God is Looking for
Repentant Sinners
Luke 15 SCC 6/2/16
The three parables all
have the same basic application: God is seeking the lost, and the lost are the ones who realize they
are lost so they repent and return to God. This was in contrast to the Pharisees
who did not see the value of repentant sinners. Interpretation revolves around
the meaning of ‘lost’ v 4, 8, 24 and 32. Many have an exegetical knee jerk
reaction that this is about evangelism. But this is not about the unsaved. Notice: (1) The shepherd owns all the
sheep before one stray’s v 4; the
widow owns all the coin’s before one is lost v 8; and the son is already a son of his father before he leaves.
This provides a clue that this is about the pastoral care of God’s people. God
wills that not one of his children is lost by straying away from him. (2) When
a straying believer comes to his or her spiritual senses and repents, shepherds
and heaven rejoice v 5 and 7, angels rejoice, and god’s family
should rejoice v 32. In other words, God is concerned for and
rejoices over the restoration of a straying believer and so should we in the
household of God. These three stories illustrate Gods desire:
SHEPHERDING GODS PEOPLE
IS A MINISTRY OF RESTORING BELIEVERS
In v 1-2 The tax
collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. Reprobates
drawing near to Jesus v 1 want to
enjoy a conversation and a meal with him. These were the kinds of people who
were coming to him in his ministry. They know something about the low end of
life. Tax collectors have a shady reputation. Sinners broadens it to any kind of person who leads a sinful life.
So they all have a sense of lostness. We often refer to a lost soul as one who
has lost his way. Here it means to be lost or wayward from god disoriented in
terms of life and experience. Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to
grumble v 2 and what they grumbled about was, this man receives sinners and eats with them. He is sitting down at
dinner with the riff raff. They would never eat with and converse with this low
life. Jesus teaching is not directed to them but the tax gatherers and sinners
with whom he is about to eat. These are the ones who will benefit from the
following instruction.
(1) The shepherd leaves 99 of his 100 sheep to go after
the one that is lost v 3-4. All 100
sheep belong to him. He pursues the one lost sheep with intent until he finds
it and can bring it safely back to the other 99. This would be the natural
thing for a shepherd to do. That’s why he is in the field tending the flock.
Eventually he finds the lost sheep, places it on his shoulders rejoicing in the
discovery v 5.
(2) There is more joy over
one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no
repentance. Notice all of the rejoicing v 6-7. First amongst friends and neighbors and then in heaven too. This is
not evangelizing but about one who has been in the flock and has been lost. It
is about restoration. In v 7 we
have rejoicing in heaven over this restoration of one repenting rather than for
a righteous group who does not need repentance.
NB: So a disciple can stray and Christ
looks for him. If a follower drifts spiritually the lord is concerned and so
should we be. Discipleship includes shepherding and restoring lost believers.
The reason there is joy in heaven over this is because repenting believers no
longer jeopardize their lives. There is no need to rejoice over righteous
believers since their lives are not in jeopardy due to sin. Instead we should
all be rejoicing in God’s household when this happens. James says so in James
5:19-20. All the sheep already belong to the shepherd. There is no call to
faith here only repentance. Otherwise salvation is a call for repentance of sin
rather than faith in Christ for eternal life.
RESTORING BELIEVERS REQUIRES
DILIGENT EFFORT TO BRING THEM BACK
The ten coins belong to woman and one is lost v 8. She knows it is somewhere in the
house but she must find it. After lighting a candle, sweeping the house, and
carefully searching to find it she calls her friends and neighbors to rejoice
over its discovery v 9. The coin was
lost but now has been found! So in v 10
there is joy in presence of angels while in v 7 in heaven. Angels seem to delight in the repentance of the believer.
Angels are very aware of what is going on just as they were at the tomb of
Jesus. When a believer sins he is a sinner. This is a slam on the Pharisees of
v 1-2. They were grumbling that Jesus had anything to do with people like this.
Yet even after people come to Jesus and drift away and return they are still
welcomed back. So when a believer gets separated from fellowship there should
be great rejoicing when he or she returns. The concern of the body is looking diligently
for straying believers to repent and return. The publicans and sinners at this
meal need to know that Jesus is concerned if they stray and will seek their restoration
not reject them. It is his personal property he has lost and he is glad to have
it back.
NB: We should never write off sinning
believers as if they are irrelevant to us or God. They place themselves in
jeopardy of God’s discipline for sure. That discipline can be painful and
costly. But the point here is that the church must take diligent action and
deliberate initiative to restore wayward believers as a central consideration
of her ministry. Its easier to not get ourselves dirty here with time, effort,
prayer, conversation or concern. But look at the priority heaven places on
this.
BELIEVERS WHO RETURN
MUST ALWAYS BE AN OCCASION FOR REJOICING
Verse 11-13: There is a sense in which God allows
his son to squander his inheritance if that is what he wants. Prodigal means
wasteful. God permits that wasting if desired. God does not make us perform,
stay on the farm or coerce our obedience. The younger son gets out there on his
own and soon finds out it is not better. God can move the prodigal back by
bringing privation upon him. There is a spiritual sense that we can learn from
our sin. It should not be that way of course. But if that is what one wants God
permits it. The young son’s life collapses soon after his departure.
Verse 14-19: Then a famine exacerbates his plight
in addition to squandering his money 14.
Desperate he seeks employment clearly taking whatever he can get 15. He still suffers with the pigs
better off than he is with no one willing to help him 16. Realizing how far he has plunged he reasons that his father may
treat him better 17. He decides to
go back to father and repent. He develops a plan of action to cast himself on
his father’s mercy 18. He decides to
place himself under the discretion of his father with no excuses only
confession 19. Straying sinner can
find the world takes and god gives. He is still aware that it is still his
father. No reason for straying believer to lose assurance that father is
father. The younger son is not saying ‘I wonder if I am really his son’. When
he comes back he discovers the father was looking for him all of the time.
Verse 20-24: A great way off his father saw him
and had compassion not anger. A relationship is being restored. With repentance
comes reconciliation. The father is so responsive to him embracing him as if he
had always been there not as a hired servant 20-21. Father fully equips him dresses him nourishes him. This far
exceeded anything he thot his father would do 22-24. God is going to be more generous to the returning believer
than one thinks. It is much better to come back as quickly as possible. His son
was dead in that all communication had been broken off. The relationship was
totally broken in terms of interaction. I had lost all contact with him but now
I have it back again like a resurrection.
PT: Even if I hit bottom in my walk with
god there is something much better for me when I return to him. Better to have
never gone, believe me. Not better off if I do either. Not stronger if I do either.
Baggage and consequences yes. He has not restored the inheritance he had
wasted. It’s not fair to cut into older son’s property rights. Straying
from God is not without its cost but the focus of the story is on what God does
for the one who does come back. God rejoices!
Verse 25-31: The elder brother hears the
celebration and investigates 25. The
father celebrates because the younger brother has returned healthy 26-27. The elder brother is angered by
these events and cannot bring himself to go in and celebrate while the father
repeatedly asks to join in but elder focuses on justice 28-30. Where is justice? The elder’s son feelings are hurt. There should
be no disdain about repentance. Repentance yields God’s kindness. The father
affirms elder faithfulness accepting that his son always at his side always
with access to benefits of such 31. The
elder never had anything in jeopardy. The father affirms the necessity of
celebration—it is morally right to rejoice on this occasion.
SO WHAT?
1. The spiritual life of believers can become disrupted
by fleshly desires and worldly appeals. With temptations all around us, our
desires can be aroused that motivate us to stray from God.
2. Straying believers should never just be viewed as just
collateral damage of the spiritual warfare against us. It is not alright with
God for any of his sons or daughters to lose fellowship with him.
3. Discipleship requires many services among which is the
restoration of wayward believers who jeopardize their personal lives, spiritual
growth, and their service to Christ, all of which only takes place here, on
earth, in the flesh.