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RR 743

3 Kinds of Lost.

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Have you ever lost anything?  I can think of a number of things
that I have lost.  I used to have a collection of model cars
that I had made, about 70 of them, all done to perfection.  In
one move, they all disappeared.  Well in a move. We moved 7
times that year.  Then you may remember last year that we lost a
cat.  And I have been working on some thing with small parts and
dropped the part and lost it.  And I have lost money,
fortunately not much in cash.  

Let me ask another question.  Have you ever been physically
lost?  When I moved to Rusk, Texas, they had a real live square
where everything was centered.  The first 4 or 5 times I came
through there it happened to be overcast, and I got my
directions mixed up, and it took me a while to learn at which
corner to turn left.

I don't get lost often, but that was disorienting.

After Adam and Eve sinned can you imagine how our God  must have
felt when Jesus came back from this earth and reported that it
looked very much like a lot of humanity would be lost to the
subterfuge of Satan.

I know that none of us can know God's mind, but let us try to
comprehend for just a moment what the situation in this world
must have really looked like from the Heavenly perspective after
sin entered the world.

Lost.  

Being lost is the rational behind the whole of scripture.

If this world had not been on the lost list, there would have
been no need of a Savior.  

Today we look at 3 parables that we are familiar with to
understand the situation of lostness.

We will not go into the parables in detail, but try to work with
the kernel of the parables.  We will find that each of them has
a slightly different slant on the topic of lostness.

Luke 15:1  Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near
to Him to hear Him.

2  And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man
receives sinners and eats with them."

Here we find the reason that these parables were given.  The
sinners were attracted to Jesus but Pharisees and associates
were unhappy.  Sinners did not deserve any attention other than
disdain.  

Notice that they were complaining.  Now I am not sure why.  They
made a pretense of not noticing that Jesus was there all the
time plotting his demise.  

So the Pharisees complain about people coming to Jesus.

This is critical to understanding the parables, for replying to
this hypocritical rant is the underlying purpose of what Jesus
is about to share.

So let's look at the essence of the first parable.  That of the
lost sheep.

Before I go on, let me assure you that a great sermon could be
preached on each of the parables that we look at today, but
today I am more interested with their interconnectedness than
with their individuality.

So let's go.

Luke 15:3  So He spoke this parable to them, saying:

4  "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of
them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go
after the one which is lost until he finds it?

5  "And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders,
rejoicing.

That is the essence of the parable.  But there is one more
factor that is found in all 3 of the parables.

Luke 15:6  "And when he comes home, he calls together his
friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I
have found my sheep which was lost!'

7  "I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven
over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons
who need no repentance.

Let's break it down.

1.  One of many sheep is lost.

2.  The owner is concerned with each and every sheep, even the
missing one.

3.  When the sheep is found there is rejoicing.

4.  The sheep is not whipped for being lost.

We will tie this all together in a moment.

Let's move on.

Luke 15:8  "Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses
one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search
carefully until she finds it?

9  "And when she has found it, she calls her friends and
neighbors together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found
the piece which I lost!'

10  "Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the
angels of God over one sinner who repents."

What was lost was a coin worth about 18 cents.  More than likely
the woman is looking for it in a house with a dirt floor and no
windows, as the poorer homes tended to be.  This coin may have
been part of her dowry that was sewed to her headdress, as was
common, or it may have been 1/10 of her total wealth.  

As you look at the extreme joy in finding it, I would be
inclined to think that it had sentimental value as well as
intrinsic value.

Lets look at this parable.

1.  One of many coins is lost.

2.  The woman makes every effort to find the coin.

3.  When the coin is found there is rejoicing.

4.  The coin is not scolded for being lost.

Moving along.

Luke 15:11  Then He said: "A certain man had two sons.

12  "And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give
me the portion of goods that falls to me.' So he divided to them
his livelihood.

13  "And not many days after, the younger son gathered all
together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his
possessions with prodigal living.

14  "But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in
that land, and he began to be in want.

15  "Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that
country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

16  "And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods
that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.

17  "But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my
father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I
perish with hunger!

18  'I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him,
"Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,

19  "and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me
like one of your hired servants."'

20  "And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still
a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran
and fell on his neck and kissed him.

21  "And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against
heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called
your son.'

22  "But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best
robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals
on his feet.

23  'And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat
and be merry;

24  'for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost
and is found.' And they began to be merry.

The first notable thing about this parable is that it is much
longer than the others.  Secondly, it is about a human being,
instead of a possession.  This parable weaves a complex set of
emotions worthy of any grand drama together in such a way that
it touches each of us.  

First we have a bull headed son.

Then we have a father that some might say is over indulgent.

Then there are the party friends that disappear like snow in the
desert.

And then there is another bull headed son.

Without spending all of our time on this parable, let us
summarize it.

1.  One of 2 sons is lost.

2.  No effort is made to find the son in the parable, but the
father's heart longs for his son's return.  He is continually
watching that he might welcome the son back.

3.  There is great rejoicing when the son returns.

4.  The son is not chastised by the father when he returns. 
Quite the opposite.

Now let's compare the similarities and contrasts among the
parables.

The sheep was lost, and knew it was lost, but didn't know what
to do about it.  He had probably just wondered away moving after
one piece of greener grass after the next until it looks around
and MAAAAAA.  It is all alone.  It does not know how it got
there, and has no idea of how to get back to the herd.  So the
shepherd finds the sheep and brings it back on his shoulderS.  A
very comforting and intimate way to travel. 

Then, the good news is shared with the community and all rejoice
together.

Next, the coin was lost, and didn't know it was lost, and didn't
know what to do about it.

This is a very frustrating kind of lost.  You can call a sheep,
and sooner or later they will answer.  You will never get that
from a lost inanimate object.  You can pass right over it, even
step on it and may never find it.  

It takes some light and some cleaning to find the coin.

And again, the community shares in the joy of recovery.

Now moving to the son.

The prodigal son was lost, and knew that he was lost, and knew
what to do about it, but was afraid to do it.

Here we have a different set of circumstances.  The Prodigal son
made a deliberate decision to leave.  Though he never intended
to get lost, like the sheep, he wondered into the situation.  Or
rather was forced into it by a combination of a bad economy, and
bad friends.  

In this parable, the father does not physically go after the
son, but the love that the son knows the father has for him is a
continuing drawing power.  The son has to fight it off.  Even to
the point of starvation.  

The son knows how to get home physically, but does not know how
to get home emotionally.  He is ashamed of his behavior, and
perhaps his perceived low worth.  His friends had given the
clear message that when his money was gone he was worth nothing. 

Would his father feel the same way?

In a word, no.

There is rejoicing by the community, with one exception, over
the return of the son.  

And I can imagine that the father is waiting for the other son
to have the emotional discovery that the younger had experienced.

It is also important that the last of the LOST trilogy that
Jesus leaves the parable open.  If you return to the Father, you
are accepted with joy.  If you live in his presence with
resentment, you are still loved, but what of your experience?

Selfish, exclusive, exacting souls who seem to fear to help
those in error, as though they would become polluted by so
doing, do not taste of the sweets of this missionary work; they
do not feel that blessedness which fills all heaven with
rejoicing upon the rescue of one who has gone astray. They are
shut up to their narrow views and feelings, and are becoming as
dry and unfruitful as the mountains of Gilboa, upon which there
was neither dew nor rain. Let a strong man be shut away from
labor, and he becomes feeble. That church or those persons who
shut themselves away from bearing burdens for others, who shut
themselves up to themselves, will soon suffer spiritual
feebleness. It is labor that keeps the strong man strong. And
spiritual labor, toil and burden bearing, is what will give
strength to the church of Christ.  {2T 22.1}

And I may add to this, It is this work that brings joy to the
church.

As we examine what this parable has to say to each of us, I
think that first we need to know that we are in one of the lost
categories. (The elder son was lost like the sheep, was unaware
of his lost condition)  

We may have nibbled, nibbled, until we were far away from where
we intended to be, but were not sure how to return.

Or we may be in a situation where we are very lost, but are
totally unaware of our condition.  Perhaps this description fits
the Laodicean condition.  Unaware of our situation.  Unfeeling
of the cold, the grit, the distance from where we should be.

Then we may be like the son.  Perhaps we have deliberately made
the decision to move away from God.  But praise the Lord, even
when we spend all of our so-called righteousness, God is still
there for us.  His Spirit speaks to us when we are sifting the
husks of our lives, and keeps pointing us to a better way.

Come home, he continually urges, until we finally give in, and
there is a grand ball, celebrating our return.

But God is always rejoicing in the found.  Jesus mission on this
earth was to seek and find.  

Brother, sister, where are you today?  Are you lost.  Or are you
found?  Do you hear the call of the Shepherd?  Is the light
reflecting off of you?  Have you felt the passage of the broom? 
Are you tired of the husks?  

There is joy awaiting.  

Do you want to experience that joy?  Do you want to help others
find that joy?  What do you say?