I Once Was Lost… Now I’m Found

2. I Once Was Lost… Now I’m Found • Our attitude toward the lost: • See the context: Jesus is correcting an attitude of elitism, self-righteousness, and pride directed at the lost (Luke 15:1-3) • Easy to see ourselves as the objects of grace and not our response to lost • The Pharisees grumbled because Jesus ate with tax collectors & sinners. Why were they there? They wanted to hear Jesus… learning! • These parables are meant to make the Pharisees see that the lost matter to God and God is interested in their salvation & seeking them • Each parables show that the lost are worth searching for, finding, and celebrating upon their return (vs. 4, 8, 31-32) • Pharisees discarded them, avoided them, and forgot about them. • Did the Pharisees see it? The woman, shepherd, & father were pictures of God. Shouldn’t God’s people act the same way? • All they saw was a stench, corruption, and darkness… but their attitude and behavior was spreading the same result (Matt 23:13, 15)

3. I Once Was Lost… Now I’m Found • Our attitude toward the lost: • The climax of this point is Jesus’ description of the older brother who is filled with bitterness & jealousy (Luke 15:25-30) • He used distancing language – “Your son” instead of “my brother” – He verbalizes what was in his heart… Disowning his brother. • Pride: He actually claims to have never disobeyed his father! He is maximizing his brother’s failure while minimizing his own. • He would have been perfectly content if the younger brother had never come home. Imagine if his face & voice were the first experienced! • Who is the older brother? It was the Jewish leaders who were upset about Jesus’ teaching and time with the lost. No mercy and love, just anger and resentment. Did they want them to be saved? • A sober and challenging message for the saved. What is our attitude toward the lost. How is our attitude reflected toward the lost? Do we really want them saved? (Romans 9:1-3, 10:1)

4. I Once Was Lost… Now I’m Found • The State Of Being Lost: • In these parables Jesus describes the lost from three angles: • Lost Coin – Personified… Didn’t know it was lost, didn’t know way home • Lost Sheep – Knew it was lost, but didn’t know the way home • Lost Son – Knew he was lost, knew the way home, but stayed lost. • Which state of being lost was worse? Which was the most lost? Each had unique challenges & barriers, but in the end lost was lost • With each parable Jesus emphasizes the serious nature of being lost in a different way: (vs. 4, 8, 13-17) • Why does Jesus focus on the search in the first two? It shows how much they could stand the thought of something being lost • Especially with the lost sheep – Shepherd leaves the “open country” which was a place of safety & comfort. Implies difficult & danger. • Prodigal son was a physical representation of a spiritual reality – Broken, broke, empty, friendless, rock bottom. Total spiritual bankruptcy

5. I Once Was Lost… Now I’m Found • The State Of Being Lost: • In His ministry, Jesus worked with the coin, the sheep, and the son. The Pharisees saw this as a lack of spirituality in Jesus, but Jesus was sweeping, searching, & waiting (Matt. 9:10-13) • We need a stronger appreciation for what it means to be lost. • We need to feel what it means or would mean for ourselves. We need to feel what it means for others. • Often the problem is people don’t feel lost so they don’t feel the need to go home. They don’t see God searching for them. • Being lost means having no sense of direction, having no hope, and ultimately it means never going home (1 Tim. 5:6)

6. I Once Was Lost… Now I’m Found • The Love And Mercy Of God: • In each parable, the love and mercy of God is emphasized through the unworthiness of what was lost (vs. 4, 8, 13) • The woman had more coins and the shepherd had more sheep. The son rejected his father, left home, wasted inheritance, at rock bottom • Yet each of these still mattered. They were missed. They were wanted. The owner, shepherd, and father still cared about what was lost. • The sheep & son wandered away willfully, but that didn’t stop the shepherd and father from loving and showing mercy to them. • Love & mercy is seen by the effort of the search (vs. 4, 8, 20) • Shepherd searched the countryside – Time, effort, energy – Relentless! • Woman swept her house – Every square inch – Diligent! • Father – Had he given up? His son had to make a decision… he had to want to come home. Father was waiting, watching, hoping. • Could have given up, cast blame, made unrealistic requests but didn’t. In their great love and mercy they made the return possible

7. I Once Was Lost… Now I’m Found • The Love And Mercy Of God: • God’s love and mercy is further shown through the celebration when each lost thing came home (vs. 5-6, 9, 20-25) • Not just happiness or excitement, but celebration. Really it’s a party! • The guests of the woman and the shepherd likely thought they lost their mind partying over a coin & sheep. The guests of the father likely thought he was losing it for celebrating one who was so wasteful • The Son – Best robe, ring on hand, new sandals, fatted calf – This isn’t just about celebrating his return, but restoring his family status • A clear point: When even just ONE lost person returns home, it causes a great celebration in Heaven & their position is restored (vs. 10) • We fail miserably in our best efforts to describe and understand God’s love & mercy. To the lost – God loves you and is waiting to celebrate & restore you. To the saved – Show love & mercy to the lost like God does. Celebrate their return (Rom 5:6-8)