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Rejoice With Me! I Have Found My Lost Sheep! Luke 15:1-10 Key Verse: 7 “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” Jesus had been teaching the beautiful yet tough truths of the heavenly kingdom. He taught people that the kingdom of heaven was a like a big wedding banquet to which the Father invites everyone to celebrate his love for his Son. Jesus challenged all kinds of people to be his disciples and to seek the heavenly kingdom with all their hearts rather than just fastidious rule keepers. He comforted the afflicted, offering them the heavenly kingdom by faith and he afflicted the comfortable, such as the selfrighteous and complacent teachers of the law. In the parable of the lost sheep and lost coin, Jesus explains the love the Father has for lost sinners and the joy it gives them to draw them near him. Jesus invites us to share in his joy of helping others know his love. I. They “all gathered around to hear him” (1-2). How did people respond to Jesus’ new, powerful, bright, and hopeful teaching of the heavenly kingdom? Look at verse 1, “Now the tax collectors and the public “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him.” Tax collectors such as Levi and Zacchaeus publically gave up their faith to squeeze tax dollars out of the Jewish people for Rome and their own selfish benefit. The other “sinners” were those guilty of adultery or prostitution. Women such as Mary Magdalene. They lived on the margins of society. So-called decent people regarded them as cursed by God. But they flocked to Jesus like Black Friday shoppers to Wal-Mart! They wanted to be around Jesus! They wanted to hear him! They found Jesus engaging. They gave up their time, braving the disdain of the public, to hear Jesus, whose words enraptured them and kindled a small yet comforting flame of hope in their weary hearts! Why did such people, so despised and condemned by the rest of society, gather around Jesus? First, it was because Jesus welcomed them. Jesus saw their need, their emptiness and sadness, their thirstiness for the love of God. Jesus welcomed them instead of pushing them away. Jesus did not give them an uncomfortable glaring look or scowl at them but instead beamed a smile at them and his eyes twinkled at them. Jesus did not engage in a pitched cultural battle with them but accepted them as they were. Jesus ate with them dipping his bread in the same bowl, discussing politics, weather, taxes, families, history, and eventually all their brokenness, failure, hurts, disappointments, as well as all their deepest fears and longings of their past lives. Jesus connected with them by just spending time with them, listening to them without condemning or trying to fix them. By welcoming them, Jesus laid the foundation for a non-threatening relationship upon which deeper and greater spiritual truths and values could be built, so that tax-collectors such Levi could become Apostle “Matthew” writer of a beautiful Gospel, or Mary Magdalene and other public sinners 1 who became great lovers of God and enormously spiritually influential people to this day. Second, “Sinners” and tax collectors gathered around Jesus because he gave them God’s word. The teachers of the law taught about rules and regulations. They offered ritual, ceremony, and legalism. They taught how bad Romans, tax collectors and other sinners were. They taught God was mad because people did not feel bad enough about their sins, so when they worked hard to make themselves feel bad then everyone, including God would be happy. Their teaching drained life from people and made them feel guiltier, burdened, and hopeless. But Jesus’ teaching gave people life because he gave them the Word of God. Jesus said things like, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11;18-30). Matthew 7:28, 29 say Jesus’ teaching amazed people because “he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.” Jesus had simply taught God’s word, God’s love, God’s values and about life by faith in the heavenly kingdom. Jesus taught about their Father’s love and that they were each other’s’ brothers and sisters and precious children of God who can love one another. Jesus taught the hope of eternal life in the kingdom of God through faith in the Son, whom the father sent to die for the sins of the world. Jesus’ teaching seemed new even though it was very old and fills the Bible. So all kinds of people wanted to stay near him and listen to his words. Jesus’ words refreshed and renewed them. Jesus offered hope and life. Jesus’ words were like the warm light of spring thawing their hard hearts frozen by the hard winter of sin. Jesus gave them God’s word full of life, love, hope, and joy. So no one wanted to leave Jesus’ presence even though they needed to eat and use the bathroom. They wanted to stay and continually hear about the beautiful and enchanted place Jesus was from, his heavenly kingdom. Jesus could have offered them many things but most importantly he offered the Word of God and they responded. Today, people believe everything must be marketed to attract people with alluring and exciting ads, promotions, new things, and gimmicks, including Christ. But following Jesus’ example by holding out God’s word is the best way to attract people. People sense hope and love so they listen to Jesus. Suddenly their sins of greed, lust, anger, and other addictions with which they medicate themselves lose their power. Only God’s word helps people have life, hope, and joy. Others also gathered around Jesus. Look at verse 2, “But the Pharisees and teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them!” The word for “muttered” is diagogugzzo. It means to complain audibly together to one another as a group or chorus. So, while Jesus and the public sinners enjoyed sweet and joyful fellowship talking about the Father, the heavenly kingdom, and God’s word the religious leaders hope diagogguzo fellowship. Why did they mutter against Jesus? First of all, Jesus was different. Serious religious people did not befriend people like that. Perhaps they muttered because they had a 2 genuine fear that by eating and having close fellowship with such people that Jesus validated their life-styles. Another possibility is that they were simply looking for a reason to accuse Jesus and to invalidate him. But the most fundamental reason for their muttering was their incomplete understanding of the love of God. The law prescribed strict rules about fellowship of Jews with sinners and Gentiles, particularly while Israel young and establishing its own values and identity as a nation. But God did not intend the law to exclude sinners and Gentiles but to make Israel into a priestly nation who could embrace them with his love. The religious leaders muttered against Jesus because they themselves did not know the love of God. They could not love and embrace others because they did not feel loved and embraced by God. They condemned others in their hearts, including Jesus, because they condemned themselves. They did not know the Father so they were unclear about their identity before God. Jesus’ new way of interacting with such people confused, challenged, and confounded them. But instead of asking questions or consulting the Bible, which would show them that it was nothing new, the religious leaders muttered and complained. They closed their hearts and minds instead of learning. II. “Suppose One of You…?” How did Jesus respond to the religious leaders’ muttering? Instead of fighting with them, Jesus engaged them positively. Jesus understood their confusion. Jesus tried to help them understand God’s heart of love. . Look at verses 3, and 4, “Then Jesus told them this parable; “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the sheep until he finds it?” Instead of telling them, Jesus asked a question. A few years ago the phrase WWJD? was very popular. Jesus asks the same thing: WWYD? Jesus does not want us to remain ignorant, perplexed, and confused. He always challenges us to work through our confusion to understand him better. Jesus says this shepherd had 99 sheep that stayed but one disappeared. Why did the one get lost? Perhaps he was adventurous and curious about things that excited and allured him beyond the pasture. Maybe he wanted to be more than a sheep? Such as an eagle and soar high in the sky or leap and run like a gazelle, but when he looked down he only saw were spindly sheep legs on a pudgy sheep body. Perhaps the shepherd knew this sheep wanted to wander so he tried to give him extra attention by playing sheep games and giving him extra yummy sheep food, but it did not satisfy him. Maybe he did everything short of chaining him like a dog. The sheep was willful and stubborn. One day he saw his chance to escape when the shepherd was distracted. He could not resist the pull of the exciting world. Without fear he ran off not knowing how vulnerable he was. But his shepherd knew the danger. This troublesome sheep lay weary on his heart like a stone so that he could not sleep. Visions of this poor helpless sheep being eaten by a bear or lion plagued him. He envisioned him trapped in the bottom of a well, hungry, cold, tired, and afraid, calling for his shepherd. So he set off to look for him. What does he do when he finds him? Look at verse 5, “And when he finds it he joyfully 3 puts it on his shoulders and goes home.” He was not mad but was so happy to see him again. He holds the sheep in his arms and hugs him, gives him a bath and removes all of the dirt and burrs. He feeds him. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep!” I like to think that whenever this sheep was tempted to run off again he remembered what happened and was very thankful for his shepherd and green meadow and he kept a close eye on him after that. He tried to tell the other younger sheep why it is not a good idea to run off. Then Jesus says, “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent!” Jesus’ parable of the lost sheep is really the perfect picture of all lost people before God, including the religious leaders. We all wander off because of our desires for things more exciting than grazing in the meadow of God’s tender word. We wander off from the love of the Father and those closest to us. It is fun for a while, but then we become lonely, afraid, weary, ensnared by vices and addictions, and trapped in wells of despair and self-condemnation. The Father is not glad at all when anyone wanders far from him. It breaks his heart just as when our children wander off because he knows their misery. Even believing Christians wander off in their hearts and thinking and become sorrowful. On the other hand, Christ is so happy and rejoices greatly when anyone comes back to him, especially believers. It really makes him so very glad no matter what they have done. And our joy is even greater when we share it together with those around us. This is really the heavenly kingdom Jesus speaks of. Jesus paints a beautiful portrait of the Father’s tenderhearted love for lost sinners to melt the religious leaders’ hard hearts. Jesus and the others choked up as he thought of this shepherd’s love for this poor scared and lost sheep and the joy they had at their reunion! God’s love for lost sinners deeply moved them. But when Jesus looked at the religious leaders they looked even more cross. Their critical eyes attempted to burn death rays into Jesus and his companions. So, what did Jesus do? He tried again. Look at verse 8a, “Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one.” Jesus thought he might be able to get their attention with money. Especially when they heard about a woman with ten coins and one was lost. Suddenly they were all eyes and ears! The thought of lost money got their attention! Today a coin is nothing special. At stores we see, “Need a penny? Take a Penny?” People do not even bother to pick coins up when they drop them. But in Jesus’ day a coin meant something. Money was a great innovation that allowed you to save, spend, and buy whatever you wanted. When you had a coin you felt like somebody! So, when you lost a coin it was a great tragedy. This woman felt a great sense of loss about her coin. Perhaps her departed grandmother had given it to her. Perhaps she was going to buy her husband a Hanukkah present. Maybe it was for her son’s tuition at medical school or an offering. We do not know but the coin was important to the woman. What did the woman do about her lost coin? Look at verse 9, “Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?” She could not sleep 4 because of the lost coin. So, no one else in the house could sleep either! She carefully looked under the bed many times and in the cracks and crevices of the couch and her husband’s pants and coat over and over again. Finally, in the corner way under a table she sees the glimmer of her lost coin and her heart leaps with joy. “Aha! I found it!” Her husband said, “Great honey, now let’s go to sleep!” But she did not go to sleep. Look at verse 9, “And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, “Rejoice with me! I have found my lost coin!” The woman was joyful because she had found her precious long lost coin. She was so joyful that she gathered all her neighbors together and they had a late night celebration with cake and ice cream. Everyone rejoiced because of the woman’s joy. After that every day she took out her coin and looked at it and rejoiced. But how did the teachers of the law respond? It says nothing so we presume stony faced silence as Jesus went on to the parable of the lost son which was squarely aimed at the religious leaders and their hard and jealous hearts. The responses to Jesus’ parables varied. Not all public sinners accepted him and not all religious leaders completely rejected him. But through these stores Jesus teaches us several important truths regarding God, sinners, and the heavenly kingdom. First, Jesus values sinners. All people, no matter what they have done and who they are have the eternal and precious image of God in them. This makes us all intrinsically valuable. A gold coin may be covered in mud and filth and lost in the deepest recesses of the sea in the most remote part of earth for hundreds of years, but when it is found it shines just as bright as the day it was made. It becomes especially valuable and receives a place of honor in a museum. It is the same with lost sinners. People spend their lives in all kinds of dark ways doing evil things because they go far away from God. But when Jesus finds them and they put their faith in him, he washes them with his blood that he spilled on Calvary. They become pure, clean, holy and they shine with the brilliance of the angels in heaven. When Jesus sees sinners such as tax collectors and prostitutes he sees underneath the dirt to who they really can be in him. Jesus not only loves, but genuinely values all people regardless of what they have done. Jesus’ value for us in turn is a starting point for faith and a new life. Jesus valued Levi the tax collector when no one else did, and said to him “Come follow me!” So, Levi became Matthew, the writer of the first Gospel. The story goes over and over again. The world rates us and stamps a value on us and even rejects us but when we know Jesus who values us all deeply, then we can begin to value ourselves, and can have hope and trust in Christ for our lives. We begin to value others. Jesus values sinners so much that he spent three and one half years of his life on earth looking for them. Jesus values sinners so much that he gave up his life for them on the cross. Romans says that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. How much more does he value us now that he has bought us and redeemed us by his blood? Jesus values all people and he wants us to value ourselves and others too. Second, Jesus actively seeks sinners. The owners of the sheep and coin did not passively stand by because they could never find themselves. They took action to go and find them. The women took a lamp because it was so dark but she desperately 5 wanted to find the coin. This light represents Jesus. John 1 says about Christ, “In him was light, and that light was the light of men.” And “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” Jesus did not leave us alone in the darkness of this sinful world but came to us with his bright light to find us even though it hurt our eyes. Jesus came to seek and to save sinners because he valued them and wanted to have mercy upon them in the darkness and find them and bring them to his kingdom. When we were powerless and paralyzed in sin, Jesus came to find us. Jesus still looks for lost sinners. He is still looking everywhere. But today, he uses us. Jesus wants us to be his lights in this world to look for his precious sheep who are lost. He wants us to be his hands, feet, and eyes to go out and find those who recognize they are lost and what to be found. Passivity is often regarded as a virtue. One of Americans’ favorite mottos is “Don’t bother me, and I won’t bother you!” I always enjoy being passive because becoming active in other peoples’ lives can be difficult, time consuming, messy, expensive, and often very much unappreciated. But that is what Christ does. He spends his time looking for and finding lost sinners but he wants to use us. So, for 2015 I pray to be less passive and instead to actively seek one person to share Christ with through Bible study. Lastly, Jesus tells us it is his joy to find lost sinners. Look at verses 10, “In the same way, I tell you there is great rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” We all look for things that bring us joy. We search high and low for things on the internet, in the grocery store, in the mall. Through promotions, people, food. And God graciously gives us reasons to rejoice such as with marriage, the birth of a child, a promotion at work. God loves to give us things to rejoice over. But the spark of joy that these things bring burns brightly for a short moment and then we look for something new. As we become older and more jaded we find that these things do not provide the joy they once did. That is why Jesus shares with us here his great joy of finding lost people and making a relationship with them. Christ wants to share in his joy of seeing people walk and grow in him. Our joy is to know Christ and have a hope in the heavenly kingdom but these joys become greater when we see others share more and more in them with us and Christ. It is a joy that never wears out but only becomes greater. It makes us and Christ sad to see friends and family members far away from him living in fear, sorrow, anger and condemnation of themselves and others, but when they draw nearer to Christ it fills our hearts with joy. Bruce Kwiatkowski, Toledo UBF, January 2015 6