The greatest communicator ever to walk on this earth was without question the Lord Jesus Christ
the impact of his words continues to this day many of his words have been written down
for us so that we might know them when Jesus told a story it was never
for the purpose of passing time or to entertain the stories of Jesus were meant
to zero in on the hearts of his listeners and communicate a lesson they would never forget
you might forget the principles you might forget the didactic teaching of the Lord but you can't
forget his stories they live on today in the lives of children and young people and adults as well
one of the best known is here before us Luke chapter 15 then all the tax collectors and the
sinners drew near to Jesus to hear him and the Pharisees and the Scribes murmured saying
this man receives sinners and he eats with them so Jesus told this story to them saying
what man of you having a hundred sheep if he loses one of them does not leave the 99 in
the wilderness and go after the one which is lost until he finds it and when he is found he lays
it on his shoulders rejoicing 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 I say to you that likewise
there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 just persons who need
no repentance and the story that Jesus told to us here in the 15th chapter is about being lost what
it means to be lost this is one of the best known chapters in the new testament as most of you know
because it contains the familiar stories of the lost sheep the lost silver and the lost
son back to back these three stories are found in Luke 15 in fact there are many people who believe
that these are not really three distinct stories but there are three parts of the same story
that Jesus told in response to the reaction of the Scribes and Pharisees to his dealing with sinners
we are told at the beginning of the chapter that this story like all of Jesus stories
was given to deal with a problem that had arisen in Jesus interaction with the people of his day
for the Pharisees were angry that Jesus would spend such
quality time with these that they do not consider to be quality at all
now the stories here in the 15th chapter about the lost sheep and the lost coin
and about the son they're all about lost things
a sheep strayed from the flock to become lost in the wild wilderness a coin rolled over
into the dark corner of the room and under the furniture and no longer could be seen
this is how Jesus was trying to describe to the Scribes and Pharisees
what man's condition in this world is without the savior what is it like
to be in this world without God there is no better term to describe it than the term lost
somebody has said that we have a God who is the God of the lost isn't it good that it's
that way he's the God of the lost Jesus is the one who said I am come watch this now to seek
and to save that which was lost Jesus said that he said his whole purpose in coming into this
world one central focus was for the lost he's the seeking shepherd businessman today would tell you
take your losses and go on but not the good shepherd now in the parable of the lost sheep
Jesus depicts himself as the shepherd they are criticizing him for receiving sinners
and in order to justify his mission justify his ministry he presents a parable and in the parable
he depicts himself as the shepherd and so he is he says of himself in John 10 and 11 I am
the good shepherd the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep Paul in Hebrews 13 and 20 calls
him that great shepherd of the sheep Peter calls him the chief shepherd in first Peter 5 and 4
and one of the most familiar passages in the bible began with that memorable statement of David
in the 23rd number of Psalms the Lord is my shepherd and I shall not want he is the shepherd
but just for a moment we want to look at the sheep the condition of the sheep
is summed up in the one word lost
what a terrible word lost I don't believe that there is another word that is so
tragic as the word lost it's tragic to be lost lost and don't know how to get back home
well to be lost is to be separated to be separated from the flock to be separated from the shepherd
to be separated from the protection and from the provisions of the fold this sheep was lost and it
was then that Jesus said the son of man has come to seek and to save that which is lost earlier on
in the fifth chapter Jesus said I didn't come to call the righteous but the sinners to repentance
Christ received sinners how glorious it is and how thankful I am
that he receives sinners because he received me
what does it mean to be lost
it means that
your life is separated from God you're trying to live apart from God
apart from his watchful care but the Lord is searching for you
the good shepherd
now here were the Pharisees Jesus was out as the good shepherd finding the lost sheep
he was receiving sinners he was eating with them but rather than rejoicing that sinners were
being saved they were critical they were finding fault they were sitting back in criticism of him
he eats with sinners he receives he touches them did you see that if he were really a prophet he
had known who that woman was they're finding fault because Jesus is receiving sinners but the truth
is this it doesn't matter how badly your life has been marred or defiled by sin he receives sinners
all that you've lost because of your venture into the life of the flesh and into sin can be regained
because Jesus receives sinners Jesus loves the lost in this story all of these tax collectors
and sinners are crowding around Jesus and the Pharisees are standing off into the corner
and they are saying man I cannot believe that Jesus would hang out with those people
but it's interesting right that our savior Jesus the perfect holy spotless lamb of God Jesus these
people are drawn to him and the interesting thing I think the distinction that needs to be made here
is that they're not drawn to the Pharisees they're not drawn to the teachers of the law because these
tax collectors and sinners they wouldn't be drawn to the Pharisees or the teachers of the
law because every time they would approach those people they would be reminded of their mistakes
they would be reminded of their shortcomings they would be reminded of their flaws and their sins
and so they were drawn to Jesus because there was something different about Jesus
and the difference was was that he loved them and that he cared for them and he did not judge
them based on their lifestyle or their outward appearance but rather saw to their heart and
loved them sought that they would not no longer be lost but be found Jesus all throughout the
new testament he finds himself in these crowds of people I think important thing to understand
though is that these people were not drawn to Jesus because he condoned their lifestyle
they weren't drawn to Jesus because he approved of everything that they had done
they were simply drawn to Jesus because he genuinely loved and cared for them and what
you see from this is that the shepherd has crazy intentionality right because when the one sheep
drifts off from the nine from the other 99 and he leaves the shepherd's reaction is very telling
because it says that the shepherd chooses to leave the 99 to go and find the one the shepherd doesn't
look at the one and say man good riddance that that sheep's made some dumb decisions
so let's go ahead and leave him where he's at he doesn't say well I've got 99 really good sheep
that haven't left me so I'm gonna hold on to them because that person should know better that sheep
should know better and he doesn't he doesn't say man that sheep's a moron I can't believe that that
sheep would do that that's not what the shepherd does the shepherd's first reaction upon the sheep
leaving this one individual sheep is the shepherd leaves the 99 to go and find this one sheep
and I love what the shepherd how it describes the shepherd when he finds the sheep because
when he finds the sheep verse verse 5 says when he finds it he joyfully puts it on his shoulders
you know think about it like if it were us right we would want to teach that sheep a lesson we want
to say no you don't do that right you got to stay with the rest of the pack we would try to teach
them a lesson so that it doesn't happen again but the shepherd in this story his reaction is not to
beat down or berate the sheep for leaving leaving the flock instead it says that when he finds it he
joyfully there is joy in the shepherd in retrieving the sheep putting it on his shoulders
and walking back to the flock and then when the shepherd gets there he gathers all of his friends
and neighbors and says rejoice with me because I found my lost sheep this is your story this
is my story this is all of our stories that at one time we were the one sheep we were the one because
of our own foolishness and because of our own reckless decision making we ran from God and Jesus
in his heart for us did not chase us down and then berate us for our for our shortcomings he didn't
look at us leaving and say good riddance no he chases us down he leaves the 99 to go and find
the one and then when he found us he joyfully puts us on his shoulders because Jesus's heart for the
lost was to bring us back and to restore us and to give us the home that we always what he always
designed for us this is the love that the shepherd has for the sheep this is the love that Jesus has
for the lost this is the love that Jesus had for you this is our God this is our savior Jesus
if you have ever felt lost in a crowd
if you have ever felt I'm just a number among many people I hope you take heart by this story
I hope you understand the value that you have to God the father that he would write about you
in this story that if one sheep goes astray the shepherd is concerned and goes after
the one that he valued you enough to leave the 99 to find the one you you were that valuable