Sermon Tone Analysis

Church - I want you to speak that verse out loud with me.

One of the worst feelings I remember as a parent when my kids were little was when we went to some crowded place like a mall or a theme park and I would momentarily lose my child.

It happened more than I’d like to admit.

One minute, I knew where everyone was - and then I turn around it was like “Where’s John?”

That panic would begin to arise, what if someone grabbed him?

I would call out his name, scan the crowd, back up my steps - and eventually find him - usually with a panicked look on his face.

I’d have to settle him down, play it cool and make sure Krista didn’t find out.

There was tremendous relief when I found my child.

All the fears quickly subsided.

All was good and right in the world once more.

Joy filled my heart - we could now have fun.

You can hear that relief and that joy in today’s parable.

This parable is made up of three back to back stories - two brief ones followed by a longer one (which we will hear soon) all with the same theme - although the third story we will see has a twist at the end.

Each story has to do with something lost being sought after and when found - there is rejoicing.

And as we move through this teaching, I want to keep pointing us back to Luke 19:10

At the center of this Jesus teaching is a core Christian doctrine - the doctrine of the Incarnation.

Incarnation means that the eternal, Creator God assumed a human nature and became flesh.

He became a man in the person of Jesus Christ - God with skin on.

Fully God and fully man.

Why did God do this?

To seek and to save the lost.

In the New Testament, the Greek word translated as lost is Apollymi (apole-ee-mee) and it carries with it a threat of imminent destruction - often referring to sinners doomed to perish unless they are rescued.

The image comes to mind of a capsized vessel out at sea during a violent storm with all the occupants thrown overboard and thrashing in the water doomed to drown.

They are unable to save themselves.

Yet right when all appears to be lost, the Coast Guard search and rescue team arrives and begins plucking them out of the water.

Left to our own devices and by our own power, we are all thrashing around in a sea of sin doomed to drown.

We are in need of rescue - so God sent Jesus.

The beginning of Chapter 15 sets the scene for this parable.

Jesus is attracting the wrong kind of people - at least in the eyes of the religious folks.

The Pharisees saw it as their duty to keep Israel pure - to keep the people obedient to the purity laws that every Jew was to follow.

If the people’s behavior was acceptable to God, then the nation would be blessed.

If the people were not living according to the Law, the nation would be cursed.

This narrow and strict adherence to the Law excluded quite a few people from table fellowship - people like tax collectors and sinners - you did not break bread with them, you did not hang out with them, you did not teach them.

I’m sure the Pharisees would have pointed to Psalm 1:1,

So you can imagine the conflict that would arise when they witness Jesus of Nazareth sitting among tax collectors and sinners, teaching them the ways of God, breaking bread with them.

What was Jesus demonstrating that the Pharisees were unable to grasp?

Compassion.

Because God is a God of compassion,

Luke 19:10 (ESV)

... the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

Did Jesus, hanging out with the tax collectors and sinners, take on their behavior?

Of course not.

Did he seek the counsel of the wicked?

No, he was counseling them.

Jesus was on a search and rescue mission.

He jumped out of the helicopter and right into the waters to save souls.

The Pharisees did not recognize the mission - and so Jesus shares this parable.

We are given an image of Shepherd who would leave 99 to go and search for the one.

Each and every sheep have great worth in his eyes - he will not rest until all are accounted for.

He will risk everything to rescue the one.

Those listening to Jesus that the day - the tax collectors, the sinners, the Pharisees, would have picked up on Shepherd language and connected it with the Lord.

The metaphor of God as Shepherd is well established in the Bible.

Psalm 23:1

Jesus takes on the role of God’s Shepherd and seeks out the lost sheep until he finds them.

And when he does find the lost sheep - what does he do?

He throws a party!

He rejoices!

The joy of the occasion is not only due to the divine initiative of God to go, search and find the lost sinner, but that the sinner responds with repentance.

There is a warning here for the Pharisees - we are all sinners in need of repentance, do not be quick to count yourself among the 99.

Now we move from a Shepherd with a hundred sheep to a woman with ten silver coins.

Each coin is a Greek drachma, which is equal to a day’s wages.

And again, we have a diligent search - exploring every nook and cranny of her home - until she finally finds the coin that is missing.

And again, there is a party!

There is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

There is a party in heaven each time a sinner on earth is found and repents.

Praises are being sung by heavenly beings.

The Lord is rejoicing.

That is the attitude in heaven - so it should be on earth.

The reason I keep wanting us to return to Luke 19:10

…is to remind us that this is the primary mission of Jesus and it must remain ours as well.

We are to go and seek the lost, diligently, and lead them back into the fold of the Shepherd.

We are to rejoice - to celebrate - when one person repents and is saved.

The primary purpose of the Church is to go and seek and save the lost.

Not fill the pews, that should be a natural outgrowth.

It is to seek, save and rejoice.

Which brings us to the final story in this parable.

The twist in this last story is the reaction of the older brother.

Upon hearing of his younger brother’s return, he condition of his heart is exposed.

He does not even consider him a brother

In fact, he does not even address his father as father.

The father’s love for both his sons has never wavered - even when rejected and treated wrongly.

The older brother, of course, represents the Pharisees.

Those who have faithfully served God in his Temple.

Those who have dedicated themselves to living righteous lives.

Those who try so hard to do what is right in expectation that they will be included at God’s table when the days of this age come to an end.

I hope we hear Jesus’ warning and invitation to them because so often - those of us who have been raised in the faith, those who claimed the name Christian and belong to the Church, harden ourselves to tax collectors and sinners.

We encounter people who clearly don’t know the Lord and it shows - and we steer clear.

We may pass someone on the street caught up in addiction and we shake our head and quickly pass judgment.

We hear of a group of kids fighting or being destructive and we blame the system, the schools, the parents - and we stay clear.

Jesus says soften your hearts.

Practice compassion.

Seek after the lost.

Give them hope.

Rejoice when you see me rescuing them - join in on the party!

Include your lost brothers and sisters at the table.

Remember, everything I have belongs to you.

Rejoice with me as we bring the dead to life - when the lost are found.

Follow me.

Amen.