Sermon Series: The Essential Expectations-Part Two 

Lost People Matter to God 

Luke 15:1-10 

PSBC 5/27/01 AM

In a nutshell: The two parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin teach that God is interested in the lost, and God rejoices when a lost person comes to know Him. That means People Matter to God. And if they matter to Him, they should matter to us as well. This core value should make us willing to risk becoming a link in the chain of events that brings someone we know to a relationship with Christ.

I. Introduction

A. Core Values

In 1997, a very important book was written for the corporate community. It's title was Built to Last. The authors of the book conducted some intensive research to determine what a small group of very successful companies in north America had in common.

As they studied these highly successful companies, certain adjectives started to be applied. Words like "visionary", "gold medal winners", and "elite" were used to describe every company in the study. Each one of the companies had been in business since at least 1926. And each of the companies studied had beaten their competition decade after decade, and were making a decisive impact on the world. As a group, their stock market performance, since 1926, had exceeded the general stock market by more than fifteen times.

The authors of this book concluded that the high success of these companies was not due to charismatic leadership, or that they had all found some "great idea" that no one else had come up with. Instead, the research showed that each one of these highly successful companies shared three distinct characteristics. -First, the focus of each one had always been on a set of core values that never changed. -Second, each company always had a purpose that was higher than just making a profit. -Third, there was a relentless drive to change and improve everything in the company except their core values, which, for most, had been in place since the early years of the company's existence.

Well, folks, did you know that Jesus taught His church the same thing? He said…

Matthew 6:33 33 But seek first (God's) kingdom and (God's) righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

In other words, put what God values, first in your life, and the success that really matters, will be added to your life, after that.

B. Core Values

The idea of core values is nothing new to churches and Christian movements. In fact, core values have been around for a long time. But they've been called by other names. One term that was used in the early 1900's was "the fundamentals". Another term that has been used in the past is the term "the non-negotiables". Yet another term that was used has been "our distinctives".

But regardless of what you call them, for any church, it's core values are basically the big beliefs about what's important to God that guide how that church serves God and how that church follows God.

C. Transition to new sermon series

Illustration: When we put in our first back yard in our home in Oxnard, back in the early 1980's, I wanted that yard to do several things for our family. It had to be a playground for Jori, an outdoor patio for us to entertain guests, a place for relaxing at the end of the day, and a garden. Obviously this took planning and partitioning off of certain sections of the yard for unique purposes. I took a lot of time planning each area, and then we put a lot of time and expense and hard work into making that back yard a reality.

When it was all done, it was nice, but it wasn't spectacular. It was adequate and functional, but I never really loved it. My father-in-law helped me understand why. He said, "All you have are straight lines back here. You never see straight lines in nature. Nature always has curving or meandering lines. That's what makes it beautiful."

And that's true. Meandering streams and curving walks are the ones that are very beautiful to look at. And when a human can achieve that meandering affect in an outdoor design, you usually see something quite attractive and effective.

But folks, that's not true in a church. Meandering churches are neither attractive nor effective in doing God's kingdom work. Derek Keenan, the Vice President of the Association of Christian Schools International, said, "What we (Christians) do is so significant that to be intentional is critical to fulfilling our responsibilities. (But) sometimes we Christians spiritualize a lack of intention and presumptuously invoke God-talk to cover our lack of clear purpose."

I think our church, and many others in north America, have been meandering for a number of years. We have been doing some good things, at times. And some very good things once in a while. But generally speaking, we haven't been as effective in doing the work of God as we could have been. And I think a big part of that is because we haven't identified or owned a set of core values to guide us in what we do.

I told you several weeks ago, that the two sermon series I want to lead you in this Spring and Summer are designed to introduce us to two things we need to have in our public documents, and in our collective consciousness

We just concluded the first one, called The Essential Expectations, Part One, which introduced you to the four elements of a membership covenant I am proposing we adopt later this year.

Today, we begin a seven part series, called The Essential Expectations, Part Two, which will introduce you to the seven core values that I believe will be needed to guide our church to be a FORCE for Jesus Christ. Today, we'll look at the first of those Core Values.

Turn in your Bibles to Luke 15…

II. Two Parables on the Importance of the Lost

Luke 15:1-10 1 Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them." 3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 "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? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' 7 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. 8 "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? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

A. Setting

In these two parables, we see a common thread. In the first there was a shepherd who lost a sheep. In the second, there is a woman who lost a coin. It's the idea of lost-ness that's at the heart of both stories.

In the first two verses of chapter 15, we have the scene painted for us. There is a large crowd. In the front of the crowd are a group of tax collectors and "sinners". These were the bottom-of-the-barrel-people, in the eyes of the religious establishment of the day. These were the people whom no respectable Jew would have anything to do with.

On the outskirts of the crowd are the "religious" people. These were the big shots of the faith. These were the teachers, the political leaders and the priests of the "respectable Jewish faith".

The religious people were there to find fault with Jesus. They were secretly plotting to kill Jesus, because they didn't like His intentional efforts to undermine their authority and teaching. They didn't care about the "sinners" and low-life's in the front of the crowd. They just cared about their way of life, and preserving it for themselves.

The "sinners", on the other hand, were there to eagerly listen to what Jesus had to say. His message was resonating in their hearts. He was identifying with them, and they were identifying with what He had to say. They were beginning to care about what God had to say to them.

B. Two things these parables teach

With that background, I want you to turn your attention to the content of each of these two parables. Both parables are so similar in content and message that they can be treated as one. They both teach us two very important things…

1. God is interested in the lost

The first thing these parable teach us is that God is interested in the lost.

In the culture of Jesus' day, a single woman was given a dowry by her family. This was an important possession. Because, back then, it wasn't merely good looks or make-up that made a woman attractive. Rather, it was the size of her dowry. In other words, the money or goods that she brought into a marriage was the thing that became the main attraction to a man.

Since women didn't carry purses, or have bank accounts in those days, they would quite often wear their dowry money around their necks on a necklace, or have it tied into the headband that held their veil in place.

In all probability, the coin which this woman lost was one of her dowry coins, which had come loose and fallen off somewhere in the house. What is important to note is that the value of the lost coin was the same as any one of the other coins on her necklace. But the thing that made it the center of attention in the story was the fact that it was lost.

In telling this story, Jesus was trying to help the religious leaders understand that all people are important to God. You see, the religious leaders of the day thought that God didn't care about sinful people. They thought God only cared about "religious" people. In fact, these religious leaders thought that because they were so "religious" and had never wandered away from God, that they were somehow more important to God, than the sinners who were intently listening to Jesus teach these parables.

The religious establishment thought that if someone wandered away from God, it was that person's responsibility to find their own way back. So, nothing was ever done about someone who wasn't following the faith.

But friends, these two parables teach us beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God cares about all lost people. He is no respecter of persons. -He doesn't care what kind of car a person drives, -or what kind of dwelling a person lives in, -or how much money a person makes, -or what kind of clothes a person wears. He doesn't care if a person smells bad, -or if a person has all their own teeth, -or if person uses a walker to get around, or if they ride a motorcycle. God doesn't care if a person's hair is dyed green, -or if they pierce their body, -or if they have tattoos. He doesn't care if they are fat or thin, big or small.

What these two parables teach us is that God cares about whether or not a person is lost.

Luke 19:10 10 For the Son of Man (Jesus) came to seek and to save what was lost."

Friends, I want you to understand what we're talking about when we use that term, "Lost".

Illustration: This week I heard the story of a young woman in Iowa who fell asleep at the wheel of her car, and the car ran off the freeway and crashed into a ditch . Because the area was remote and the ditch was hidden from the view of the freeway traffic, no one spotted the car until 5 days later. During that time, this woman suffered with her injuries in a sitting position. She had two broken legs that were pinned underneath the dashboard and submerged in several feet of water, plus other injuries to her head, neck, arms, hands and fingers. When she was discovered by some highway workers, she was just barely alive. But miraculously, she survived. But the story went on, that because her broken legs had been submerged in water for that long a period of time, both legs had to be amputated below the knees. The reporter on TV said, "She lost both her legs."

When we lose something, it's gone. We don't have the use or ownership of something that is lost. We can't enjoy the benefits of something when it is lost.

And that's why the Bible uses this term for people who don't have a relationship with God, where Jesus is the forgiver of their sin and the leader of their life. Without God, a person loses abundance in this life, and heaven in the life to come. Both those things are lost. They are irretrievable. That's why we say a person is lost, even they go on living without God in their life.

So, the condition of being lost is a serious one. A person can never experience all that life on earth and life after death is designed to give. In fact they lose what they were created to have-life abundant and everlasting.

And friends, God cares about this. It matters a great deal to Him. In fact, the parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin tell us that this lost condition warrants an all out search for that which was lost. So understand what the first lesson of these two parables is. God cares about the lost.

2. God rejoices when the lost are found

The second point of the two parables is that God rejoices when the lost are found. Look again at some of the verses of Luke 15…

Luke 15:5-7 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.' 7 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.

And look at what happens when the woman finds her coin…

Luke 15:9-10 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

And if you read farther in this chapter, you come to a similar story, the parable of the Lost Son (or Prodigal Son). In that story, when the runaway son comes home, the father throws a huge party for the boy and invites his friends and neighbors to rejoice with him over the return of his son.

Friends, keep in mind that these stories are telling us something very important about how God conducts business in heaven. -When little Bretton James accepted Christ earlier this year with her dad in the driveway of her home, a party was thrown in heaven because of her child-like faith in Christ. -When Marshall Bloom accepted Christ at a table at the Cedar Creek Inn, there was a huge celebration all over heaven. -When Hugo asked Jesus Christ to forgive his sin and be his Savior in a worship service a few months ago, a party bigger than New Year's Eve at Times Square was thrown in his honor in heaven.

Friends, no matter who the person, no matter what they were like before a relationship with God, no matter what they look like, or who they know. When any person comes to know Jesus Christ as the forgiver of his or her sin and starts following Him as the leader of his or her life, this is such a big deal, this is such a momentous event, this is such a cause for celebration… that all activity stops in heaven and the vast army of angels that reside with God, stop their praise of God and rejoice with total abandon.

Let me ask you, do you feel that same excitement when you hear of a child or an adult making the decision to follow Jesus Christ? Is this the highlight of your life?

The famous German theologian, Helmut Thielike, wrote the words on the front of your WIG's this morning… "Jesus gained the power to love harlots, bullies, and ruffians… He was able to do this only because he saw through the filth and crust of degeneration, because his eye caught the divine original which is hidden in every way-in every man! …When Jesus loved a guilt-laden person and helped him, he saw in him an erring child of God. He saw him as God originally designed and meant him to be, and therefore he saw through the surface layer of grime and dirt to the real man underneath… Jesus was able to love men because he loved them right through the layer of mud."

Friends understand this fact… God loves every person you and I make eye contact with so much, that He stops all activity in heaven and allows the hosts of heaven to rejoice, when any of those people come to know Him as their Savior and Lord.

III. Conclusion

So, friends, based on the Biblical foundation of Luke 15, we have our first Core Value. This is the first big belief that must guide our relationship with God and the activity of our church… Lost People matter to God, so they matter to us, as well.

Now, let's get very practical. If this is true-that you and I really hold at our church's very foundation, the fact that lost people matter to God, so they matter to us, as well…, how will this value change us? -If this were really to become a core value of our church, how would this affect the corporate culture of our church family? -Let's make it more personal, how would it affect your life and what you do?

Illustration: When I was in college, I drove a truck for the farm, and hauled grain to Calumet Harbor in Chicago. Often, I'd have to wait one or two hours in line, waiting for my truck to be unloaded. I often passed the time, reading. One of the books I read was Thor Hyerdahl's, Kon-Tike: Across the Pacific by Raft.

In the story, Heyerdahl tells how he and a crew of five crossed the Pacific Ocean from South America to the South Pacific Islands on a crude raft made out of balsa logs that were tied together with rope.

During the three-month journey in 1947, they had little control of the direction of the raft and no way to stop its forward progress. They learned early in the voyage that anything dropped overboard was almost impossible to recover once it passed behind the raft.

Two months into the voyage and thousands of miles from land, one of the men, named Herman, lost his footing and fell overboard. The raft, driven by a strong wind in heavy seas, moved ahead faster than Herman could swim. The five remaining men were horrified for their friend. They tried to throw him a life belt on a rope, but the wind blew it back at them. In seconds, Herman was all but lost to their sight in the mass of waves.

Suddenly one of the men, by the name of Knute, grabbed the life belt and dove into the water. He swam back to Herman and wrapped his arm around him, holding his exhausted friend and the rope while the men on the boat pulled them both back to the safety of the raft.

Friends, please listen to this. If it's true… lost people matter to God, so they matter to me as well, … then that means you will be willing to step out and take some risks with people in your unique circles of influence. …It means that you will decide to intentionally become a link in a chain of events designed to rescue someone who is lost and heading toward an eternity in Hell. …and it means that you will intentionally develop and cultivate relationships with pre-Christians, so that somehow and someway God can use your influence to bring them to a relationship with the Savior.

Are you willing?

Amen.