The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
Luke 15:1-32the main text for the sermon, all three parables read and expounded
1 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming close to him to hear him.
2 The Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, “This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.”
3 He told them this parable.
4 “Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep, and lost one of them, wouldn’t leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one that was lost, until he found it?
5 When he has found it, he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
6 When he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’
7 I tell you that even so there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.
8 Or what woman, if she had ten drachma coins, if she lost one drachma coin, wouldn’t light a lamp, sweep the house, and seek diligently until she found it?
9 When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the drachma which I had lost.’
10 Even so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner repenting.”
11 He said, “A certain man had two sons.
12 The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of your property.’ He divided his livelihood between them.
13 Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of this together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with riotous living.
14 When he had spent all of it, there arose a severe famine in that country, and he began to be in need.
15 He went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs.
16 He wanted to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs ate, but no one gave him any.
17 But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough to spare, and I’m dying with hunger!
18 I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight.
19 I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants.”’
20 “He arose, and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
21 The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. I 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. Put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.
23 Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat, and celebrate;
24 for this, my son, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’ They began to celebrate.
25 “Now his elder son was in the field. As he came near to the house, he heard music and dancing.
26 He called one of the servants to him, and asked what was going on.
27 He said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and healthy.’
28 But he was angry, and would not go in. Therefore his father came out, and begged him.
29 But he answered his father, ‘Behold, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed a commandment of yours, but you never gave me a goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.
30 But when this your son came, who has devoured your living with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.’
31 “He said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
32 But it was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.’”
briefly mentioned as a possible background to the shepherd imagery, a story of bad shepherds
1 Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,
2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy, and tell them, even the shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Shouldn’t the shepherds feed the sheep?
3 You eat the fat. You clothe yourself with the wool. You kill the fatlings, but you don’t feed the sheep.
4 You haven’t strengthened the diseased. You haven’t healed that which was sick. You haven’t bound up that which was broken. You haven’t brought back that which was driven away. You haven’t sought that which was lost, but you have ruled over them with force and with rigor.
5 They were scattered, because there was no shepherd. They became food to all the animals of the field, and were scattered.
6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill. Yes, my sheep were scattered on all the surface of the earth. There was no one who searched or sought.”
7 “‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear Yahweh’s word:
8 “As I live,” says the Lord Yahweh, “surely because my sheep became a prey, and my sheep became food to all the animals of the field, because there was no shepherd. My shepherds didn’t search for my sheep, but the shepherds fed themselves, and didn’t feed my sheep.”
9 Therefore, you shepherds, hear Yahweh’s word:
10 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Behold, I am against the shepherds. I will require my sheep at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the sheep. The shepherds won’t feed themselves any more. I will deliver my sheep from their mouth, that they may not be food for them.”
11 “‘For thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.
12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so will I seek out my sheep. I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.
13 I will bring them out from the peoples, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited places of the country.
14 I will feed them with good pasture; and their fold will be on the mountains of the height of Israel. There they will lie down in a good fold. They will feed on fat pasture on the mountains of Israel.
15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down,” says the Lord Yahweh.
16 “I will seek that which was lost, and will bring back that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong. I will feed them in justice.”’
17 “As for you, O my flock, thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, the rams and the male goats.
18 Does it seem a small thing to you to have fed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture? And to have drunk of the clear waters, but must you foul the residue with your feet?
19 As for my sheep, they eat that which you have trodden with your feet, and they drink that which you have fouled with your feet.’
20 “Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh to them: ‘Behold, I, even I, will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep.
21 Because you thrust with side and with shoulder, and push all the diseased with your horns, until you have scattered them abroad;
22 therefore will I save my flock, and they will no more be a prey. I will judge between sheep and sheep.
23 I will set up one shepherd over them, and he will feed them, even my servant David. He will feed them, and he will be their shepherd.
24 I, Yahweh, will be their God, and my servant David prince among them. I, Yahweh, have spoken it.
25 “‘I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause evil animals to cease out of the land. They will dwell securely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods.
26 I will make them and the places around my hill a blessing. I will cause the shower to come down in its season. There will be showers of blessing.
27 The tree of the field will yield its fruit, and the earth will yield its increase, and they will be secure in their land. Then they will know that I am Yahweh, when I have broken the bars of their yoke, and have delivered them out of the hand of those who made slaves of them.
28 They will no more be a prey to the nations, neither will the animals of the earth devour them; but they will dwell securely, and no one will make them afraid.
29 I will raise up to them a plantation for renown, and they will no more be consumed with famine in the land, and not bear the shame of the nations any more.
30 They will know that I, Yahweh, their God am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord Yahweh.
31 You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are men, and I am your God,’ says the Lord Yahweh.”
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Pastor Ray preached through all of Luke 15, the three parables Jesus told in a row about a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. The thread running through all three is the same: something valuable is lost, someone searches for it, and when it is found there is celebration. The context is Jesus receiving tax collectors and sinners while the Pharisees and scribes complain about it.
What was said
The setting matters. Pastor Ray pointed back to the close of chapter 14, where Jesus had just told the crowd that following him requires putting him first, carrying your own cross, and renouncing all else. The chapter break in modern Bibles is not in the original text, so the very next thing after "the one who has ears to hear, let him hear" is tax collectors and sinners drawing close to listen. The Pharisees and scribes, watching this, grumble that Jesus receives sinners and eats with them. That complaint is what prompts all three stories.
The first story is a shepherd who leaves 99 sheep in open pasture to search for one that is gone. Pastor Ray asked the congregation to put themselves in the shepherd's position: you count, recount, and then go looking, not knowing whether you will find the animal living or dead. When it is found, the shepherd does not scold it. He puts it on his shoulders rejoicing, goes home, and calls his neighbors to celebrate with him. Jesus draws the explicit lesson: there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 who have no need of repentance.
The second story is a woman who loses one of ten silver coins. To give the coin its real weight, Pastor Ray worked out that a drachma was roughly a day's wage. Using Wyoming day-laborer rates, he put one coin at around $167, which makes the loss feel urgent and the search serious. She lights a lamp, sweeps the whole house, and looks until she finds it. Jesus gives the same lesson again: joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
The third story shifts from an animal and an object to a person. A younger son demands his share of the estate early, leaves for a distant country, wastes everything in reckless living, and ends up longing to eat the food he is slopping to pigs for a Gentile employer. Pastor Ray noted that this is about as far from home, in every sense, as a Jewish listener could picture. The turning point in the story is the phrase "when he came to himself." The son rehearses a speech of repentance on the long walk back, planning to ask only to be treated as a hired laborer.
The father sees his son while he is still a long way off, which Pastor Ray read as evidence that the father had been watching and looking. He runs, falls on his son's neck, and kisses him repeatedly. Before the son can finish his prepared speech, the father is already calling for the best robe, a ring, sandals, and the fatted calf. The son who was dead is alive; the one who was lost is found. The household begins to celebrate.
The older son, coming in from the field, hears music and dancing and refuses to go in. His father comes out and pleads with him, which Pastor Ray held up as a picture of Jesus at that very moment pleading with the Pharisees and scribes in the crowd. The older son complains that he has worked faithfully for years without so much as a young goat, while his brother who squandered the inheritance is welcomed back with a feast. The father affirms what is true in what the older son says, then answers that everything the father has is already his, and that celebrating a return from the dead is not optional: "We had to celebrate and rejoice."
Pastor Ray closed by drawing the three stories together. Whether the lost thing is a wandering sheep, a coin that slipped away, or a son who chose to leave, God is actively searching for souls to be brought into His family. The call to the congregation was to have the posture of that father: watching from a long way off, ready to run, ready to welcome anyone who turns toward Christ, and rejoicing when they do.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
Pastor Ray pointed out that the Pharisees and scribes had some biblical backing for separating themselves from sinners, yet Jesus ate with them anyway. Where do you think the line is between avoiding bad influences and being willing to sit down with people others write off?
In the parable of the lost sheep, the shepherd searches until he finds it, living or dead, and comes home rejoicing rather than scolding. What does that picture tell you about how God responds when someone who has wandered comes back?
Good morning, everybody. How are you? You here? We're here. Would you stand with me?
I'm going invite Scott Humphrey up if he will come up and sing along. He's back. Fun, fun, fun. Or I I guess I should say I'm back. I missed last week so I'm back too.
It's nice to be back together again. We're going to sing because he lives. If you know if you know it, sing it like you mean it. If you don't know it, listen and figure it out on the first verse. You can join us the next time around.
Amen. Here we go. How about another one? Let's sing Amazing Grace. We're going to go for the key change on the last verse this time.
Whatever comes up on the screen but when we get to win, we've been there ten thousand years. We're going up. Alright. Amen. Amen.
Wow. That's great. Y'all have a seat and we'll sing a couple more in a minute. Announcements are these, Monday nights at First B. We are up to Mark eleven.
Carl will be preaching tomorrow night. There's meal, music, and a message. Meal, music, and a message tomorrow night, Monday night, 06:00 down the hall. It'll be a a fun time. The Lot Shaws and the the Baldocs and the DeMarshes, that small group are going to be making the meal for tomorrow night.
So, if you hadn't ever been to a Monday night, consider it. Meal, music message on Monday night, 06:00 down the hall. This is something you might not know about. So, a lot of folks, if you've here for a while, for eleven years now, we've subscribed to this service. It is like the Christian Netflix, okay?
Right now, media. So, if you have a phone or whatever that you watch movies on and you can do that, right now, media is sort of a Christian version of that. There are a lot of Bible studies, videos, some classes even but some of em are movies, some of em are sermons, all kinds of different resources on RightNow Media. If just because you're sitting here, even if you're a visitor sitting here, if you would, let us know. We can get you signed up.
So you can send us your email address or give us your email address and we'll send you a link for how to get signed up with this. And it's the same. I mean, we pay for it as a church, but it's the same no matter. As many people as we can get on it, it's the same price. Okay?
So right now, media, it's really good. Somebody had called earlier in the week and said, do you all recommend commentaries or anything? When Ray's up there, he mentioned one last week. And like not usually, I have tons of books on the shelf in there. If you want to come in and borrow them, you're welcome to.
Let me know, please. But but I've got lots of em in there that I wouldn't necessarily recommend. There's some books on my shelf that boil my blood. So, I wouldn't want you to just sneak in and grab one and think, Ray believes this but right now, media is pretty good. It's a Christian Netflix and it's the same price no matter what.
So join if you want to. Solid rock tour of the Imani Melele Choir. This is a choir from Uganda. The Buckingham had some contact with them. And they are coming to Jackson and doing a free concert two free concerts actually, Wednesday, June 28 and Friday, June 30, six to 07:30 in the evening.
And it is kind of spread out. I don't know why that picture did that. They're not all this tall and this wide. But anyway, the Imani Milele Choir, they're pretty good. Moussy Woodling's funeral is next week.
So Moussy's funeral is right here, 12:30, Saturday the seventeenth. So if you knew Moussy, she's quite a character. She lived to be 100 years old. I know we have lots of visitors that don't know her. Jeanette Moussy Woodley moved here seventy years ago and she lived to be 100 years old.
They had a big one hundredth year birthday party for her up at the Wildlife Museum. And she's just a character. A big write up in the paper and everything. So when she moved from her home into her one of the three retirement places, nursing homes that she outlived. Seriously.
She outlived three nursing homes. She moved stuff into storage and it's been in storage and her family is saying that if there's anybody who needs anything and wants to come by on Wednesday, June 14, that's this Wednesday, to the storage stables. The family is asking people to come and take any items that they can use. So that's an open invitation. If you want to, please feel free.
Wednesday, 10AM at the storage stables. I guess it's first come, first serve. She's a hoot. I mean, just an absolute hoot. She has a lot.
I'll tell you more stories at the funeral if you come. Vacation Bible School is coming up the twenty sixth through the June 28. That's approaching fast. If you'd like to volunteer, you can sign up on the website at firstbjackson.org or you can just tell us. There's a sign up sheet.
If you want to go analog, just write your name on a piece of paper back at the back. Liz Owings will get you a place to serve. It's the theme this year. There's always a theme. Pets unleashed where Jesus cares for you.
Oh. Oh. No hissing or booing. The 2023 church directory. So, you see that old timey photograph up there.
We are going as modern as we can. Nick over here. Would you stand up, Nick? Nick works in the church office, and he is the tech guy, and he is the compiler of the church directory. He has asked for me to describe he's asked for me to describe what horizontal is.
This is horizontal, this way, okay? It says horizon right in the word. It's this way. Like our screens up there are this way, not like that portrait of that lady is this way, okay? So horizon, horizontal, not vertical picture of you.
But if you say, I don't know if I can remember that. Talk to him. He'll take your picture horizontally and put you in the directory. So name, phone, email, mailing address. If you would send that information to him at assistantfirstbjackson dot org, he can compile it and get you a church directory when they come out.
Or you can send in your own photo if you want to. But if you do send in a photo, let it be like this, not you climbing the grand from half a mile away. Okay? We're glad that you did that, but we want to be able to see your face. Okay?
That's the idea for the church directory. We're compiling that right now. There is a church camp out that's coming up July the seventh through the ninth. That's earlier than it usually is. Usually, campouts on up in August.
But this year, we wanted no smoke, so we're doing July seventh through the ninth. Palisades Lake instead of the Grand Teton, we're going to Palisades. July seventh through the ninth, Mike Demetrius is the guy to call. Our youth leaders that got a call about that and if you'd like to know more of this kind of stuff, you can sign up for the weekly church announcements and you'll get kind of a digital version of a church bulletin if you'll sign up for it. Also, first, be in the Bible.
Do you all know what this is? First, be in the Bible. We cover a chapter of scripture every day. There are about 40 writers from among us, among all of us. So we write out introduction.
This is who's doing the writing. Get a little picture of the person. Also, use your grand picture of that one. Okay? And then the text of scripture and then notes and application.
We've been doing this for about a year now, over a year now. And we have made our way through the whole New Testament, Genesis and Exodus, and we're working through the minor prophets. Obadiah comes this week and Jonah after that. Alright? It's it's good.
First of all, I think it's really good for me. I'd love to see what people have written. The other thing is it's just great to see how many people there are that are really getting after it, loving the word. Crystal? Have we done it?
We have done it. Yes. Well, I was going to say this too. If you are signed up for it and you have not seen it. So if you signed up for it for the past ten or twelve days, you haven't seen it coming through.
We're not taking a break. We're still rolling on. But your email program is probably sending it to the junk. And it's not junk. So if you would, pull it out of the junk and say, this is important to me, and it will keep coming to you.
That's a special announcement from the guy who handles that for us. Is there anything else? Nick? Okay. Thank you.
Carol Pittman's funeral is on the twenty third in Idaho Falls. If you want to know more information about it, you can ask Nick and Carol's faithful follower, believer, great person here at church for a long long time when she had to move away to be near family in her convalescent years. She she would still watch online and she would let me know. She's very encouraging lady. So, the twenty third is her funeral.
Would you stand with me? Boy, oh boy, that seemed like a lot. Grief, grace greater than our sin. Would you sing with us? Glad you're here.
Amen. We have one more congregational hymn here though. In moments like this, we'll probably sing this one twice. It's just a chorus. We'll sing it twice.
Let's sing it again. Amen. Y'all can have a seat. Imma invite the ushers to come forward Lord God almighty, I pray that you would, lord, accept these gifts, these offerings that the gifts that you have given us, we're handing back a portion to you, lord, to say, we trust you for one thing. Lord, we're living life with an open hand.
We trust you and we want to be a part of the advance of the good news of the love and forgiveness of God. The good news of Christ. Crucified, slain, but yet, after buried, resurrected. In Jesus name, lord, we want to see the gospel go forward. Would you use us, lord, as your willing servants?
Would you be telling us, lord, directing us as to what we should do, filling us with the power to be able to do it. In all humility, lord, we just want to see your kingdom advance. We want to be willing subjects doing that which you ask us to do. In Jesus name, would you bless everything that's put in the plates, lord, and everything that's metaphorically placed in the plates, time, conversations, efforts. Lord, I pray that you would use all of that, that you'd bless and multiply it, and that you would do your kingdom's work.
Lord, in your will, whatever that way is, in your way, your will, your way. In Jesus name, amen. Thank you, Judy. So, we're up to Luke 15. Oh, goodness.
Where are we going here? Sorry. Preston, that was me messing you up. Sorry. Luke fifteen one through 32.
That's where we're going today. I I'm gonna mention something before. This is new for us here at the church. It's been hanging at the National Museum of Wildlife Art since late February, beginning of March, something like that. They had a big show for local schools to put in pieces.
And so they put out the call for submissions every year. Any school can put in a piece. So kindergarten through twelfth grade schools in Jackson. So all of them had the opportunity to put it in. Tanya, my wife Tanya, is the kindergarten through fifth grade art teacher at the classical academy.
So, she had 70 something students. There are 78 pieces up here hanging. So, each stripe has three pieces. Foreground, mountain, and sky. And she had 78 students.
Last year, the submissions, they just give you one word, turn in something that has to do with community was last year. This year, was called transformation or transition. Transformation. And so if you want to after the service is over, or well, after service is going, I guess, be distracting, you could do it anyway. You could take a look at it.
From over here, it looks like, an old sepia tone photograph. From over here, it's pretty modern. So kinda what you might have seen from a teepee or a Conestoga wagon, and then what you might see out of the right side of the airplane coming over Jackson Lake, coming landing in the park. It's the grand with the cloud over it. But there's right up on it on the back wall, just so you know, that's what that's doing there.
This is the first Sunday it's been up. We're going to hold on to it for a while. It was people seemed to like it in the first service, so we're going to leave it there for a while. But this is Luke fifteen one through 32. We've been doing a chronological Bible study for the last eleven years.
Going in the order that the books were written for the most part, we are coming back to do Matthew, Mark, and Luke all at one time. This section, all of this from Luke 15, Luke presents it as Jesus is saying this at this place. There are a couple of stories that are sort of similar, but I don't think they're the same or the same time. So we're gonna do all of Luke chapter 15. If you wanna look at it, that is what it looks like.
That's what it looks like. The reason I put it up there this way is because you see that the opening is context. Just this is where they were. This is who was there. And then the rest of it is red letters.
It's all unbroken from beginning to end. So it's Jesus doing three parables in a row, all teaching the same point. So I'm gonna try to cover all three of those parables today too. But this is the opening with who's there, what's going on. Now, all the tax collectors.
Oh, tax collectors. We hit that in scripture and when we say, oh, honestly, we hit it anytime and you say tax collectors. You you can see people roll their eyes or kind of get grumpy. Tax collectors and sinners like now all the all the, wait a second. Now, all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near to Jesus to listen to him.
Tax collectors, if you think about it, the reason they might be grumpy at that time is because Jesus is speaking primarily to Jewish crowds most of the time, not all the time. He's speaking now. We know the group that's with him. We know where he is. Probably, Perea just across the Jordan River.
He's got both Jews and Gentiles listening to him, but tax collectors are collecting taxes for Rome. Rome is an oppressing government that is over them. They tell them what they can and cannot do. They tell them how much they're going to pay and then, usually, And are people in the to We're so, going in they made their living off of what else they got out of the people. The tax collectors, pretty universally panned.
They did not were not well liked. And sinners. Now sinners could be people that were sinful people, and I believe it is. But it extends to just people that had some jobs where they had to do unsavory things. You know?
There were some jobs like mortician that put you in contact with dead bodies. There were jobs like certain people who kept up with animals, shepherds being one of them. Shepherds it's used a lot in scripture, but shepherd was an unclean position to be in. And they would have been considered sinners. Tax collectors and sinners.
These are folks who are not generally well liked. But it says now, all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to Jesus to listen to him. So, that's good. Think back to chapter 14. I wasn't here last week.
Mike, I understood, did a great job. Mike Demetrius spoke last week. The week before, I covered the last part of chapter 14. These are the points from the last part of chapter 14. It's when Jesus turns and says, this is discipleship.
The cost of discipleship. Right here, you can't be a disciple. Jesus said, unless you put me first. Unless you put Jesus first, you can't be his disciple. He has to take prominence.
Remember the hate your father, mother, all of the other relations. Love them less. Love me first. You can't be a disciple unless you put Jesus first. Can't be a disciple unless you're carrying your cross.
Individually, we have a cross to bear. Now, Jesus had his literal cross to bear. He followed his out perfectly but he described this before he got to the cross. While he was walking there, he described it. Matthew, Mark, Luke, all over the place.
He said, you need to carry your cross. Whatever it is that God has ordained for you to do, he has ordained for you to do and you should be walking in that, carrying that cross and it may feel like punishment at times. It may feel very heavy at times. Can't be a disciple without putting Jesus first. Can't be a disciple without carrying your cross and you can't be a disciple without renouncing all else.
I prayed in the prayer to live life with an open hand to put Jesus first means that he has access to that which we have. All that we are and all that we have. So you can't be a disciple without renouncing without renouncing all else. He closes that section off with this. The one who has ears to hear, let him hear.
It's emphatic. It's more like the one who has ears to hear, listen. Okay. He's leaning towards them. Pay attention.
The one who has ears to hear, listen. And then the chapter, the difference in chapter is not there in the text, in the original text. Right? So don't let that throw you. It's not like it's a different scene.
It's the same scene. The one who has ears to hear, let him hear. Now tax collectors and sinners were coming here to listen. Praise God. They're approaching Jesus, and both the pharisees and the scribes began to complain.
Is that any surprise to you? How long have we heard that in our study? Both the pharisees and the scribes who considered themselves to be holy and those other people to be unholy, us and them was a very strong and they had some biblical backing. Now, they had some biblical backing in the Old Testament. They had a lot of biblical backing for walking away from sinful things, lifestyles, whatnot.
And they had some some backing for if you associate with them, you're gonna be just like them. One bad apple spoils a whole bunch. Bad company corrupts good character. They had a lot of those sort of things. So when they see this, they just wanna separate and isolate, pull away from.
Both the pharisees and the scribes began to complain saying, this man receives receives. They're approaching him. I mean, if somebody's approaching you, it's one thing to receive them, like, to have a conversation. He doesn't stop there though. This man receives and eats with them.
He receives sinners and eats with them. Can you believe it? That is unheard of. Gross. This man receives sinners and eats with them.
And so he told them this parable. That's actually three parables, but they're all the same point. All of these parables have the same point. So he told them this parable saying, what man among you if he has a 100 sheep? Now, a 100 sheep is not a huge flock for that time.
For me, a 100 sheep, oh my goodness, that'd be all I could possibly do. Actually, a four h lamb would probably be more than I could do. I'm not really that kind of guy. I'm a terrible cowboy. But a 100 sheep is not a big flock of sheep for the area, for the time.
300 was considered to be pretty well-to-do. So to have a third of that. If he has a 100 sheep and he has lost one of them, what man among you doesn't leave the other 99? They're in an open pasture. They're safe and fine and go after the one that's lost until he finds it.
Which one of y'all would just let that one straggle off and say, oh, I just gotta keep these here. He's saying, you leave the 99, you go out, and you look for that. Which one of you would not go out and look for it until he found it? Right? That's pretty telling until he finds it.
And if you put yourself in this position, I think that's a good idea when Jesus is telling the story. He says, which one among you? He's drawing you into the story. Okay. Imagine yourself a shepherd.
You got a 100 sheep. One of them is gone. You take count and one of them is gone. You count again, one of them is still gone. Oh my.
So I got to go find that thing. And you start looking. And imagine when you're looking for it, you're going to look until you find it. Living or dead. And you don't know which it is.
Think about that. You're looking around the bush, around the corner, off the cliff. You're looking and looking and looking. And you're gonna look until you find it. Find evidence at least.
That's a that's a position to be in. Think about that. And when he has found it. Oh, do you think when he found it, what he said is, darn it, you darn sheep. You're always wandering off.
That's not what the text says that he says. Jesus is telling the story. Let's let him tell the story. It he doesn't kick it. He doesn't ram it.
He doesn't slap it. He he's he puts it on his shoulders rejoicing. There you are, buddy. Oh, I know how scary it is to wander off. Wow.
You must have been terrified. Oh, it looked like there was something so pretty right around that corner and you just went around and then we were gone. You were too far away. Come on. Over the shoulder, holding onto his leg, rejoicing as he went.
You know, I can imagine the pep in his step. Happy. Because the one that was lost was found, right? Take him back, bring him back into the fold. There you go.
You'll be safe here. When he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, rejoice with me because I found my sheep that was lost. I'm glad Jesus is telling this story. I think if if if I were the shepherd and lost one of the sheep, I might be tempted to say, what sheep? I didn't lose a sheep.
He's back in fold now. No. Jesus is telling the story. The guy is very open and straightforward. He's like, this one got away and we got him back.
It's great. Wonderful. Rejoice with me because I found my sheep that was lost. That's beautiful. And Jesus says, I tell all of y'all.
He's talking to tax collectors and sinners but he's also talking to pharisees and scribes. I tell y'all that in the same way, there's more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people that don't have any need to repent. Now the one sinner who repents, I'm sure that that would have just appealed very much to the fair to the tax collectors and sinners. It's like, I'm here to hear what he has to say. And it sounds like he's saying, he's looking for me.
It sounds like he's saying, you're welcome back. You're welcome in. You can be a part of what's going on. There's more joy over one sinner who repents. Now, can argue this.
Over 99 people that have no need of repentance. There's one school of thought that thinks, well, there's no one righteous. No, not one. I know what it says. Everybody needs repentance.
Yes. Yes. That's true. But I think that what he's saying I think that what he's saying right here is that there is a group. There's a safe group.
Right? There's a safe group, and they haven't wandered off. And there's joy there, but there's a so much more joy when the gospel breaks through and someone comes in to the kingdom. When you found when something is lost has been found. So lost and found is the theme and joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.
Now, in Luke, he does this pretty often where he gives an example of a man and then he gives an example of a woman right after that. So he says, which of the men among you this way? And then he says, or what woman? What woman if she has 10 silver coins and loses 1 coin? Who among you wouldn't light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?
That's a quick, that's a whole story in one verse right there. The coins. The coin in this case was a drachma, a drachma. It's the only time that this coin is mentioned in Luke. But it's a day's wage.
You know a denarius is a day's wage, but this is a drachma. I don't know really what the difference is. It's about a day's wage. If we were to look for it today, when I hear 10 silver coins, I think coin. Coins virtually worthless, right?
I mean, what is the biggest coin that we have? A dollar piece, maybe a $2 piece if you've got an old one. But you don't have many coins that are very valuable. But a drachma is a day's wage. So poor Wyoming.
Just pull this up off the thinner web. Thirtieth in average hourly rate for a day laborer. For a day laborer in the state of Wyoming, not particularly the county of Teton. $16.74 is average hourly rate for a day laborer. So if you took $16.74 and we think of an eight hour day, typically they worked twelve hour days back then.
We're going to give it 10, all right? We'll average the two. 16.74 times 10 is $167.40 That makes you want to look for it a little more, right? It's not just a coin. Well, rolled it or something.
We'll find it when we move the sofa. No. $16.74 times 10 is a $167.40. So she had 10 coins. So that's $1,674.
But all of a sudden, now she's got $14.00 $7 and that's not $16.74 dollars And she's feeling the weight of it. Have you all ever lost anything? Oh my goodness. Have you ever found something that you were looking for? What a feeling that is, right?
This is a picture of some artist rendering of this lady in a, I don't know, Victorian house somewhere, finding a coin. This is another one. She doesn't have to be a poor lady. Jesus doesn't specify. He gets rid of nonessential details.
But commentaries tear stuff up like that. They're always asking, who is it? Is she a poor woman? Is she a rich woman? If she's a rich woman, why is she looking for a coin?
Imagine this lady with this headdress losing one of those coins. She knows she's lost it as a piece of jewelry. You ever lost a piece of jewelry and had to look for it? You all know Tanya does the I mention Tanya a lot today. She just loves it when I do that.
She had earrings that were her grandmother's earrings. It's pretty special to her. And you know how busy we are during Christmas. Christmas is just a crazy time of year. And she deals with all the angel tree gifts.
So everything that you all bring in, we are getting it to the families. And she's working on it. And it takes up several rooms downstairs. And there's a lot of moving stuff in the car and the truck and the this and the that going to TJ Maxx and going this way and that, moving all over the place. She got home one night.
She had one earring on. And it's after midnight. And she goes, oh, I cannot believe I lost that earring. And it's just a terrible feeling. This feeling of loss of my grandmother's earring.
Her favorite person on earth. It was really, really bothering her. And we looked, and we looked, and we looked. And got in the car and came back to here and looked through every place. Oh, where could it be?
Went to bed that night not having found it. Woke up the next looking for it. Went back to all the places that were closed looking for it. Everywhere where we stood, everywhere she stood, every vehicle that she'd been in, everywhere that I had transported anything. Oh, it was just a terrible feeling to get home after midnight, still had not found it.
I think she said she was asleep and woke up, and she thought, I haven't checked that bag. And I moved that bag. She checked scarves and sweaters and everything else, you know. And she takes one of our reusable grocery bags. How many of those do you have?
It was empty. And she picked it up by the bottom corner and shook it and the earring fell out of it. She woke me up to rejoice with her. It's great. And when she's found it, she calls together her friends and her neighbors.
She says, Rejoice with me because I found that which was lost. The drachma that was lost is found now. Oh, I'm so relieved that it's been found. And Jesus says in the same way, just like that, I tell you, there's joy in the presence of the angels of God. Creator, God, who made us in his image and wants to have relationship with us, is looking for us, is reaching out through the gospel to recover us, to save us.
There's joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. There's a party in heaven when one sinner repents. Just like above. I tell you in the same way. It's the same lesson in two parables.
The man who has the sheep, the lady who has the coins, over one sinner who repents. Repentance is about coming to your senses and seeing and then having a change of mind, change of direction. One sinner who repents. I tell you in the same way. There'll be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who have no need of repentance.
Now that I will go back and hit this again. We all have somewhere where we need to repent. Okay? Every single one of us does. But there's also safety in the body of Christ.
You know, there's safety here. But we all have something that we could stand to repent of. And he said, he doesn't even stop. There's three in a row. Boom.
Boom. Boom. This third one, it's not an animal and it's not a thing. He starts off this third one, great classic opening. A man has two sons.
A man had two sons. This is a person we're dealing with now. A man had two sons. The younger of the two sons said to his father, father, give me the share of the state that's coming to me. You might read that and immediately go, what a spoiled brat.
Just listen to the story. There's more for you. The younger of them came to his father and said, father, give me the share of the state that's coming to me. And so the father divided his wealth between them. Now, older brother, younger brother, the older brother at the time would get double the portion of the younger brother.
So he gets a third of the father's stuff. He divided his wealth between them. So the older brother gets twice as much as the younger. And not many days later, that younger son had gathered up everything together and went on a journey to a distant country. Sounds like he wanted to get as far away from that farm as he could.
And there, in that distant country, he squandered his estate in wild living. I like the I like the translation reckless. Wild living, I think, might come from our knowing the story, and we put wild in there, but it's reckless. Just living recklessly. I'd say he wasn't getting a whole lot of return on his investment.
Okay? He was out there squandering his estate and wild living. Now when he had spent everything, oh, that's sad. He gets this lump sum and he just goes and he whittles and whittles and whittles it away. Doesn't sound like he has any other income coming in.
He was living off of that income, that lump. Now when he had spent everything, catastrophic circumstances. He's broke and a severe famine occurred in that country. Man, it's bad to be broke. It's even worse when it's a hard time where everybody's struggling.
When he had spent everything, a severe famine happened in that country and he began doing without. Man, goods were hard to come by, meals were hard to come by. I imagine housing was hard to come by. We'll bring it back to our example here in Teton County. So he went and he hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country.
It would be a Gentile. We can tell by the next sentence that Baal sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. Oh, and Jesus started off with a story about shepherds. That's one thing. Shepherds, he he could have been alluding to to his to Ezekiel 34, possibly since he's speaking to Pharisees and scribes and there's a story of bad shepherds.
He could have been doing that before. But now, he's just talking about how far this son was from his home life. That son went and he hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, a Gentile. And he sent him into his field to feed the pigs. And this guy, now the younger son, was longing to have his fill of the carob pods that the pigs were eating.
Y'all ever been around pigs much? Some of you. I was around pigs when I was little. We had pigs when I was little. And I didn't like to feed them because I could barely even carry the slot bucket without throwing up.
I honestly couldn't tell much difference between what was in the bucket and what I would have thrown up. I did not like feeding the pigs. I did see my uncle told one of my cousins one time that he gave him a piece of bubble gum and he was being kind of. And he said, either you're going to eat it or the pig's going eat it. He threw it to the that's the only fun I ever had feeding pigs.
Watching a pig chew bubble gum. Probably not good for him. He longed to have his fill of the carob pods. He was in such a bad state. He had done without for so long that he was thinking pig food sounded like a good idea.
And no one was giving him anything. It was hard times. He was working for anything that he had and they weren't giving him anything. But when he came to his senses, the the Greek there says, when he came to himself, when he came to himself, he looked at himself in the mirror and he said, how many how many of my father's hired laborers have more than enough bread? Dad always treated people well.
Golly. Heartbreaking to be a son that wants to get away from home and to be so destitute and then to think back and go, how many of my father's hired laborers have more than enough bread, but I'm dying here from hunger? Oh, that's a lament. It's a recognition of one's helpless estate. Right?
I will set out. I'm going to quit this job. I'm going to go back to my father. And I'm gonna say to him, father, I've sinned against heaven and in your sight. He's practicing his speech.
Father, I've sinned against heaven and in your sight, and I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. You, father, just treat me as one of your hired laborers. That's all I want. I I know that you treat people well. That's humility, isn't it?
So he's had a recognition of his helpless estate and he is humble enough to ask for a low position. And so he set out, left that distant land, walked back home starving to death, comes to his father. But when he was still a long ways off. When he was still a long ways off. What do you think that means?
His father saw him when he was a long ways off. He was looking for him. He was looking for him. And as undignified as that might sound for an older man of this time, he hiked up his robe and he ran. It says, he felt compassion for him and he ran and he embraced him.
The Greek there says, he fell on his neck. He fell on his neck. Let me hug your neck. The father saw him and felt compassion for him, ran, fell on his neck, and kissed him repeatedly. And the son said to him, I've been working on this speech the whole way home.
Father, I've sinned against heaven and in your sight. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. And he gets to that place and the father, but the father, jumps in there. I think it was interruption. I don't think that the son had gotten to that point and then chickened out on saying the last phrase.
I think that he got to that place, father, I've sinned against heaven and in your sight, and I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father he didn't say this. He didn't get to treat me as one of your hired laborers. But the father, the father said to his slave, hey, you. Quickly.
Go get the best robe. Go get the best thing that we have around. He's wearing rags. Put it on him. Put the best robe on him.
Welcome him back in. Put a ring on his finger. Probably a signet ring. Has some authority. Think about this.
It wasn't his. If it had been his inheritance, he would already had it and squandered it. He said, put a ring on his finger. Put some sandals on his feet. He walked all the way back home then slopping pigs.
Put some sandals on his feet and bring the fatted calf. Slaughter it, and let's eat and celebrate. Let's go. This is time to party for this son of mine that was dead and has come to life again. He was lost and he's been found.
I mean, an earring was enough to have a little celebration. A coin, a sheep. But this is one of two sons? Yeah. He was lost and he's been found.
And they began to celebrate. That is great. So remember at the very first of this story, it said a man had two sons. We've heard all about the first one. We haven't heard about that second one yet.
They began to celebrate. So three beautiful pictures of the lost being found. That's great. It's rejoicing in celebration. Fantastic.
There's a party in heaven. We collectors and sinners listening there with some hope. They're already listening to Jesus. He's looking for them a long ways off and he's drawing them in. We hear Pharisees and scribes though.
There's more. Jesus is still speaking. He doesn't stop right there. Now, his older son. His older son was in the field.
Of course, he was. He's doing all the work, right? Maybe that's why the younger brother ran off. I don't know. I don't know.
Older son was in the field and when he came and he approached the house, he heard music Now, that's not normal at the end of the day. Not normal to hear music and dancing coming in from the field. So, he also summoned one of the servants and he began inquiring what these things could be. Hey, you. What's going on?
And the servant said to him, your brother has come. Your father's slaughtered the fatted calf because he has received him back safe and sound. Now that servant understood what was going on. He understood that this was a time for rejoicing. He understood this was a time for celebration.
When he says it to the older brother, he says, your brother has come. Like, this is a party. He's back and he's fine. Now, but he became he is the older brother. So he, the older brother let's fill in the blank.
But he became what? Everyone of y'all knows that. Not jubilant, not excited. No. Angry.
It made him mad. He became angry. He became angry and he was not willing to go in. Party for thinking. Can't believe that it's even considered so sorry so and so.
Of course, just the way it was. He was angry and he wasn't willing to go in. And so his father came out. Ain't that good? His father was looking for the prodigal and he saw him from a long ways off and he ran to meet him.
And then when this guy wasn't willing to come in to celebrate, his father came out to him too. That's good. And he was pleading with him. It's a good translation. He began pleading with him.
He'd probably been. He'd probably had this talk before. I don't know. Began is in italics in the New American Standard. That's just an added word to help it flow in English.
But the father came out and was pleading with him. Think about Jesus talking to this crowd. He's talking to Pharisees and scribes in addition to tax collectors and sinners. What Jesus is doing is pleading with them. That's what he's doing right there.
They were angry and upset that he would receive and eat with sinners and tax collectors and he's out there pleading with them still. But the older brother answered and said to his father, he kinda interrupted him. Now we saw the father interrupt the prepared speech of the younger brother. He didn't even let him get to the part about being hired before he had him dressed like royalty and was killing a fatted calf in his honor. Older brother, while the father is pleading with him, he answered and said to his father, look, that's actually a snot nosed brat sort of thing to say.
Okay? He's talking to his dad. He's not very being very honoring by his manner right here. He's saying, look. You pay attention to this.
So many years I've been serving you. I've been here all the time. This joker ran off. I've never neglected a command of yours. Whatever you say, I just do.
You say jump, I say hi. I'm always working. And yet you never gave me a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. You killed the fatted calf for him. You've never even given me so much as a young goat.
I've been here acting like a slave. Never connect neglected a command. But when this son of yours you don't have to add anything to the story for it to be good, do But when this son of yours, when he comes who's devoured your wealth with prostitutes woah. Wait a second. That's the first time we've heard about prostitutes.
Jesus said there were some reckless living. That is a form of reckless living, but this brother has imagined all kinds of stuff that was not entered into evidence. Alright? He's devoured your wealth with prostitutes. And you slaughtered the fatted calf for him.
He's living completely prodigal lifestyle. And now he's back and you're just treating him well. And he said to him, he's very reasonable, this father. He said to him, son, he still calls him son, you have always been with me. You're right.
You have always been with me. That is affirming. He's affirming what the guy said. You have always been with me. You're right.
You have been have been working hard. I I think we ought to affirm what we can with people. You know? Sometimes people approach and we just have an us and them mentality to the point we don't want to agree with anything they say. But he says, you have always been with me.
And beyond that, all that is mine is yours. I mean, I gave away his portion to him already. Everything. If you want a young goat, go ahead and get one. It's yours.
Go kill it. We're going to have fatted calf inside. If you want a goat, go get one. All that I have is yours. You've always been with me.
All that I have is yours. So he reassures him, I'm not cutting you out. This is not harming you in any way. But we had to celebrate and rejoice. We had to.
We had to. Because this brother of yours I love that. The rhetorical turn there of this guy going, this son of yours. And he said, no. He is my son.
Yeah. But he's your brother. This brother of yours. This son of yours, this brother of yours, he was dead. We had no idea.
This is I've asked you if you've lost something. I don't know how y'all how your lives have gone. I know that nowadays we have life three sixty where you can tell where everybody is at any particular time, why they're where they are. And we've got a way of keeping up with each other. Call me when you get there, and there's all of that.
But if you've ever actually had somebody that was gone and nobody knew where they were, December 23, a few years ago, I went to help somebody get a car out of a ditch, and I got myself stuck. And I was just outside of phone service. And, you know, you don't know when you're gonna be helping somebody out of a ditch, so I didn't tell anybody. So I was out of phone service for about four hours. When I got back, there was an APB out on me.
But we've had, in this church body, we've had people who were gone that we did not know where they were. Right? It's a terrible, terrible feeling. And it's a time for celebration when they're found. Right?
This brother of yours who was dead, he's living. He's here. This one who was lost, he's been found. And he's alive. He's okay.
He's safe and sound. He's all right. I think that that is the last slide. It is. That's the end of Jesus' story.
Now, do I have to go back and make application points on that or do we see the heart of God in all three of those stories? God is actively looking for souls to be saved, to be brought into the family of God. If you take that first story and you say, well, that was somebody who wandered away, who knew the right thing and they just wandered away, brought back in. That's great. The lost coin, that was somebody who was she already had it and come back.
Maybe it's just believers. But I think that what he's saying is he's looking for them to make the turn. May we be ready to receive and rejoice when anybody approaches Christ, when anybody is listening to what he has to say, when anybody is coming towards us, may we be like that father who's looking for him from a long ways off, who's ready to welcome him in. May we be looking for them. And may we be doing what God has before us carrying our cross in such a way that there's rejoicing in heaven when they actually do come into the family of God.
Would you stand with me? We're going to sing I Surrender All because God, if you come forward and sing, I'd appreciate it too. That opening slide there was from chapter 14 about renouncing all else and to carry your cross and to put Jesus first. I think this song says that pretty well. I surrender all.
From first Peter, benediction today, I I think it's a good reminder. All you, like sheep were going astray, but now you've returned to the shepherd of an overseer of your soul. Lord God Almighty, I thank you that you restored Peter and that he knew it, and he recognized it. He gave such great instruction about us humbling ourselves under the mighty hand of God, and you lifting us up at the proper time. In Jesus' name, I ask, Lord, that you would allow us to walk righteously but also winsomely and that we'd be attractive to people and attracting them into the family of God, the heart of the kingdom of God.
