Come Rejoice with Me_2008 (2)
Come Rejoice with Me!
TEXT: Luke 15:1-7
Introduction
Ronie and I visited Columbus on Thursday and rode around….got lost….got found….and finally arrived back on Route 27 and back to familiar territory! We saw some, how shall I say this, interesting establishments while traveling around Columbus….and I began thinking about them. SO…..
I wanted to let you know that as soon as Ronie, the kids and me are settled in the Valley, I plan on spending about two evenings a week in Columbus and I’m going to pick out a couple of tattoo and body piercing shops and, at least one adult establishment….and I’m going to hang-out there and get to know the owner or manager of each and see if I can get them to let the church buy them lunch…or dinner and then I’m going to try and build a relationship with them….hopefully become friends and invite them to church!
What do you think about my idea? I see some shock and bewilderment on some faces this morning! What do you think of my idea? Now, I know that I’m your new pastor….and you have already demonstrated your love for me and my family in the short time we have been around you….but what do you think of my newest idea for ministry? Will you still love me….will you encourage me in this very difficult ministry opportunity? Will you still trust your new pastor?
Transition
O.K., before someone turns this morning’s worship service into a business meeting and calls for ANOTHER VOTE on calling me as your pastor….I’m not seriously considering going to Columbus and seeking out the lost in bars and taverns, or tattoo parlors and adult bookstores…but are we, as Christ Followers called to build relationships with such people. You see, most of us will give lip service to “sharing the gospel” with everyone…but aren’t we usually guilty of selectively choosing who we want to share Christ with and who we, subconsciously judge as a lost cause and so we ignore them. We often cross the street to avoid them or walk around them so that we don’t come in contact with them. We may not even realize we are doing it…but we have made a decision NOT to chance an encounter with one of these….you know…the alcoholic who everyone knows is abusive to others (including his family) OR the flaming homosexual who is not only lost in his or her sexual sin, but wears it proudly while thumbing his nose at the “Christian Right!”
Here is the crux of the problem with which we are faced…..God loves his people and He seeks to save the lost…and Jesus never judged anyone unworthy of the gospel!
Turn in your Bibles to Luke 15….I want us to look, this morning, at a picture Jesus gives us, as recorded by Luke, into the heart of God for the lost!
Lk 15:1-7
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
15 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
3 So he told them this parable: 4 “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? 5 And 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 that was lost.’ 7 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.
The Scandal
Luke begins this event in the ministry of Jesus by, interestingly enough, declaring that tax collectors and sinners were “all drawing near to him.” Now this was a scandalous bunch, these tax collectors and sinners…we are talking about. First, the sinners: These would have been the notorious ones…the thieves, the harlots or prostitutes, those who would never set foot in the temple to worship God or give offerings; they would not give alms to the poor…in fact they would, most likely, prey upon the poor and seek to gain money and pleasure in any way they could. They were the immoral dregs of society.
And if the “sinners” were the dregs, then the Tax Collectors were the scum that settled to the bottom under the dregs! You see, the Tax Collectors were the universally hated class of Jews in Palestine…they were turncoat Jews….they had sold their souls and abandoned their religious heritage as God’s chosen nation in order to secure, what we might understand today, as a franchise from the Romans, giving them the right to collect Roman taxes from the people. They would over tax the people in order to build their wealth on the backs of their own brothers and cousins and uncles….they were the despised of the despised!
What a Scandal! Here is a holy man who dares associate with these dregs and scum! The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law (the Scribes)….they grumbled and murmured continuously (imperfect tense in GK) for Jesus not only did not rebuke these sinners for daring to come near to him and defiling him…making him unclean…NO, HE WELCOMED THEM AND SAT DOWN TO SHARE MEALS WITH THEM! Jesus was breaking rabbinic laws….for the rabbinic commentary on Exod. 18.1 cites a rule that, “a person should not associate with the godless.” Yet he is welcoming these sinners and religious outcasts to a table to share a meal, to laugh, and to tell stories. In other words….Jesus was going about building relationships with them!
The Real Scandal – is addressed here by Jesus as He begins to tell the parable…..Notice that v.3 begins, “So, he (Jesus) told them (the Pharisees and Scribes) this parable. From the parable, it is easy to see who our Savior judged to be the most scandalous…and it wasn’t the Tax Collectors!
You see, the scandal was that the leaders of Israel, those who have been entrusted with the laws of God and are the undershepherds of the Shepherd of Israel, who is God Himself, have been failing in their task of tending the flock of Israel!
Turn with me to Ezekiel 34
Eze 34:1-4
Prophecy Against the Shepherds of Israel
34 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. 4 The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them.
Isn’t this a picture of what we see with the Pharisees of the NT!
Skip down to v. 10
Eze 34:10-12
10 Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.
The Lord God Will Seek Them Out
11 “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.
The thrust of Ezekiel’s prophecy is clear….since the undershepherds of Israel had failed in feeding the flock….in seeking the lost sheep…God Himself will rescue his people…He will intervene…but HOW?
Look at vv.s 23-24:
Eze 34:23-24
23 And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24 And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord; I have spoken.
Who is this David? It can’t be King David, for he has been dead or over 500 years! No, God will use the ultimate son of David….the lion of the Tribe of Judah….He would send His ONLY SON…Jesus, the Good Shepherd to complete the task that the leaders of Israel had failed to do!
The Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law could have cared less for these sinners and Tax Collectors…BUT Jesus could not have cared more for them….God sent His Son….and later, in Luke 19.10 Jesus would proclaim that he, the Son of Man, had come to earth to “seek and to save the lost.”
Now, let’s look at the parable to see how Jesus answered the grumbles of the religious elite: First, there was the loss….
The Loss: A shepherd, evidently a pretty well-off one at that since he had 100 sheep, loses one sheep. Now, on paper this would not be a great loss…in business terms today we might call it “an acceptable loss”…but not to this Shepherd….and, as Jesus personalizes it toward the teachers around him…. “What man among you….” which is Jesus’ way of saying “Wouldn’t you….do this…wouldn’t you leave the other 99 in open country (meaning unprotected) in order to go and find the one that is lost!!
Jesus continues by telling of the search…..
The Search: and this search begins immediately. At this point, I think it’s important to remember the nature of a sheep. They are a pitifully helpless species….their instincts are useless and they are defenseless against predators and, really from themselves. They are, to be it mildly, senseless animals.
But, Jesus knows this! The Good Shepherd understands the predicament of his sheep….and He is willing to search without ceasing, to pour out energy in searching the valleys and combing the hilltops…always calling and seeking His lost….it’s Ezekiel’s prophecy lived out… “Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out…..” (Ezek. 34.11).
Illustration
Perhaps you, as a parent, have known the indescribable fear of losing a child. Ronie and I have. We were in a toy store once, when Micah and Trey were younger…and I got busy maybe helping Micah look at a toy and Ronie came around the corner of the aisle….and we sort of locked eyes…..and the same question jumped to my conscience and to hers….where’s Trey! Everything is dropped like NOW and a panic sets in like no other as I begin running down the aisles calling out Trey’s name….only to find him sitting on the floor playing with a toy…..looking at me like his Daddy has lost his ever-loving mind! The relief of finding him…knowing he is safe and we are back together….well, there’s no feeling like it!
Transition
This is exactly what Jesus is describing here in this parable….his heart….the heart of our heavenly Father is one of deep concern and compassion… as he searches for the lost souls….the extreme value he places on them. Look at the end of v. 5….when the shepherd finds the lost sheep, he doesn’t simply herd him back to the foal…no, look….he places it upon his shoulders and carries it back….not willing to take a chance that some harm might come to it on the journey back!
R. Kent Hughes notes in his work on Luke, That You May Know the Truth, tells of one of the earliest existing statutes of the western church can be viewed in Rome….and it is of Jesus carrying a lamb across his shoulders, (135). The look on Jesus’ face is said to be one of sweetness and compassion. Evidently, the post-apostolic church greatly valued this parable of our Lord as the Good Shepherd seeking out the lost sheep! Of course, Jesus is the Shepherd in this parable. He fulfills God’s promise made in Ezekiel and described by Isaiah.
A Time of Joy and Celebration
But look at the response after finding and carrying the lost one back home…..the shepherd is overwhelmed with joy….he cannot keep it to himself…he calls his friends and neighbors together and throws a party for the return of the one who was lost!
But, look at the divine application of this parable, for Jesus tells the Pharisees and teachers of the Law….and through Luke and the Holy Spirit, he tells me and you….that:
Lk 15:7
7 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.
What do we make of this verse. It is no longer the parable that Jesus is telling, but a fact of what takes place in heaven. You may be thinking…. “Pastor, are you saying you take this literally?” YES, I DO!
I believe Jesus teaches here that God loves the lost….God seeks out the lost……..God sent his own Son to seek and save the lost! To blaze the trail of salvation for his lost sheep…sheep that cannot find their own way…cannot make it back to the flock without the Shepherd!
God rejoices more over the salvation of one of his lost ones, than he does over the righteous lives and deeds of us…his church! In the initial moment, there is the greatest joy, pleasure and celebration over the safety of the one who was in jeopardy than for the ones already secure!
The Gospel
God spoke through the prophet Isaiah saying,
Is 53:6
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned every one to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
We ALL, just like sheep….just like the one lost in this parable….we have all strayed from our Creator….we have all turned…we have turned from our Shepherd and gone our own way. God could choose to turn his face from us…He would be JUST in turning away from us….for He is the creator…He is the Holy One….He is the God of all things and the creator of all the universe….and He would be RIGHT in turning away.
Ro 3:23
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Every one of us has left the only truly GOOD and Perfect ONE, in order to serve our own selfish desires…to do things our own way!
But the glorious, gracious truth is that Our God…THE only True and Living God….came seeking us. Taking on the form of man, becoming unique as the second Adam…fully God and fully man….Jesus Christ was pierced for our sins…For MY SINS and FOR YOUR SINS. “For our sake,” God made him (Jesus Christ) who knew no sin…had never rebelled against God, had never once committed a sin….God laid all of our sin upon Him at the cross…so that we (who had chosen to rebel and walk away from God)….so that we could become the very righteousness of God!
OH, my brothers and sisters….THAT IS THE GOSPEL….THAT IS THE GOOD NEWS!!!!
That the God of the universe came looking for you. You may think that you found God….but NO…He sought you out! None of us seeks God on our own. If you are seeking Him NOW….KNOW THIS…He is already seeking YOU! The love of God, through the Holy Spirit calls you to repentance….
Scripture tells us that God’s love and kindness is targeted to bring the lost to Him….in the 2nd chapter of Romans, Paul follows his explanation of the rebellion…the total and unmitigated depravity and helplessness of humanity, with a caution to those who judge others…those who would judge the lost….declaring that we judge ourselves if we judge the lost…for we are all “sheep who have gone our own way!” And Paul turns toward the grace of God that falls upon all of us…the lost and the saved…and he says:
Ro 2:4
4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
Your loving and gracious heavenly Father longs within His heart to see you come home. His kindness and common grace…that is grace that comes to all…to the righteous and the wicked….this grace is meant to lead you to Him….and the only way to God is through Jesus, His Son.
If you are seeking the peace of God….if you are seeking, what Jesus described as the abundant life, then God is seeking you and calling you to repentance.
What does this mean? Repentance??
It means that you acknowledge that you have gone your own way….that you have rebelled and sinned against your creator! We are all born wearing the human scar of the first Adam….his fall from perfection in the garden by choosing to “go his own way.” But, by repenting, you NOW choose to live God’s way…the way you were created to live!
You choose to turn away from self and to Christ!
Jesus said it is for this that He came…..
Lk 5:32
32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
You see, the gospel is not about clean living and a long list of do’s and don’ts…..it isn’t the law….or even the 10 Commandments. The Gospel is that the God of the universe is seeking YOU….calling YOU….empowering YOU….to a NEW LIFE. The Holy Spirit is God’s engine that drives our new life…..
2 Co 3:6
6 who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
If you are seeking God, you can know that He is first seeking YOU! Scripture is clear on this….you can come to Christ for He has already accepted YOU!
Conclusion
My church….my brothers and sisters….the message to us today is this….No one is a hopeless cause…no one is beyond the reach of our Savior. We must guard against ever fearing a wasted effort in sharing Christ with someone…regardless of their appearance, cultural affiliation or religious claims. For you see, the one we walk to the other side of the street to avoid…the one who seems impossible to reach…that same one has only one hope….and the hope of the world is the church…glorious and united…for we were all sheep that went astray….BUT God sought us out, saved us…gave us forgiveness and eternal life….and His Holy Spirit to seal us and empower us…and is continuing to sanctify us…to transform our hearts to bear more and more…the image of Christ!
So, my brothers and sisters, the one you feel inclined to avoid…the most hopeless of all in your eyes….he may very well be waiting for YOU to tell him of the Shepherd seeking him….the Great Shepherd who will place him across his shoulders…bearing all of his burdens….and bring him home!
Invitation
If you are here this morning….maybe not even sure why you came…you simply sensed you should come….the desire of my heart today is that you have, through the very words of Christ, seen into God’s heart for you today! That He loves you and desires a relationship with you….As we sing, if you sense the calling of God in your heart….come down front….I will be waiting….God is waiting. Come, as we sing.
During Song……Do not shut-out the calling of God from your heart.
After the Song….If you are unsure of the gospel…you are unsure of your eternity….please see me after church…I want nothing more than the opportunity to speak with you more about Christ!
Pray