[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hey, thanks so much for listening to this message. My name is Jason, and I'm one of the ministers here at the Madison Church of Christ. It's our hope and prayer that the teaching you hear today will bless your life and draw you closer to God. If you're ever in the Madison area, we'd love for you to stop by and study the Bible with us on Sundays at 05:00 p.m. or Wednesdays at 07:00 p.m. if you have questions about the Bible or want to know more about the Madison church, you can find us
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[00:00:38] Speaker B: Good evening. So this evening we're going to talk about the lost sheep.
Certainly the theme this year is the ages of change. So I thought I would make it a little more adult version of ages of change. And the theme tonight we're going to focus on is God cares about us. And so we tonight are going to focus on, and you can use this as context, this verse from Luke, chapter 19, verse ten, for the son of man has come to seek and save that which is lost. And so if you're from the corporate world, that is one of the probably greatest mission statements ever written. It's direct and to the point, why is he here? He's here to come to seek and save that which is lost. Tonight we're going to focus on the word lost. And what does that mean and how does affect us as Christians? And so as a society, we as Christians, we understand the concept of loss. We understand that we once was lost, there was redemption, and that we were saved, and we have salvation. But lost means is also prevalent throughout our culture, beyond Christianity. And so around our culture, we'll see different things of different themes of loss in music, in art, and in movies and books. And so I put a couple examples here. The one that stands out to me is castaway is one of the, if you're familiar with that movie, with Tom Hanks, he was on a stranded island and he was there. And that movie took you through the steps and the feelings and emotions and the things that he went through while he tried to survive on this deserted island. And so those things are feelings and emotions. And you'll see that in all of these examples of someone feeling disconnected, isolated, lost. In a way, our culture is attuned with that as well. And so that's why? You'll see so many examples throughout our culture.
So a personal story about being lost.
I think some of you are familiar with this sign. So we just got to Germany, it was probably about twelve years ago, and we were there for a couple weeks while we were getting oriented to the german culture. And so you can't just jump on german roads and start driving. You have to learn their signage, you have to learn their laws. Many of them are similar to ours, some of them are very different. And so we were there for a couple of weeks. Our car arrived, we were getting set up. We started to learn our way around. But for the most part, we had been on the bus system. The American. That's a little too loud. Okay.
We had been on the american bus system to move around the city of Stuttgart. That's where we were stationed at the time. And so now it's time for us to strike out on our own and go on our first trip. And we were going to go to where all Americans go in Germany, Ramstein to the air force base, because there's a huge base exchange there. It's like a big mall. And you can go get a little bit of american culture in the middle of Germany. And so we jumped on the road. I'm observing all german laws. You only use the left lane to pass because that's the law. They don't play over there. And so plus you don't want to get run over because the speed is true. They do drive very fast. And so we were on the highway, Autobahn, we were moving out. And one of the things that's different over there, twelve years ago, if you used your mobile device, your map, use your data plan. And so if you wanted a very expensive cell phone bill, you would use your map. Well, I didn't want that. So I mapped out the journey. I figured out which audubon lanes I needed to go. I need to go eight to five to six, and six will take you all the way to Ramstein. And once you get close, the signage will lead me there or I'll put out my phone at the last minute to make those last few adjustments. So if you're in the city center, their signage over in Germany is much like the United States. It shows you where to go. There's a lot of things that point you in the right direction. But once you get outside the city limits, all of the sign looks the same. Every sign says this. Ospak. Now that's their word. The literal translation is to depart. But it's the american equal to exit. Every exit is exit, and that's it. There's nothing else there. And if you're in the case down here, there's an exit both ways. Which way do you go? And so we're driving along, and we're heading to Ramstein, and I get off on the first major exchange, and I'm now on the autobahn five, and I'm heading north, and I'm feeling pretty good about myself. And I said, okay, I think we're doing. I plopped my phone for a second, turn it right, back off. And I said, we're heading in the right direction, and we're driving along. And then you start to get this feeling. I think we've been on this road too long, but we keep going. And so Denise is over in the passenger seat, and she's just admiring the german countryside, which is absolutely beautiful. And she's taken, at that point, probably about 50 or 60 pictures. And we're just. The kids are in the backseat. They're a little. You know, they're on their devices. Denise is like, hey, look at that. They're like, yeah, yeah, right. And so we're driving along, and I'm starting. What Denise doesn't know, I'm starting to get a little more anxious. I think we're lost. I think I missed my exit. I think it was the one back there that I thought I looked at and said, I think that was my exit. And so we keep driving along, and I'm starting. The anxiety is starting to build up, and Denise is starting to look at me like, is everything okay? And I looked at her. I said, I think we missed our exit. And from the backseat, the beautiful voice of a four year old. I think you know which one I'm talking about. Daddy, are we lost?
Okay. She was listening, and so I had to deal with that moment of, yes, I am. I don't know where I'm at. Every sign looks the same. And for those who thinking right now, well, you should just pull over and ask for direction. Special Z Deutsche. Nein. That's this guy. I don't speak German, and so I can't go ask for directions. Cause I wouldn't know what to say. And if they answered me, I wouldn't know what they said. And so I keep going along, and finally I see a sign, and I'm near Darmstadt, which is way north, about 45 minutes north of where we should have been. And I said, okay. I know. I remember seeing those on the map. This is too far. I need to turn around. I need to plot a new path and head in the right direction. Now, as a side story for those that don't make up their mind fast enough on the Autobahn again, they drive 90 miles an hour. And so if you don't make your mind up fast enough, you can end up like that. That's not us. That wasn't me.
We did not end up like that. But they didn't make up their mind fast enough, so they kind of ended up there. But we did eventually make our way over to Ramsay. But I remember in that moment of the feeling that I had of feeling lost. You know, here I am. I'm in a foreign country, but we're surrounded, surrounded by hundreds and thousands of people. But I felt isolated, but I felt responsible. I have my family here. I'm the person that is supposed to protect them and make sure we get to a safe place. And I felt lost. And so that had a great impact on me. And I learned a couple things that day. One, plan out your trip ahead of time and understand german roads. They're numbered, and so don't look for. Look for their numbering system and use that because that's what works. And two, don't use apple maps, because at the time, apple Maps didn't work over there, you had to use waze. Most Germans over there use waze, which is also their alert for their mobile photo ticketing system, so that someone will put on there and tell you, hey, there's a camera on the corner, which is great, because you didn't want those tickets. So that was kind of our personal experience, being lost. But what does it mean to be lost? And so we as christians, we look at loss, and we understand loss and found in redemption. But there's other ways that you can categorize loss as well. Certainly spiritual. We'll start there. Being separated from God, that is a way of being lost. Emotional or psychological, having a lack of direction or purpose, social feeling alienated or excluded, that can be a form of being lost. Metaphorical or symbolic, an existential crisis. Everything is going wrong. Your life is falling apart. You can feel lost. All of these forms are lost. None of them are sins, but they certainly can put you on the autobahn and give you an osfot into a road that can lead you further down and away from Christ. And so it skipped a slide. Okay, so the slide that you should have seen there is. All of those forms can lead you to what I would categorize and I would name as hopelessness. All of these forms, we'll just back up to the slide before here, all of these forms of being lost can lead you to a place of hopelessness. And what is hopelessness? Hopelessness is no joyous. There's no light in your life. There's nothing to look forward to. The only thing that's ahead of you is a downward spiral. And that downward spiral leads you to hopelessness. And without hopelessness, without hope, it starts to affect your faith, which is the next slide here. Come on. And so faith is what everything is based on in our lives as christians. And if your faith is starting to be eroded, well, that's what. That is what Satan's goal is, to start to erode your faith. Well, what is faith? Faith is their assurance of things hoped for, hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. So what happens if you remove and you took the foundation of hope for away? Well, if. Now, if you read the sentence, it says, now face is the assurance of things. Well, what things? That's non specific. That's not something you can grasp onto. There's no hope. Hope is the essential element here that makes faith real to you. I'm hoping for something. I'm hoping for salvation. I'm hoping with a life forever with Jesus. And so as your faith start to fade away, this whole thing now does not make sense at all.
There's nothing here for you to feel reassured about. And so here we'll start to focus on tonight's parable. And the scene is, Jesus is coming to a place, and there are people starting to gather. And you'll see that over and over in the Bible. And so here in Luke, chapter 15, starting at verse one, this sets the context and the stage. And now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near Jesus to listen to him. And both the Pharisees and the scribes began to complain, saying, this man receive sinners and eat with them. Go back to the mission statement. He came here to seek and save the lost. And so how can you seek and save the lost unless you spend time with them? Which is what he was doing. They did not understand because they saw him and thought what he should be doing is differently, but that's what he did. And so now we get into the parable of the lost sheep. And it starts in verse three, he said. And so he told them this parable, saying, what man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has one lost and has lost them, does not leave the 99 in the open pasture to go after the one which is lost until he finds it?
So here what Jesus is, is starting. And opening this parable with is the shepherd's concern that while I may have 100 sheep, I care about each and every one of them individually, that all of them are important, and that I am willing to leave the 99 to go find that one because that one is as important to me as the rest of the 99. He also illustrates that he is persistent. Until he finds it, he will search for it. And so that's reassuring them that I am committed to this. I'm going to do this until it is done.
Continue on with the parable. In verse five, he says when he has found it, he lay it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors and saying to them, rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.
Verse seven. I tell you that in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance.
And so what Jesus here again is continuing to illustrate is that when the shepherd encounters that lost sheep, he applies tender care by carrying it on his shoulder, by demonstrating here, by saying, I found the sheep. I'm not going to put a leash on it and drag it back to the fold. I'm not going to, I'm going to put the burden on my shoulders, I'm going to care for it, and I'm going to carry it all the way back until it's back in a safe place. Also talks about joy and recovery and that the sheep is back. Let's rejoice. Let's celebrate that the one that was lost is now found and back in the fold.
So how does knowing that God actively seeks out the laws impact your faith journey? What does it mean to you? For me, it gives me confidence. It knows that God and Jesus are actively searching for me. He's actively looking out for me. He's making sure that if I am lost, that he provides some sort of way. If I'm asking God, lead me back, bring me back, that he's going to come and get me and he's going to take my burden on and he's going to take me back to a place until I'm safe again. That's what it means to me. But it may have a different meaning for you. And so I posed that question to you to think about what does it mean to you that God is actively seeking out the loss and the impact? And how does it impact you?
And so how does God seek the loss? So we talked about these different categories of loss here. And so we'll go through a couple examples of each of them and where you can find them, examples of them in the scripture. So acts, chapter nine, verses three through six, we talk about Jesus encounter with Saul. Many of you are familiar with this. Saul was separated from God in one of the most profound ways. He was persecuting christians. And so Jesus encountered him. And here in verse three, he said, as he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus. And suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him, and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? And he said, who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, who you are persecuting, but get up and go and enter the city, and it will be told to you what you must do. And so here's one way how God seeks the loss. Jesus did it. He engaged himself again. That was his mission statement. And so he went and found someone who was lost and engaged him to bring him back another way, emotionally or psychologically.
In one kings, you can find the example of Elijah. Elijah was in deep despair, again aligns with an emotional state. And he was isolated in the wilderness because he was being pursued.
One kings, chapter 19, four through eight, he said, but he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a juniper tree. And he requested for himself that he might die. He was in a pretty low place. And he said, it is enough now, o Lord, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers. He lay down and slept under a juniper tree, and behold, there was an angel touching him and said to him, arise, eat.
Then he looked back, and then he looked, and behold, there was at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And so he ate and drank and lay down again. The angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, arise, eat, because the journey is too great for you. So he arose and ate and drank and went in the strength of that food 40 days and 40 nights to horeb the mountain of God. So here's a different example of how an angel was used to seek the lost and engage him in his lost state.
In the restoration of Peter in John the 21st chapter in verse 17, Peter was in a bad place. So Jesus telegraphed to him, hey, you're going to deny me three times, and you're going to deny that you ever knew me. It happened exactly as Jesus described. And Peter not only denied him, he cursed him and said, I do not know this man well. Peter is now isolated. He had built around him a community of people who knew him and loved him, and now he has separated himself from them. Not only did he separate himself, he alienated himself because there were people in the community that said, hey, you were with Jesus, and we just did something to him. We're going to do it to you too. And so now he is feeling alone and afraid and isolated.
And again Jesus comes to him, and he said to him, the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, do you love me? And he said to him, lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. Jesus said to him, tend my sheep.
And then finally, an example of the prodigal son. Again, if there was ever an existential crisis, that was the story of someone who lost it all. And so in Luke 1520 through 24, it says, so he got up and he came to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion to him and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
But the father said to the slaves, quickly bring out the best robes and put it on him. And put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet, and bring the fatted cat, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For the son of mine was dead and has come to life again. He was lost and has been found, and they began to celebrate again.
The prodigal son was someone who took his inheritance early, went out, and he was living the life that he thought he deserved and that he believed that would go on forever. But found himself eating pig slop. And if that's not an existential threat crisis, I'm not sure what is. And so he humbled himself, he brought himself back, and his father was the one who was used to bring the loss back to a found state. And so how does God seek the loss? He seeks through Jesus. He does it through angels, through the Holy Spirit, and he does it through us.
So how does God care for us? Or does God care for us? It may complain in one Peter, five, six, nine. Therefore, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God so that he might exalt you at the proper time, having cast all your anxiety on him because he cares about you. Be of sober spirit. Be on alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. So resist him. Be firm in your faith, knowing that the same experience of suffering are being accomplished by your brothers and sisters who are in the world. So God does care about his. He made it plain, it says it very plainly that he cares about you. But it takes of us to have a sober spirit and realize that we are being attacked because it states that we, that the devil is prowling around like a roaring lionhouse. And so if a sheep gets separated from the pack and is out in danger, that is certainly who the devil would go after and try to attack. But we can feel good, because for the Son of man has come to seek and save which was lost. And so his focus was to go out and make sure that that sheep that has been separated, or the one that feels that they are no longer part or alienated or isolated, that Christ is, his job is to seek and bring them back and make them feel whole again.
That concludes my lesson for tonight. That went faster than I thought. And so certainly I encourage you to think about what is the feeling of loss and being lost.
And when we talk about how God seeks the loss and brings them back, certainly Jesus has the power to do that. Certainly angels and the Holy Spirit has to do that. But also think about yourself and how God can use you, how God may work through you. You may be someone who directly engaged with someone and lead them to the cross where they can experience salvation. But you also may be used to just plant a seed that might germinate and come through later. And so you may not just lead them right to the pulpit and into the water, but you may say or do the right thing, that they can experience the love of God, or at least they can see a glimmer of it and can lead them on the right path back to being not lost. And so with that, I give you the lesson tonight, and I thank you for your attention.
