Lost and Found

Lostness is a reality, but how do we respond to that condition? Does it pique our curiosity? Does it break our hearts? Does it prompt us to action?

Before Covid reached pandemic status in Spring of 2019, Hundreds of thousands of people would flock to New Orleans to watch Mardi Gras. Before Lent, several days would be wasted in debauchery and drunkenness. Even those who wouldn’t participate in the revelry, many would make attempts to watch the wickedness of others.

The 2000 film Gladiator portrays Russell Crowe as a Roman Emperor who is betrayed and forced to duel to death as entertainment for the thousands who watch from the stands.

I have heard both American Football and International Futbol described as Tens of thousands of fans desperately in need of exercise watching 20 players desperately in need of rest.

As I consider passive fans who merely watch others I am reminded of Teddy Roosevelt’s famous speech.

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

As today we celebrate liberty that was fought and won by others, I wonder if we have become too passive?

I recall the Minutemen who played a large role in winning our independence from the Monarchy. Minutemen were civilian colonists who self-trained in weaponry, tactics, and military strategies during the American Revolutionary War. They were known for being ready at a minute's notice, hence the name. Minutemen provided a highly mobile, rapidly deployed force that enabled the colonies to respond immediately to war threats. They were among the first to fight in the Revolution and constituted about a quarter of the entire militia.

When a problem is spotted, some leap into action, while others grumble as we see in the first 2 verses of today’s chapter.

From Preoccupation to Sinful Pride (vv.1-2)

The Previous Chapter (Luke 14)

1. 2 healings when Pharisees were preoccupied with protocols of Sabbath and Social Settings.

2. Jesus contrasts their protocols with His compassion and a call to bring in the poor and disabled.

Chapter 15 begins with an example of deflection 101: When you find yourself indefensible, divert attention to your opponent.

An accusation that Jesus embraced

1. tax collectors and sinners were attracted to Him

2. He received them and socially engaged with them.

Transition: Jesus leverages their accusation as an opportunity to tell…

3 Parables

Since these are some of Jesus most famous parables and we just saw the text dramatized I won’t go into great detail on the individual stories, suffice it to say that Jesus describes…

A Shepherd and his sheep. (3-7)

A Woman and hersilvercoins (8-10)

A Man with two sons (11-32)

Transition: These parables point to…

A Prophesied Pursuit

A 600-year old warning. (Ezekiel 34)

Ezekiel 34:2–4 (ESV:2016)

...”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.

God summarizes the situation after Babylon that still remained in Jesus’ day.

Ezekiel 34:6 (ESV:2016)

...My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.

And He prophesies His pursuit of lost sheep.

Ezekiel 34:10 (ESV:2016)

10 Thus says the Lord God... I will rescue my sheep from their mouths...

Urgency of the Pursuit.

1. Livestock of Another

I’ve learned in my 3 years here that sometimes ranchers buy and sell their own herd and sometimes they contract to care for the herd of another stockman.

a. If Jesus had Ezek 34 in mind (and I think He did) then the shepherds He describes were contracting to care for another stockman’s flock.

b. If you are like me, you give more attention to something that belongs to and needs to be returned to someone else, than what is mine.

c. If a caretaker loses too many sheep, he finds himself with no sheep to shepherd! I believe this lost sheep may have been a career ender for the shepherd Jesus describes, so he is urgently seeking to protect his reputation.

2. A Woman’s dowery

a. There is dispute between commentators, but 1 theory is that these 10 coins would have been the woman’s dowry that she would sew into her headdress.

b. I conclude that the word diligently in v.8 and the fact that she calls friends and neighbors when it is found, give credibility to the idea that her very future depended upon these coins. If her dowry disappeared she may never marry.

3. A Man’s legacy

a. Even when children disappoint, they remain our legacy.

b. We don’t know how long the son was gone or how far he went, but the extent to which the man responded tells me his return was a heavy burden on the Father.

Intensity of the Pursuit

1. Go (v.4) – even if the word go in the Great Commission is a participle instead of a command (meaning “as you move about”), in this text it is decisive and means “to travel”

In the movie A Few Good Men (which is a story about two marines who face a Court Martial) a major part of the trial hinges on what a private and a colonel packed for a trip. The point is that even a weekend trip means some intentional planning and packing.

· The leaving of one’s responsibility to search for something lost naturally has more intensity than “he wandered off”

· He intently went to search for the sheep

2. Seek diligently (v.8) is more than just “keep an eye out and let me know if you happen to see it.”

3. “While he was still a long way off…he ran” I have admiration for people like Amy’s Cross Country runners who put in hundreds of miles to train for meets. I’m at that point in my life where if I’m running, you better look behind me, because something is inspiring my movement!

Transition: The urgency and intensity of these 3 pursuits result in…

3 Parties

1. Rejoicing with friends, neighbors and in heaven. (v.6-7)

2. Rejoicing with friends, neighbors and before the angels of God. (v.9-10)

3. A feast for servants and family. (v.23)

Transition: All of these celebrations center on the

1 Point to All 3 parables

Sinners who repent Generate Joy!

1. (v.7) there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

2. (v.10) …there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

3. While vv.17-20a describe repentance by the younger son, the story of the older son screams “where is the repentance?”

4. Perhaps the sinful pride of verses 1-2 is what Jesus drives home by omitting a response from the older son.

Conclusion:

What is your response to the lostness of our neighbors? Is it a passive prayer that somehow God will Bless the USA?

I fear that too many Christians are like the slow-moving traffic near an accident—there is some sick attraction that keeps us from looking away.

We see the carnage, we know it is serious, we’re grateful it isn’t us, but we don’t have enough empathy or ability to do anything about it.

We’ve seen the video of the condominium collapsing, we hear the stories of family without answers, then we conclude, “well that’s awful, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”

The shepherd knew a sheep was lost, so he went to find it. The woman knew her silver was gone, so she searched intensely until it was found. The man longed for his son and kept looking for him, and responded by running at the first hint that a return was possible.

The next time you read of crime, hear of heartache, learn of a neighbor in need, my prayer is that we would be known as people actively seek and offer salvation to those who are willing to repent.

Song of Response #307.. “Send the Light”