Luke 15

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0:00 We're going to continue here on this story for the rest of us here. We're working our way through the New Testament. We started all the way back here in the Old Testament. And two weeks ago we got to the New Testament with Christmas. And last week, Brian took us through some of the kind of miracles and time of Jesus in his early ministry. We're in Jesus' ministry still in chapter 24. It's kind of nice. We're building towards Easter.

0:31 We're going to celebrate Easter here together, by the way. I really love Easter. It's kind of a big deal for us. So plan to be with you. We're also going to commemorate Easter with the sunrise gathering. It's kind of fun to get up early in the morning as the women did when they go to the tomb on Easter morning with people in your church. We'll be here. We'll do a little outside thing. We'll celebrate Lord's Supper together. 630 as the sun's coming up around 7. Yeah, here. Yeah. So plan to do that.

1:03 But we're working our way towards Easter. And so we're in chapter 24 of the story today. And we're looking at the teachings of Jesus. He teaches with parables a lot in this story of Scripture. And that's why I was telling the kids about Jesus being a teacher. And the parables I want to look at, especially are in Luke chapter 15. If you want to put that into your phone or if you brought a Bible Luke chapter 15, he has several parables there.

1:37 And they're all probably parables that you've heard. If you've been around the Scriptures at all, these are parables that get cited a lot. You know, Jesus taught in parables a lot. It wasn't an uncommon way to teach at the time of Jesus, but he really was good at it with parables. Parables are kind of an interesting way to teach. It's almost like he's making up a story on the spot. The tricky thing about parables, of course, is that when he tells a story, everything

2:07 in the story has this context that the original hearers know, right? Jesus is teaching to actual people going through actual life. He's not like off-writing some scriptures. This is not like Jesus went into a cave and had a private conversation with him and God that's outside of space and time. This is Jesus in a space with people going through actual life. And in order to get them to understand what he wants them to know, he gives them these

2:38 stories. And so parables are not allegories. It's not like just an extended metaphor where everything has a one-to-one correlation. Parables are stories intended to drive people to action. Jesus' teaching was mostly for action, to get people to make choices, not necessarily believe things. This is important. The way of Jesus is not primarily a way of thinking. The way of Jesus is a way of living, a way of being, a way of existing and being.

3:11 And doing. We have beliefs, but it's not a system of belief. So to be a Christian isn't to check a box to agree with a set of statements. It's to live a certain way in the world. And so Jesus teaches things not that people would understand, but that people might live. You need to believe certain things, but only in so far as those things animate your life to exist in a way in the world. Jesus is interested, he said, that people live fully.

3:43 Not that they understand and are correct. And so he teaches these parables just enough, the parables, the way to understand the parable is to look at the context. Who initiates the conversation? Who asks the question? And what action is Jesus hoping that they would take after the parable? The parable is teaching something to drive an action. And in Luke 15, Jesus or Luke records three parables stacked on top of each other and

4:14 they have similar intentions. So let's look at them together. Luke 15. Now the tax collectors and sinners. Those are categories that are alongside of each other. The tax collectors and the sinners. Now sinners sounds like a loaded term. Of course for a century that's a specific type of person who's like kind of not keeping up with the purification laws and rights of, they might be Israelites or Jewish, but they're

4:48 not keeping up with the rights that they need to keep up with in order to enter the temple. And so they stay in the status of sin. They might not be able to enter all the way in. People know they are because they know that they don't keep up with things. So the tax collectors and the sinners are lumped together. Now the tax collectors and the sinners were all drawing near to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled saying this man received sinners and eats with them. The Pharisees and the scribes did keep up with all of the laws.

5:22 And so they would intentionally separate. There was purification rules where they couldn't be near, especially not touch the tax collectors and the sinners because then they'd have to restart all their purification rights. But you can understand a little bit if Jesus is a teacher moving around, there's probably way more tax collectors and sinners than there are Pharisees and scribes. There's probably way more people on the outs with the church than on the ins with the church. And the things that the Pharisees and the scribes have is at least people know they

5:53 should be like them, even if they can't be like them. So the Pharisees and the scribes feel better about themselves because they're holier and everyone knows they're holier. And so though there's a smaller subset of them and it's hard to live according to the purification rights, they feel better because everyone else knows they should be like them. Now they're walking around the Pharisees and the scribes are walking around and instead of like kind of hanging on the outside, the tax collectors and the sinners are flocking

6:25 to this other teacher. And the other teacher rather than shaming and dismissing and keeping a distance from the tax collectors and the sinners is welcoming them. And now all of a sudden he is very popular with this subset of people and it bothers the Pharisees and the scribes, right? The Pharisees and the scribes grumbled saying, this man receives sinners and eats with them. And so he told them this parable to the Pharisees and the scribes who are grumbling.

7:00 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 is found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing. 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. Just so I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than

7:33 over the ninety-nine righteous person who need no repentance. We got under control. Jesus tells them the parable that we are going to stack these on top of each other. Jesus tells them the parable about the shepherd with a hundred sheep and he says, who of you, if you have got sheep and one goes lost, doesn't go after the sheep. What man of you, having a hundred sheep if he has lost one of them, does not leave the

8:04 ninety-nine in the open country and go after the one that is lost? Remember sheep are really good at following so they will stay together and Jesus tells other parables about sheep for us that they can learn the voice of their shepherd so they will follow the shepherd. And so if you have got a hundred sheep, it is not too hard to keep them together because they like to stay together. And if one starts to go off, you can call them and they will come back. What is interesting to me immediately when I hear this story that Jesus tells the Pharisees and the scribes is that he has got a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost and his immediate

8:39 response reaction or action that he takes is to go find the one that is lost. He leaves all ninety-nine. They'll huddle together and be fined. The one I'm concerned about is the one that's lost. And then when he finds him, what does he do? How does the sheep get lost? He's like just not paying attention. At best the sheep is like looking for grass and just following a trail of grass and not noticing that he's left everyone else behind him, that he's walked completely off the path.

9:12 The sheep should not get lost. Sheep are not smart but they're good at following. And yet there's no condemnation put on the lost sheep. Two of you when you've got a hundred and you find that one is lost doesn't leave the ninety-nine behind and immediately go and look for it.

9:42 And upon finding it berades it and tells it what a fool it is. Please don't ever get lost again. He does it. He says and when you find it, you pick it up and you put it on your shoulders and you carry it back and you tell everyone, hey guys, I found my lost sheep. Let's have a party. It's kind of crazy. Immediately this is a me thing. Immediately I'm like yeah but what about the red?

10:13 Like you got ninety-nine who didn't get lost. And there's no mention of them. As a matter of fact, Jesus seems to suggest the shepherd may almost disregard the ninety-nine. It doesn't even say that he like brings it back and says, look, I've got a hundred sheep whom I love equally. He says, I have found the sheep that was lost. Celebrate with me.

10:44 And he goes again, look at the next, keep going down. Luke chapter 15 verse eight. For what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one, 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 neighbors saying, rejoice

11:16 with me for I have found the coin that I had lost. So I tell you there will be joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. You know this is a contextual thing. The silver coin is equal to a drachma, maybe a day's wages. Some people, some scholars think that there was a tradition of women getting ten coins as like part of a dowry that might go into a thing they wore on their head.

11:50 And so that this coin might be of deeper significance than just a day's wages. It might be that this is one of the ten that she got that she can't replace. It's like a significant importance. And they also want you to know that the houses that they had were dark, not a lot of windows, dirt floors. But she loses the one and goes after it. Hunts for it. And if the sheep is like lost and helpless, we don't get word that the sheep does anything

12:24 to be found by the shepherd. We get word that the shepherd does all the work. If the sheep is helpless, a coin is certainly helpless. There's nothing the coin can do to be found. The coin just exists. There's nothing the coin could have done even. The sheep might have been absent minded or ignorant, maybe rebellious, but sheep aren't really rebellious. The sheep might have had some agency in getting lost, but certainly the coin doesn't.

12:54 It's not like the ring. It doesn't have intention or thought. It just falls out and gets lost. And the woman is so excited that she found this one thing. Look at the last parable that Luke stacks with these three. This one maybe is the most famous. It's often called the parable of the prodigal son.

13:26 It might also be called the parable of the loving father. It starts at Luke chapter 15 verse 11. And he said Jesus to the Pharisees and scribes who were jealous that Jesus was attracting the attention of the tax collectors and the sinners. He said there was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, father, give me the share of property that is coming

13:59 to me. And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all that he had and took a journey into a far country. And there squandered his property in reckless living. Just a little context. The Pharisees and the scribes would be appalled at this action. If you're the younger son, you get less than the older brother, but you get the inheritance when your dad dies.

14:30 So to look your dad in the eye and say, hey, divide your property now before you die. And let me have mine. Suggest that you'd rather he just be dead and you would move on. Then not only that, but you take the property that he gives you and you don't stick around and farm it and be part of the family, you sell it to whomever will give you the money. And you don't use the money for good. You go off to a foreign land and squander. This young man is not aimless, hapless or absent minded like the sheep.

15:02 And he's certainly not passive like the coin. He is willfully bad. And the Pharisees and the scribes do not like him in this story. When they hear this story, they're like, this guy is a dummy at best. And an absolute horrible person at worst, right? They do not like this kid. Jesus is telling this story and they are hearing this story about the young man.

15:34 And he is crossing off everything that you should not, ought not, could not do. Unkind, selfish, bad dude. And loving father just lets him do it. So they're kind of like weird about the father and do not like the son. And there he squandered his property in reckless living verse 14. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in the country and he began to

16:07 be in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country who sent him into his field to feed the pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate and no one gave him anything. At this point, the Pharisees and the scribes are getting this story is going in a way that they like. The prodigal son, you know, he's Jewish. He can't eat the pigs. Pigs are unclean. Not only is he having to feed the pigs, he's in a place with the famine, judgment of God.

16:38 Now he's having to feed the pigs, judgment of God. Now he'd like to eat what the pigs are eating, judgment of God. They like this. This is the way it should go. When this happens, now they're finally starting to understand. They don't really get the story about the sheep and the guy that's lost. And they're kind of not really understanding though they get why the girl, lady, would be happy about finding the coin. They don't really get the point. And he layers this third parable on. And now they're starting to get it. Ah, when you make bad choices, God punishes you, right?

17:10 And then Jesus finishes the story. And when he came, 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'll say to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and before you and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants. They can't believe he's got the gall to go back to the man whom he took his inheritance

17:40 from. He said, I'd rather you be dead. I believe he would go back to him. But he's going to try and go back to him. 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. There's a lot of cultural things in here. If you're a guy with an adult son, you don't run in first century Israel, even still today in the mid east, it's not really, you'd have to kind of hike your clothes up and run. It's like kind of embarrassing. But most scholars agree that he runs to him because if he were coming from a real village,

18:12 the rest of the village would start to stone this kid as he approaches back. And so the son, the father's got to get to him before the rest of the village exacts revenge, punishment and shame. The father's got to get to him and cover him. And so he runs to him before everybody else can. And at this point, the Pharisees and the scribes are just like, this guy is crazy. This is an absurd demonstration of foolish love towards an unrepentant, ungrateful son.

18:43 And so Jesus is telling this story about this father who runs and embraces 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 the 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 fountain to calf and kill it and let us eat and celebrate. Now he compels. He's got a feast that everyone, you don't miss a party. You don't eat, meet every day. If someone's killing the fatted calf and throwing the party, the whole village comes. Now God, the loving father has compelled the whole village to acknowledge that this guy

19:19 is his son. He's put the ring on him and he's thrown a party. Now they got to come and celebrate with him. There's no backing out. I guess we got to accept this guy. He brings him back in with radical, foolish love. So you willfully disobedient. He brings him in. And then here's the punch line. Remember the parables are a story told to elicit an action. And Jesus is prompted to this set of parables by the Pharisees and scribes who don't like

19:54 that he's welcoming the tax collectors and the sinners. And then he says, but the father, bring quickly and bring the fatted calf and kill. Let us eat and celebrate verse 24. For this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found and they began to celebrate. Now his older son was in the field and as he came and drew near to the house he heard music and dancing.

20:24 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 fatted calf because he has received him back safe and sound. But he was angry and refused to go in. And his father came out and entreated him. But his father goes, loving father goes out to his son. The brother of the one they're celebrating and said, please come into the party.

20:58 He entreats him. Please, your brother's home. Please come in and celebrate with us. He's entreating him. The father who loves his son, would you? But he was angry and refused to go in. So his father came out and entreated him. But he answered his father, look these many years I have served you and I never disobeyed your command yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends.

21:29 But when the son of yours came who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him and said to him, son, you are always with me. Or and he said to him, son, you are always with me. And all that is mine is yours. It is fitting to celebrate and be glad for your brother was dead and is alive. He was lost and is found. Like that's where Jesus leaves it. And the story ends with the older brother outside the party.

22:09 So this is what I've been thinking about. These three parables stacked up next to each other. It's not about the 99 sheep. It's not about the nine coins. This is a bummer. It's not even about the older brother. It's to demonstrate the ones whom Jesus celebrates. Remember, it's not an allegory.

22:41 It's not a one to one. Jesus is trying to demonstrate to the Pharisees and the tax collectors the people whom he celebrates. Remember he said, I didn't come for the well. I came for the sick. When this hit me, it hit me like a ton of bricks. This was several years ago. It has affected my approach to God for the rest of my life. Oh my gosh. The older brother doesn't make it in. Only the prodigal.

23:12 The sheep that are not lost are not celebrated. It's the one that's lost that's celebrated. Oh my gosh, if I want to get in, I got to know in what way am I the prodigal? Bummer. The ones that make it in are the ones that recognize we're all the prodigal. You are lost and adrift.

23:46 You have aimlessly walked off of the path. You have like, through no fault of your own, fallen into some little crack. We all are the prodigal, rescued by God. Jesus teaches in this set of parables to the Pharisees and the scribes who have this sense that they have figured it out and belong, that the ones who figure they belong, that

24:20 they have earned it, have no place. It's the ones who recognize they are rescued. To the degree that you are someone rescued by God, you have place with Him. Your identity is one rescued by God. What does it feel like for the sheep? Afraid and alone to be found by the voice that she knows.

24:52 What does it feel like for the coin? Coins don't feel. What does it feel like for the prodigal? Recognizing he doesn't deserve it and getting it anyway. What does he do? Next day. I mentioned that this idea about the prodigal son hit me years ago and affected everything. It was kind of a really weird thing because most of my life I had identified with the

25:26 prodigal, with the older brother, not the prodigal. I didn't squander my money on prostitutes. I made pretty good choices. The challenge for me is the challenge of the older brother. The trouble is, if your challenge, the way that the older brother would have made it

25:58 in is to realize that everything he had was a gift from God anyway, not what he earned. At that point, he'd be the prodigal, not the older brother. The only way in is that way. Once I started to realize that, it changed everything, but that was years ago. What do you do now? Aren't we supposed to be the 99? This is a tricky thing, right? When you read the parable, of course, this is why it's not allegory. It doesn't hold.

26:28 The point of the parable of the sheep, the 100 sheep, is to recognize that God rescues. That's what God does. If you want to learn how to live, you've got to look somewhere else. The point of the parable of the prodigal son is for the Pharisees and the scribes to recognize they better connect to the ways in which they are prodigals themselves. They are sinners themselves if they want to find themselves in the party of Jesus, because the only people that find themselves in the party of Jesus are the people who are sinners and recognize that it's a free gift.

27:00 The ones who want what they earn are left on the outside. That's the point of these. Now, once you realize that you are the prodigal and you are get free gift from God, what do you do now? You've got to look somewhere else. You can't get that from this parable because that's not the action he's trying to drive home. But there is one we could look at just for fun because we're talking about it. Look at Luke chapter 6.

27:31 We're still in Luke, Luke chapter 6 and verse 46 right at the end of Luke chapter 6. This is at a towards the end of a bunch of teaching of Jesus.

28:01 He's like frustrated that they're calling him Lord and not listening to him. Oh Lord, Lord, and then they go do whatever they want. So he says that here. Verse 46 of chapter 6, why do you call me Lord, Lord and not do what I tell you? He said, everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like. He is like a man building his house who dug deep and laid the foundation on rock.

28:33 And when a flood arose and the stream broke against that house, he could not shake it because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. And when the stream broke against it immediately, it fell and the ruin of that house was great. Once we realize that we're always the prodigal, that our relationship to God is one where

29:03 he saves us. He protects us. He provides for us. We come to him without any claim, having fallen short and abandoned, having willfully set ourselves against him in little ways and in big ways. Both are the same. We have set ourselves against God. We come to him without claim and he gives us extravagantly, even foolishly some say, all the inheritance of children of God. Then he protects and provides.

29:34 What do we do when we realize we never graduate out of that relationship? This is why he says, none will enter the kingdom of God but like a little child. You never graduate out of the relationship where God provides and you receive. How then might we live? He says, build your house and listen to what he's told you and live as though that were true. So now I go, ah, my foundation, my worth is in my relationship to God. Not in my accomplishments.

30:06 My value is in being the one lifted up by God, not in the degree to which my spouse can love me and affirm me or my children can look up to me or I can perform in the workplace. He says, build your house on this foundation. Then he goes even further. Do what I tell you to do. This is the question that I ask myself periodically that gets me. Sometimes I can be honest and sometimes not.

30:40 Whom have I genuinely loved besides myself this week? When I define love as solidarity and self-sacrifice, who have I stood with at my own expense, besides myself this week? In order to do that, I must trust God and move forward in love outside of myself. So I build my house on the foundation, the truth, the position, the identity. I am taught who I am and then standing on that I am able to live, right?

31:16 Represent the God in the world. Fulfill the calling to love my neighbor. It's incredible. I mean, I know that Jesus is divine, but we say that he lived as a human, fully submitted spirit. It's incredible that he made up these stories on the spot. You know? He's like, let me see. What is the kingdom of heaven? It's like a shepherd with sheep, right?

31:48 It's like a woman looking for a coin. The little children's message is the one that we need. Jesus is our great teacher. Today we learn who we are and how we might live. Let's pray that we could receive it with faith. Hey, Lord, thank you for the stories that you've given us, the rescue that you offer, the foundation you provide. Just how to live as prodigals, recipients of your foolish and generous love and build

32:25 our house on your teaching that we might endure all that life throws at us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.