Lost and Found

do not grumble.

Grumbling and idolatry go hand in hand in scripture. Here's the real problem with these Pharisees, these religious leaders, those who have the responsibility to teach God's people. They're grumbling against God. They're grumbling against Jesus receiving the people he came to save. What's really concerning is that there's an assumption they're imposing here. These people are worse than us. How could he spend time or invite these kind of people with him? If you wrestle with this, who is it that Jesus would welcome to his table that we would not welcome to our own? What kind of person would Jesus invite into his family that we would not invite to our own? What kind of person do we want to keep at a distance that Jesus brings near? The leaders, they have a significant problem. They want to be clean. They want to make sure they can go into the worship service. They want to make sure they can go to the temple and be clean. Again, the wrong assumption, though, is that we're going to be unclean if we wrongly associate or if we associate with any kind of sinner. Jesus is going to be unclean if he invites other sinners. they have a misperception of who God is. Therefore, they grumble. We go back, if you've been with us in Luke 13 and 14, Jesus already made two incredible statements. He told another parable. Many have received an invitation to a banquet, and when Jesus then sends out the banquets here, the host, rather, sends the banquets here, they didn't come, and therefore, they were no longer invited. Or Jesus will say, many will come and knock on the narrow door and they're not gonna be able to enter. They'll see others eating with Abraham at the table, but they won't be able to come. These religious leaders have this wrong assumption. There's something good about them that lets them come to God. There's something wrong with these people that should not let them come to God. Jesus is doing two things here. He's confronting the sins of the religious leaders who think too much of themselves and impose additional qualifications on anyone else who might follow God. And Jesus is making it clear that sinners all are welcome. The key question for us, do we tend to grumble or rejoice more with repentant sinners? That's a pressing question. Are we going to be grumbling more or are we going to be rejoicing more when there's repentance? We now see three parables. I want to look at the first two together. The shepherd, the man with the sheep, and the woman with the coin. And if you're taking notes again, our second point, repentance that leads to rejoicing. Repentance that leads to rejoicing. So I told them this parable. Sometimes parables are meant to be unclear intentionally, and this is not one of those. This seems to be very, very clear. Jesus said, he told them a parable,

what man of you having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the 99 in the open country and go after the one that is lost until he finds it. And when he has 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'll be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance.

There's a hundred sheep, one's gone lost. What does a person do who has a hundred sheep? He runs and finds the lost one. What does he do when he finds the lost sheep? You can answer. He rejoices, right? These are not hard questions, we're gonna try to make it easy. Then after he rejoices, so lost, found, rejoice. But his own rejoicing is enough, what does he do? He gathers his friends and neighbors. Rejoice with me. Rejoice with me. And then verse seven, this is the principle.

Just so, I tell you, there'll be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance.

What happens when we stop rejoicing with God? There's an invitation. Are we gonna rejoice with the heavens? Are we gonna rejoice in what God rejoices? He gives a second parable. Or, verse eight,

what woman having 10 silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligence until she finds it? And when she's found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors saying, rejoice with me. for I found the coin that I had lost. Just so, I tell you, there's joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

Again, very similar story. Something's lost, something's found, there's rejoicing. And even, it's something she's gonna invite other people to, rejoice with me. Again, I tell you, even the angels rejoice. I want us to see here in the end emphasis, verse seven, Verse 10 of both these parables. Rejoicing takes place when someone repents. Rejoicing doesn't take place when someone is committed to their own sin. Rejoicing takes place when someone repents. Repenting means you've turned away from your sin and turned to God. These tax collectors, these sinners, by coming to Jesus, they're leaving sin, Lord willing, and they're coming to Him. It's amazing here. It's a turn from sin, a turn to God, a turn from death, a turn to life. God welcomes us out of sin. Whenever someone repents, the whole focus here is that we would rejoice. Believer, were you aware that when you repented, the heavens celebrated? That's what verses seven and 10 say. There was a heavenly host. The angels rejoiced and celebrated when you turned away from your sin that was going to lead to judgment and punishment, and you turned to Jesus who died for you. They celebrated for your life and for the glory of God. What a challenge for us today. Do we celebrate with God? Do we see such a clear understanding of our own sin that repentance is something we long to celebrate more? He's a holy God who invites sinners to repent. Very clear. They're not coming watching themselves. They're not coming being worthy of the calling. No, it's God who welcomes them. We rejoice. with repentant sinners. We rejoice for repentant sinners only if we are indeed repentant sinners. Now let's look to this much more familiar or the longer section. We have three new characters. We have another parable. Verse 11.

There was a man who had two sons.

There's a father, there's an older son, there's a younger son. Notice here he begins with the younger son, verse 12.

And the younger of them said to his father, father, give me the share of property that is coming to me. And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country. And there he squandered his property in reckless living. And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to 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 pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

First thing we see about this younger son is incredibly offensive. He goes to his father and he says, Dad, I want my inheritance. When do you normally get your inheritance? When he's dead. Here he's saying, but in an untimely manner, I want what's coming to me before it's time. I want what you are going to give me when you're dead. And this is offensive. This is dishonoring the father. Maybe he's saying, you're better off dead to me, because I'd rather have your stuff than you. Then the father does so, and that's also pretty unusual. He gives him his portion of the inheritance. What does this son do with it? Verse 13, many days later, he gathers, he goes on a journey, he goes far away, and he squanders. That's why we call him the prodigal son. He's squandering, he's wasteful. He wastes all of his property in reckless living. He's a sinner. It's pretty obvious to everybody. We usually use the word reckless driving. Somebody who's recklessly driving, they're going too fast, they're not paying attention to the lanes. They're ignoring stop signs, pedestrian walkways. We give significant tickets to people who recklessly drive because it's dangerous for them, for the people around them. We have boundaries for a reason, for safety. This young man is living without boundaries. Boundaries are good. He's simply doing whatever his heart desires, and he wastes it all. He then finds himself to be in need. There's a severe famine, he's running out of money, he's in need. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country. He must be in a gentile area because the citizen of this country is a pig farmer and Jews would not have had pigs, that would make them unclean. So here we have this young man. We're gonna picture because Jesus is a Jewish man speaking to Jewish leaders, he's a Jewish young man Now he's feeding pigs and he's so in need he's hungry for the very things the pigs are eating. If we could just kind of do a modern day equivalent of this, if you happen to be so desperate you worked in the hot dog factory and just were wishing you could eat what they won't even put in the hot dog. This is how gross this is supposed to be. The things they won't even put in the hot dog. They're incredibly delicious, but kind of gross. He's desperate. He's gross. He's in need. He's miserable. Now, important thing to just step back and think about here, does he deserve it? If you think about who Jesus is talking to, the religious leaders, they could fully sympathize. He even says, if you had sheep, wouldn't you go find it? Well, of course I would. What about a woman who found a coin? We're all rooting for the guy going out to find the sheep. We're all rooting for this woman to find her coin. Are the Pharisees rooting for this guy? Are they gonna say, amen, now let's have a celebration right here, he's getting what he deserves? I believe that's kind of the point of this parable here. He's setting it up so that here is a moment that the Pharisees are probably saying, he is getting what he deserves. Let's have a celebration. Now it's time to celebrate. We found him in the place he deserves. Well, the action picks up properly in verse 17. But when he came to himself, he comes to realize, dad, he takes care of his servants better than I'm getting. Dad is so generous in his home. He suffered the consequences. And he's realizing if he just goes and offers to be a servant, if he's just a hired hand back home, he's gonna have a better life than what he's created for himself. Let's step back here before we move on. There is a worst case scenario for this young man. He could possibly never come to his senses. He just desires and commits to living in this misery. That's a sad place for many. God gives them many wake-up calls. Over and over again, this is miserable, come out. Over and over again, this is miserable, come out. If you're here, be warned. God, in his grace, allows misery, brings misery, so that we would come and come to our senses, come to a conviction, come to realization. We can come out. Don't remain in that misery. Look at verse 17,

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 will say to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.

This is a pretty good confession. He's recognizing he's sinned against his dad. He's recognizing he's sinned against God. He's come to a sense that there's something wrong and I can come and there's still something wrong with what he's saying and we'll get there. But he's come up with a solution. Now verse 20, he rose and came to his father. We can get a picture here for a moment. Whenever you've had something important to say in a confrontation or maybe it's whenever you're about to propose, you rehearse that, right? Like as you're walking or driving, you're going through in your mind what exactly you're gonna say. You wanna make sure you get these words right. He's been walking all this way. He's rehearsing exactly what he's gonna say. He's hoping that his dad is gonna be kind enough to receive him as a servant. He's really prepared. And he arose and he went to his father, preparing this little speech.

But while he was still a long way off, the father saw him, felt compassion. He ran, embraced, and kissed him.

The father, the father pursues him. The father sees him. He has compassion. His heart is full of kindness. This is my son. He could have come out with a list of grievances to make sure the son is coming back the right way, but he's been longing to see his son, wondering if he's even alive. Here he sees him. He has compassion on him. He does what he's not really supposed to do with an older man. It's not honorable for an older man to run. He embraces his son. He kisses him. He makes it clear to his son in every possible way. Glad to see you. You're home. Then the son gets to his reverse speech. Verse 21, as the father is holding him, embracing him, kissing him, the son starts. Notice how perfect he's gotten the speech down.

Father, I've sinned against heaven and before you, I am no longer worthy to be called your son.

But the father said to the servants, notice he didn't get to finish the speech. Notice the father is actually completely dismissive of the speech. While the son is trying to explain to the father, I'm no longer worthy to be your son, notice what he does. He speaks to the servants. And he says, go get my robe for my son. Go get my ring for my son. Go get my shoes for my son. Go get the fattened calf. We're going to celebrate my son. In case you missed it, this dude ain't coming back as a servant. He's a son. Not because of anything he's accomplished. He's not a proud father. He gives his son his fatherly affection. The father is nothing to do with this speech of his. He comes back with this hopeful plan, humble way of saying, I'll just come back as a servant. And oh, the father has nothing to do with that nonsense. No, you're coming back to be my son. What grace and kindness. In case we're missing it, the father represents God. The good place to be is at home, celebrating with God, who's generous, who's kind. Let's not miss it. We call this the parable of the prodigal son. Isn't it also kind of the prodigal father? He's excessive. It even appears to be wasteful maybe to the Pharisees. Why give so much, so abundantly to this guy? In case we missed it, this guy was working on a pig farm and then walked a long way. He was not expected to take a bath before he got the robe. His father is excessively showing his love. This represents how God receives us. The opposite has happened a few years ago in a counseling session. It's a 19-year-old young man who had run away from home. He repented, wanted to reconcile with his parents, asked to sit down with him. And as that young man began and tried to apologize for everything he could possibly apologize for, he said, I'm sorry at the end. That was an awkward silence. It was like, what are the parents going to say? And one of them then said the first words he heard,

you have no idea how much you hurt us.

That's so unloving, so un-Christ-like. When somebody's coming back, when someone's repenting, when somebody's saying, I've sinned against you, I want to be back part of the family, we don't make sure we list all the grievances. It's unimaginable for a Christian. No, we receive them with rejoicing. The main point here. This young man should have wanted to be at home, though a young man, he's underestimating his father's own kindness. He thinks his father can only receive him as a servant, but the father is going above and beyond to make sure everything is given to him. The father said, bring quickly my robe, my ring, put shoes on his feet. Kill the fattened calf. There's verse 24.

For this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found. And they began to celebrate.

This father is rich in love and mercy, like our Heavenly Father. He comes back and he, remember, he does know my, he recognizes something, that my dad's good to the servants, but he still underestimates them. He still thinks there's something that I need to be worthy of, he says, in order to be a son. Sonship, belonging, forgiveness. Is it something that is earned in this family? It's something for the given. We see here really a presentation of shame. The son is still carrying a shame that says, I don't belong in the home, I don't belong that close. He's still carrying with him some sense of shame of how wasteful he's been and what he's done. And notice, this is how God always overcomes shame, isn't it? He draws near. When Adam and Eve had sin in the garden, what do they do when they hear God coming? They cover themselves because they're afraid and shame. What does God do? He approaches them, he calls to them. Shame. If you're not a believer, this part of the narrative is actually for you. We've all lived recklessly. Some of us have done so in a way that's a little more orderly than others, but some of us very clearly. We've all denied God and the clear boundaries he put on us. We've all rejected God and the good order he's given to us. We've all decided we are going to decide how to live our lives our way, not according to what God has said. That makes us all sinners. And when we sin against God, only God can save us. When we sin against God, we must come before him and find a way to say we are sorry and find forgiveness. And God has given that one and only way. That God has sent his son. to die on the cross because our sin is so dangerous, our sin is so powerful, our sin is so bad, the just God, the righteous God must punish it. He either punishes our sin in us or the way to be received by God is that he sent his son to be like us in every way, yet he did not have sin. Therefore, on the cross, when he dies, he's not dying for his own sin. He's dying for ours. He's dying so that he can take the punishment that we deserve, so that he can take the wrath of God that we deserve, so that we can then be forgiven if we confess Jesus to be our Savior. If you're not a believer, the way to come to God is only through Jesus Christ, who alone provides the forgiveness we need. I believe there's also something helpful for us here. Do we still live in shame that causes us to keep what we think is a healthy distance from God? Do we still hold up these boundaries that we put up because we're afraid if other Christians were to come in and see how messed up we are that there will be judgment? Do we still put up a boundary to God believing, no, there needs to be a safe distance because the shame is too much? I understand when we come to God in the name of Christ, He draws us near. He shows us his great love. Do not let shame keep you distant from God, the God who draws near. The key thing here, God is worthy. God is worthy to stay home and to rejoice in him, but because we've all fled, he's generous in his grace to welcome us back. Remember, there's another brother. Verse 11, there's two sons. Well, where has this other brother been? Verse 25,

now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called to the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.

Let's just stop there for a moment. The older brother, he's a hard worker. He's in the field. All right, the younger brother, he's a reckless one. He's out partying. The older brother, he's a hard worker. He's out working. Notice he comes near enough to the house. He hears something going on that's unusual. He asks, what's going on? And he's informed. Your father is throwing a celebration for your brother. Verse 28.

But he was angry and refused to go in.

He was angry and refused to go in. He insists on staying outside. He insists he's gonna be out there in the field rather than go home like a son. He's insisting he's going to function more like a servant. You gotta picture this anger. He's probably rehearsing his own speech, kicking the dirt. All these years I've worked and this fool gets a party? grumbling against his own father's reception of his own wayward brother. Notice what the father does. He's a very consistent father. He comes out to him. Remember when the younger son was coming back, the father goes out to him. Now the older brother is refusing to come in, so the father goes out to him and he treats him. Come, come in. Verse 29. But the older brother answered, look, see here,

these many years I served you and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf.

" Notice what's happened here. His hatred of his brother has led to an anger towards his father. He's been angry with his brother for these many years, but now it's being evidenced, it's being demonstrated against the father who, how could you, he's saying. And notice his explanation is so wonderfully clear. I've been working so faithfully all these years. I've been a good son. I've been doing everything I'm supposed to do. And you haven't let me celebrate with my friends. You, look here, you've never done this. This is very dishonoring. This is not the way you speak to a father. This is grumbling. The older son is grumbling against the father. How could you give that guy such a feast when I've worked so hard? The older son is quite a selfish, self-centered, self-righteous jerk, isn't he? He's a punk. And what an incredibly clear mirror for us to see the painful reality of our sin. He refuses to rejoice. And in many levels, it's because he's refusing his own brother. The problem is he believes the father owes him something. Whenever you believe somebody owes you something, you're always going to interpret them as stingy. He thinks the father owes him because of all he's done. And therefore he sees his father as stingy. He sees then because he thinks his father's been stingy towards him, well he thinks his father's just unnecessarily lavish towards his brother. The problem with both sons is neither really understand their father and how generous he is and how kind he is. Notice how kind the father is. The father answers him. He said to him,

son, you're always with me. All that is mine is yours. But it was fitting, it was necessary to celebrate and be glad. For this your brother was dead.

Notice he's making it clear who this is. It's not my son only, it's your brother.

He was dead and is alive. He was lost and is found.

The invitation continues. The father insists upon the invitation. No, it's fitting. Your brother was dead. Now he's alive. He was lost. Now he's found. Celebrate. It's necessary. Let's just pull back for a moment. What if the older brother was the first person to see the younger brother on his way back home? What would happen? It's a different story, right? The father sees him and runs out and embraces him in love. What do you think the older brother would do if he saw his brother coming? How would he approach him? He'd be sent away. He'd be rejected. He'd be denied. No, I don't care what you're saying about your sin. No, you can't even come back as a servant, I think the older brother would say. That's terrifying. No, the older son is not like his father, is the main problem. Believer, we're Christians. That literally means little Christ. We're supposed to be Christ-like? We're supposed to actually show the love of Christ and that we're ambassadors, that we receive repentance sinners like Jesus does? We should be terrified of being this, being like this older brother to another brother. judging others who God receives, making others live up to our perceived perceptions and expectations, refusing, refusing to rejoice in what God does for the repentant. What's really most interesting about the ending, it's incomplete. Notice, we don't know what this older brother does. Does he remain sulking in the field? Does he go home? This might be what we call an open parable, Kind of a choose your own ending story. Remember who is Jesus talking to? Pharisees, the tax collectors. What are they doing? They're grumbling because Jesus is receiving people they don't like. Sound familiar? Who should the Pharisees and the tax collectors understand themselves to be in the story? The older brother. The invitation there at the end is, what will you do, Pharisees? Will you recognize you're like this older brother who's refusing your own father and not celebrating with repentant sinners? Or will you go home repenting of your own sin of self-righteousness so that you can rejoice with your repentant brother? The shepherds call his friend to rejoice with him, verse six. The woman called her friends to rejoice with her. Verse nine, the heavens rejoice the repentant sinners. Now the father is coming out and saying to us, will you rejoice with the repentant? What's press 10? Do we stand out in the field and just smuggishly judge others? Do we come to the same gracious father who welcomes us and welcome and rejoice with the repenters? Believer, the action here. Receive the good news of God. He received us when we were unworthy. He received us when we were not worthy to be received. He received us before we ever washed ourselves up. Jesus died for us while we were still sinners. Not after we had cleaned ourselves up. Not after we'd gotten everything right. Not after we had straightened our own way. He receives us as sinners. to repent. So, what do we do if we refuse to celebrate? There's a way here we can measure how much do we embrace God's own reception of us as repentant sinners? The measure is how much do we receive others as repentant sinners? How much do people need to live up to our own standards in order for us to enjoy them? This is one of the most serious troubles that really plagues the church. We really want to be around people that are like us, not primarily around the people who God has called to be with us. We understand the difference, right? You can look around. Look around for a second. It's wonderful how many different kinds of people are here. Age. All different kinds. We typically walk into a place and we think, wow, all these different people are here. Or we look and say, oh, these kind of people are like me. The main focus of coming to church is that we actually can't see what unites us. It's the blood of Christ that purchased us. Who is it that we would not receive that Christ has received? We read earlier from Romans. Romans is the grand theology of the New Testament, right? It walks through how sinful we are. No one is good. It walks through the justification. We're now declared righteous. It walks through we're adopted in Jesus Christ. Romans 8 is a high point of the many blessings we have in God. And then Romans 11 leads up to this praise of God who has saved sinners such as us. And then the doctrine of application begins in 12, but over and over again, churches 14 and 15. Do we understand the key application of Romans is that we would welcome one another Has God in Christ welcomed you? That's the measure of maturity in receiving the truths of Christ. Welcome one another. Romans 15, seven. Welcome one another. Has God in Jesus Christ welcomed you? As we conclude, do we need a recalculation of what we celebrate? Does your heart need a revolution of what you celebrate? Of who you celebrate? Of why you celebrate? Do we despise what God despises and do we celebrate what God celebrates? Do we celebrate with the heavens and the angels? With repentance centers? We can be worried about the world out there is doing and it's dangerous, but we should be more worried about what we're doing here as a church. Are we eager? Are we eager to come to the God who welcomes us to come home into his celebration? Are we eager to come together with those who are not like us in any way and have sinned in so many different ways and rejoice with them because the same God who saved us saved them? Come home out of reckless living. God is generous to forgive all your sins. Come home out of the judgment in the field, grumbling about sinners. God is generous to forgive all kinds of sinners. Will you pray with me? Father, we thank you for your kind and generous invitation to come and confess sin, not to be condemned, Lord, but to confess to be forgiven. to come from being distant from you, to being your own son who sits at your table forever. Lord, we thank you that we have received that invitation. Lord, I pray that we would know how to extend it. Forgive us for coming, confessing your grace, and then seeking to apply our own law to others. I pray we would know how to be joyful always because of your invitation to receive you by grace, and that we'd be eager to receive repentant sinners in great rejoicing. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. Let us stand and sing our song of response, Come Ye Sinners.