: 9 When she finds it, she calls her women friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found the silver coin I lost!’ 10 I tell you, in the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”

After she spends the time working and looking for the lost coin,,, when she finds it,,, she calls her friends and neighbors telling them to rejoice with her because she has found the lost coin.

She is happy and relieved that she was able to find it and overjoyed about it and wants others to share in that joy!

Jesus tells them,,, and us,,, that in the same way,,, there is rejoicing in the presence of God's angels over one sinner who repents.

(10:19)

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Now we will look briefly at the parable of the lost son.

But like I told you earlier,,, we will see how the Pharisees seem like the brother that stayed home.

If you remember from that parable,,, the younger brother took his inheritance early and left so that he could live the good life.

The older brother stayed and kept working and seemed to be the better brother.

After the younger brother has spent all of his money and was starving,,, he decided that it would be better to come home and work as a servant for his father.

But his father was so happy to see him that he welcomed him back and gave him a party.

The older brother came in from the field and wondered what was going on and one of the servants told him that his brother had come home and they were celebrating.

The older brother was hurt and didn't want to go in to the party.

He was guilty of unforgiveness and selfishness.

He was angry that he had spent so many years doing what he thought was right but apparently he had been doing it for the wrong reasons.

Instead of being happy that his younger brother had changed and decided to come home,,, he was angry and jealous.

He was only thinking of himself,,, just like the Pharisees and scribes were doing.

When his father came outside to see why he wasn't coming in,,, his father repeats to the elder son the language of his heart the words that he used to tell the servants about his younger son in verse 24 where it says: because this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and now is found. So they began to celebrate.

You see,,, a real father could do no less.

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You can almost see how completely the Pharisees and scribes were put to silence by these three marvelous parables.

Jesus used these parables to tell the story of God’s love for the lost that justifies forever the coming of Christ to the world to seek and to save the lost.

It should also waken us to the important job of seeking out those that are lost and doing everything that we can do to bring them home with us.

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This brings us all the way back to the beginning of this sermon where I was asking what our mission statement is.

We can't begin to fulfill our mission statement by spending our time in the pews of this church.

We must be like Jesus and begin to spend time with those in need.

Those that we might think are worse off than we are,,, or those that we think have made too many mistakes,,,

We can't wait for them to enter this church because they may never do that.

We must take the church to them,,, let them see Jesus in us,,, by helping those in our community that are in need.

Being sure that we don't do like the Pharisees and scribes and look down on those that we think might be beneath us.

We are the church,,, not this building,,, but this congregation,,, when we leave here today,,, the church leaves with us.

We must remember "that" as we go out into our communities and back to work tomorrow.

Because we are charged with making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

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So as we begin our week,,, I want us to remember these parables and the way that Jesus tried to help the Pharisees and scribes change their ways.

Remember that we want to be careful that we don't adopt this type of attitude either.

And don't forget our mission statement of the United Methodist Church,,, which is "To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world!"

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So as we sing our final hymn,,, let me remind you that the alter is always open,,,

If you feel God speaking to you,,, don't hesitate to come,,, maybe you just have questions,,, God will answer,,, you just have to ask Him,,, whatever the need may be,,,

As we sing the final hymn,,, come if needed!

Oakdale - Hymn Page - 338

Seminary - Hymn Page - 357

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