Lost and Found

TEXT: Luke 15:1-24

Introduction:  Story of being lost in the deer woods

I.   A Lost Sheep (vv.1-7).

A.       Jesus begins this first story by asking each person in the crowd to pretend to be a shepherd with a flock of 100 sheep. Shepherds and flocks of sheep were very common in that time in that country. Some of these men might have been shepherds or at least knew shepherds.

1.      Imagine such a shepherd who "loses one" of his sheep. Somewhere along the path, the little sheep slips away or gets separated from the flock. It is lost, alone and afraid.

a)      Have you ever lost a family pet?  Lost Squirrel in Lodi Lost Mitzi in Ardmore

2.      Imagine the shepherd at the end of the day. As his sheep file by into the fold or pen, he counts them. "95, 96, 97, 98, 99… Hey, one’s missing! Where is Snowball? I haven’t seen her all afternoon!"

3.      He can just imagine his lamb lost "in the wilderness." He fears she’s been torn apart by wolves.

4.      He will "leave the 99" and search diligently for "the one which is lost." I imagine him backtracking over every place the flock had been that day, down every step of the trail, in every pasture, by every stream on every hillside.

5.      Finally, by the light of the moon, he sees something white in the distance. He calls out and the frightened little lamb runs to him. Overjoyed that Snowball is safe, he "lays it on his shoulders" and "rejoicing" returns home.

6.      He is so happy that he "calls together his friends and neighbors" for a celebration party. "Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!"

B.       Jesus doesn’t leave us to wonder what he meant by this story. He says, "There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance." Whenever anyone calls out to Jesus Christ to be saved, a party is thrown in heaven!

II.A Lost Coin (vv.8-10).

A.       Next Jesus asks them to imagine "a woman" who has "ten silver coins." The Jewish people of Jesus’ day probably understood this to be a drachma, a valuable coin worn in a ten-piece frontlet called a semedi on a married or engaged woman’s forehead.

1.      Imagine that woman losing one of the coins from this valuable piece of jewelry. Ladies imagine losing one of the diamonds or precious stones from the setting of your engagement or wedding ring. Some scholars suggest that this loss would symbolize unfaithfulness to her husband.

B.       What would you do? Probably just what she did. Would you not "light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully" until you found it? Imagine looking for that missing stone from your ring. You’d look under beds with a flashlight. You would look under the cushions of the sofa and in all the furniture. You vacuum the house and go through the vacuum bag hoping you would find it.

1.      No doubt this woman had been on the phone with some of her lady friends. They knew her terrible plight.

III.    A Lost Son (vv.11-32).

A.       This is one of the best known of Jesus’ stories or parables.

1.      A man had two sons. The younger boy asks his father for his portion of the inheritance. Then, like now, an estate is not normally settled until after the death of the parents. Selfishly, this young man did not want to wait until his father had died. He wanted it all right now!

2.      He quickly left home and traveled to "a far country." He "wasted" his inheritance on "prodigal" or riotous living. Imagine him out in the bars every night. He reveled in alcohol and drugs. He went out with a different girl every night and often woke up next to strangers. He was living the high life, or least what he thought was a high life.

3.      Something happened next that spoiled his fun. First, he "spent all." Before he knew it, his endless supply of money had come to an end. His good time friends left him. Girls that used to hang from his arms and sleep in his bed now wanted nothing to do with him.

4.      Because of a "famine" there was little to eat and he had no money even for a McDonald’s Happy Meal.

5.      The playboy had to get a job. The only employment he could find was feeding "swine."

6.      This Jewish boy got a job on a hog farm. He was so hungry he "filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate." He ate leftover slop! He was down and out.

7.      V.17 says, "he came to himself." In other words, he came to his senses. He remembered how even his father’s servants were treated well. He knew he had wasted his inheritance and didn’t deserve to be treated like a son, but he hoped his father would hire him.

B.       What has the father been doing all this time? He’s waiting and watching, watching for his lost son to come home.

1.      V.20 says that even when the son "was a great way off" his father "saw him and had compassion." It seems that the father saw the son coming before the son saw the father. This compassionate dad "ran and fell on his neck and kissed him." Remember this boy still has the rancid odor of a hog farm!

2.      The boy confesses his sinfulness. He says he is not worthy to be called a son. However, none of that mattered to the father. He called for the "best robe," "a ring" and "sandals" for the boy’s feet. The father called for "the fatted calf" to be killed and a party to begin.

IV.    Three Parallels from Jesus’ Stories.

A.       In Each Story Something was Lost.

1.      In each story that which is lost is valuable to the one who is seeking. That which was lost was worth the search.

2.      All three stories represent people like you and me.

a)      The story of the lost sheep pictures people who have wandered away from God. The Bible says in Is.53:6, "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."

b)      The story of the lost coin pictures people who are lost to the service of God.

c)      The story of the lost son pictures people who have been deliberately or intentionally wayward. And are out of fellowship with God

B.       In Each Story Someone was Seeking.

1.      Consider that the sheep was a 1% loss, one out of a hundred. The coin was a 10% loss, one out of ten. The son was a 50% loss, one out of two. In each case someone diligently looked for what was lost.

2.      The Bible says in Luke 19:10, "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."

3.      Jesus’ whole purpose for leaving heaven, being born to the virgin Mary, living a sinless life, dying on the cross and rising from the dead was to save people who are lost.

4.      God is a diligent seeker. The shepherd sought for the lost sheep even though he had 99 others. The woman sought for the lost coin even though she had 9 others. The father longed for his lost son even though he had another hard-working son at home. When God is seeking someone, He doesn’t give up.

5.      The shepherd threw a party and invited his friends when the lost sheep was found. The woman threw a party and invited her friends when the lost coin was found. The father threw a big barbecue and invited his friends when his lost son returned home.

CONCLUSION Jesus said in v.7 that there is "joy in heaven over one sinner who repents." He said in v.10, "I say to you there is joy in the presence of the angels. Picture a banquet hall in heaven. There are thousands upon thousands of tables and chairs as far as you can see. Angels move about serving the tables where are seated those who’ve left this life to be with the Lord. At the head table sits the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Above them is a banner. As you look closely, you can see something is written on it. It’s your name. Heaven is rejoicing. Heaven is celebrating. Heaven is throwing a party because you have turned from your old life and turned to Jesus Christ.

        Remember the lost son coming home? The father ran to meet him. Your Heavenly Father is waiting for you to take one step toward Him. Don’t say, "Let me get my life together." Don’t say, "Let me get cleaned up first." That boy smelled like a hog farm but the father still received him. Though he was filthy, the father still kissed him. Someone said, "God kisses the past into forgetfulness." Take a step toward the Father today. Come just as you are. If there were 100 steps between you and God, all you have to do is take the first one. He’ll cover the other 99 to meet you.