Castlebar Christian Fellowship

Intro - What kind of a view of God to people outside the church have of God?
[V1-2esv] "Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them."
Now unless we get these two verses then we are likely to miss the main point of what Jesus is doing with the three parables in this chapter. See the thing is, there are two types of people in the crowd listening, and Jesus is aiming these parables directly at both types of people! On one side there are the 'bad people' and on the other side there are the 'good people' - at least they think they are the 'good people'. On one side there are those who Luke calls 'tax collectors and sinners' and on the other side there are the 'Pharisees and scribes' - the people who think they understand God! The first group are thinking; how could God receive me, and the second group are thinking how could God receive them?
Jesus is trying to change the mindsets of both types of people. He's adjusting and changing their view of God, because BOTH TYPES OF PEOPLE HAVE GOT IT WRONG. So Jesus deconstructs a wrong view of God and reconstructs a new, right, view of God!
1. THE LOST SHEEP
[V3-7esv] "So he told them this parable [Luke says]: "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbours, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance."
Let me first of all make clear how these two groups of people viewed God. The tax collectors and sinners would have viewed themselves as well beyond God's mercy... Let me also point out that a tax collector was not a tax collector as we know it today... No he was a willing servant of the Roman oppressors... If you were a Jew at this time then he was the guy who threatened you and took money off you that went towards funding the murders of innocent people, including your fellow countrymen ... That's why they were hated so much... they were total outcasts. BUT, here's the thing, these people drew near to Jesus and he received them... This was SHOCKING!
Also when Luke uses the word sinner he doesn't mean it in the sense we understand it today. They didn't have the book of Romans yet (Rom 3:23)... We know we're all sinners and that we all fall short of God's glory because we know Romans, but this was not a concept these people had. 'Sinner' was a label reserved for the prostitutes, the thieves, the outcasts, the gentiles - the 'bad people'. AND it was even used for the poor, the lepers and the disabled of Jesus' day - because of course, they must be that way because of their own personal sin or the sin of their parents (Remember the blind man Jesus healed)... That's the stigma such people grew up with and believed because of what the Pharisees and scribes taught! That's why the thinking of the tax collectors and sinners was how could God receive me? And the thinking of the Pharisees and scribes was how could God receive them?
So Jesus tells them this story about a shepherd and sheep. Interestingly enough shepherds would have come under the 'sinner' label at this time because they were poor... So the very illustration would have annoyed the 'good religious people' and encouraged the 'bad sinful people' at the same time. And with this first parable Jesus makes one BIG point: Just like a shepherd leaves the 99 sheep who don't need found, in order to pursue the one lost sheep desperately needing found. So God leaves the 'good religious people' who clearly need no help, because they have it all together, in order to pursue desperately lost sinners so he can bring them home... And he says; "I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance."
Then Jesus moves on to his second parable...
2. THE LOST SILVER
[V8-10esv] "Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, 'rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.' Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
The floor of the house would be dusty... There would have little light in the house as the windows were very small... But the silver coin was something of great value and sentiment to the Lady. It was most likely part of a collection of ten coins joined to together in a headband, which was the equivalent of an engagement ring in her culture. So it was worth the hassle, it was worth the effort to find it!
Again there is one BIG point here: God pursues sinners to such an extent that he will turn the world upside down until he finds them. He will crawl about the dusty and dirty places until he finds what's he's looking for, he will not give up, but will relentlessly search and sweep through the darkness of this world with the light of the glorious Good News of Jesus until he finds what he is after - lost, broken, sinners! WHY? Because they are of great value to him! Rescuing lost, broken, sinners brings God more joy and more glory than anything else. So it is worth the hassle, it is worth the effort. So much so, that there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who REPENTS." The angels know how much value lost sinners are to God...!
Jesus tells us something that no religion in this world does. He shows us that God is seeking lost, broken, sinful people. In the religions of this world God is passively waiting for man to find him... but Jesus tells us that God is actively pursuing sinners, the worst of sinners! Our God is far more willing to save sinners than sinners are to be saved! That's the impression we must impress on the hearts and minds of people. We must not be like the Pharisee's and scribes who left people believing that they were hopelessly outside of God's mercy! No we must let them know that God is lovingly and actively pursuing them in spite of who they are, in spite of what they've done and if they only turn to and believe in him... then he will embrace them and receive them and change them and fill them with faith, hope and love...!
We, as the church, need to make this CRYSTAL clear to ALL types of people!
3. THE LOST YOUNGER SON
[V11-24esv] "And he said, "There was a man who had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father. 'Father give me my share of the property that is coming to me.' And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no-one gave him anything.
So this younger son asked his father for his share of the property which would have been a third, as the older son, being the eldest, was entitled to two thirds according to the custom... Also to ask his father for his share of the property was the height of disrespect, it was unheard of! He was basically saying he wanted his father dead because getting the property was more important to him. And when he got what he wanted he squandered it all on wild living... and ended up feeding the pigs. Something a Jew would never dream of doing in a million years. This son was the ultimate picture of rebellion, selfishness, waste, disrespect, disgust and desperation. The Pharisees and scribes would have thinking; 'he's talking about them'. The tax collectors and sinners perhaps would have been thinking 'we're not even that bad.'
This was absolutely shocking to ALL those listening to the story. But what comes next is even more shocking...
But when he came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants. And he arose and came to his father. BUT WHILE HE WAS A LONG WAY OFF, his father saw him and felt compassion, AND RAN and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to celebrate."
When he had lost everything the younger son came to his senses and realised what he had done. He had nowhere else to turn, so he headed home, in hope of becoming a slave on his father's land... BUT WHILE HE WAS A LONG WAY OFF - Great words! Perhaps he was looking at his father's house in the distance wondering if it was worth even asking... The people listening would have never have expected to hear what they were about to hear. BUT WHILE HE WAS A LONG WAY OFF his father saw him and felt compassion, AND RAN and embraced him and kissed him.
This is the most SHOCKING part of the chapter. The father running towards this rebellious, selfish, squandering, disrespectful, unclean son who had wasted all that was given him, who had chosen his father's stuff over him, who smelt like a dirty pig. The father is running towards this sinner of sinners with passionate, pursuing love. Here's another thing, elderly men didn't run in this culture, it was a disgraceful thing to do so, but he didn't care about cultural rules, such was the compassion in his heart for his returning, repentant son. And he hugged him and kissed his filthy face and said 'for this my son was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'!
Now I can imagine Jesus looking at the Pharisees and scribes watching their faces harden and tighten with fury. NO surely not. The father can't do that. Look at what he is. Look at what he's done. Look at where he's been. This is Blasphemy they would have thought. They would have known exactly what Jesus was getting at... However when Jesus looked at the tax collectors and sinners he would have saw another kind of face, he saw a completely different reaction. He saw joy and surprise as these three parables began to click together in their heads. YES. We're the lost sheep! We're the lost coin! We're the younger brother! God is searching for us, we are of great value to God, God receives sinners joyfully, and he gives them what they don't deserve and abundantly more than they expect! He clothes sinners in his best robe. He puts a ring on their finger and makes them part of his family. He put's shoes on their feet and feeds them with his best food. This is God! The God who passionately pursues sinners!
4. THE LOST OLDER SON
[V25-32esv] "Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant, and he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound. But he was angry, and refused to go in. HIS FATHER CAME OUT AND ENTREATED HIM, but he answered his father, 'Look, these many years I have served you, and never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured you property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him! And he said to him, Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'"
The older son was furious, just like the Pharisees and scribes were furious at Jesus' stories. And the reaction of the older brother showed that he was just as lost as the younger brother. His angry words give away the state of his own heart. He tried to make himself look righteous by comparing himself to and by exaggerating his brother's sinfulness, but all he did was reveal his own sinfulness. He was probably so angry because he knew for his younger brother to be received back into family meant that he would get another one third of what was left of the property. For the younger son the stuff was more important to him than his father. For the older son the stuff was more important than his younger brother.
Really what the older brother should have done. Was to go out into world and search for his brother. Like the shepherd searched for the sheep. Or like the woman searched for the coin. But he didn't want to count the cost. He didn't want to give another third of what was left of the property. He wanted it all for himself. Contrast this with our elder brother Jesus. He was prepared to pay the ultimate cost, which was much more than one third of an estate. He was prepared to give everything, even his very life, in order to pursue us and bring us home to our Father... Jesus was showing the angry self-righteous Pharisees how they were just as sinful as the people they despised, they were just better at hiding it. And he was showing them that they didn't really know God at all... This is what made them so mad.
There is one final twist in this chapter. Notice how the father also went out to meet the angry self-righteous older brother and invited him to come into the party... This is important to point out because we need to know that God also pursues the self-righteous religious people who think they have it all together, and his aim is to show them that actually they don't, so that he can lead them to repentance and bring them home as well! God also loves the 'religious grace killers'.... Yes they are often harder to reach because they have harder hearts, but nevertheless God loves them and pursues them too! So the point is if you cannot extend grace towards the 'grace killers' then you have become a grace killer! And you are on the road to becoming like the very people you can't stand! (Share Matt Chandlers story) We can easily forget that we are what we are only by God's grace and as soon as we do we become self-righteous older brothers.
Call to Action - OUR GOD PURSUES SINNERS
"Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them."
This was supposed to be an accusation, but it was fact an amazing truth. In fact if God does not receive sinners then we are doomed... BUT Jesus teaches us through these three parables that God not only receives sinners, he actively pursues them! Our God pursues sinners, all types of sinners, and so should we...
Let's consider this great love of God. It is a love that pursues and transforms sinners. It is a love that passes knowledge. It is unspeakable and unsearchable. It is steadfast and constant... It is on, this, passionate, pursuing, love of God, that we must rest everything if we are to have peace in this world and glory in eternity... If we place trust on our own weak love for God or on our own righteousness, then we are building on sandy ground... But if we place our trust on God's passionate love for us, that pursued us when we were still lost, broken, sinners, when we were still his enemies, then we are on a Rock that cannot, ever, be moved...!! Many waters cannot quench this love... oceans cannot overwhelm it... For the bible declares that NOTHING can separate us from his love if we truly turn to and trust in Jesus... If God doesn't love us then we are doomed... but Jesus makes it clear that he does love us with an everlasting love. We, as the church, need to make this CRYSTAL clear to ALL types of people!
(Perhaps Finish with Matt Chandler clip - Jesus wants the rose.)