Have you ever lost anything? I know that I have – plenty of times. And then, you won’t be at peace until you’ve done everything you can do to find those lost things. I will tear drawers apart, go through pockets and whatever else I need to do in order to find that which is lost.
This is a parable by Jesus of a man who lost something and did what most of us would do – he searched and searched until he found it.
This is also a parallel to what Christ is doing for those that are lost from Him in relationship. He will do anything to find “that which is lost.”
A lot of what drives me is the sense of how much God loves me the rest of humanity. I see people everywhere I go and I’m always reminding myself that this is someone that God loves very much and wants to be in relationship with them.
Shouldn’t we respond to people who are lost in the same way or even a greater way than we would to lost things? Shouldn’t we exhibit the same efforts, and perseverance in searching for them? Shouldn’t we be filled with joy at there being found?
THREE THINGS THAT ARE NEEDED IN REACHING LOST PEOPLE
1. The First Thing Needed For Reaching The Lost Is Compassion.
Luke 15:1-2 (ESV) 1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
Jesus had the "tax collectors and sinners" gathering around him. These are lost people who were not running from Jesus but rather running to him. They were not avoiding him, ignoring him, or even hostile towards him. Verse 1 says that they were "gathering around to hear him."
Why were sinners so willing and even eager to listen to Jesus? It certainly wasn’t because Jesus had an easy message that tickled people’s ears. It wasn’t because Jesus compromised on sin and said that everything they were doing was acceptable.
They weren’t gathering around Jesus because he was putting on some sensationalistic show of signs and wonders. At this point in Luke’s narrative the emphasis is on Jesus’ teaching, miracles are hardly even mentioned.
Why did the "lost" seek out Jesus rather than run from him? I believe the answer is his compassion. Jesus loved them and showed that love with a compassionate instead of condemning attitude. The Bible says in verse 2 that Jesus "welcomes sinners and eats with them."
One of the definitions for the Greek word translated as "welcomes" in this verse is to "receive as a friend."
This was Jesus attitude toward those who were lost in sin. Jesus welcomed them; he was compassionate and accepting of them despite their sins and faults. He was a friend and not a foe.
Jesus had a attitude that lost people were attracted to, do we? For us as individuals and as a church to reach people we are going to have to show and have that same love and acceptance.
2. The Second Thing Needed For Reaching The Lost Is Effort.
Luke 15:3-5 (ESV) 3 So he told them this parable: 4 “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? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
In this story, the shepherd did not wait for the lost sheep to wander home and the woman did not wait for the lost coin to turn up.
In our Christian lives and in the church it sometimes seems that we do the opposite. We tend to wait for the lost to come to us.
We’re passive rather than active. We’re waiting for people to come to Christ instead of putting effort into bringing them to Christ!
I know that I have been guilty of doing this. I want people to be saved but haven’t went out searching for the lost with great effort. This has to change if we’re to reach the lost like Jesus did.
3. The Third Thing Needed To Reach The Lost Its Persistence.
Luke 15:4-7 (ESV) 4 “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? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 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.
In this story Jesus notes specifically that the person continued seeking after the lost item until he or she found it. In other words, Jesus seems to be pointing out that persistence was a needed quality for success. After all, lost sheep among spacious fields and hills, and lost coins in the dirt floor of the Jewish home would not have been easily or quickly found.
It’s the same way with reaching the lost. It is not easy to reach people’s hearts so that they receive Jesus. It is not usually the case there our first efforts meet with success. Sometimes it takes years and years of persistence, but we should not be discouraged or give up. If a sheep or coin was valuable enough to persistently search for, then people who are spiritually lost are too valuable to give up on.
Following an exhilarating performance at New York’s Carnegie Hall, celebrated classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma went home, slept, and awoke the next day exhausted and rushed. He called for a cab to take him to a hotel on the other side of Manhattan and placed his cello—hand-crafted in Vienna in 1733 and valued at $2.5 million—in the trunk of the taxi. When he reached his destination, he paid the driver, but forgot to take his cello. After the cab had disappeared, Ma realized what he had done. He began a desperate search for the missing instrument. Fortunately he had the receipt with the cabby’s ID number. After searching all day the taxi was located in a garage in Queens with the priceless cello still in the trunk. Ma’s smile could not be contained as he spoke to reporters.
Here’s the point, Yo Yo Ma did not quit but persisted because what was lost was too valuable to give up on. The spiritually lost are too valuable for us to quit trying to reach even though our efforts do not pay off quickly.
3. The Third Thing Needed To Reach The Lost Its Persistence.
Luke 15:5-11 (ESV) 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 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. 8 “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? 9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” 11 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons.
The religious leaders of the day had been indifferent toward the lost and even antagonistic toward them coming to Jesus. Jesus uses these two parables to illustrate how wrong their response was, especially when compared to how they would have responded toward recovering something of far less value.
Jesus pointed out how joyful they would have been at the recovery of a lost sheep or lost coin, certainly then they should of been joyous instead of angered at the lost coming to Jesus.
Jesus then pointed out that the one thing that matters most to God is the lost. They matter so much to God that when the lost are found, even one of them, all heaven rejoices and throws a party! There is more joy over one sinner coming to Jesus that over ninety-nine people being right where they’re supposed to be with God.
If lost people matter this much to God, shouldn’t they matter this much to us? Shouldn’t we be willing to give everything needed in order to reach the lost? My answer is "yes" and I hope yours is also. What is needed to reach the lost?
From this passage we discovered at least three things. 1. The first thing needed for reaching the lost is compassion. 2. The second thing needed for reaching the lost is effort. 3. The third thing needed to reach the lost its persistence.
(Sermon originally by Larry Sarver)
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