Well, I wonder if you've ever got somebody badly wrong.
My favourite example of this is a famous story from 1962,
told of a man who travelled to London with his guitar and his three friends
to perform one of their first ever music auditions in front of a record producer.
So they perform in front of this record producer.
They finish and then they ask him what he thought about them.
And he replied, sorry mate, we don't like your sound.
Boy bands are on the way out.
As it turns out, the record producer had just turned down Paul McCartney and the Beatles.
Getting somebody badly, badly wrong.
Well, as we turn to Luke chapter 15 this morning,
I encourage you to have that passage open in front of you.
As we turn to Luke chapter 15 this morning,
and to think, no exaggeration to say one of the world's most loved stories,
we need to understand that Jesus is talking to a crowd.
And in this crowd are people who have got God badly wrong.
Luke who's listening to Jesus at verses 1 and 2.
Luke tells us, do you see, that there are two groups in this crowd.
First group, tax collectors and sinners.
As we've seen in the play, you don't get much more hated.
I'm a much more hated group of people in this culture than tax collectors.
Because they are Jews who work for the Romans by collecting taxes for the Romans from their fellow Jews.
I mean, these guys are like the opposite of Robin Hood.
They steal from the poor and they take that money and they give it to the rich.
And so in this culture, they're regarded as total scum.
Probably told that every day, that God wants absolutely nothing to do with you.
Little wonder then that as they hear Jesus talk about God's great banquet.
Remember we saw that in Luke chapter 14?
God's great banquet where outsiders are welcomed in.
No wonder that they are drawing near to Jesus.
Because they have never seen or heard or met anyone quite like him in their whole life.
Pharisees and the scribes of the other group.
What are they doing in this story?
They're grumbling.
Do you see how Luke tells us that?
Why?
Well, because they are watching Jesus as an action.
And they are aghast at what he's doing.
He associates with them.
He eats with them.
And it's not like Jesus and the tax collectors and sinners have just accidentally turned up at the same restaurant.
It's not like they've gone to Nando's and they just happen to share a booth.
Jesus is going towards these despicable outsiders.
That is a red rag to a bull to these Pharisees.
Because in their minds, Jesus should be at their parties,
wining and dining with them,
and proposing a toast, raising a glass to their righteousness.
They want him to say about them.
When the God said in the beginning,
when we were thinking about the epitome of man,
we could not have imagined it could have got any better than this to the Pharisees.
That's what they want them to say.
You see these two groups in this story?
Two groups in this crowd?
Both of them asking, why?
Why Jesus?
One group asking,
why would Jesus bother with me?
And the other group asking,
why would Jesus bother with them?
I wonder if that's you here this morning.
If that's the,
right, I've got a thing for symmetry,
okay, I'm just moving this to the middle.
I wonder if that's you this morning.
Are you asking,
why would Jesus bother with me?
Why would Jesus bother with me?
Because if he knew what I'd done,
if he knew what I'm doing,
then he would run a mile from me.
But the thing about being God,
the one who created you,
is that he knows you.
He knows all things about you.
It's kind of how being God works.
He knows all things.
And here are two groups of people in their minds asking why.
Well, to help this crowd understand the why,
verse 3,
do you see Jesus told them this parable?
Featuring firstly verses 3 to 7,
a determined shepherd.
See how many sheep he's got?
100 sheep.
What happens?
One wanders off.
Now we might look at that and say,
a 1% loss?
I think I take those odds.
1% loss?
Are you kidding me?
But we have to understand that in this culture,
this is a big deal.
A big deal.
Most likely this flock of 100 sheep
would have been made up of the shepherd sheep,
his wider family sheep,
and maybe even some of their neighbor sheep as well.
And the shepherd has got collective responsibility
to look after this whole flock.
And so when Jesus asked his listeners,
would the shepherd not leave the 99
and would he not go and hunt for the one?
They are not thinking,
no chance.
They are thinking,
of course he would.
Of course he would.
But the question is,
what is this shepherd in this story?
What's he going to do?
You know,
our little girl Chloe,
she was singing,
in the bath the other night,
she was singing Little Bo Peep.
Do you know that song?
Little Bo Peep.
Little Bo Peep
has lost her sheep
and doesn't know where to find them.
And I'm listening to her singing this song
and I'm thinking,
that's interesting
because I've been studying a shepherd this week
who has also lost some sheep.
I wonder how Little Bo Peep plans
on finding her sheep.
And she goes on,
leave them alone
and they will come home
wagging their tails behind them.
And I'm thinking to myself,
I don't want to burst her bubble,
I don't have the heart,
but I'm thinking to myself,
Little Bo Peep,
you've been getting away with this for years.
So I'm going to out her
as a terrible shepherdess this morning
because couched in the middle
of a sweet lullaby
is some quite shocking shepherding.
Her plan on getting her lost sheep to come back
is to leave them alone
and trust that they will find their own way back.
It's terrible shepherding.
That would never happen.
That's why that's terrible shepherding.
And the shepherd that Jesus talks about here,
he knows that all too well.
See how Jesus describes the plan of this shepherd
at verse four.
Look at it there.
What does he do?
He goes after the lost sheep
and he finds the lost sheep
and you see the joy that it brings him
that he's found his lost sheep.
See the effort that he goes to
to find the sheep
and then get it back.
What does he do?
He puts it on his shoulders
and he walks all the way home
with it on his shoulders.
And when he gets home,
he doesn't just collapse in the armchair.
What does he do?
He throws a massive party
to celebrate all his friends and neighbours.
Come and rejoice
because this lost sheep of mine,
I found it.
Now that is what I call a shepherd.
That is what I call a shepherd.
And as we'll see in a little bit's time,
we've got to praise God
that this is the shepherd
that he describes here.
Is that just a nice story?
No, it's a wonderful picture,
says Jesus,
of God's heart for the lost
and the party that kicks off in heaven
every time a lost sinner
repents and calls out to God
and comes home to the Father.
Do you see how you have got
God badly wrong,
says Jesus?
So if to underscore the point,
secondly, verses 8 to 10,
he says,
picture a diligent woman in your minds,
picture a diligent woman.
She's got 10 coins.
And the Greek word for coin there,
drachma,
one drachma is the equivalent
of one day's wage in this culture.
So this woman has lost
one day's wage.
That is a significant amount
of money to her
and it's little surprise
that she wants to get it back.
And look at the lengths
that she goes to again
to find it.
Verse 8,
what does she do?
She lights the lamp,
she sweeps the house,
she searches carefully.
And again,
do you see the joy
that finding that lost coin
brings to her?
She calls all her friends
and her neighbors together,
come and celebrate with me
because I found my lost coin.
Is that a nice story?
No.
It's a wonderful truth,
a wonderful picture,
says Jesus,
of God's heart for the lost
and the party
that kicks off in heaven
every time a lost sinner
puts their hand up
and says,
God, I'm sorry
and comes back home
to God the Father.
Do you see how you've got
God wrong,
says Jesus?
Do you see how he's,
Jesus being the master
storyteller that he is?
Do you see how he's just
building the suspense here?
He's intensifying the drama
and we've moved from a,
what did we start with?
A 1% loss.
Now we've moved to a 10% loss.
Well, at verses 11 to 31,
Jesus continues
and he speaks about
a desperate father.
A desperate father
who's not suffered
a 1% loss,
who's not suffered
a 10% loss,
but who's suffered
a 50% loss.
And a 50% loss,
not of his possessions,
but of something
far, far more precious to him.
He's lost 50% of his sons.
Remember Jesus,
he's still trying to get
these folks in the crowd
to understand the why
of what he's doing.
He tells them a story.
A story that centers
around a family home
and it centers around
a father.
And the big question
we have to ask
as we meet this father
here in Luke chapter 15
is what is this father like?
What is he like?
And as we meet
the father's two sons,
the question we need
to ask is,
what do they think
their father is like?
Have they got him right?
Or have they got him wrong?
Verse 12,
we're introduced
to the younger of the sons.
You see him,
son number two.
Well, what's he like?
Well, we get to know him
a little bit.
He loves the thought
of the high life.
He wants the clothes.
He wants the parties.
He wants the cars.
But what he lacks
is both the money
to make it happen
and the freedom
to live it out.
So what does he do?
He goes to his father
and he doesn't say,
Father,
would you give me
just a little bit
of pocket money?
Because if I could save up
over a number of months
and a number of years
and just put it away,
then maybe I could afford
to do some of the things
I want to do.
He doesn't say that,
does he?
He goes to his father
and he says effectively,
Dad,
I'd much prefer
if you were dead.
Because when you die,
I can get the stuff
that's going to come to me.
So I would really like it
if somehow we could
speed up that process.
I'd love it
if we could speed up
that process.
In other words,
Dad,
I don't want you.
I just want your stuff.
Now who does he understand
his father to be?
He understands his father
to be just a means
to an end.
He thinks that true joy
is not to be found,
certainly not to be found
at home with his father.
He thinks that true joy
and true satisfaction
is to be found
in living his life
as far away from home
as he can possibly get.
C.S. Lewis
in his book,
Surprised by Joy,
which is really just
his autobiography,
testimony of how
he became a Christian,
he talks about how
before he became
a Christian,
he viewed the God
at the heart
of the Christian faith
as nothing other
than a giant interferer.
I read that,
I remember reading that book
a few years ago
and thinking,
that's kind of how
I used to think of God.
He was kind of like
the football referee.
I used to hate
football referees
when I was growing up.
Do you know why?
Because I thought,
your job,
and you're getting paid
for this,
your job is just
to spoil my fun,
to tell me I'm doing wrong,
to stop me from
doing certain things,
and to probably stop me
from winning the game.
That's how I viewed God.
He was just a killjoy.
Certainly no joy
to be found
in knowing him.
So C.S. Lewis
is saying,
God is a giant interferer.
And she's son number two,
he's got his father
all wrong.
But his father,
amazingly,
he divides his property.
You see,
for the father,
this is more than simply
writing out a blank check
to his son.
The father here
is literally said
to have divided himself
over this request
from his son.
Do you see
what he's saying?
Jesus is saying
the father is,
he's been ripped apart
by this.
He's heartbroken
by what his younger son
wants to do.
But God,
the father in the story,
gives him up.
And the son takes
his father's money
in verse 13.
Do you see that he goes
in the gap year
of all gap years?
He lives this life
that he once wanted to live,
but eventually
that money rounds out.
Eventually the champagne
stops flowing.
Eventually these new
friends that he made
have disappeared.
And to survive,
what does he do?
Well, he,
a Jewish boy,
he melts himself
a slave,
which is bad enough.
But to a Gentile pig farmer,
that is incredibly shameful.
And to feed the pigs
total humiliation
for son number two,
he has hit rock bottom.
Total rock bottom.
And as he's there
in rock bottom,
he remembers
what life was like
at home.
And he thinks,
I've got to get home.
Got to get home.
And he makes his way home
and you can imagine him,
can't you?
Cap in hand.
He's no doubt
thinking through
what's going to happen
when he gets home.
The fact that he returns
a failure,
he does not return
a success.
He cannot go up
to his father
and say,
Father,
I've got a master's degree
now.
I've got 2.4 children.
I've got a Ferrari.
I'm a success.
Get me on the wall.
He returns to his father
with an empty stomach,
with stinking clothes
and with a bruised ego.
And here's the tension
in the drama
at this point.
See,
when he gets home
and his father learns
that he's blowing it
big time,
I mean,
that inheritance money
that the father gave him,
gone just like that.
What's the father
going to do?
As the reader,
we know what son number 2
deserves.
The people in the crowd
listening to the story,
they know what son number 2
deserves.
Hey,
even son number 2
knows what son number 2
deserves.
The question is,
will the father give him
what he deserves?
And we cannot stress
enough
the sense of shock
that the original
hearers
would have had
at what comes next.
Verse 20,
do you see it?
The camera pans
from looking at son number 2
to now looking
at the father.
And I just want you
to see two words
that Jesus uses
to describe the father
here.
First word at verse 20,
what does the father feel?
Compassion.
The father is
desperate
to see his lost son
come home.
His father is
looking for his lost son.
His father is
longing for his lost son.
And so then
it's little
wonder
that as he sees him
in the distance,
he runs to meet him
and he greets him.
Not with a handshake,
not with a nod
of appreciation,
not with a fist pump.
He's not from the west
coast of Scotland.
But he embraces him
and he kisses him
and he hugs him.
Which you have to say
is horrendously strange
behaviour
for a Jewish man.
I mean,
they didn't run anywhere.
In fact,
it's more than strange
the father here,
and we need to see this,
the father here
is humiliating himself.
His father is
stooping so low.
His father is
taking the spotlight
of shame
off of his son,
taking it instead
upon himself
out of his great love
for his lost child.
What a father.
And what does that lead to?
Second words
for us to see
at verse 23.
What does the father do?
He celebrates.
The father is joyous.
The father is lavish.
Look at the description
at verse 22.
Give him the best robe.
Give him a ring.
Give him sandals.
Kill the fattened calf.
The son who came
to the father
thinking that he was
going to negotiate terms
and start off again low
is blown away
by the grace of the father.
What is the father like?
He is a longing looker,
says Jesus.
He is a loving seeker.
He is one who rejoices
when lost people
who have no way
of finding themselves
are found.
This is what
the father is like.
Just a nice story?
No.
It's a wonderful picture,
says Jesus.
A wonderful picture
of God's heart
for the lost
and the description
of the party
that kicks off in heaven
every time a lost sinner
repents,
puts their hand up
and says,
God, I am lost.
I'm sorry for what I've done
and comes home
to God the father.
Do you see how
you've got God wrong,
says Jesus?
Do you see how
you've got him wrong?
Let me ask you,
are you sitting here
this morning
as we see the father here?
Have you got God wrong?
You're like son number one.
Do you believe
that true joy,
that true satisfaction
in life
is to be found
away from him
rather than with him?
You see,
the question to this crowd
and to us this morning
is how will the younger
brothers in the crowd
respond
as they see themselves
in his character
and
as they see
the character
of the father?
So what about son number one?
What about the older son?
Well,
from the field,
verse 25,
son number one
hears the party
that's going on inside
and he finds out
that the arrogant traveler,
he finds out
that his brother
has somehow
had the audacity
to turn up at home.
But here's the square
that he can't quite circle
in his mind.
If my brother
has returned a failure,
then why are we celebrating?
Why are we celebrating?
What is he described
as being at verse 28?
Do you see it?
He is angry.
He's not just indifferent,
he's raging
at his brother.
You see,
he wants a front row seat
at his brother's
public humiliation party.
He's not interested
in taking a front row seat
at his brother's
welcome home
celebration party.
He is angry.
And so the father
goes to son number two,
the older son,
and he pleads with him,
my son,
you should be in here
celebrating with me.
You should be in here
sharing my joy
with my guests.
Come on in
and celebrate
because your son,
my son,
your brother
is back.
Not a chance,
says the older brother.
Not a chance
I'm going in there.
Who does son number one
understand the father to be?
We'll see how he describes
his relationship to him
at verse 29.
All these years,
I've been what for you?
I've been slaving for you.
Slaving for you.
Who does son number one
understand his father to be?
Someone to be tolerated?
Someone to just obey?
Someone to keep up
appearances with?
Certainly not somebody
to be enjoyed.
Because I perform for you,
father.
Because I obey you,
father.
Because I am better
than others,
father.
Surely that means
that I deserve
to be treated better
than those who don't
perform and don't
obey for you.
You see how son number
two had the father wrong?
Do you see how son
number one has equally
got the father
just as wrong?
What's son number
two's problem?
Son number one's
problem rather.
He's got a hard heart.
Geographically speaking,
he's right up close
to the father.
He's in the house.
Proximity speaking,
he's right there.
But spiritually speaking,
his heart is a million
miles away from
understanding the truth
about who his father
is.
You know,
I wonder if that's
some of us here this
morning.
Your relationship with
God,
if you had to describe
it,
you would describe it
in slave terms
rather than son terms.
This is the older
brother here.
You know,
we might have been
at church all these
years.
We might have been
living our lives
in and around
Christian family
and Christian friends
and Christian circles
all these years.
But the truth of it
is,
if you scratch beneath
the surface,
if you look deep
down,
you don't really
know who God is.
Certainly some
who are in this
crowd that Jesus
is talking to
this morning,
talking to here
rather,
sorry,
have you got
God wrong?
It's interesting
how as we come
to the end
of this story
that we're not
told how son
number one
responds.
I mean,
does he stay
outside or
does he go in?
That's a deliberate
cliffhanger from
Jesus aimed at
the older brothers
in the crowd
because how will
they respond as
they see themselves
in his character?
And how will
they respond as
they see the
character of the
father?
Now,
if Jesus has
shown them that
they are getting
God wrong,
then surely the
question as we
come to the end
of this parable
is now,
will you get
God right?
How are they
going to do
that?
By understanding
that this
is what Jesus
is all about.
He is the one
who has humiliated
himself by
leaving his
father's house,
by taking on
our flesh to
go in search
of those who
are lost.
He is the one
who is on the
way to the
cross.
Remember where
this comes in
Luke's gospel?
To go to the
cross, the place
where he will
stoop so low
offering his
life on the
cross, taking
the sin of
running rebels
like you and
me on himself
so that we
can be made
right with
God and we
can come into
the father's
house.
Will the
people in
the crowd
get God
right?
How are they
going to do
that?
By getting
Jesus right.
And that's
the challenge
for us this
morning as we
work towards
a close.
Have we
got God
right?
have we
got God
right?
Two thoughts
as we finish.
First thought
to make us
praise.
I was left
marvelling this
week as I've
been studying
this passage
and what a
joy it's
been in just
how much God
has done for
me.
Just how much
God has done
for me.
The lengths
that he has
gone to to
buy me for
himself.
Do you see
yourself in
Luke 15?
I was that
lost sheep.
I was that
lost coin.
I was that
lost son.
I had no
chance of
finding myself.
No chance of
saving myself.
No chance of
rescuing myself.
But praise God
this morning
that he is not
like an
apathetic
shepherd.
Praise God
this morning
that he is
not like an
unconcerned
woman.
And praise God
this morning
that he is
not like a
cold father.
No.
What were we
singing earlier?
What's the
truth?
That Jesus
sought me
when a
stranger.
When I was
wandering far
from the fold
of God.
He, to
rescue me
from danger.
He shed
for me
his precious
blood.
Does that
thrill your
heart this
morning?
Because that
is right at
the heart of
the gospel,
is it not?
This is what
our God has
done for us.
Does that
thrill your
heart?
That you
are that
valuable to
God?
That as his
once lost
creature, he
made a way for
you to be
found?
That's the
heart of the
gospel.
First thing to
make us pray.
Second thought to
make us pray.
do we share
God's heart
for lost
people?
You see, here
is Jesus
showing us
God's heart.
And here is
Jesus in the
wider context
of Luke as
he's calling
sinners to
himself.
Here he is
filling the
Father's house
with guests.
So remember
the question
that the
crowd were
asking at
the beginning?
Why
Jesus?
Well, here
is Rico
Tyson in
his wonderful
little book
Honest
Evangelism.
Probably the
best book I've
read on
talking to
your friends
about Jesus
if you're
looking for
something to
buy and
devour, maybe
over the next
week.
He writes
this, puts
it so
beautifully,
God is the
great evangelist,
the great
seeker and
finder of
people, and
he's called
his followers
to the same
pursuit and
to the same
emotion.
So here's
what I want
us to do
just as we
close this
morning.
I know
that many
of us have
got good,
good friends
who we
would love
to see, we
would love
nothing more
than to see
them become
Christians.
And I know
for many of
us here that
we have
parents and
we have
children who
have perhaps
wandered from
the faith or
people who
we long to
see in our
families,
one day bow
the knee to
Jesus and
worship him.
And it's
painful, isn't
it, sometimes
that the
people that
we love
sometimes don't
seem interested.
But here's
what I want
us to do
just as we
close.
I want you
to picture
some people
in your
mind.
Just picture
some people
in your
mind.
And as
you're thinking
of them,
just before you
go this
morning, why
do you ask
someone else
this morning
who they
had in their
minds?
Who has
God placed
in their
hearts and
minds?
And why
don't you
pray for
them as
well this
week?
But just
as we
close in
the silence
now, having
seen the
heart of
God in
Luke chapter
15, these
people that are in
our hearts and
our minds, why
don't we just
bring them before
our Father?
Just now as we
close, and then
I'll close in
prayer.
let's pray
together.
So dear
Father, we
thank you
that we've
seen in Luke
chapter 15 this
morning that you
are the great
seeker of
lost people.
And so dear
Lord, we ask
that by your
spirit who is
living in us,
that you would
install in us
now your
heart for a
broken and
lost world.
So Lord, we
lift the names
of those that
we love to
you, and we
ask dear
Father that you
would be so
gracious in
finding them.
Dear God, we
praise you this
morning, and we
thank you for
Jesus, and we
pray in his
name.
Amen.