Rated "M" for Mature - 6/29/25
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Luke 15:1–7 “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.” 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. 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.”
Luke places several parables together to demonstrate the priority of the Kingdom: lost people. This was a new concept in Jesus’ time that never sat well with the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law. Sinners were to be avoided and dissociated. This is the very issue that presents itself in Luke 15. The Pharisees and scribes were upset that Jesus had chosen to allow tax collectors and sinners to be near and associate themselves with him.
Luke: An Introduction and Commentary 2. The Lost Sheep (15:3–7)
A great Jewish scholar, C. G. Montefiore, saw here a distinctive and revolutionary note: God actively seeks out sinners and brings them home. The rabbis agreed that God would welcome the penitent sinner. But it is a new idea that God is a seeking God, a God who takes the initiative.
We are being introduced to the idea that God is actively seeking out people who are and are not seeking him and there is great joy when he finds them. The three parables present different aspects of God seeking, finding, and celebrating the returned sheep, discovered coin, and lost son.
The mature church has kingdom values.
Luke 15:7 “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.”
Luke 15:9–10 “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.””
Luke 15:22–24 “22 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. 23 And bring the fattened calf and 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.’ And they began to celebrate.”
Jesus was setting up a kingdom with a different set of rules / values. The kingdom does not undervalue people because they are lost regardless of the reason for being lost. The sheep walked away, the coin was simply lost, and the prodigal son purposefully rejected the father.
We tend to assign value based on people's response. The parables do not rank the departure as the most important part of the narrative. In fact little time is spent evaluating the lost. The kingdom principle is discovered in the recovery. That is where joy and celebration take place.
The mature church seeks what is lost.
Luke 15:4 “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?”
Luke 15:8 “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?”
Luke 15:20 “20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.”
All three parables indicate a seeking out of what was lost. The Owner or Father was not an incapacitated character, simply helpless to find or recover what was lost. They were active in the seeking. A mature church doesn’t simply wait until the thing shows up. We search with a tenacity that removes the possibility of not finding what was lost.
Luke 19:9–10 “9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.””
The first point is extremely import, as it determines the intensity of the second. Once we succumb to the ranking of individuals as to their worthiness of salvation, we will respond according to the arbitrary value placed.
What countries are worthy and what countries are not? What people are not worthy based on the leadership of their country? What people are not valued based on their political views, and lastly what people are not worthy based on their current sin?
A mature church sees people as valuable no matter their current sin or status. "For God so loved the world" was not based on geography, skin color, or political affiliation.
The mature church celebrates.
Luke 15:7 “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.”
Luke 15:9–10 “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.””
Luke 15:22–24 “22 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. 23 And bring the fattened calf and 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.’ And they began to celebrate.”
What we celebrate indicates what we value. Modern churches celebrate attendance and money. More Pharisees is not an indication of Kingdom growth.
We celebrate people being found and people returning to the father.
Baptism will always be a celebration. Everything else is a means to an end. Buildings, money, resources are simply tools for rescue and recovery missions.
We must determine that maturity requires us to value people and direct all efforts to see people come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. If Christ's death and resurrection is the center point of the church, and his death and resurrection made it possible for lost humanity to return to relationship with God, then the central function of the church is to value, seek out, and celebrate all who come to know him.