The Lord is a Shepherd: Luke 15

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0:00 For the rest of us, we've been thinking about coming out of this, the season of Pentecost for us, the church, the historic church is still in the season of Pentecost. We celebrate that season for several weeks and it started with this commemoration of that first Pentecost where that original spirit was released again on the church indiscriminately. Men and women, young and old, get the spirit of God. And there at Pentecost, God says he ignites again his nation on earth.

0:36 Jesus came and said, I'm bringing the kingdom of God down to earth. And then he in life, he's in that kingdom with his spirit so that people can live as the church. So the Pentecost started the age of the church. And then for several weeks, we went through what are the core cultural values of the reign of God. And it talks about the way the reign of God creates its own culture so that we are citizens of the reign of God first and then whatever country we live in second, right?

1:09 And that we don't necessarily, our job is not necessarily to transform the cultures of the world but to embody the culture of the reign of God. And this culture, this reign of God, carries with it core values that look like justice, a notion of justice that's built on the reality that there is a God who's good and not us, but all humanity is made in God's image. The idea that cultural value of love that says love looks like solidarity and self-sacrifice.

1:44 Cultural values around work that the world needs us to work. That we mirror the creativity of God by building and making things in the world. We extend the reign of God by by reign and ruling in the world. And these cultural values can go back and look at all of them. And then for me, what I started to realize that I needed for myself as we started on this season and maybe some of you needed as well, I needed to know that I needed to know where

2:14 God was in the midst of all of the uncertainty. And I keyed in on this memory that I have of a significant funeral in my life that was like actually a picture for me of what the church triumphant looks like. As we buried my grandma and I realized that I took my place in a long line of followers of Jesus laying down the ones we loved in the grave, waiting for him to call them back

2:45 to life one day. And that this notion that I had there was tied to Psalm 23 in that funeral memory because we sang Psalm 23 responsibly there in that church, right as I was starting graduate school. And that Psalm 23 where Jesus is the shepherd, where God is this good shepherd that leads us by quiet waters into green pastures through valleys of the shadow of death to banquet

3:19 feasts. And so we've been looking at the ways in which God is a shepherd in the story of scriptures and I'm learning some new things. One of the things that I'm learning that I didn't fully realize was how much Jewish culture in the story of scripture did not like shepherds. I mean I knew that they were like that I had learned about the Easter story enough to know that shepherds were seen kind of as like the migrant workers. They were dirty and out in the fields all the time.

3:52 But when you when they study kind of the midrass and the text around the text throughout the Old Testament scriptures up through the New Testament scriptures, it's clear that the image of a shepherd in the story of scripture is one that is associated with God and kings on more than one occasion. It's also equally consistent that in the culture though they accept that metaphor in scripture in the culture they do not like actual shepherds. They like the idea of a shepherd.

4:24 They do not like the actual shepherds. So much so that that shepherds are universally distrusted. You can't bring even a shepherd as a witness in a religious trial because he's too likely to lie. He's the shepherd is not trustworthy. Shepherds were just these people on the side that were a necessary evil usually. You got to where you had enough sheets where you could hire somebody. He took them out and you controlled them with force.

4:58 And that's pretty interesting the way Jesus then uses the metaphor of shepherd in the New Testament given that and I want to look at one occurrence. There's not a lot but one in Luke chapter 15 if you want to look there with me Luke gives an account of the story of the gospel story of Jesus. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans 1 and Corinthians. It's in the New Testament. We're pretty sure that Luke was this like was not one of the twelve one of Jesus closest friends that came along after the ascension of Jesus and maybe even followed around with

5:33 Paul and parts of Acts. We're pretty sure that the same person wrote Luke also wrote the ask the apostles and goes into first person there some. So he's done a lot of research to find the stories of the time Jesus was around. In both Matthew and Luke record this story at the beginning of Luke chapter 15 where theologians debate which one is more original Matthew or Luke they tend to side with Luke that Luke is more original so here we are in the oldest version of this story in Luke chapter

6:05 15. And Jesus has been teaching if you look at the way that Luke arranges these stories there's a series of teachings coming into his last entry into Jerusalem. If you look back he has that famous big tree story which is weird and then the mustard seed the narrow door the healing of the man on the stab he's starting to cause problems.

6:36 He weeps over Jerusalem for not knowing who the right he compares him to a tick without a hen he wants to gather the munders wings Jerusalem and then he goes to this parable of the bank with beast then he goes to the causal discipleship which are going to come back to but I want you to see that he's teaching and progressively more and more people are gathering around him as he's teaching.

7:07 And then he does this thing about salt and then in chapter 15 he says Luke says now the tax collectors and the sinners were all drawing near to him. Sinners is like a subculture right like it's an actual class. This is something I would like to learn more about but you get the picture as you read the story of the gospels over and over that there's something distinctive about the way that a quote sinner someone who's unclean and is a problematic for people who have to enter

7:41 rituals on a regular basis someone that would make other people unclean it's a clear category it's not just like that tax collectors and sinners we're all sinners we don't know which of us are sinners it seems like there's these tax collectors and these sinners it's very clear these is a group of people you can look at them and see those folks are sinners these folks are not those folks are unclean these folks are not there's there's distinguishing marks somehow about this group of people because it's used all over the story of scriptures

8:18 a group of sinners and so it's distinctive Jesus is teaching and now he's not just gathering anyone it's not just good religious people coming to offer their sacrifices it's the people that wouldn't darken the doors of the temple who wouldn't have the kind of presumption or audacity to try and offer sacrifices it's tax collectors who have cast their lot with outside of the leaders of the church and the sinners who are disqualified and the religious people stay

8:48 away from so that they're not disqualified these people now are starting to gather around Jesus to listen to what he has to say now the tax collectors and the sinners we're all drawing near to him and the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled saying this man receives sinners and eats with them the Pharisees remember there's two major sects of people there's two major groups of people in the church at the time of Jesus there's the Sadducees who run the temple and the Pharisees who practice all the law the Sadducees use ceremonies and the right way to do things in the temple the

9:24 Pharisees memorize the whole Old Testament and carefully count it out all since 143 laws that need to be followed and they walked around town all around the villages around Jerusalem right and then down into the rest of Israel operating in the synagogue making sure everybody kept the laws the way they were supposed to and pointing out when they weren't prosecuted judgments about who was right and executed requirements for how to get clean again

9:58 and the Pharisees saw this rabbi from Galilee who had gathered a group of disciples from Capernaum had his mate his way into Jerusalem come in from out of the country and there was all these people gathering around him then they go and they look at the crowd and they're like oh my gosh this guy is teaching the tax collectors and the sinners and he exactly he's receiving them even into his home now Jesus was interesting there are times where he eats he dimes at Pharisees houses

10:30 Jesus would have been interesting because he's teaching new things when you read the story of Scripture you see it's disarming for people sometimes they say Jesus teaches us one who has authority he's not just there's a tradition of one disciple teaches the same thing about a text that his rabbi taught who teaches the same thing that his rabbi taught so it wasn't hard there there were codified interpretations of the scriptures and Jesus has these new interpretations so he would have been novel and intriguing for the Pharisees so they would have won the come and then they see

11:05 that he's got that he's got tax collectors and sinners so they're conflicted they kind of want to hear what he has to say but they also certainly do not want to associate or be associated with this group of people and so they see that he's teaching and they kind of murmur to themselves I can't believe this dude he's teaching the tax doctors and sinners either he's ignorant or he's an idiot but he doesn't know what he's doing this man receives sinners and eats with them

11:40 even and so Jesus tells them a parable I love that because he kind of pulls them in and he doesn't he points the finger but he gets them also the point the finger at themselves he's really the parables are fun I wish I was able to do that so he told them this parable

12:10 what man of you having a hundred sheep if he has lost one of them does not leave the 99 the open country and go after the one that has lost until he finds it well the Pharisees might actually own some sheep it was a good way to build some wealth if you owned a hundred sheep at the time of Jesus you were doing very well if you own like an average herd might be 40 a small herd might be a

12:45 dozen a hundred is a lot and if you have a hundred sheep if you have 40 sheep you usually would go together with a couple other people that have the dozen to 40 and then the group of you together would hire a shepherd who would then take all of your flock to the right captures and keep them moving around the shepherd may have some of his own but but by the time you have 40 you're working hard to not be a shepherd yourself if you have a hundred sheep you are certainly not a shepherd

13:17 yourself you are not doing that job so Jesus starts out and they say oh guys teaching he actually even eats with them he's like hey which of you if you had a hundred sheep that's flattering right which of you if you had a hundred sheep if he has lost one of them does not leave the 99 in the open country and go after that is lost until he finds it there's a sense of indictment

13:49 there already because if they get the metaphor they are little shepherds of the people of Israel they are religious leaders who have let people go and in order to get the metaphor they have to see how little they actually care about the sheep that they already have Jesus starts out by indicting the religious leaders and asking them how much do you actually care

14:20 about the people for whom you are responsible I think this is a powerful question to ask yourself you're not Pharisees I mean Terry I hope we're not Pharisees we may be Pharisees at times God help us but you're not fair because you're not you're not church lawyers and most of us are not pastoral

14:56 leaders so some of us in the room may be but all of us have been commissioned with a set of responsibilities in the world we talked about the culture of the reign of God that that these cultural values are non-negotiable if we will be the church we will love our neighbor as ourselves and our lord got with all our hearts

15:28 soul mind and strength when we first moved to Orlando when we first moved here I had this feeling like my life was beginning like I had been preparing so I realized now what a ridiculous notion that is but I had this feeling in my middle 20s moving here late 20s that now my life was beginning we bought a house we had children I was done with school and I've had this thing since

16:07 high school like this this concern that I don't want to waste my life I know no one wants to waste their life but I it's like this pressing thing like I've got to accomplish something with my life and when when I was in my late 20s and we moved here I felt like how am I going to know like I'm done preparing now I've got to actually do this thing that I'll be that I'll be satisfied with at the end how am I going to know I ended up with the lights that I like

16:42 and I decided then that the only way I could end up with a life that I like that I could set a course now and predict that I would like my life is if I could become a person that liked Jesus my worldview says that I have the capacity that the same spirit that rose christmas of the dead is that live in me and I have the capacity to be a person like Jesus and I'll find my greatest sense of fulfillment as I pursue that kind of life so then I began to say what kind of person is Jesus

17:13 and when you read the story of the gospel the first thing that strikes you overwhelmingly is how deeply Jesus cares for people like if you want to get very broad and general Jesus has overwhelming concern for people and so I said do I care about anyone besides myself

17:45 how do I know now this the safety of me asking myself this question is I did not ask anyone else this question do you think I care about anyone else besides myself how do you know so I could be completely honest do I care about then it was who who are the ones I care about besides myself how broad is my circle if I am a person like Jesus I am I have not only my

18:19 call to love my neighbor as myself I have the capacity to love my neighbor as myself I it is within me to care deeply about the poor and the marginalized to care about the law and the confused Jesus says who of you when you consider your responsibilities wouldn't of course leave behind the 99 and go off and find the one the first step in the in the

18:57 image of of Jesus as the shepherd is an indictment at my own shortcomings and this morning there's an opportunity for you to ask yourself who do I care about beyond myself and how do I know how do I demonstrate care for people outside of myself where is that made manifest

19:30 and the reason that it's worth asking is because Jesus assumes that we can you can care about people outside of your son like your life feels full right now like you feel like you don't have any margin there is like every hour is full until you're out of

20:06 energy every resource is applied there's nothing just lying around but the beauty of divine intervention in your life is that it makes room where there wasn't room that the step to care about people besides yourself is not a pragmatic one it's a step of faith it says I have the capacity to be this person I don't know how and I can only find a modicum of care in my heart and soul but as I move towards it the spirit that rose Christ from the dead will animate the

20:40 concern inside of me it will grow I will find a capacity I did not know I have I take the small step of faith towards becoming a person like Jesus not because I know how it will turn out or I'm confident that I can make it happen but because God consistently throughout scripture tells me that he will come alongside and make it happen in me and through me Jesus starts with the Pharisees who he knows would not shepherd sheep well and assumes that they are because they can

21:16 and he calls them up to it he doesn't for me and you if we are quiet enough to listen he calls you up to the capacity that you have inside of you to care for the world around you to love your neighbor as yourselves and if he lost one of them does he not leave the 99 in the open country and go after the one that is lost until he finds it so that's a trek slot work for one sheep right and when he

21:48 is found it he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing I read some stuff about the culture of shepherds in and ancient years and they thus shepherd a good shepherd would go do this actually this is not unheard of it's not like what idiot would go after one and leave the 99 he probably they were shepherding in a group if they had a flock the size of a hundred and so he leaves the flock with the other shepherds who will take them home usually and he goes to find the one but it's a track

22:20 and then the thing that they said is when you find them you're not necessarily rejoicing when you find them because the work just starts there's this thing about the shep the sheep that is lost that the sheep that is lost sits down and refuses to go anywhere it's not interesting once this once this sheep realizes their loss I don't know how they got lost they followed something they shouldn't have been following the herd moved on and all of a sudden they're by

22:51 themselves the sheep just sits down right there and stop wait they're they're so committed to sitting down and waiting I don't know if it's fear or brilliance that when the shepherd comes when their shepherd comes he can't get them to walk and follow him so shepherds don't rejoice when they found the sheep because now they've been walking like through the desert or through the wilderness by themselves now they find the they've got to pick the sheep up and carry it because the

23:25 sheep will not walk back they've got to so most shepherds when they find the lost sheep are not rejoicing because their work is just getting started but this shepherd starts to say something this shepherd rejoices because the sheep means so heavenly much to it

23:57 this is where Jesus starts out the parable asking the Pharisees to identify with the shepherd and I'm asking you to the same start out the story identifying with the shepherd and realizing the expectation of God on you to be a person of faith in the world that you can follow the good shepherd and emulate the actions and then he turns it because because Jesus knows you and I will fail at that

24:28 job and he slowly turns it right here and I'm wondering if you have the capacity now to identify with the sheep as well in the story of God in God's infinite wisdom in the fullness of time in some miraculous act that only God could do and even God couldn't undo finds a way to bind the infinite God into the flesh of the person

25:03 Jesus and will in the person of Jesus set up an emblem of himself in the world that all humanity would be drawn back to the life they were made for through this one person and where does he incarnate the one person in like a shepherd's stall in a small town on the wrong side of power in a subjugated people on the far side of the Mediterranean away from power and authority God in his wisdom does not go to the beautiful people to the powerful people to the moneyed

25:40 people he does not even go to the holy people to the religious people to the good people when God is leveraging all of God's divine power to undo what is broken to fix the fatal flaw of humanity if he goes to the ones that are lost if you are lost God comes to you in fact every time you are lost

26:10 God comes to you for the life of me I don't know why other than we are his and God would not leave his own to die alone in the wilderness God will not leave you alone

26:43 no matter how lost you are God will not leave you alone no matter how lost you are and when he has found that he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing when the sheep is lost the sheep sits down and waits the other thing that's significant here is that Luke has made a choice

27:17 in verse four what man of you having a hundred sheep if he has lost one of them does not leave the ninety-nine normally when there's a point of failure in the culture at the time of Jesus they would have said it passively they would have said when the sheep has been lost but this terrible assigns blame when the sheep has been lost by the shepherd

27:48 because he's in guiding he's indicting us for our failure to care for the ones who are given to our job to care and then when he comes when he's asking us to identify with the sheep when he says the sheep is lost and the and the shepherd rejoices and he lifts it up he doesn't say he rebukes the sheep told it to get up and get itself back he does it right when you are lost it is not your you will dig your whole deeper if you try and fix

28:24 it grit your teeth and be nice it will not work you cannot you cannot force yourself into a spirit of creativity and you cannot you cannot make yourself more kind you you repent you sit still and God picks you up we let God restore and when he comes home he calls together his friends his neighbors saying to them

28:56 rejoice with me for I have found my sheep that was lost and just so I tell you there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than 99 persons who need no repentance of course this is a constant little twist on the religious people that Jesus does implying that they feel like they are holy he calls them whitewashed tombs in other places that they they feel like they need no repentance he's not saying that there are some of us who don't need repentance he's saying if you

29:30 need no repentance there's not joy over you he goes on in this series of parables to tell the story about the proddable son with the older brother who feels like he needs no repentance and doesn't ever come into the party doesn't enter into the feast of the father stays outside the notion for us today in worlds of uncertainty is that God has made us with the capacity

30:13 to love and care well for people besides ourselves the expectation is that we would that the world would be better because we are out there loving and serving and at the same time the expectation is that we will fail when we fail is sit down and repent when we are confused we sit down

30:52 and we repent when we are clear that we do not know the way we sit down and repent and we say oh good lord come and get me today bring me back to where i know i belong to my people to my work it's encouraging for me to know that i cannot get so lost that God won't come and get me

31:22 set me back on my work of being cheap and his soul i pray that all of us would find our way there today tomorrow the next day that God will come to find us again and again and again and we would get to where we know how to stay next week i want to i want to talk about recognizing the voice of the shepherd so we get lost less often let me pray hey lord thank you let you do not leave us alone in the wilderness that you come and get us and that you put us back in a sheepfold in a flock of your

32:02 own teach us how to be good sheep and like you like our shepherd love our neighbors well in Jesus name we pray