Jesus is Scandalous
Notes
Transcript
A couple of weeks ago I started a series Jesus is _______. How would you fill in the blank?
We talked about how Jesus is always with you.
Today were going to talk about..........
Jesus is scandalous.
Often we speak of God’s grace being “amazing,” but let’s take a moment and categorize it as “scandalous.”
The definition of scandalous is: “causing general public outrage by a perceived offense against morality or law.”
From that definition alone, we can conclude that Jesus was scandalous.
When we think of something being scandalous, we tend to assume it as a negative.I want to bring attention to a specific word in the definition–“perceived.”
When we perceive something, we look at it from our interpretation. From the perspective of the religious leaders, everything Jesus did was scandalous. He healed on the Sabbath despite being scoffed by the religious leaders. Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners; people who were shunned and outcast. He told parables that made the religious leaders look bad. Jesus outraged them, which is why they wanted to kill Him.
Here’s the passage we’ll be looking at......
All the tax collectors and sinners were approaching to listen to him. And the Pharisees and scribes were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
In this passage we are introduced to Jesus audience....
Pharisees---- religious leaders, these were the top dogs of the city, studied and knew the scripture, preached the law of Moses,
Scribes ----- lawyers and teachers of the law; opposed Jesus often
Tax collectors ------ the lowest of the low, bad people, robbers, corrupt, stole from the poor and widows
sinners ------- prostitutes, thieves, adulterers, liars
Imagine this scene. two completely different types of people....sitting around Jesus.
Pharisees ----”What’s this rabbi doing with these sinners? tax collectors?
these are the bad people, the robbers, corrupt.”
Sinners/tax collectors ------”Why are they here? Are they here to cast judgment on us? look down on us?”
So Jesus tells a story.......a parable....
“When challenged by His peers in the religious community, Jesus found another opportunity to teach them as well as His disciples about the true nature of ministry and God’s vision for the kingdom. With two short analogies, He revealed the heart of heaven, subtly inviting His legalistic friends to loosen up, to love the unlovely, to learn to redeem sinners rather than condemn them, and to dance with angels.” -Charles Swindoll
Jesus tells us three stories (parables) amongst the great divide....... they pointed to loss and redemption, separation and reconciliation
So he told them this parable: “What man among you, who has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open field and go after the lost one until he finds it? When he has found it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders, and coming home, he calls his friends and neighbors together, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’ I tell you, in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who don’t need repentance.
A story we’ve heard so many times........
In this story, a shepherd has 100 sheep… loses 1 that has wandered off, possibly in danger
The shepherd determined to get his sheep back, is willing to leave the other 99 to get this one back..
Once found the shepherd puts the sheep on his shoulders and brings him home..
exactly the opposite the pharisees do
Therefore do whatever they tell you, and observe it. But don’t do what they do, because they don’t practice what they teach. They tie up heavy loads that are hard to carry and put them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves aren’t willing to lift a finger to move them.
The good shepherd doesn’t put burdens on you shoulders he puts his sheep on his shoulders to carry because their tired and weary
“Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
That’s not the end of the story....the shepherd throws a party..... to celebrate the lost sheep being found
Then Jesus, I believe, throws a jab at the pharisees and scribes… in the company of the sinners
I tell you, in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who don’t need repentance.
The pharisees were so self-righteous and pompous they though they didnt need to repent! They looked down on the sinners
Heaven celebrates when a lost person repents and turns their life to Jesus
For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”
This story tells us about a lost person who comes to faith in Jesus
But I also believe it deals with those who have gone astray
How many of us are prone to wander? I know I do....
We get so caught up in the world..... the grass is greener on the other side....so many times we want to just taste it a little bit...
Come Thou Fount
“Oh, to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be
Let thy goodness like a fetter
Bind my wandering heart to thee
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here’s my heart, oh take and seal it
Seal it for Thy courts above.
Then Jesus tells us another parable..(the lost coin)
“Or what woman who has ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? When she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found the silver coin I lost!’ I tell you, in the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”
I don’t know about ya’ll but Mallory is terrible about losing my stuff.
Im just kidding. I lose everything.... I lose my wallet daily, keys usually no idea. (after starting at the school)
But when I lose something I am determined to find it....
In this story, a woman loses 1 coin… (That’s equivalent to 1 day worth of labor) (Equivalent to 1 sheep)
she stopped everything....
cuts the lights on
searched diligently
picked up furniture
swept the house
did all she could to find it..
after searching for a while she finds it
then tells everyone she found it!
What do these 2 stories have in common?
Something was lost!
What did the lamb/coin do?
Nothing.....the lamb probably ran further...
Coin collected dust
Who did the work? Who did the searching? The chasing?
It was the shepherd and the woman
Something was found!
The lamb was found and thrown on the shoulders of the master
The coin was found
There was a party
Many think Christians are boring
If anyone knows how to throw a party, it’s the Creator of the Universe
These two passages tell us a story of Jesus’ scandalous love and grace.
He’s the one that leaves the 99 church people to seek the 1 lost person living in the world
He would flip a house over to find that one lost person
Jesus and all of heaven are so excited when that person is found
Many of us my ask....Why? It’s just one sheep… It’s just one coin
Because that sheep and coin is valuable to it’s owner
God owns you..He owns all of us. We are all His creation…He desperately wants you.
$20 bill illustration.
Fold it.
who still wants it?
Crumble it..
who still wants it?
Drop it and stomp it.
who still wants it?
Why do you still want it?
because it still has value. It’ still worth something
Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumbled, and ground in the dirt by the decisions we make (often by church people) and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless; but no matter what happened of what will happen, you will never lose your value in the eyes of God.
You are so valuable that God sent His only Son to die for you...
That is scandalous
Well some in here might not believe you are valuable in the eyes of God. maybe because of your past mistakes...
Ralph Lauren shirt
Why is it so expensive?
Valuable? It’s just a shirt.
It’s valuable because of who designed it…who created it .
How much more value do you have being designed a created by the Creator of the Universe
There are many scandalous events in the Bible, but can we take back that word back for a moment? Let us take away the negative connotation and use it to examine how God loves us, gives us grace, and uses it for good.The famous John 3:16 is a wonderful example of a scandal.
For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him should not parish but have eternal life.
God giving us His son to die so that we could live is an outrageous thought in this world.
Conclusion.
If you are that one sheep/coin in the room and feel heavy burdened, worn out, tired....i’m with you....I am tired too...
You’re in the right place.. The church is not a museum for the saints but a hospital from the broken...
If you have never given your life to Jesus.....Stop trying to fix yourself.. Stop wandering from Him… Just be still and He will come to you....
You are valuable....You are treasured…You are loved....
To my church people, the 99.
Stop and think…don’t be like the pharisees/scribes
The desperately down and out need no reminder that good people consider them undesirable.
Consequently, they hide their shame and dare the world to judge their only trustworthy companion…sin.
They would seek help among the righteous, but nicely dressed church people can appear superior and often profess a religion that merely promises to exchange a burden for another.
So, it should surprise no one that they keep their distance from anything remotely religious.
“In the lines of two short stories, Jesus reassured hardened sinners—people who, in today’s terms, were searching for hope at the bottom of cocktail glasses and seeking comfort in one-night stands—that God has not forsaken them. He is, in fact, searching for them because He treasures them as a much as, if not more than, He does those who have not gone astray. Jesus also demonstrated to the religiously upright that it’s okay—in fact, more than okay—to seek the lost; the Father rejoices when just one lost person is found!” -Charles Swindoll
Church, stay in touch with the world of the lost…
Going into the school system has humbled me.
Being here at the church…i lost touch with the world. I talked the Christian talk..i grew numb to the need of Christ in the world.
It has showed me that we are all in this together....
If we are honest, we are all screwed up… We all desperately need Jesus!
Church also treat non-Christians well..
Stop judging and start loving...
1 Peter 3:15–16 (CSB)
but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. Yet do this with gentleness and reverence,
Yes tell them about Jesus but do with Gentleness and kindness and respect.
Church also remain patient. I know we all have those sheep/coins that never want to be found.
God will do the work through you.. keep planting seeds and watering them.
Gary Sharpe…you’re not their Holy Spirit. Only God can change someone..
Prayer