Lost & Found

1:04How do you even do that? She wandered out the front door when she was about 18 months old during nap time. Neighbors found her in the yard. Your daughter is out front. Yes. We sent her because we are out of sugar. When something valuable, Is lost, you look for it no matter how long it takes to find it. You don't stop until you find that thing. And there's nothing more valuable than human beings. That's why we have amber alerts when kids go missing. That's why we have those electronic billboards on the highways when elderly people go missing. That's why we have the principle in our military of no man left behind. Human beings are valuable because they are created in the image of God.

2:01And so spending the time and effort and energy to find them when they're lost is worth it. That's even more true when people are spiritually lost. Because as we talked about last week, everyone is going to spend eternity somewhere. Eternity in heaven or eternity in hell. Today's parable in Luke 15 really drives home this point that people are valuable and thus they must be sought after until they're found. And before we jump into the parable here in Luke 15, it's really important for you to understand the four types of people that are mentioned at the outset of this passage so that we have that background information.

2:46You've got tax collectors, sinners, Pharisees, and scribes. So who are the tax collectors? Well, tax collectors were usually native people who were hired by the government to collect taxes. And in the case of an occupying government like the Romans, they really did use those native people often because they knew the communities, they knew how to get around, they knew who was connected to whom and how best to do that job there. Well, these tax collectors, as you've probably heard or read in the Gospels, if you've read them before, you know that they were often wealthy.

3:18And they were wealthy a lot of the time because they extorted money on top of the taxes. They basically went to the people and said, Look, if you want your money, your tax dollars that you owe to the government, if you want those ever to get to them, then you're going to have to give me a little something on top. And so they became very wealthy, which obviously frustrated people. But beyond that, they were really despised by everybody. Tax collectors were despised by everybody. See, they were despised by the Romans because they were Jewish.

3:46And the Romans did not respect the Jewish people. They were despised by the Jewish people because they were seen as collaborators with the oppressive Roman government. So they were really liked by nobody. They were outcasts in society. The second group of people mentioned here are called sinners. Now, it's important that we define that term and how it's being used here. You see, when people in Scripture are called sinners, it's referring specifically to people who do not keep the oral law.

4:18And what is the oral law? Well, the oral law is the teachings known as the tradition of the elders that was passed down by the scribes and Pharisees. So it was their interpretation and application. Of the Mosaic law. And people whose lives did not conform outwardly to those laws, to those teachings, they were looked down upon and despised. And so all of these people, tax collectors and sinners, are gathering around Jesus, drawing near to hear them, because he and his message drew people that society rejected.

4:55And so they were so excited to hear this rabbi. Well, there were two other groups of people that were here present as well, and they were not at all happy that these people were welcome, even invited, to sit at the feet of a respectable Jewish rabbi. They were the scribes and the Pharisees. Well, the scribes held an actual office in society. Their job was to transcribe the Mosaic law, and as they did that, to offer their interpretation and application of the law to the people. And you have to understand, the scribes were the most respected people in society. They were religious experts who lived holy lives devoted to God and who taught other people to live those kinds of lives as well. So all of their teaching is what is known as the oral law or the tradition of the elders.

5:47So if you're familiar with the Gospels, you know that Jesus often says stuff like, you have heard that it was said, and he goes on to quote something. Well, what is he doing? He's not quoting the Mosaic law. Directly, he's often quoting the oral law, the tradition of the elders. And you know, if you've ever read the gospel accounts before, that Jesus often says, you have heard that it was said, and he follows it up with what?

6:14But I say to you, what is Jesus doing? He is contradicting the interpretation and application of the most respected religious leaders in the country. Made them mad enough to kill him. But it filled the crowds with joy because his words were seasoned with grace, which is something they never heard from those religious leaders. So that's the scribes. Now, who are the Pharisees? Well, their name literally means separated ones. They were a society, a religious sect within Judaism that was similar to a fraternity.

6:51And there were three main societies in Jewish life in the first century: the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the Essenes. And the Pharisees were by far and away the most influential on society. The way you became a Pharisee was that you essentially pledged to keep the oral law or the tradition of the elders as it had been passed down. Pharisees wore distinctive clothing. Jesus gets at this in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter 6, talk about their long robes, their phylacteries, all the things that they had on them. They wore these garments to set themselves apart, to distinguish them from everybody else who was around them.

7:30And although they started with the right intentions, the Pharisees quickly devolved into legalism, which led them to look down on, even despise anyone who did not keep the oral law or the tradition of the elders. And so, what you have here in Luke 15 is these four groups of people are all gathered around to hear Jesus teach. And what happens at the outset of Luke 15 becomes the occasion for the parable, and not just the parable of the lost sheep in verses 3 through 7, but the parable of the lost coin that follows that, and the parable of the lost son at the end of the chapter.

8:12Look again at verse 2. This is the occasion for the parable. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, This man receives sinners and eats with them. You can hear the disgust in their voices. No respectable rabbi would be inviting those people in, welcoming them, eating with them. And remember, Jesus not only taught these kinds of people, he had some of these kinds of people in his closest circle, among his disciples, among his closest followers. He ate with these kinds of people, he touched them, even those who had serious diseases.

8:57And by welcoming these people, by eating with them, Them, by touching them, by doing all of those things. He was sending a very clear message. The message was, I desire fellowship with these kinds of people. Well, we can understand why the Pharisees and the scribes would maybe be put off by Jesus eating with these kinds of people. Because we know, even in the 21st century, eating implies things. Eating with someone implies things. It implies that you're either already friends or that you're open to friendship.

9:38Eating requires an intimacy and a humility. It reminds everybody: hey, we are all finite beings. We all must have food in order to survive. It's a reminder of our weakness together. And eating is an intimate thing, isn't it? I mean, how you eat, what you're eating, and we all know this because we've all been in that terrible position of eating with somebody that we barely know, and what is being served is like spaghetti or a burrito. There is no dignified way to eat spaghetti or a burrito in front of someone you don't know. You just end up looking ridiculous.

10:14And so Jesus is eating with these kinds of people, and the religious leaders are stunned by this. They would never do such a thing because they don't want people to come to the conclusion that they are participating in these same sins. They don't want to become ceremonially unclean by touching certain things or certain people that would render them unable to go and worship in the temple. And so, to avoid any appearance of evil, to avoid any possibility of this happening, they just avoided these people. And these are the very people, remember, who most need their teaching and example. They're the people who most need that, who need to know, yes, about God's holiness, but also about his mercy and grace.

11:05Friends, often when we read the Gospels, especially if you are an American and you've been raised in America, you've heard in history classes and all of your life about how our country was founded and why our country was founded, that all men are created equal. And that message certainly is shared in other countries as well, but we've had that beaten into us. And so when we come across passages with the scribes and the Pharisees and they're looking down on other people, we have this reaction like those hypocrites. How could they think that they're better than anybody else?

11:38But we're too quick to cast the first stone, aren't we? You know the word that stood out to me most in this passage as I was studying this week? The word them. Them. This man receives sinners. And eats with them. I think, if we're honest, all of us have a group of people that we think of as them. It might be conservative Republicans or liberal Democrats. It might be citizens of the United States or immigrants. It might be Americans or foreigners. It might be people who are like the clean-cut older brother or like the rebellious younger brother. It might be the rich or the poor.

12:38But all of us almost certainly have a group of people that we look at as them. And the question is: how do we develop that kind of mentality, especially as Christians? That's not taught in the scripture, that's not modeled in the scripture for us to follow. How do we develop this us-them mentality? Well, I think first, it comes from a failure to internalize the gospel. It comes from a failure to internalize the gospel. And what I mean by that is not that we don't know the gospel. It's not that we can't recite the good news of Jesus. It's that we have failed to internalize it to allow it to take root in our hearts and in our souls to such a degree that it changes the way that we view both. Ourselves and other people.

13:34See, what happens when we don't internalize the gospel is that we start to believe that we are who we are because of our own efforts, because we've really tried to make ourselves better people, because we've really tried hard to be religious people. And so we come to these conclusions: like, we are worthy of God's acceptance, we are worthy of acceptance by the believing community, the church, and others are not. Even if we never say that out loud, I think that's probably true.

14:04The second way that we develop this us-them mentality is we fail to build relationships. We fail to build relationships. And when we don't build relationships, what happens is we make assumptions about other people, right? We build straw men and then we tear them down. So, you may have heard or you may have thought this yourself before: you see a poor person, perhaps a homeless person, and you think, you know, if they would just work hard, then they wouldn't be in that position. Laziness is the reason that they are poor or homeless or whatever else.

14:48And to be sure, some people are poor because they are lazy, but plenty of people are rich and lazy too, aren't they? And maybe if we built a relationship with that person, what we would do Find is a very different story. That maybe they or someone in their family had a serious illness which drained all of their funds as they sought medical care. Because they couldn't get medical care and they couldn't show up to work, they lost their job. Because they lost their job, they had to sell everything they own. And because they now own nothing, they can't go apply for another job.

15:24See, that's a very different story than just they're lazy and that's why they're in the position that they're in. So when we fail to build relationships, we make these assumptions, and that creates this us-them mentality. And I think, if we're honest, all of us have some of that in us. However, much of that mentality that we have, it can probably be traced back to those two things for us who are believers: a failure to internalize the gospel and a failure to build relationships. And so, I think it would help you, and it will help me, if we take time to ask the question today or over this next week: who is them to me?

16:07Who is them to me? And how can I start to cultivate a gospel-centered perspective on those people? So, in verse 3, Luke records that Jesus tells this parable in response to the grumbling of the scribes and Pharisees because he welcomed sinners and he ate with them. He says, A man has a hundred. Sheep and one of them goes missing, and maybe it's wandered off, maybe it's already been killed by wild animals. But Jesus asks this rhetorical question: who among you won't leave the 99 and go after the one?

16:46It's a rhetorical question. And rhetorical questions are rhetorical questions because they don't need an answer. Everybody already knows the answer. There is not any of them who would not leave the 99 and go after the one that has gone missing. And what we have to understand is that the shepherd would leave the 99 and look for the one, not because the 99 were unimportant, but because they were safe. The 99 were already safe. The lost sheep, however, was in grave danger. If he wasn't already dead, he could be killed soon or he could walk off a cliff or any number of things. And you see, this is Jesus' point.

17:33He's saying, the scribes and Pharisees, you're calling these people sinners. And if your assessment is correct, they are in grave danger. They are the ones who most need me and my message of reconciliation with God. A lost sheep is in danger of death. But as we Talked about last week, a lost person is in danger of spending eternity in hell because of their sin and rebellion against God. And so, what does the shepherd do? The shepherd representing Jesus leaves the 99 to go look for the one, not because the 99 are unimportant, but because they're safe.

18:24And church, we must be willing to do the same thing. We must be willing to leave the comfort and security and encouragement and fellowship of the believing family from time to time to go and seek out the lost because the 99 are safe. The one is not. That's what Jesus did, and that's what he calls us to do as his followers, to seek the lost and point them to him, the good shepherd. And I want you to notice in the parable how long the shepherd looks for the lost sheep. Look again.

19:10Verse 4. He goes after the one that is lost until he finds it. I want you to think about that for a minute. The shepherd travels near and far. He looks high and low. He braves all of the dangers that exist. In the wilderness, and he seeks that lost sheep until he finds it. And you know what? God always finds what he's looking for. God always finds what he's looking for. Look at what Jesus says in John chapter 10.

19:55I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. This is amazing. Because we cannot forget that while Jesus presents himself as the good shepherd, he also repeatedly presents himself as the king of the universe, which he is.

20:39And friends, we can understand, perhaps, a gracious and merciful king that if you, as a rebellious citizen, were to come and throw yourself down before him and beg for mercy, that he might extend mercy to you. But the scripture paints a picture for us of a king who goes. In search of his rebellious citizens to find them so that he can extend mercy and grace to them. What kind of love is that? Verse 5. And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.

21:29Many of you know I've been a dog owner for the past two years. He's gotten out a few times. He doesn't really run off. He kind of slinks off looking over his shoulder. And I'm telling you, when I finally catch up to that beast of burden, I don't lay him over my shoulders and walk him home. I come up looking like Cruella de Ville with the swirly eyes and everything. And yet, in the scripture, you have this picture of the good shepherd, that when he finds this sheep who has wandered off of his own accord, who has gotten himself in trouble, and who, by the shepherd's blood, sweat, and tears, has finally found this lost sheep, he doesn't berate it. He doesn't punish it. He lays it over his shoulders, rejoicing. That's the kind of good shepherd that Jesus is. And not only does he rejoice, as it says in the parable, He calls his friends and neighbors together to rejoice along with him. He has a big party. And the implication is that finding a lost sheep is a big deal. Everybody, not just the shepherd, but his neighbors and friends also, would understand that. They would celebrate that.

22:47And so, in the same way, every time a lost person is found, what do we do? We gather all of our family and friends together. We listen to the testimony of what God has done in their lives, bringing them from darkness to light, going from being lost to being found by the Savior, and then we baptize them. We celebrate and rejoice together because it's worth celebrating and rejoicing when something that is so valuable that was lost has been found.

23:19The only person who wouldn't rejoice at something valuable being found is a person with the attitude of the scribes and the Pharisees. The person who believes that they don't deserve to be saved. They don't deserve to be admitted into the believing community. They don't deserve to be a part of our church. That's the only reason that you wouldn't rejoice at another lost person being found, receiving the undeserved grace and mercy of God. And so we come to verse 7 in the end, where Jesus is going to explain the The purpose of this parable is going to teach us through it. And he says, this: just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance.

24:22So, in the summary, Jesus gives a final mention of joy, except this time, it's the entire heavenly host that is rejoicing. And the reason that there is such joy over one sinner who repents, much more than over 99 who need no repentance, is because there are no people who need no repentance. People who need no repentance can't bring joy to heaven because there are no people who need no repentance. All of the prophets, Jesus Himself, all of the apostles, all the scripture affirms that we are all unrighteous. None of us has obeyed God perfectly and consistently across our lives. We are all unrighteous. We all need the repentance that will bring joy to the heavenly host.

25:20But you see, the scribes and the Pharisees couldn't bring that joy to heaven because they thought they were already righteous. They thought that they didn't need. Any repentance. And Paul understood this better than anybody because he was among their number for much of his life. He was a Pharisee. And listen to him in Romans 10 as he talks about his countrymen and his fellow religious leaders. He says this, Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For being ignorant of the righteousness of God and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

26:20See, that's the whole problem right there. The scribes and the Pharisees established their own system of righteousness. And they thought, as long as they kept up, kept meeting their own standards of righteousness, that God would have to accept them. And so they wouldn't submit to God's righteousness. They would not submit to Jesus, the righteous one who did come and perfectly keep God's actual law, not anyone's interpretation and application of the law, but God's actual law. They would not submit to his righteousness.

27:01Because they had established their own. And they thought they needed no repentance. They thought they were already righteous. And you know, if you're anything like me, for much of my life, that was my story. I sought to establish my own righteousness. I came up with an internal list of things that, as long as I did these things and stayed away from these things, that I was a righteous person and that God was happy with me, and therefore I would go to heaven one day.

27:31But, friends, I wasn't a righteous person, I needed repentance. And the very same thing might be said of some of you this morning: that for your own life, yes, you may have been better than some of your family members, better than some of your friends, better than some of the people you know in your classes or at work. That might be true, but you do not live up to, do not match up to God's holy and perfect and righteous standard. You also need repentance, just as I did, just as everyone does.

28:06And so, I want to urge you this morning: we cannot establish our own righteousness, and so repent. Turn away from your sin and turn away from all your efforts to establish your own righteousness and live up to your own standard, and instead submit to God and his righteousness through Jesus, who came and lived perfectly and died in your place for your sins. And rose again for your justification, so that you would be counted righteous before God.

28:42For those of you who are already believers, it is true that no matter how long you've been a believer, maybe five years, 15 years, 20 years, 50 years, no matter how long you've been a believer, there was a time in your life where you also were a lost sheep. Maybe it was a long time, maybe it wasn't a long time, but we were all lost sheep at one point. And because of our sin, none of us has any right to be received by God, to commune with Him, to feast with Him at His table.

29:18And that highlights the irony of this parable in this passage. The very thing that the scribes and the Pharisees were grumbling about is the best news in the whole passage. This man receives sinners and eats with them. Thank God. This man receives sinners and eats with them. That is good news for you and me. That is good news for everyone, that Jesus, the righteous one, receives sinners and eats with them because we are all sinners. But not only does Jesus receive sinners and eat with them, he also comes to seek and to save that which is lost.

30:10He left the 99 to look for us. And because God always finds what he's looking for, he found us. And he said in John 10 that he has other sheep that are not of this fold, and he has to go find them and bring them to himself as well. The numbers, as we've talked about the past few weeks, are just staggering. Roughly 6 billion people in this world don't even claim to be Christians. Tens of thousands in our own community do not claim to be Christians. Dozens of our family members and friends do not claim to be Christians. Where do we start?

30:51Well, how about we start like the shepherd in the parable? What if we all start with one person? One person in our life. You cannot find billions or tens of thousands or dozens until you find one. You see, Jesus is still seeking his lost sheep today. And yes, you will hear stories, true stories of Jesus revealing himself to people through dreams and visions and other such miracles. And that's wonderful. But that is not the normal way that people come to know Jesus, the Good Shepherd.

31:28The normal way that people come to know the Good Shepherd. Shepherd is when you and I, Jesus's hands and feet, the body of Christ, go to seek the lost and point them to the Good Shepherd. On your seat or next to where you're sitting today is one of these cards. We've had these cards out for the past three weeks. They ask a simple question: who's your one? On the back, there are some instructions to identify one person in your life who is not yet a believer of Jesus. To begin praying for that person and then to look for opportunities to build a relationship so that you can share the best news in the world with them and call them to follow Jesus as you are following Jesus.

32:18You may have picked one of these up already. If not, I want to encourage you to do so today. Begin thinking and praying about that. And if you've been thinking and praying about it and you're still stuck, you don't know where to start or who to begin with, I have good news for you. Our friends from the Baptist Student Ministry, the BSM, are here today. And out in the lobby, you can sign up for a conversation partner. You can sign up to have an international family in your home who is eager to practice their conversational English, who would love to know an American or even someone from another country who's lived in America for some time, who can help them understand the culture and our community.

33:01And yes, many of them have serious spiritual questions about Christianity and about Jesus. And maybe that's where you'll find your one. The point, friends, is to start somewhere, anywhere. We have to overcome our barriers and excuses. We have to overcome our laziness and our putting off of the work that we have been called to do. And so I hope that this series has challenged you. I hope that it's encouraged you. Because the things that we've talked about over the last three weeks are true.

33:37If you are a follower of Jesus, then you are called to be a disciple-making disciple. Everyone is going to spend eternity somewhere in heaven or in hell. And like our good shepherd, we are called, every one of us, to seek and find the lost and point them to Jesus, the great Savior. So who is your one? Let's pray. Father, we do want to meditate. We want to internalize the good news of the gospel. That you Came and you sought us and you found us when there was nothing good in us, when nothing in us desired a relationship with you, nothing in us desired to be reconciled to you.

34:40You came and you sought us until you found us. And we can celebrate that we were lost and now we are found. God, we pray that you would help us to overcome our excuses and all the barriers and the reasons that we give for not being faithful to the task that you've called us to do in making disciples. And we pray that by your grace and the power of your Holy Spirit, we would overcome those things and all of our fears. And we would instead be filled with love for you and love for other people, filled with compassion, so that we would open our mouths and tell them the great news of Jesus.

35:34Help us, God. In Christ's name we pray, all these things. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.