Luke 15

THIS WEEK a very special thing has been called to my attention. It's Luke chapter 15, which you might know as the chapter full of Jesus' stories about the recovery of lost valuables. The reason this chapter stands out to me right now is that it was the central focus of both the Youth Quake Live event this Friday and the sermon at Southpoint today. It's pretty awesome.
Youthquake was amazing. The theme was "Search and Rescue," referring to the fact that Jesus came to this world to recover what was lost. We are what was lost, lost to sin and deception. We got ourselves into a mess that only He could free us from, and He came to get us back because He loves us. Wow, that's amazing, right?! Now this Youth Quake Live event, held at The Potter's House, was one of my favorites ever. My pastor's daughter, Chelsea, shared her heart-rending testimony of wandering and recovery. I won't go and publish her personal failures on the internet, but let me tell you that it really is awesome what God does in people. He takes a train wreck and makes it a beautiful treasure. He takes a guilt-ridden, purple-bruised heart and shines it gold. Every heart knows it needs that kind of fulfillment and restoration, and every heart inevitably seeks and searches for it. But it is Jesus alone that can supply what we need. We cannot find it anywhere else. Chelsea has been recovered that way, and so have I, and so have millions and milions of people for the past two thousand years, praise the Lord.
I felt so good as soon as I went into that room in The Potter's House. The Spirit was in there. It was really awesome. And the holiness and peace that came over us while we sang, "I called, You answered, and You came to my rescue and I, I wanna be where YOU ARE!" It was wonderful. I greatly appreciated that reminder of the change Christ made in me. I remember me before Him, and I'm never going back. I am glad for this opportunity to recall how He took the weight of the world and all my sins, right off from my heart, and He bore them and died for them and saved my soul. And then He rose up again to rule over it. So as He is living, my heart and my soul are nobody else's, and the same can be said for the hearts and souls of countless millions of rescued souls.
Luke 15 talks about three instances of valuable lost things being found, and causing great joy. I've heard about them both at Youth Quake and at church today, and I'm going to go through them and stretch them out, and I'm going to explain them until you and I both can see the brightness of their color. Remember, Jesus told these stories, to help us understand things. They impart wisdom and encouragement.
So Jesus is talking to "all the tax collectors and the sinners," or those with weakened faith or no faith at all, and He explains why it is He hangs out with them by telling these stories. He was reaching out to those who needed Him most, those who didn't already know Him and who needed to be led back to God.
The first parable tells about a man with 100 sheep, and one of them wanders off. You can imagine he wants his sheep back, right? So what does he do? He leaves the safe sheep and he goes and finds the troublemaker, and he brings him back extremely joyful. Jesus is often known as the 'Good Shepherd,' a name referring to John 10:14-17, where He says "I am the good shepherd; and I know my sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again."
That's why Jesus was hanging out with unrighteous people - to win them back! When He says He lays down His life for the sheep, because he loves the sheep, He is talking about us. He's talking about bringing us back to God by taking our sins upon Himself, dying for them, and making us clean enough to have a relationship with God again. That's awesome.
The next parable talks about a lady who loses one coin out of ten coins. She's not a rich girl, so she wants to find her money. She combs her entire house until she finds it, and when she does she celebrates over it with her neighbors. Jesus concludes this short story by telling us how all of Heaven is rejoicing that much "over one sinner who repents." That means that if one lost sheep, one missing coin, is found, God is happy. He is very, very happy about it. And doesn't the whole universe shine when God is happy? The stars twinkle and the trees dance and everything's awesome when God is happy, because those who love Him are happy, too, and because He blesses those who love Him and obey Him.
The last parable extends from verse 11 all the way to the end at 32, so more than half the chapter. It's a very famous story about the prodigal son, a boy who asks his dad for his part of the inheritance so he can leave with it. The dad gives it to him, and he goes out and parties and eats and makes a fool of himself. Then the whole land experiences a famine and he's out of cash, so he has to work as a farmhand sharing food with pigs. When he realizes what a loser he's been he remembers how his own dad's servants have more than enough to get by. So he goes home to ask his dad to let him live as a servant in his house. When he gets there he's already thought of what to say: he would say "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants." But when he gets home him dad just runs to him and hugs him and kisses him before he can say anything. As he explains to him that he knows he isn't worthy anymore, his dad stops him, commanding that he be dressed in fine clothing and jewelry and that a party be thrown for his return.
Woah! Do you know what that parable means? It means that when we realize we're foolish to pursue "the good life" and live selfishly, God is still willing to receive us back. That's what he did with those stubborn Israelites, isn't it? They sinned, and sinned, and disregarded Him, and to give them one more chance (a chance He then extended to the whole world, the sheep outside the fold) He gave us Jesus as a way for our sins to be washed off, and for us to be reconciled to Him. Cool!
But we wonder why the dad didn't just go after him when he left. That's interesting, right? Why didn't the dad follow him and tell him the error of his ways? There are two good reasons.
One, which I learned at church today, was that the older brother was the one who was supposed to be in charge of the younger children in the Jewish culture. The older brother didn't do anything. He stayed at home. That represents how the Jews, who had been given the Law and the Prophets (from the Old Testament) to teach them about God and how to act, ought to have been sharing it with sinners and foreign peoples instead of keeping it to themselves. In fact, the older brother is jealous when the prodigal son comes home and gets celebrated, and he complains against his dad for not giving him special treatment as well. It's this son that he chastens, saying "Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your borther was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found."
The other reason is that the dad wanted him to learn something. He never would have learned why he shouldn't act a fool if the dad had gone after him and told him to come home. He needed to make his own mistakes to learn his lesson. Of course, God will be happy if the sheep never wanders off. But if it's going to wander off, He'll be happy when it comes back. He'll be happy when it is found again and when it is back with Him. I love having a God like that, who wants to teach me and to be with me. I love the things He tells me, and when He shows me things like this. It reminds me of two things.
The first is that I was a lost sheep, too. And I owe everything to God for getting me out of that jungle. Everything. My job right now is to give Him everything I have, even though it is not vey much. Because while He does not need me, He can certainly do alot from a little.
The other thing is that it's Christians' job to help recover lost sheep, in a sense. I don't know whether anybody reading this is not a Christian, but if you're not, I want you to know that is why Christians won't keep their faith to themselves. It's a lifesaver. Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-15 that we are "the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house." And then he says that we should "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." So that's why. It's not because we think we're so great, but because we know God is so great. I just hope and I pray that we Christians might actually listen to Him. There are wolves in the jungle, and only Jesus can get us out of there.
There's this awesome song you might know: "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now I'm found. Was blind but not I see." Aaaa-men.
It's been nice talking to you today. Have a wonderful week. And continue to pray for Haiti and Chile and everybody, really. Please post the amazing things that God is teaching you this week!