FBCWest 403 | Parables of the Lost
Recorded On: 06/14/2020
Bulletin
Scritpures
Transcript of Service
The last time we got together.
I started out the message by saying that, uh, there are some messages that love to be preached in some messages that love to be heard. And then there are messages that we don't like to preach and we don't like to hear.
Um?
This is not one of those messages.
Uh, as we've been going through the.
Earthly life and Ministry of Jesus. He's going to go through a period of time in the scriptures where he does a lot of teaching is doing a lot of teaching in parables.
Now I suspect in Jesus.
Did a lot of teaching and preaching throughout, but there are times when the.
Riders of the gospel emphasize is miracles or his love, or then his teachings, and this is a kind of time during his towards the end of his earthly ministry that emphasize his teaching.
Now, the reason that I say that, um, this sermon is going to be.
Not the one that you like to hear or don't wanna hear is that that.
You've heard a lot of sermons in the past.
By others
who are probably quite.
Powerful quite convicting.
Touched you.
But I'm going to take a different approach. One that I believe is Biblical.
Which means that you're going to initially probably resist.
What I have to say, but I believe what I have to say is not what I have to say, but what the scriptures saying. That's why I have titled This sermon, the parables of the lossed. I only do that because.
In the scriptures, not everything containing revival is the scriptures you go.
Wait a minute.
So for instance, in most of your bibles.
Maybe all we're going to start with Luke Chapter 15 and Luke 15 is written, but it isn't there looked it and say OK, new chapter.
We decided to divide it up and then you will see below that probably the law sheep.
That's not in the Bible either.
People put that there to help you find this particular narrative. So as your searching through and you see the Little Bowl section lossy but OK, that's what I'm looking for.
But the problem is sometimes they get it right.
And sometimes they get it wrong, and so sometimes we lean on those.
Notes if you will by other people who may or may not be accurate, so it's the first parable that's going to be discussed out of three is the Los sheep.
If I were tiling this sermon.
I mean, if I were tiling this particular parable, I wouldn't have put in the lost sheep. I would have put it into searching owner or Shepherd.
Or you see, when you look at this, what your emphasis is on the sheep.
And so that's why the second part in parenthesis the my sermon is you're so vain. You probably think these parables are about you.
So those there are some of you who are all enough for remember that Carole King song.
She probably wrote it.
And it, and I think it's interesting 'cause.
As I thought about it, and as I recall, that song.
She kept talking about him.
So I think it was legitimate for him to think that the song was about him, whether he was vain or not. But there are times that we're so vain we think it's about us.
Let me put you a little secret.
It's about God.
So I'm going and the reason why I'm going to say this is the context in a lot of times people read. These three parables, either separately. But outside the context. So here's the context verse. One now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to him to listen to him, so notice. The tax collectors and the sinners were already coming to him because they felt a need for him. They felt the love and acceptance of him.
And forgiveness by him. So they were already coming.
But notice but both the Pharisees and describes began to grumble, saying, this man receives sinners and eat with them. Now you see the Sadducees and Pharisees and scribes, and all the religious leaders. They always had problems with Jesus.
He healed on the Sabbath. Nowaday, he wants he kept healing on the Sabbath.
He would teach things in Parables, and they didn't understand them, he would.
Hang out with sinners.
He would even touch them.
He would participate. He would eat with him. All these things that these religious leaders are thinking a holy person wouldn't do, and so they're always grumbling. It would Jesus does.
And so he told them this parable. Notice who he's telling the parable too. He's not telling the parable to the sinners and tax collectors. He's telling them to the religious leaders. So his first parable is this. So I told them this parable saying what man among you, if he has 100 sheep in his Los. One of them does not leave the 99 in the open pasture and go after the one which is lossed until he finds it.
One is found it. He lays it on his shoulders rejoicing. Now I want to stop their notice. A couple of things.
Jesus is teaching a parable about going after in finding the Lossed.
Which means having 99 percent of what is yours is not good enough for God.
If he has 100 sheep, he wants all 100 sheep. 99 is never enough.
And so he says there are those of you. If you own sheep. If you have lost one, you'd go out and seek it.
And when they find it, notice what it does.
You I would probably say put a rope around the chief neck and pull it back home, and if it was reluctant, just kind of drag it with me. But notice what this Shepherd or this owner of the sheep does. He takes the sheep and puts it on his shoulders and carries it back.
God is telling you when your lossed when you don't know where you are. He doesn't just drag you back. He picks you up and carries you.
Now to me, the fact that the owner, the Shepherd of the sheep goes out and looks for him even though his 99 and the fact that he carries it on the shoulders tells me this story is not about the sheep, but it's about the owner or the Shepherd.
It's about God.
And what God is willing to do for those or sinners and tax collectors.
And for yes for you and for me.
So that's why I said it's not about the Los sheep, it's about the searching owner or Shepherd of the sheep. But notice again what he does after he finds it places on the shoulders and he rejoices. He's happy he's found the sheep notice there isn't any condemnation, you stupid sheep. How come you left?
You dumb sheep you.
You made me go after you. You irrelevance sheep know he rejoice is that he's found the sheep and he caries at home.
Just as the way God does, you and I for as the scripture says.
Or we all like sheep, have gone astray.
No one search for God, no one is good, but God searches for us.
Finds us, Cherries us and rejoices, and when he comes home, notice what happens. He calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was Lossed.
He's going, the party is going to be extensive is Josh is the owner of the sheep. He's going to call his friends and neighbors at this party because I found by one law sheep isn't. Oh, I'm happy I kept in 99 E partying for the last one.
I tell you.
I tell you, scribes Pharisees, religious leaders.
That in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one Sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance.
The Pharisees think they need no repentance because they, quote Unquote follow the law. But it's obvious that they don't.
Just by the way they treat Jesus.
And the sinners.
And the tax collectors.
So Jesus is telling them you may grumble.
But Heaven is rejoicing.
That these sinners and tax collectors, even if there was only one, would be rejoicing.
There's a party in heaven when one person repents.
But he doesn't stop there. He's gonna tell another parable.
It's called the lost coin, and if I were going to put it in black letters, I would call it the searching woman.
Verse 8 says this or what woman, if she has 10 silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the House and search carefully until she finds it. Now I want to stop there.
I suspect you're like me. You have loste.
Let me say misplaced your wallet or purse.
Ann. Usually when I've lost my walk, misplaced my wallet.
I asked my wife, have you found, have you seen it now? I haven't seen it Anne. I look around the house, I try to think well when was the last time I had it and I look.
Notice what this woman does. She cleans the house looking for it. She's working hard to find it. I simply gaze around and my wall is important to me. 'cause not only has my drivers license in the credit cards and not that they have any great value, I just want to spend the time getting them new ones, specially going to the DMV. That's not a picnic.
Not something I want to do is when it's to be renewed. I hope they sent me a new one. I don't have to go to the DMV and so with this this woman is saying 90 percent is not good enough. Well I got 9 coins, it's OK, No she's searching for the one that was lossed and she searches. Not like I surge. Just kind of gazing around.
She cleans the house searching for it.
Until she finds it.
And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors. Kind of sounds like the Los sheep, right? Saying rejoice with me, for I found the coin which I had loste
again she invites a party because something that was valuable to her and I suspect this woman.
Was probably pork as it talk about 10 coins. That's what she had.
Doesn't she? She's a widow, but she doesn't ask her husband to help her find it.
Because you probably realizes he's not much good at looking anyway, so she searches cleans house, he finds it and she parties because she's found it.
In the same way I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the Angels of God over one Sinner who repents.
Jesus saying, not only is heaven rejoicing, not only the father, son, and Holy Spirit, rejoicing the Angels in heaven are rejoicing, and their ones have never received repentance or redemption.
But they understand what's at stake and they see and they party because the Lossed has been found.
Because the religious leaders grumbled Jesus says you need to change your perspective.
Your perspective oughta be joy that these sinners and tax collectors are coming to God, and now the next and last one that will talk about today. The prodigal son.
This is the tough one because what I'm about to tell you is going to be contrary.
To those great sermons you've heard, those powerful sermons, those convicting sermons.
The title
if there should be entitled to this.
Is.
The father and two sons.
Quite frankly, you might simply say.
It's about the loving father.
The two sons are kind of.
The staging area and in this.
Parable I want you kind of think of it like A.
Three act play.
The first act, the first seen it says in verse 11 and he said a man had two sons.
Hey, notice again. We all think Prodigal son but the father had two sons.
The younger of them said to his father, father, give me the share of the estate that falls in Maine.
Now.
Most everybody when they read this parable.
Tends to identify with the verse younger son.
The sun that we called the prodigal son because as we're going to read he messes up big time.
And we'll see how he messes up big time.
But to me right here is his greatest sin.
Not that he went and blew the money.
But in essence, he told his father I can't wait for you to die to give me my money now.
It's not good enough to be with you. I want your money.
And I want to do my thing on my own time when I want to do it and you just haven't cooperated by dying yet. So give me my money.
And notice what the father does.
Is added probably said?
Laughing across the face and say go to work.
Get outta here or something.
So he divided his wealth between them.
He complied.
With the sound request.
I just wish you were dead.
Give me what is mine?
Well, quite frankly, is not yours.
It's your father's.
But he gave it to you anyway.
And not many days later the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country. And there he squandered his estate and it has a really nice.
With loose living.
The older brother is going to tell you what the loose living consisted of, but let's just say he didn't invest in 401K. He didn't buy property, he didn't.
Get his money to work for him. He spent it on his appetites. He spent it on his pleasure. He splendid today.
Not thinking about tomorrow.
And now when he had spent everything a severe famine occured in that country and he began to be impoverished.
So it went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that company country and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. Now this week.
I've been around sals pigs, hogs, swine.
Their gross.
They'll even eat their own young.
And if you've ever fed pigs, you feed them what is called slop.
Which is pretty much everything people don't want to eat its shells of Peas. It's all kinds of stuff mixed together in a slurry, and it smells gross. How do I know as I've done it?
But on to these people it's even worse because their Jewish, an pig, swine, hogs are unclean. So the fact that his job is to deal with unclean animals tells you how desperate this person is.
That the only job he could get.
Just to feed swine.
And notice the pay is not that great.
And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating.
So if that food look appetizing to him, you know exactly how desperate he is.
If you ever want to know, I I encourage you to go to a pig farm and that and ask them to let you feed them for awhile.
You'll be glad you have a different job.
But apparently he wasn't getting paid minimum wage.
Because even the garbage look good to him.
And no one was giving him anything.
What a loving country.
Here's a man in desperate need and no one cares.
Well, when he came to his senses.
When you got a little smarter.
When he started saying, You know, maybe I've hit rock bottom.
Maybe I should do something else?
So when he came to his senses, he said how many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread. But I am dying here with hunger. I will get up and go to my father and will say to him, father, I have sinned against Heaven an in your site. Yes, he has. Why? Because the scriptures tell us to honor our father and mother and he did anything but that.
I am no longer worthy to be called your son, and he's right.
Make me as one of your hired men.
So he got up and came to his father.
Now that was a plan. He had rehearsed the speech.
Repented, acknowledge this in.
And asked not to be treated as a son.
But simply as a hireling.
Someone who gets paid or what he does.
But while he was still a long way off.
He's not even close to home yet.
While he was still a long way off, his father saw him.
His father saw him a long way off.
Which to me means his father was looking for his son to come home.
It was n't huh one of these days he'll learn his father was looking for him to return.
His father saw him and felt compassion for him. Here's the son who said, I wish you were dead.
The father has compassion.
And ran and embraced him and kissed him. Now in our feel good world we kind of get that. You know we would. We love our children. We love our grandchildren and we go out to them not in this culture.
In this culture, you go to dad.
Dad doesn't come to you.
He is too proud he is position is of one of authority. So you want to talk to Maine. You come to Maine, but that's not what the father does. He runs to him.
Embraces and kisses him. He does even wait for the apology. He doesn't wait for the Repentance. He doesn't wait for the speech. He feels compassion because he sees his son. He fills compassion because he loves his son.
So it doesn't, and the sunset him father. I have sinned against Heaven and in your site I'm no longer worthy to be called your son.
But the father said to his slaves, notice a father interrupts. He does even let him finish his speech. He doesn't say well, I'm no longer work there. Be your son. So hire me out. He immediately.
Interrupts him and says, but the father said to his slaves quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet and bring the fat in calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate for this son of mine was dead, and he has come to life. He was lossed and has been found, and they began to celebrate.
Now most of us we really identify with the prodigal son.
But again, the story is not about the prodigal son.
Because the sinners and tax collectors were already there with Jesus. He's talking to describes to the Pharisees through the religious leaders and saying.
God the father.
Has compassion on the center.
And seeks him and celebrates. This is now the third parable about something that was lossed having been found was cause for celebration, not grumbling, not complaining.
End of scene.
1.
Now his older son was in the field and when he came and approached the House, hear music and dancing.
It's a party.
It's going on.
They are enjoying themselves.
And he someone, one of the servants, and began inquiring what these things could be. And he said to him, your brother, as common your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back, safe and sound.
So the servant tells.
The older brother exactly what's happening, but he tells the older brother in the eyes of the father.
There is celebration because your brother has been found.
But he became angry. It was not willing to go in.
The older brother is describes the Pharisees, Sadducees, religious people.
They're upset.
What do you mean you're celebrating?
You're celebrating this contemptuous person and notice he goes. He became angry and was not willing to go in and his father came out. Notice the father comes out again.
He went to the prodigal son. Now he goes to the older son. The older son does him go to the father. Notice it's always the father moving in.
Direction of the need.
And his father came out and began pleading with him.
Again.
Something that her father in this culture does not do with this children. You tell your children what to do. He played with his children.
Just as God needs to plead with the Pharisees, Sadducees, and religious leaders, but he, the older son answered and said to his father, look for so many years. I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours. And yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours, not even my brother, this son of yours, Kane, who devoured your wealth with prostitutes.
Not just loose living, he says he devoured it with prostitutes with pleasure.
Getting all the gusto that he could.
You kill the fatted calf for him.
He said to him, son.
You've always been with me.
And all that is mine is yours.
But we had to celebrate.
And rejoice.
For this brother of yours was dead and has become to live.
He was lossed.
And has been found.
The third.
Loste
peace.
Was the sun.
Notice.
First of all.
The honor went to look for his sheep.
Not any missing cheap.
His sheep.
As the Good Shepherd says.
My sheep I know, and they hear my voice.
The woman was looking for her coin, not any Los coin.
And the father here says.
It's your brother, my son, who is dead and was Lossed.
Now found.
We had to celebrate.
Now, unfortunately.
You hear all the sermons about the Prodigal Son and we tend to identify with the prodigal son.
But all too often we forget that we also all too often identify with the older brother.
Or you see you notice that the older brother doesn't seem to have any characteristics of his father.
He hung out with his father.
He was there. He followed the commands of the father.
But didn't have the same characteristics of the father.
Didn't have love or compassion uneven his own brother.
And all too often we church people, we people who attend church and hang out with God. So we think and we do all kinds of religious things.
And yet we seem not to be anymore like our father.
Just because we're hanging out with him.
So yes.
There is a story about two brothers.
Seems one has a better press because even this is called the protocol.
Son.
Jesus is not talking to the centers, he's talking to the Pharisees religiously. He's talking to those church people who are in church and never seemed to be excited that God is moving never seems to be excited that God is compassionate or loving and their God is bringing sinners to himself.
It's what have you done for me? God, lately, how come I don't feel good? How come I don't have the warm fuzzies? How come you haven't given me all these blessings? 'cause I've been hanging out with you?
And yet
we are no more like her father.
So this parable?
I offered to you.
Is not about.
The prodigal son.
He speaking to.
The older brother by the scribe.
Pharisees.
But the parable is about.
God.
Just as the first parable about the lost sheep was about God going after.
Just about the second one above God searching and working to find.
And here we're God, runs, feels compassion, and forgives before the words are even completed.
And in the same way.
Whether you're the prodigal son.
Or the older brother.
God loves you too.
He loves the older son.
He went out to him, pleaded with him to come in and join the party.
He loved the Prodigal Son as he ran to him and forgave him and embraced him and kissed him and treated as if nothing ever happened.
Is that's the way God is.
We think about all the things that we've blown it.
We think about all the Times that we wasted sitting in a Pew.
He had got embraces, us loves us, kisses us.
And treats us.
As his sons and daughters.
God.
Through Jesus is telling the religious people.
Love you brother.
Love those who are gods.
Celebrate.
Because let's face it.
Where do you like to party or not? It's gonna happen.
Is Jesus is forgiven people Jesus is calling?
The Prodigals and the older brothers together.
And each of those there is rejoicing in heaven.
Is rejoicing.
When we turn to God.
Walk with God.
And be with him.
So the next time you're feeling lonely.
The next time you're feeling abandoned.
Remember.
God hasn't forgotten you.
You may run away from him. You may have been gone to a far country.
He knows where you are.
He's looking to bring you back. He doesn't even have to expect you to walk all the way. He will carry you on his shoulder.
So I hope the next time you read any of these three passages.
You will not see the sheep or the coin or the younger brother or the older brother your she see God in action.
And all gods people said.