When I was in grade school, my mom and dad would not let us kids have any pets. Though we tried to adopt every single stray cat and dog that ever found its way to our porch, my parents never gave in. Their answer was always a firm "NO"! Regardless, I used to beg my poor mom, "Come on, please... can we get a cat, or a dog?"
Eventually, one summer I talked my parents into letting me get a rabbit. I was ecstatic, to say the least! I rode my bike all over town looking for scrap wood to build a rabbit hutch. I climbed into dumpsters. I talked to neighbors. I dismantled old wooden pallets. I asked complete strangers for help. I peddled my bike to ACE Hardware and used up my allowance to buy everything I was lacking. I bought nails, wire mesh, extra two by fours, hinges, paint and other materials. I spent hours reading everything I could about raising rabbits. I sought advice on how to build the best rabbit hutch possible.
And then when the time was right, I spent over a week building a Sherman-tank rabbit hutch that could withstand the forces of nature. It was so massive that I had to get help moving it to our backyard! The only thing I had left to do was find a rabbit.
Luckily, my dad knew a guy where he worked who raised rabbits. So one evening we went to his house. He had hundreds of rabbits, but I just wanted one. So I picked out the healthiest rabbit I could find. He was black and white and had "B4" stamped in his ear. I affectionately named him Roger, after Roger the Rabbit. He was strong, healthy and hyper. He was everything I had hoped for. Every day I spent time feeding Roger lettuce and then I would let him run around in our backyard. In the evening, I would groom him. At night, I would put him in my coat and sneak him into my room.
Roger was a good rabbit. But one summer I thought I'd do Roger a favor. My neighbor had a fenced-in garden. And so every night I would leave Roger in the garden for a few hours and then I would return later to put him back in his hutch. Well, one night I put Roger in the garden and went off to play basketball with some friends. One hour became two hours. Two hours became three hours. By nightfall, I was exhausted and I went to bed.
About midnight, I woke up with a sense of dread. I had totally forgotten about Roger! I leapt out of bed and ran across the street to my neighbor's garden. But Roger was nowhere to be found. Immediately, I started running up and down the dark alley, calling Roger's name, looking in log piles and checking behind bushes. I was desperate!
I ran home and woke my brothers up and asked them to help me find Roger. We searched the whole night, but there was not even a trace of that silly rabbit. Early the next morning, at 6 A.M., I got up and searched some more. I talked to everybody I could and even showed people a picture of my rabbit.
I wish I could say I found Roger, but I never saw him again. He was lost and in great danger. As a teenager, I was completely devastated. For days afterward, I was sick to my stomach. The empty rabbit hutch, my neighbor's garden, all of it was too much to think about. A while later I got another rabbit, but somehow it was not the same.
Let me ask, have you ever lost something that was really important to you? Have you ever lost something of irreplaceable value? Have you ever stayed up at night retracing your steps, scolding yourself, interrogating your family, kicking yourself, asking, "How could I?" Have you ever scoured your neighborhood, or dug through your smelly trash, or ransacked your attic looking for that lost, but special something?
I think all of us have, at least at some point. All of us have desperately searched for something we lost. In Luke 15, Jesus tells a series of stories that deal with people who lost something of tremendous value.
A shepherd who lost a sheep.
In Luke 15:4-6 (NIV) Jesus says, "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.'"
Not too many of us can identify with this story. But sheep have a way of nibbling themselves into lostness. They mindlessly move right along from one patch of fresh green grass to the next. They can become so consumed with nibbling that they fail to notice that they have drifted into isolation, far from the safety of the flock.
But here is the horrifying truth concerning lost sheep. Once they have strayed from the flock, they cannot survive very long. Without a shepherd, sheep venture into the midst of many dangerous perils. For example, they can fall prey to wild animals. They can fall into ravines and break their bones. They can starve or even die of thirst. They tend to stay in a rut, mindlessly walking in circles, where they contract fatal diseases. Lost sheep die. They cannot survive on their own.
And so in this first story, a shepherd loses a sheep. With great desperation, the shepherd scours the entire countryside, leaving no rock unturned in his search. The stakes, should the shepherd fail to find the sheep, are enormous. The sheep is guaranteed to die. What a horrifying burden!
A woman who lost a silver coin.
In Luke 15:8-9 (NIV) Jesus says, "Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.'"
Money is not everything. I think we would all agree with that statement. Many speculate that one silver coin was probably only worth a day's wages. But the woman Jesus is talking about probably did not have much money. She was most likely a poor widow living scantily in a Syrian village in a crude mud-floor hut with no windows and a leaky reed roof. More than likely, these ten coins represented everything she had. She could not afford to lose one tenth of her wealth. Could you?
So she turns her house upside down in search of that lost coin. She flips her bed over. She looks all around the outside of the house. She questions her neighbors and anyone who may have entered the house. She stirs up all the dust in her home, carefully sifting the dirt one handful at a time. She is coughing and gagging because of the stirred-up dust. She does not rest until she finds her lost coin. The coin represents everything to her.
A father who lost his youngest son.
In Luke 15:11-20(NIV) Jesus begins, "There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' So he got up and went to his father."
This last story is worthy of an entire sermon all by itself. The story tells about the son who has it all, but cops an attitude with his father. With blatant arrogance, he demands his inheritance and insists on leaving home. He says, "Dad, I am so sick of living here. I'm not even going to wait for you to die. Give me my share of the estate now and I'll get out of here." For a father, it is the worst kind of rejection imaginable. But the father gives in.
The father writes a check and before the ink even dries, the son is gone. The son travels to a distant country where he squanders his wealth. He drinks. He parties. He carouses. He engages in riotous living. And about the time he finishes shooting his wad, a severe famine sets in. Suddenly the boy gets a dose of reality. He becomes so desperate, that he gets a job tending pigs. For a Jewish boy, this is a horrible fate. And right when things seem like they cannot get any worse, the boy gets even more desperate and finds himself longing to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating. But check this out. Luke 15:16 (NIV) says, "but no one gave him anything."
Eventually, the boy comes to his senses and realizes that his father's servants back at home are being treated better than heis getting treated. So the son swallows his pride and makes his way back home with his head down and his shoulders sagging. All the way home he keeps saying to himself, "That was stupid. I should be taken out and shot. Argh. Man!"
But the best part of the story is yet to come. In Luke 15:20-23 (NIV) Jesus says, "So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate."
It was a family reunion like no other. It was the family reunion the father had hoped for since the time his son left with his pockets full of money and his heart full of pride.
We Celebrate What Matters Most.
Did you notice that the same thing happens in all three stories? When the shepherd finds his lost sheep, what does he do? He joyfully puts the sheep on his shoulders. He carries it home, dancing all the way. He calls up all his buddies and his neighbors and he says, "Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep!"
When the woman finds her coin, what does she do? She calls her friends and neighbors together and she says, "Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin."
When the father finds his lost son, what does he do? He gets his best robe and puts it on his son. He puts a ring on his finger, which was the most powerful way the father could communicate to his son, "I love you. You are part of the family!" He brings his calf and has it slaughtered. Together, they have a gigantic feast and they gather everyone together and they celebrate late into the night.
Hey, wait a minute! Why is Jesus telling all these sappy stories anyway?
It is really rather simple. Jesus wants to drive home the point that lost people matter to God. The biggest parties in heaven are not thrown over the ninety-nine sheep still in the fold. The biggest parties in heaven are not thrown over the nine coins in the piggy bank. The biggest parties in heaven are not thrown because of the well-behaved eldest son's undying loyalty to his father. The biggest parties in heaven are thrown over the return of that which was lost.
In Luke 15:7(NIV), after describing the shepherd's joy over finding his one lost sheep Jesus says, "I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."
In Luke 15:10(NIV), after describing the woman's desperate efforts to recover her lost coin, Jesus says, "In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
In Luke 15:22-24 (NIV), the father says to his servants, " 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate."
Friends, the kingdom of God is a party! Our heavenly Father goes crazy every time one of us sinners repents and humbly returns home. There is nothing that pleases him more. In 1 Timothy 2:4(NIV) we're told that it is God's will for, "all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth."
God does not want even one of us to be lost. Whether we have nibbled ourselves away from God, whether we fell through the cracks after becoming a Christian and got lost, even if we blatantly stomped away from God and vowed never to return, even if we dishonored God's good name with some of the most outrageous behavior, you should know that God's will is that none be lost.
"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 (NIV)
God's Heart Yearns for Lost People
I hope then, as we gather here this morning, that we realize where God's heart is. Yes, God loves all of us. Yes, God cares what we do with our lives. Yes, God enjoys our worship and welcomes us into his presence. But God's heart is wandering through the countryside looking for that lost sheep. God's heart is down on its knees sifting through the dust looking for that lost coin. God's heart is scanning the horizon, every moment of every day, longing for his children to return to him in repentance and confession. God's heart is very much focused on those who are not sitting with us this morning. God's heart is focused on those who will die in their sins, apart from our desperate efforts to partner with God in seeking and saving those who are lost.
Friends, even the most casual reading of scripture reveals that lost people matter to God. Therefore, one of the marks of a healthy church is found in our willingness to evangelize. To go after that one lost sheep or coin or person. The stakes are too high for us to just give up on that which was lost.
Excellence, exaltation, evangelism. These are the passions of healthy churches.