Luke 15:1-10[1]
As preached at Rolling Hills Church on Sunday, September 18th, 2011
Let's read the text for today's message, shall we?
1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.
2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them."
3 So he told them this parable:
4 "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?
5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.'
7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
8 "Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?
9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.'
10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
The point of these three parables is the same; Jesus came to seek and to save those who are lost, and their repentance brings joy to heaven. Let's pray.
Jesus uses stories these people can easily relate to. Large portions of the church have attacked some of the greatest preachers in the history of the church for being too plain, too direct, or too 'down to earth'. Among these scorned by religious leaders are Charles Spurgeon and Dwight L. Moody – men who were seeing thousands of sinners saved through preaching the gospel. Here our Lord spoke of sheep and coins, things an agrarian society knows all too well. The sheep were the livelihood of many families, and these coins each represented a day's wages. These simple parables throw the joy of God at one being saved into sharp contrast with the uncaring attitude of the religious people of Jesus' day. It makes it plain for all to understand, to see what our Lord means; mainly though, for those who have ears to hear. Speaking of which…
Tax collectors and sinners are all drawing near to hear Him. That is significant! Let's turn back to chapter 14 where Jesus had just thinned the crowd out by calling them to count the cost before following Him. He goes on, speaking of the uselessness of salt that had lost it's taste. He closes with His often-used invitation: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Interesting that the religious people with knowledge of the Scriptures have deaf ears to Jesus and His words, while the greedy and the lustful sinners are coming to hear the good news. The first sentence in chapter 15: "Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him." In our day who are the miserable, immoral, ungodly people we don't want our children to be around – the plundering thieves of Wall Street like Madoff?, the openly gay, the hardened agnostics who care only for today, and shout it out every way they can in piercings and tattoos? The Americans who are Muslims? The women trying hard to be men? Who could we care less if they perish forever in hell? That's who Jesus was seen with. Often Pharisees accused Him of eating with "prostitutes and tax collectors".
How fitting for Jesus to say, in Matt 21:31, that "Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you."
Pharisees and Scribes are watching and grumbling. These religious people who supposedly know the truth are very closely observing what Jesus does, and grumbling. Grumbling that the wicked in society are open to hear the good news that they themselves are not willing to tell them. Notice how people grumble about and judge others who are doing what they should be doing? Is this justifying their disobedience, their lack of love, or what?
When Jesus said, "who need no repentance", I believe He was using sarcasm toward these chin-up men. I think that because in Luke 3:3 repentance had already been established as necessary, just as the sinfulness of man had in 11:13.
What grace that He only told them parables. God hates grumbling. In Exodus 15 and 16 they grumbled, and God rebuked them, but graciously fed them bread and meat. In Numbers 14 they grumbled again, and the Lord had enough of it. He told the Israelites that everyone 20 years old and up that had grumbled against Him (apparently most had) would die in the desert, and never see the Promised Land. Here's the problem with grumbling: it's so often associated with unbelief. Let us fear God, lest we grumble against God for working through lesser men, or for saving people we disdain; this is dangerous! He doesn't always graciously respond with a parable or two…
What joy in heaven over the repentant sinner! This is the huge contrast we have to see here; grumbling over sinners hearing truth versus rejoicing over sinners believing truth! From stories like this comes the description of 'lost' for the unbelievers. We have to see through this how great God's love is toward those who are far from Him and will be called to Him through the preaching of the gospel. This is the main point of these parables – the joy of heaven over the sinner who repents. So… Who do you resemble more today?
The Lord, who walked among the ungodly with the message of the gospel?
The religious, self-righteous people who rejected those ungodly sinners?
The sinners? We should have something in common with these folks, after all… What do we do in response to these parables?
We recognize God's love for sinners. Sometimes this gets away from us as we do church, fellowship, and enjoy each other. God loves lost sinners, and many among them are open to the gospel! Our mission is to magnify God, mature in our faith, and multiply believers, cell groups, and churches in our state, nation, and world. Worship, watchcare, and witness. To focus on one of these at the expense of the other is to become an unbalanced, disobedient church, for we're told to do all three.
We sharpen our personal witness to the lost. No matter what we do together, it most often comes down to you, the gospel, and the lost. There are two wings to the Christian airplane[2] of our witness; our lives and our lips; our conduct and our conversation. neither are complete alone. To say, "I told her about Christ" is good, but not enough. To say, "I live a good life and let my actions be my witness" isn't good enough either; to remain silent and let lost people interpret our actions themselves is wrong; they need to know who saved us, who changed our direction and appetites in life. An effective witness is to live a life worthy of our calling (Eph 4:1-3), and to be ready to give an account for the hope that is within us (1 Pet 3:15-16) – both are done with humility and gentleness. Jesus came to seek and to save those who are lost, and their repentance brings joy to heaven.
[1] All Scriptures, unless otherwise noted, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (via E-Sword Software) © 2001 Crossway Publishing. All Rights Reserved. I paste them in red for distinction.
[2] Metzger, Will, To Tell the Truth. InterVarsity Press, Downer's Grove, IL. © 2002 by Will Metzger. All rights reserved.
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