You Matter to God – God and You All the Way, part 2
You’re invited. Have you RSVP’d? These three parables speak to the reality that Jesus sought the one lost soul. Jesus sought everyone who will believe. Learn more in today’s sermon, God and You, All the Way, part 2.
Jesus came to seek and save the poor and the wealthy, the educated and the uneducated, the sick and the well, the lowly and despised and the honored, even the religious hypocrite.
This five-week study focuses on you and God. We’ll learn about purpose, how much you matter to God, how precious you are to God, and how to live in the present but focus on eternity.
Purpose, Value, & Focus
Last week we looked at Luke 14 and we found Jesus was invited to a dinner at a Pharisee’s home. This invitation to dinner was most likely a test and trap for Jesus. It was a set up. The dinner was not to honor Jesus, rather to accuse him of breaking the Sabbath. Jesus healed a person that day on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees saw that as work, and that Jesus broke the Sabbath law by healing the man.
We also learned that Jesus confronted the religious leaders, and all the others that were invited to the dinner, of having prideful, hypocritical hearts. They cared nothing about the man who was sick and dying. Jesus then shared a parable with the guests at the dinner and we learned that God's desire is that the banquet table in heaven is to not have even one open seat. I shared that, like the disciples, we are to invite everyone to Christ. We learned that some people may refuse to believe or attend the banquet. One day, the invitation will be withdrawn and no excuse that they might give will alter the fact that the invitation is no longer open to them.
This morning we will be looking at Luke 15 where we find the parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son. I believe we can see the heart of God in these parables. The heart of what truly matters to God, is you. God has a heart of joy and rejoicing when the lost are found. As believers we were all once lost spiritually, but when we came to Christ we are back home. You are found and all heaven rejoices. This is true for whosoever believes in Jesus as Lord and Savior.
In the lost sheep parable, one sheep wanders off. It is no longer with the other ninety-nine and the shepherd goes looking for the one. When the one sheep is found, the shepherd rejoices along with his friends and neighbors. It’s not that the shepherd cared any less for the other ninety-nine. Rather the parable reveals how important each sheep is to the shepherd.
In the parable of the lost coin, the woman in the parable lost a coin and she overturned everything and swept every corner in search of that one coin. You might think she had nine other coins, and that is true. Yet the one coin was so important to her that she would stop everything else and search for the coin until it was found.
Each parable must be understood in the context of the time; the cultural setting of the day.
These parables reveal the heart of God and the passion of Christ for every lost sinner.
“fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (Hebrews 12:2-3, NIV).
In the suffering of the shame, beating, and abuse of the cross, Jesus rejoices. Why? Because whoever believes is saved.
The shepherd and the woman rejoicing in the parables of the lost sheep and lost coin, are a picture of the rejoicing in heaven and in the heart of God when each sinner is saved and comes home.
A parable is a story with a message and only those who have an ear to hear will hear and understand (Luke 14:35b).
The Pharisees and many throughout time have heard the gospel message but ignored the truth of the gospel. They may hear the words but refuse to believe or understand. They refuse to respond to the call and remain spiritually lost. Having ears, they did not hear.
‘Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 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.”
8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”’ (Luke 15:1-10).
These parables are for us today, but they were also for the tax collectors and others who were despised by the Pharisees and religious leaders. And yet, the Pharisees and teachers of the law were just as much sinners as the tax collectors in God's eyes. The parables were for them as well. For all who were lost. These two parables and the parable regarding a son who walks away from his father should have awakened the hearts of the people and religious teachers if only they were not so hard-hearted and spiritually blind. Isaiah 29 speaks to what was going on in the hearts of the people and religious teachers of the law in all Israel.
"The Lord says: These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught” (Isaiah 29:13).
Truth is, people everywhere claim to know God. Many worship a god, but their heart is far from knowing and loving the true God of all creation. Instead, the sinner who is far from God follows the rules they were taught by other sinful men. The sinner is wandering far from God. Much like the lost sheep in the parable that we just read a moment ago.
The thoughts and condemnation of Jesus by the Pharisees when they thought, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them" is noteworthy. What the Pharisees did not realize is that they, too, were sinners, and that Jesus was searching for them and all who are lost. If only they had known and had ears that would hear, they would have been found and no longer live spiritually lost.
The parable of lost sheep involves a shepherd caring for 100 sheep. Most likely all are not his. A good shepherd knows his sheep. The shepherd knows each sheep’s temperament, its name, and what it looks like. Losing even one is not good. The idea that you still have the other 99 does not comfort the heart of the shepherd or anyone else. It’s the shepherd’s responsibility to care and protect the sheep. It is also his job to go after, find, and rescue the lost sheep. Most likely the shepherd leaves the 99 in the care of another and searches for the lost one until it is found. Once the lost sheep is found, the shepherd binds the feet and places it on his shoulders and heads back home. This now becomes a time of rejoicing. The rejoicing is not the shepherds alone but, most likely, the village from where he lives and all his friends. Those listening to the parable would understand the parable and the rejoicing that occurs when the lost one is found.
The Pharisee looked down on a shepherd and his profession. But they would also have understood the importance and the value of the lost sheep and the tenacity of the shepherd to search for the sheep.
What the Pharisee did not realize in the parable was a picture of a sinner wandering away from God and God searching for the one lost soul and rejoicing when that lost soul is back home.
Jesus speaks of himself as a shepherd.
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep” (John 10:11-13).
What the Pharisees and religious leaders of Jesus’ day did not understand is that Jesus was the Messiah, the Good Shepherd who had come to seek the lost sheep of Israel, but also the lost sheep from the Gentiles.
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd” (John 10:14-16).
This is exactly what Jesus did being the Good Shepherd. Jesus laid down his life for the lost and gathered the lost into one flock. Jesus came to seek and save the poor and the wealthy, the educated and the uneducated, the sick and the well, the lowly and despised and the honored, even the religious hypocrite.
Jesus was willing to lay down his life for you, that you might be restored.
The Pharisees and religious leaders did not see themselves in the parable. The Pharisees and religious leaders were supposed to be the leaders and shepherds of the people of God, but they did nothing for the lost. They were not loving, caring or compassionate. They knew nothing of the heart of God. Instead, they were only out for themselves. They saw no need for repentance. Their sinful, selfish lives brought no joy to the heart of God.
The lost coin parable is another example of the heart of God. The parable of the lost sheep is one that may affect someone of means. The parable of a lost coin affects one person, a woman. A woman in Jesus’ day had no rights. They could own no property and if the Pharisees looked down at shepherds it would be even a greater insult to be asked to think of themselves as a woman.
This woman had 10 coins. Each coin was most likely worth a day’s wage. A day’s wage may not be much of consideration today, but in Jesus’ day it was much. It was her emergency fund. Maybe it was her dowry given her as a wedding gift. How she lost it is not of any consequence in the story. The focus of the story is her diligence and heart to find the lost coin. She did not stop until it was found. Everything else was less important. Finding the lost coin was paramount. She gets a light and searches. She begins to sweep the floor and she looks in every corner until she finds the coin. Once the coin is found she rejoices. The woman then gathers others she knows, and they all rejoice together. The coin that was once lost is now found. Why was the woman so concerned about one coin?
It is thought that these 10 coins were part of her dowry, her bride price. The coins may have been made into a piece of jewelry that she wore and now one is lost. She panics and looks intently for the coin.
Remember who Jesus is addressing as he tells these parables. He is addressing the religious Pharisees. In these two parables, the main characters are the shepherd and the woman that the Pharisee would look down upon. A shepherd is one of the lowest classes of people. A second-class person. A woman would have been thought to be lower than a shepherd. She was considered a third-class person. The Pharisees could not in their wildest dream see themselves as one of those people. “How disgusting,” they would think.
The third parable in chapter 15 that we did not read has to do with a father who has two sons and one of the sons takes his inheritance and wastefully spends it all. The son returns to his father and the father runs toward his son. The Pharisee would think the father should have stood his ground and kept his back towards the son. The Pharisee would never have welcomed him back into the family or thrown a party and rejoiced that the son had returned.
Notice the progression of the parables:
100 sheep
10 coins
2 sons
Jesus is illustrating the importance of the one that was lost. Each parable addresses a loss. In each parable what was lost was truly important to the main character of the parable. When the lost item was found there was a time of rejoicing and celebration; for what was once lost is now found.
In each of the parables the main character or hero is someone that the Pharisee would have despised or considered less important than them and looked down upon. Jesus is attempting to show the Pharisees God: the creator of the universe, the giver of life; God who cared about the Israelites enough to call them his own, who delivered the Israelites from bondage time and again, even after they had turned and rebelled against him. However, when the people cried out to God and sought him with all their hearts, he delivered them again and again from bondage. The Pharisee did not see the correlation of one nation among many, a rebellious, spiritually wandering nation, a lost nation and a people that was precious to God, and how God rejoiced when the Israelites returned to him.
And now that truth found in the parables is becoming a reality with regards to one sinner being restored to God.
You are important to God. Every soul is important to Jesus, and he died on the cross to redeem you from the bondage of sin and death.
“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war” (2 Chronicles 16:9).
The prophet spoke those words to king Asa. For years the king trusted God and God defeated the enemy. The king did all he needed to do, but he looked to God to defeat the enemy. But after many years king Asa stopped looking to God. He stopped calling on God and called upon another nation and made a treaty with that nation. Asa stopped relying on God and relied upon a man and nation. King Asa was once fully committed to God but, in fear, he turned away and sought help from another nation. King Asa wandered away from God and became spiritually lost. For this the prophet tells Asa, “you have done a foolish thing.”
The Pharisees and religious leaders of Israel have done the same things. They have looked to the religious laws and regulations that they devised rather than looking to the heart of God. In doing so, they became spiritually lost and living far from God. The religious leaders missed that the 10 commandments were given to man to reveal their need for a savior, and they twisted the commandments to be a way to gain heaven. In doing so, the religious leaders made additional rules and laws that drove the people further away from God. These rules and commands caused a person to develop a sense of pride and hard-heartedness. The love for God was replaced by the requirement to obey the religious law, that they could never keep, rather than obey and love God with all their heart.
The religious leaders and Pharisees were spiritually lost and were far from God. But they could not see that because their spiritual eyes and hearts were blinded to the truth of the gospel. Their hatred towards Jesus was because he was pointing to the truth of the gospel and that is not what they wanted to hear. The Pharisee wanted to believe all was good, when, in fact, they were spiritually lost and in need of a savior. They were just as lost as the one sheep, coin, and the son in these three parables.
Every soul matters to the Lord. You matter to God. Allow me to point out that the person who told you about Jesus was not by accident. God put you on that person’s heart and radar to tell you about Jesus and all heaven rejoiced when you asked Jesus into your heart.
The Pharisees and religious leaders were the people who should be searching for the lost and rejoicing when what was lost was found. However, they did not understand the parables.
In these parables we find that:
The one searching for the lost item (or the lost soul) must be fully committed to searching and finding the lost.
The person is focused.
The person who finds the lost item rejoices and calls others to rejoice with them.
Now allow me to take a slight turn and address the point that as Christians we are to fulfill the great commission and tell the world that Jesus saves. We, like the disciples, are to share the gospel message and seek and save the lost that they would be found, and then we rejoice as all of heaven does when a sinner comes home.
In the parable of the lost sheep and lost coin, Jesus makes it clear that he is using the story to show all the rejoicing that will happen in heaven when a sinner repents and comes home.
“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” (Luke 15:7).
“And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:9-10).
The Pharisees and others totally missed the point of the parables. I pray that we will not miss the point. Church, every soul is important to the Lord. You are important to the Lord. So important that he sent his son to redeem you from the bondage of sin.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil” (John 3:16-19).
The person who believes in Jesus is found, but the one who refuses to believe is still lost and is needing to be found. This is why Jesus was born, lived, suffered, died, and rose again. The spiritually lost are so important that he commissioned the disciples to go and make disciples of all nations.
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt 28:19-20).
It is also why we, as a church, as a body of believers, we send missionaries to other nations. It is why we as believers are to tell the world what Jesus has done in our lives and in the lives of others. It is why our church is here today, to be a beacon of truth to a world that has believed all sorts of lies. We are to search for the lost and rejoice when they come to the saving knowledge of Jesus as Lord and savior.
As we saw in last week’s message, we are the servants sent by God out to invite others to the banquet table in heaven. May we take seriously the task of inviting the lost to be found. Remember we once were lost ourselves. All heaven rejoiced when you said yes to Jesus. The person who invited you rejoiced when you said yes to Jesus. All the angels and those gathered around you rejoiced when you said yes to Jesus.
At the birth of Jesus, the shepherds, and wise men both rejoiced. At the tomb the women found the tomb empty and with joy they went to tell the disciples that Jesus had risen. When a sinner comes home, let us rejoice. However, the Pharisee did not see themselves as a sinner.But Jesus did. The Pharisee did not care about the sinner. But Jesus did. The Pharisee was not concerned about the lost soul. But Jesus did.
The Pharisee was joyless because they believed salvation was by works. The Pharisee’s heart was full of pride and that prideful heart kept the Pharisee from seeing their need for a savior.
The three Parables in Luke 15 speak to the fact that Jesus cares for the one. The lost. If only the Pharisee, the wandering sinner, the person who is far from God, would have ears to hear and respond to the grace of God in faith, all heaven would rejoice.
Jesus was concerned for the Pharisee and the religious leaders. He is concerned about you.
These three parables speak to the reality that Jesus sought the one lost soul. Jesus sought everyone who will believe. Let us join the search for that one, lost soul. Let us rejoice with all of heaven, for the one who was lost and burdened down with sin repents and is saved.
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