A Sheep, Coin, and Son Walk into a Bar...
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A sheep, coin, and Son Walk into a Bar...
A sheep, coin, and Son Walk into a Bar...
Have you ever had a friend that was the “wrong” kind of person to hang out with, but you did anyway, because you liked them?
Modern Christian churches are full of the right kind of people. We stay together. We judge those outside. We don’t judge those inside.
We have our crowd, the right kind of crowd, that belongs to the right groups (political parties), watches the right shows, consumes the right news (Fox), and believes the right things (God found America to bless Americans and oppress all others.)
If our church’s looked like Jesus’ gatherings, we would be excoriated in the news.
Here is an example:
Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!
Tax collectors…to Jesus teach.
I would like to know what church the Ogden, UT IRS Employees attend? And does it also have “notorious” sinners? I love that, notorious sinners. Like well known, famous sinners. Think of a famous sinner and then think of them being in your church gathering, right here with us, today.
This made the Pharisees and teachers...
Yes, they are all out there with their cell phones, recording the event so later they can analyze what happened, pick Jesus’ words apart, show the behavior of the sinners and complain about it.
even eating with them!
I mean, this is too much!
So Jesus told them this story:
This is the perfect opportunity to teach a lesson to everyone.
Question: Which group is he addressing?
Pharisee’s and teachers of religious law?
OR
Tax Collectors and other Notorious Sinners?
“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!
This man is fairly wealthy to have 100 sheep. 100 is a good number of completion. A good round number.
The sheep has no value apart from the shepherd. It is food for wild beasts. But with the shepherd, it has value. It makes the flock whole.
Do you follow that? The sheep has value when it is under the leadership of the shepherd.
Why do they raise sheep? Food and clothing.
We concentrate on the finding of the sheep, but this message is clear:
To the leaders: you hate the thought of lost sheep coming home, but God rejoices when a sinner is found.
To the sinners: you love being found, but you must repent and stop being lost. Don’t get lost over and over just so God can rejoice each time.
Jesus makes another analogy...
“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”
This parable is really directed at the mindset of the Pharisee and religious teacher. They were all about money and power.
Again, there are ten coins. A complete number, but one is lost. How did the coin get lost? Did it go astray?
We concentrate on the finding of the coin, but the message is clear:
To the leaders: You will go to the ends of the earth to find a coin, but you won’t lift a finger to find a sinner.
To the sinners: When you have been found, repent, stop being lost. You are of NO VALUE unless you are in the hands of the one who owns the coin.
The Pharisee’s see no value in the lost sinner or tax collector. What can they bring them? Nothing but trouble.
Jesus goes on...
To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons.
A bit of NERD INFO: This section switches up the sentence word order to be more like Hebrew than Greek. VSO rather than SVO.
The young son essentially says to the father, I want to live like you are dead.
No parent would do this and they would be deeply offended if one of their kids asked for this.
But, shockingly, the father agrees!
No parent would agree!
This puts the family and possibly the community in jeopardy. The whole family is dependent on the father to survive, and he just gives up a share of his wealth for this one son.
But the younger son has what he wants.
“A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.
You can have all you want, but life apart from the father is difficult.
Notice what he does, he just squanders all he has been given.
Imagine the amount of work it took the father and generations before him to gather the wealth.
And what is left of it? Nothing. It is gone.
Makes you wonder why this younger son wanted to leave so badly. What happened?
“When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.” ’
Of the characters in the group (pharisee or sinner), who does this apply too? Who fits this model?
The notorious sinners and tax collectors?
The pharisee’s and teachers?
BOTH.
One squanders what they have been given in this life.
The other scandalizes the teaching by oppressing.
This is what repentance looks like.
What will the father do? What does the LAW of God require him to do?
Two greatest commandments: Love God, Love Neighbor.
“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’
“But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.
So he returned home...
And the father obeyed the law.
He was not resentful. He was not judgmental. He was angry.
He is filled with love and compassion, just like the law requires.
****VERSE****
But his father said to the servants...
Notice, the father flat out directs the servants on what to do. (More on that later)
This parallels what we saw with the sheep and the coin.
The family is complete again, it is whole again.
Let the party begin. The son has repented and returned.
“Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, and he asked one of the servants what was going on. ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’
“The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’
Meanwhile, the older son...
Can you imagine…Some of you have siblings, you know how this feels when the “favorite” gets a big party and they have done NOTHING TO DESERVE IT!
****VERSE****
The older brother was angry...
This is unfair!
This is not right?
I am the one loyal to you!!!
“His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’ ”
The father is showing extreme wisdom.
Everything I have is yours. Your brother, he is not going to get any more from me. He may be alive, but he is broke.
Yes, I agree, you have been with me all this time.
That is true.
But have you noticed the difference between the three stories?
Lost. Search. Find. Repent. Celebrate
Lost. Search. Find. Repent. Celebrate
Lost. Returned. Repent. Celebrate
The shepherd left his possessions to search.
The woman searched all over.
But no one went looking for the young son.
Not even his brother.
Wasn’t that the point of the two preceding parables?
But there is another character in here that is NEVER considered.
The Servants.
The younger brother says, “the servants have more than enough to eat, I will be like one of them.”
The father directs the servants to decorate, clothe, and feed the younger son.
The older brother asks the servants what is going on, and they report the exact correct message to him.
The servants follow instructions and celebrate with the entire family.
There is no questioning, no arguing, they just serve the Father in whatever unfair decision he decides to make.
I think this is the overlooked aspect of this story.
Who are the servants?
The ones who are loyal and faithful to the father of the house.