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Our Core
Values
Who We Are
And Why We Do What We Do
A Heart For
The Lost—Reaching The Lost World
Luke 15:1-32
Thoughts From The Runway
One of the wonderful
blessings of the empty nest is the ability to travel more.
While we were raising our kids almost every trip was taken
to see one of the sets of grandparents. There were some occasional
plane trips, but not many. Now that we are able to travel
more widely an airplane is usually involved. There is a routine
that takes place as the plane approaches the moment of take-off.
The doors are closed and the plane pushed back to taxi toward
the runway. It’s during this part of the trip that the flight
attendants stand at various places in the cabin to review
the safety procedures about how to fasten and unfasten the
seatbelt, to put on the oxygen mask in the unlikely event
that it is needed, and to identify the nearest exit, noting
that it may be behind you. While they are going through all
the information, they are for the most part ignored—unless
you happen to be on a flight where some creative person has
developed a comedy routine to liven up the presentation.
Why is it that no one listens to the flight
attendants when they’re talking about these important matters? I can think of two reasons. The first reason is that,
when you really think about it, it’s not really very relevant to the moment.
Most of the people getting on the plane don’t expect it to
crash. If we expected it to crash, we wouldn’t be on the plane!
The
second reason people don’t really listen is because we’ve heard it all before. Every time you get
on a plane they tell you the very same thing. If you fly even
a couple of times a year it gets pretty boring. Some of us
might even be able to stand in for the flight attendants.
That’s a great idea. We’ll select passengers to do the emergency
briefing much like the Chicago Cubs invite people to lead
the crowd in singing Take Me Out To The Ball Game during the seventh inning stretch.
Airlines could even pass out scorecards for people to vote
on how well the instructions were given. One winner would
be drawn from those with the highest scores each month to
receive a round trip flight for two to a destination of their
choosing. It’s obvious: I have had too much time on the runway
to think about these things.
There was a big change on our trip a couple of months
ago to Florida and then on to the island of St. John. People
were actually listening to and watching the instructions.
When asked about being able to handle the special duties of
being in the exit row, one person actually asked to be moved.
What made the difference? It was just a few days before that
Captain C.B. “Sully” Sullenberger had landed US Airways Flight
1549 in NYC’s Hudson River. I was working through the check
list to make sure if there was a life jacket or if I needed
to use the seat cushion—once again in the unlikely event of
a water landing. I had seen that unlikely sometimes happens.
It’s Not A Flight Of Fancy
All
of this has a point—a pretty good point. It’s much more that
a flight of fancy. The same thing that happens to the flight attendant on the airplane happens
to those of us believers trying to reach lost people for Jesus
Christ. A lot of times the message just doesn’t sound
very relevant to people. It just doesn’t seem to connect with
people who really aren’t expecting to move into eternity anytime
soon. Even more often, it seems like they have already heard
the story so many times that there’s nothing new. In fact,
they might be able to tell you how to become a Christian.
I
want to talk with you today about a core value that needs
to be at the very heart of our church family. I
want to talk with you about having a heart for lost people.
In Luke 15 there are three compelling stories—at least
they should be compelling—that Jesus tells about finding lost
things and people. He tells about a lost sheep, a lost coin
and a lost son. We will take a sweeping overview of these
accounts today. We will paint some broad strokes to summarize
the lesson Jesus teaches. Let’s start with the first verses.
By
this time a lot of men and women of doubtful reputation were
hanging around Jesus, listening intently. The Pharisees and
religion scholars were not pleased, not at all pleased. They
growled, "He takes in sinners and eats meals with them,
treating them like old friends." Their grumbling triggered
this story.Luke 15:1-3
The Message
Stop to reflect on what triggers the story. The religious establishment is upset with Jesus. They
can’t handle the fact that everywhere they go Jesus is spending
time with lost, sinful people. These people of doubtful reputation
actually seem to like being around Jesus—and He likes being
with them. Well, they don’t like that at all. When Jesus sees
how upset they are with Him for hanging around with sinners,
Jesus tells them these stories about a lost sheep, a lost
coin and a lost son.
Learning From The Lost Sheep (vv. 4-7)
If
a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what
will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness
and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?
And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on
his shoulders. When he arrives, he will call together his
friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I
have found my lost sheep.’ In the same way, there is more
joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns
to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and
haven’t strayed away!
Luke 15:4-7 NLT
1st
Insight: Jesus Initiates Reaching The Lost
Jesus,
the one who compared Himself to a Good Shepherd, describes
what it’s like to find out that
1 sheep from the flock of 100 is lost. A bottom line
business approach might suggest cutting your losses by making
sure the 99 are protected even if it means losing 1. Instead,
He immediately initiates finding it. He went out after it.
Here’s the point: the shepherd didn’t expect the lost sheep
to find him; the shepherd went to find the lost sheep.
God doesn’t expect lost people to find us. He expects
us to look for them.
It’s our responsibility to go into all the world and make
disciples. If we truly have a heart for lost people, it’s
our responsibility to go out and find them.
A study was conducted about people who drowned. Since
they couldn’t talk to the people who had drowned, they interviewed
people who had been around them. They asked, “Why didn’t you
rescue them?” Answers from many people said, “We didn’t realize
they were drowning. There was a lot of splashing in the water,
but we thought they were just splashing around. We didn’t
realize they were in such danger.”
That’s
so true of the church. Far too many times we look at our society
and don’t realize how bad it is. We don’t realize how sick
it is. At times, I don’t think we truly realize how desperate
it is. What I do know is this: In this story Jesus says that we, as the church, are to initiate reaching
lost people.
2nd
Insight: Lost People Are A Top Priority To Jesus
We
know this because Jesus was willing to leave the 99 for a
time to look for the 1 lost sheep. I shared with the Board
at our last meeting about a pastor who served in Monkton,
Ontario, Canada who began each board meeting with this statement:
We
have met here tonight to reach people. Every decision we make
as a board will either help us in that cause or hinder us.
Reaching
lost people should be, needs to be, must be a core value.
What does that mean? What does that look
like? It clearly means we need to be actively engaged
in world missions. We need to support missionaries
with money, prayers, encouragement and service. One of the
big advances in missions during my years of ministry is the
opportunity for church people to go on missions’ trips.
That’s
a good start—but it’s a safe start. It also means that we need to identify opportunities closer to home where the
world has come to us.
Ministries designed to connect with foreign students
are a great way. The past decade has seen a shift in the palate
of skin shades in Minnesota. The world is truly coming to
the area. It’s up to the church to take Christ to them. Creative
ideas like the Great St. Cloud Give-Away are a good start.
As
we move closer to home, there
are people who look and probably think a lot like we do. The only difference is that they need to discover
just who Jesus is.
Finally,
for each of us there are those
people with whom we connect on regular basis.
They may be friends, family members, neighbors or work associates.
These are people God wants you to go and find.
If
you haven’t figured it out already, what I have done is turned
around what Jesus told His disciples just before He returned
to Heaven. He told them to be His witnesses in Jerusalem,
Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth. I reversed the
order to move from that which is farthest removed from us
with the lowest personal cost to the closest and greatest.
It’s so easy for us to lose sight of our priorities. It so easy to reach a few and then decide we kind of
like it the way it is. Some people decide they like a church
that is a certain size and would really like it not to grow
too much more. How large should a church be? A
church should be willing to always become larger until every
person in the world is saved! As long as there is one person
left who is lost, we need to be looking for that lost sheep.
3rd
Insight: There Is Celebration When The Lost Sheep Is Found
Whenever
that which is lost is found, there’s great rejoicing. When
the shepherd found the sheep he hoisted it up on his shoulders
and he carried it back to flock. He called his friends and
neighbors and said, “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost
sheep.” It was celebration time!
Does the idea of a shepherd finding a lost
sheep remind you of anything?
Let’s put up the
screen and check out the stained glass window in the baptistery.
I love where the window is because every time a person is
baptized it is the picture in the window lived out. A lost
sheep has been found. What do we do as the person is raised
out of the water as a symbol of the spiritual resurrection
from the dead that has occurred? We applaud and cheer—and
so does heaven!
Learning From The Lost Coin (vv. 8-10)
Or
imagine a woman who has ten coins and loses one. Won't she
light a lamp and scour the house, looking in every nook and
cranny until she finds it? And when she finds it you can be
sure she'll call her friends and neighbors: 'Celebrate with
me! I found my lost coin!' Count on it—that's the kind of
party God's angels throw every time one lost soul turns to
God.
Luke 15:8-10 The Message
1st
Insight: Jesus Cares About Quantity
Jesus
certainly cares about the quality of our lives as believers.
He clearly wants us to grow and mature as we become more like
Jesus. He wants us to live holy lives. The problem comes when
we become so concerned with quality that we negate Jesus’
concern about quantity. Jesus
wants as many people as possible to be reached.
We
learn this from the story about the lost coin. 9 coins were
still in hand, but 1 was lost. Whether it’s 1 out of 10 coins
or 1 out 100 sheep, Jesus wants us to see that no matter how
many you have, as long as there is one who is lost, we have
to look.
Jesus
died for all. For God so loved the world… Because Jesus died
for all and has grace sufficient for all, as long as there
is one person who has never received the wonderful grace of
Jesus, He wants us to keep reaching, keep touching, keep seeking
and keep finding.
The
story is told that when we get to heaven and our name is found
in the Book of Life, believers will be asked two
powerful questions. I’m not asking them to make anyone
feel guilty. My prayer is that the Spirit of God will use
them to motivate us—to light a fire under us—to live out His
desire to find lost people. Here’s the first question: Did you come alone?
Wouldn’t
it be awful to get to heaven and see God and His Son Jesus
who died for the sins of the world and when He asks, “Did
you come alone?” to shuffle our feet and say, “Well, ah, you
know, I think, maybe, I did.”
Wow!
Did you come alone? Are we just happy getting there? Is that
our goal—just to make sure we’re saved? Do any of us really
want to hang our heads and mumble, “Yeah, I think I did. I
came alone.” I know I don’t want to do that. I don’t want
to do that because of the second question. It’s not a long
question. It’s just one word: “Why?”
Why? Why would anyone
come to heaven alone?
Reading
these stories we see Jesus’ heart for lost people. He was
absolutely intent on reaching everyone who was lost.
2nd
Insight: Jesus Persistently Searches
Finding
the lost coin was no easy task. The floor was compacted dirt.
The animals were kept inside overnight. That means the floor
would have been a mess. She doesn’t give up. She lights a
lamp. She sweeps the floor. She may not find it the first
hour or even the first day. She keeps looking, however, until
she finds it.
Take
the time to study the accounts where Jesus heals people. In
34 or the 40 healings, the people who needed healing didn’t
find Jesus by themselves. Either Jesus found them or someone
brought them to Jesus.
Studies about how people finally accept Christ vary
only slightly. The percentages are always very close with
the smallest percentage (1 or 2%) accepting Christ at a crusade,
4 or 5% through special church programs, another 4 or 5% through
ministries like Sunday School or AWANA, 8% because of contact
with the pastor and about 80% through friends and relatives.
Listen
to me very closely: If
your friend goes to heaven with you, it’ll most likely be
because you did something about it. Maybe your friend
said no to you the first time, the first 10 times or even
the first 100 times, but you just kept on loving them and
asking them.
3rd
Insight: There Is Great Celebration When The Coin Is Found
A
second story about finding something that was lost ends with
a second look at the celebration that takes place. It’s just
a fact of life—people rejoice when lost things are found and
heaven rejoices when lost people are found.
Learning From The Lost Son (vv. 11-32)
Here
are three insights from this fascinating look at God’s love
for those who are lost.
1st
Insight: God’s Love Is Patient
God is willing to wait. He sometimes allows us to run our course knowing that
we’re never going to truly come home until we’ve done what
we are going to do. In the story the lost son had to hit the
bottom before he was willing to consider the incredible advantages
he enjoyed at home.
2nd
Insight: While Patient, God Is Waiting Expectantly
Don’t mistake God’s patience as apathy or lack of caring.
The father watched every day and saw his son coming while
he was still far away. He waited and he watched—just as God
waits and watches for us.
3rd
Insight: There Is Great Celebration When The Son Is Found
The
returning son is welcomed with the best his father can offer
as the fatted calf is prepared and a grand party is held.
Three Kinds Of People
The
three stories told by Jesus identify three different kinds
of lost people.
The Coin Represents
People Who Are Lost And Don’t Know It
It’s
doesn’t matter where you live, there are people all around
you who are lost and don’t know it. When you talk with people
about God there is a vague, blank stare as you share about
a relationship with God and eternal destiny. They may be lost—but
they don’t have a clue what that means.
The Sheep Represents
People Who Are Lost And Know It—But Don’t Know What To Do
About It
The
sheep was able to recognize that it was separated from the
flock. The sheep may have experienced the kind of primal panic
you see on the Animal Planet channel. The sheep realized it
was lost but didn’t have a clue on how to get home to safety
with the shepherd.
The Son Represents
People Who Are Lost And Know It—And Know What To Do About
It
The
lost son knows what he needs to do. He knows is he far from
home and decides he needs to return to Dad’s house. He plans
to confess his sin and hope to at least be given a place as
a servant. He was lost; he knew he was lost; and, he knew
what to do.
It’s
interesting in these three stories that the only one not actively
searched for is the son. That’s because he knew he was lost
and how to be found.
How Do We Respond?
If
we are going to be like Jesus by having a heart for those
are lost, what does that mean? Jesus reveals
His heart in His prayer on the night of His betrayal.
Now
I am coming to you. I told them many things while I was with
them in this world so they would be filled with my joy. I
have given them your word. And the world hates them because
they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to
the world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world,
but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong
to this world any more than I do. Make them holy by your truth;
teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you sent me
into the world, I am sending them into the world. And I give
myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy
by your truth.
John 17:13-19 NLT
Look
at four steps to becoming a redemptive person.
Becoming
A Redemptive Person Requires A Decision
We
have to decide if we are willing to be sent.
Becoming
A Redemptive Person Requires Preparation
Jesus
had spent three years training the disciples for this assignment.
Becoming
A Redemptive Person Requires Accountability
They
were clearly accountable to God for ministry. But, accountability
was much more personal. During Jesus’ training process He
sent them out two by two and then checked them back in to
review what had taken place.
Becoming
A Redemptive Person Requires Focus
There
is a tendency when things begin to press in on us to become
concerned about other things. We become other-minded so easily
until we’re caught up doing all kinds of good things but not
the main things. Jesus summarized His main thing after He
had gone into the house of Zacchaeus.
Jesus
said to Zacchaeus, "Today you and your family have been
saved, because you are a true son of Abraham. The Son of Man
came to look for and to save people who are lost."
Luke 19:9-10 CEV
What Can We Do?
We understand what it means to be lost because of
situations that happen in our world that are much like a lost
sheep, a lost coin, or a lost son. During the past month we
have seen and heard a family struggle with pain and despair
because their college-student son had wandered out by the
river, called a friend and hasn’t been seen since that call
ended abruptly. Even though the official searches have been
ended the family continues to search, but even the father
admits that the reality that all hope is lost has become very
real. Now, can you imagine the celebration if he were to be
found.
Yes,
lostness matters to God and He wants it to matter to us. What can we do? In closing here are two action steps.
Pray For People
The
Bible has seven prayers we can offer for people who don’t
know the Lord.
1.
That God would convict them of sin (John
16:18)
2.
That their eyes would be open to truth
(2 Corinthians 4:4)
3.
That laborers would be sent to them (Matthew
9:38)
4.
That their hearts would soften to the gospel
(Hebrews 3:12-13)
5.
That they would be protected from the enemy
(John 17:15)
6.
That they would have no peace until they
find Christ (John 14:27
7.
That God would draw them to Himself (John
6:44)
If
you have someone you would like to see come to Christ, you
can offer one of these prayer requests each of the week.
Be Salt
Two
weeks ago we talked about being salt and light. Here’s a plan
for being salty.
·
S
– Show Love: Let them see Christ in you
·
A
– Ask Questions: Find out where the connection to Jesus is
available
·
L
– Listen: People often just need someone who will listen to
them
·
T
– Turn The Subject Toward Jesus: Discover those places where
you can share about Jesus
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