LOST

“All the tax collectors and sinners were approaching to listen to Him. And the Pharisees and scribes were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them!”  (Luke 15:1-2 HCSB)

I don’t ask for directions.  I’m a man and consider that a sign of weakness.  My thought is that I’m not lost, just temporarily disoriented!  What a humbling thing it is to have to finally stop after miles and miles of driving and enter a service station to ask for directions—your wife sitting in the car with a smug look, “I told you so.”  She knew you were lost.  You just didn’t want to admit it.

You can be lost and not even know it.  I remember going to Charlotte years ago for “Camp Meeting.”  That was when you sat on a metal chair for what seemed an eternity while an array of preachers bombarded you with sermon after sermon, with gospel music intermittently inserted between the messages.  After a day of that, I slumped in the backseat and tried to sleep in the old Pontiac Bonneville as we sped toward home.  But, how could I sleep with Mom and Dad arguing?  It went something like this:

“This isn’t the right way.” 

“Margaret, I know it is.”

“Well, I don’t recognize any of this.”

“See that sign—that’s the road we are supposed to be on.”

After a few minutes of icy silence, when I had begun to drift away to Never Land, it would be repeated.

Finally, it happened, “Hah—look at that sign!  We are supposed to be headed toward Asheville and that sign says we are headed toward Fayetteville!”

All Pop did was snort, find a place to make a U-Turn, and we were on our way home.  We were on the right road—just going the opposite direction!  The faster Dad drove and the longer he traveled, the farther were from our intended destination.

That is the spiritual condition of multitudes today.  They don’t think they are lost.  Insofar as they ever think about heaven, they are convinced they are headed there.  But, every day they get closer to hell instead.

That was the condition of the Pharisees and scribes.  They were convinced they were on the right road.  If anybody was going to wind up in heaven it would be them.  They were so self-assured in their self-righteousness that they scorned Jesus for sitting down with “sinners” and supping with that scum.

So, Jesus has a story for them.  He tells a parable—which really has only one point with three different illustrations, about what it means to be lost and found.

There was A LOST SHEEP.

“So He told them this parable: ‘What man among you, who has 100 sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the 99 in the open field and go after the lost one until he finds it?  When he has found it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders, and coming home, he calls his friends and neighbors together, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!”  I tell you, in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who don’t need repentance.’” (Luke 15:3-7)

Sheep were valuable.  In that society, your flocks were your wealth, and you wanted to guard them carefully.  Seeking and finding a sheep was a reason to celebrate.

It was a shepherd’s responsibility to find them.  A lost sheep was not like a lost sheepdog—the latter might find their way back home, and would, at least have a fighting chance of survival, but the former would be hopeless to return and helpless to fend for itself.

The religious leaders were appointed to be spiritual shepherds of God’s flock.  They were too busy with the duties in the lush pasture to worry about the straying sheep in a desolate desert.  They would have to go into the world and get their hands dirty to bring back that smelly old flea-ridden lamb.  That was their attitude—and they didn’t understand Jesus; they didn’t understand the heart of God.  Rather than complaining about the Good Shepherd seeking lost sheep, they should have been celebrating the saving of them.

Heaven rejoices when just one sinner is found!

Then, Jesus reinforces the message by speaking of A LOST SUM.

“‘Or what woman who has 10 silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?  When she finds it, she calls her women friends and neighbors together, saying, “Rejoice with me, because I have found the silver coin I lost!” I tell you, in the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.’” (Luke 15:8-10)

The Pharisees saw no value in the sinner.  The looked down their pious noses and snorted, “Yes, they are going to hell—and that’s what they deserve!”  But, to God, all have value—and that’s why He sent His Son—to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10).

In the story Jesus speaks of a lost coin.  A woman knows its value and so she turns the house upside down searching for it.  A coin that is lost is even more incapable than a lost sheep of finding its way back.  Someone must look for it and reclaim it.  But, why not?  It is valuable!

How valuable is a lost soul?  The worth of something is determined by what one is willing to give in exchange for it.  After all, silver is just shiny metal—but if someone is willing to take it and give you food or clothing or something else, then a round piece of metal has value.  God gave His Son.  Jesus gave His life.  For what?  For sinners!  That’s how much God values a lost soul.

Then, there is A LOST SON.

“He also said: ‘A man had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, “Father, give me the share of the estate I have coming to me.” So he distributed the assets to them.  Not many days later, the younger son gathered together all he had and traveled to a distant country, where he squandered his estate in foolish living.  After he had spent everything, a severe famine struck that country, and he had nothing.  Then he went to work for one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs.  He longed to eat his fill from the carob pods the pigs were eating, but no one would give him any.  When he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired hands have more than enough food, and here I am dying of hunger!  I’ll get up, go to my father, and say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired hands.”  So he got up and went to his father. But while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him.  The son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I’m no longer worthy to be called your son.”

But the father told his slaves, “Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.  Then bring the fattened calf and slaughter it, and let’s celebrate with a feast, because this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!”  So they began to celebrate.

Now his older son was in the field; as he came near the house, he heard music and dancing.  So he summoned one of the servants and asked what these things meant.  “Your brother is here,” he told him, “and your father has slaughtered the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.”

Then he became angry and didn’t want to go in. So his father came out and pleaded with him.  But he replied to his father, “Look, I have been slaving many years for you, and I have never disobeyed your orders, yet you never gave me a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends.  But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your assets with prostitutes, you slaughtered the fattened calf for him.”

“Son,” he said to him, “you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.  But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”’” (Luke 15:11-32)

People are lost because they are natural born sinners.  But, that sinful disposition is reinforced by sinful decisions.  Those choices have consequences and that is seen in the story of the prodigal son.

Yet, it was his bankruptcy that brought his brokenness—and that would lead to his return.  The fact is that you cannot be found until you recognize you are lost.  As long as my father thought he was going the right way, he was not going to turn around.  That turn-around is repentance!  That’s what this lost son did.  This explains what Jesus meant when He said, “I assure you: Tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you!” (Matt.21:31b)

The religious elite were scandalized by our Lord’s outreach to the outcasts.  Yet, the Son was just showing the Father’s heart.  That is seen in this story of an old father, running to embrace his wayward son.  It was a shocking concept to Christ’s audience.  In Jewish society, the patriarch of the family was too dignified to ever do such a thing.  You came reverently to him.  He did not run to you.  But, this is the love of God—His grace and condescension. 

There was another lost son, who remained lost because he didn’t see that he was lost!  The elder brother did not come into the father’s house.  He missed the party!  That was the arrogant attitude that marked the Pharisees and scribes.  They were full-throttle on the highway to hell, convinced they were headed toward heaven.

For my father to be going the wrong way was a matter of delay.  To do that spiritually is a matter of damnation.