Sermon Tone Analysis

Pray

Introduction

Paul has been going through some of the lost heroes of the bible in the month of July.

Today we’re starting a new mini series on Lost things.

And we’re going to sit in and walk around Luke 15 for the next few weeks - I’m not sure how many weeks - but each week will be different.

We’ll be looking at lost things, but different things from different angles and perspectives, and seeking the Lord’s voice on issues of the ‘lost’.

And before you think to yourself that you’ve heard these parables before - let’s look for something new as we study these passages together over the next few weeks.

Let’s even ask the Lord to show us or reveal to us something new from these passages.

We don’t believe in any new revelations from the Spirit outside of Scripture, but there’s a wealth of NEW revelation that the Spirit can bring to us FROM within Scripture so let’s ask for that.

So we’ll approach these well-known stories with an open mind.

And to set the scene for this parable of the Lost Sheep, I want you to imagine what it would be like if God started working in some of the more run-down or seedier parts of Belfast or Lisburn.

Imagine that the Spirit of God was unleashed and people of all walks of life were giving their lives to the Lord - and when I say all walks of live, that includes some of the more dodgy walks of life.

So how would you feel if a handful of ex-prostitutes started attending Hillhall?

What about drug dealers?

What about domestic abusers?

How would you feel if these people found the Lord and wanted to be part of this community of believers at Hillhall?

What kind of response would they get here?

We’ve talked about this in some ways before.

But let’s flip it around…

Think of the most vile criminal you can imagine - The worst of the worst person - and ask yourself honestly.

How would you feel if they were brought before the Lord and he destroyed them.

I mean he obliterates them - annihilates them right in front of you.

In other words - they get what’s coming to them.

How would you feel about that?

Would there be cheering and rejoicing over that sinner who got destroyed?

That’s what Pharisees would have thought in Jesus’ day.

That there would be joy in heaven over a sinner who get’s what’s coming to them - there would be joy in heaven over a sinner who feels the full wrath of God on them.

Pause

Jesus has something to say to that.

And so Jesus tells 1 parable against that thought.

look at the first 2 verses of Luke 15...

Now notice the context for this story.

One of the mistakes that we make when teaching these stories - especially to children - is that we tell the story of the lost sheep as a stand-alone story.

And I’ve said this before, but it’s worth saying again - when you take a story or a parable in the bible as a stand alone story, the meaning can be vastly different than what was intended.

So it’s always good to look at the context when looking at bible passages.

What was said and why was it said?

What’s the purpose of this parable?

And this parable is 1 parable in three parts.

This isn’t 3 parables - so there’s a connection between them all.

Now, we’re going to split it up because we don’t have time to go through all 3 parts in one sermon - but this is 1 parable.

But what’s the purpose of this parable?

Why is Jesus telling this story?

It’s there on the screen in verses 1&2.

Tax collectors and sinners are drawing near to Jesus, and Jesus is welcoming them.

And not only that, he’s eating with them.

Which means that he is going to their house to share a meal - and in the context of the Greek, Jesus might also be entertaining them too - having them come to visit with HIM.

And to share a meal meant more than having dinner together - it meant sharing life…And incidentally, this is why the Lord’s Supper is so important, because of the meaning of the meal - sharing life together over the common bond that we have in Christ.

We don’t see the cultural significance of this today because times have changed.

Best thing I can think of is a wedding.

Having a wedding reception is more than having dinner.

You’re sharing an amazing experience with friends and family - there’s community, there’s love, there’s joy.

Everyone is celebrating.

That’s kinda what mealtimes were like back in Jesus’ day.

And so for sinners to be part of that was scandalous to the Pharisees, which was why they were grumbling with each other about it.

Because you don’t share life with ‘those’ type of people, because by doing that you were making them equal to yourself.

And the Pharisees were SO MUCH better than the sinners of they day.

And so Jesus, by his actions, was giving the sinners of the day some value, some sense of worth and importance - perhaps for the first time ever.

The Pharisees wouldn’t have done that - there would be more joy in heaven over one of those sinners being destroyed by the wrath of God.

And if these sinners were like sheep - then the Pharisees wouldn’t go after one of them - good riddance to them.

Let them get eaten by a wild animal.

They’d get what they deserve.

Pause

And so it is within this context that Jesus tells this parable.

Look at the first part of it now...

Now, notice what Jesus says - he puts the Pharisees as the shepherds - suppose one of YOU have 100 sheep.

But he’s not just putting them as shepherds, Jesus puts them as BAD shepherds - because he says, ‘suppose you have 100 sheep AND YOU LOSE ONE OF THEM (cos you’re a bad shepherd)’.

So it’s not like this sheep has wandered off - the Pharisees have LOST this sheep due to their incompetence as shepherds.

And the Pharisees and teachers of the law are the religious leaders - the ones who are supposed to shepherd God’s people.

But they’ve made a complete hash of it.

ThinkJeremiah 23:1...

So Jesus, by placing the Pharisees as the shepherds in this part of the parable, is essentially saying, ‘you call yourselves the shepherds of God’s sheep?

Ok then, if you have one of them and you lose them because you’re a bad shepherd, which one of you would go after them and trudge through the dirt and face up to the wild animals in order to bring that sheep back?’

Of course the answer is, none of them.

Because it’s one thing being likened to a shepherd of God’s people.

Being a shepherd of God’s people was an esteemed title - one of importance and prestige.

But being a physical shepherd of sheep is a job for the lower class people - the people they wouldn’t associate with...‘Eugh - that’s disgusting.

That’s unclean - looking after sheep?

oh no way, I wouldn’t be seen dead doing that.

That’s for the uneducated.’

And back then that’s exactly what it was like.

It’s not like today where shepherds or farmers are well respected businessmen and women - hard working and entrepreneurial.

So which one of you would go after the one sheep that is lost?

NONE of them would.

That’s below them.

They were far too important and too well-to-do to be at something like that.

Can you imagine traipsing through mud and dirt, getting dirty and smelly, becoming unclean, physically and ceremonially, looking for 1 sheep?

No way, not me!

Pause

Now, remember the reason for telling this story - Jesus is being accused of ‘sharing life’ with sinners - of intentionally going after the lost ones in society - the outcasts, the ones that are NOT part of the herd.

And so now that the Pharisees are shown to be the BAD shepherds of Israel, Jesus tells them what the GOOD shepherd would do - the likes of a shepherd in Psalm 23.

Because the Good shepherd would leave the 99 and go after that 1 sheep.

He would roll up his sleeves and traipse through the dirt and the mud, making himself unclean all for the sake of the 1 sheep that is heading to their peril.

All to save that one sheep.

And when the shepherd finds that sheep there is restoration - but there’s hard work to be done...

Because when a sheep gets stuck it lies down helplessly and refuses to budge.

And a shepherd has to then carry the sheep on his shoulders...

But a shepherd wouldn’t rejoice at carrying a sheep on his shoulders - especially over a long distance.

BUT THIS ONE DOES.

Because this is the Good Shepherd.

And this GOOD shepherd will not only traipse through the mud and dirt, this GOOD shepherd will not only make himself unclean, but he will rejoice in the work that he has to do to get this sheep back, because this sheep is important to the shepherd.