WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.960 I have found my lost coin in the same way I tell you that is rejoicing in the presence of the 00:00:06.960 --> 00:00:16.679 angels of God over one sinner who repents. Amen. So, we're back on the road with Jesus. 00:00:16.920 --> 00:00:23.600 We're following his journey to Jerusalem. And as we begin, I wonder if you can identify with 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:29.640 this kind of experience. Perhaps maybe you had it on your holidays. You're visiting somewhere 00:00:29.640 --> 00:00:36.980 unfamiliar. You're on the phone getting directions, and you suffer either bad reception, 00:00:37.719 --> 00:00:44.000 or there's a lot of background noise in the vehicle you're traveling in, and you miss some key 00:00:44.000 --> 00:00:52.040 information. Or maybe you discover that Google Maps has stopped functioning, and you find yourself 00:00:52.039 --> 00:01:02.340 completely lost and bewildered. If we miss vital parts of our directions, we know what happens, 00:01:02.420 --> 00:01:10.900 don't we? We find ourselves frustrated, more often than not heading the wrong way, finding ourselves 00:01:10.900 --> 00:01:22.400 getting lost. Something similar can happen when we think about following Jesus. So, we're rejoining 00:01:22.400 --> 00:01:30.460 Jesus, and He's on the road to the cross, and we hear twice that there are large crowds around Him. 00:01:31.260 --> 00:01:40.800 Some of them have misunderstandings and are confused. And so, He says to them, and He would say to us, 00:01:40.799 --> 00:01:49.280 listen up, listen up. Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear. And what this section does for us is it 00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:59.539 gives us two dead ends to avoid, two ditches that we need to be careful not to fall into. The first 00:01:59.539 --> 00:02:07.780 is the dead end of thinking that Christianity is all about comfort. You know, if I follow Jesus, 00:02:07.780 --> 00:02:16.159 I'll have health and wealth and everything will be wonderful. And so, Jesus wants to say very clearly, 00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:26.800 following Him involves counting the cost. He's on His way to suffer and die. But the other dead end that 00:02:26.800 --> 00:02:36.819 He would want us to avoid is that of cold, legalistic versions of Christianity that have no grace. 00:02:36.819 --> 00:02:45.879 And so, we're introduced to Jesus who celebrates with joy when lost people are found, who loves to 00:02:45.879 --> 00:02:54.840 show the grace of God, who invites us to come to Him for grace. So, because it's Jesus that we're 00:02:54.840 --> 00:03:02.419 invited to follow, and because Jesus is on the road to the cross, that's why His followers have to do both 00:03:02.419 --> 00:03:10.039 those things. We have to both be ready to count the cost, and we have to receive His grace to be lost 00:03:10.039 --> 00:03:17.560 and found. It's a really good place for us to begin the year, on the road from Jesus, learning from Him. 00:03:17.619 --> 00:03:23.579 So, let's get into our text. Followers of Jesus count the cost. That's there at the end of chapter 00:03:23.579 --> 00:03:29.339 14 from verse 25 onwards. We get our bearings in verse 25 when we're told, 00:03:29.340 --> 00:03:37.439 large crowds were traveling with Jesus. So, He's on His journey to Jerusalem, and so are the crowds. 00:03:38.060 --> 00:03:44.560 Passover festival is coming, the great religious festival of the year for the Jewish people. So, 00:03:44.620 --> 00:03:54.480 the roads are packed, and expectation is high. Maybe this is the year God will deliver and rescue us 00:03:54.479 --> 00:04:04.620 from our enemies. And in all this enthusiasm, Jesus surprises us, perhaps. We see very clearly, 00:04:05.019 --> 00:04:11.599 Jesus isn't interested in playing the numbers game. He's not looking to just gather a crowd, 00:04:12.719 --> 00:04:19.159 and He's not going to soft sell what it looks like to follow Him, to appeal to the masses. Instead, 00:04:19.160 --> 00:04:27.180 what do we have? We have a whole section where He spells out the cost, the demand of following Him. 00:04:28.140 --> 00:04:35.540 He will speak really clearly about cross-carrying, giving up everything, or being ready to die 00:04:35.540 --> 00:04:40.940 to be His follower. Because Jesus knows where His journey is going to end in Jerusalem. 00:04:41.480 --> 00:04:48.400 He is the King, yes, but He is the King who will bear a cross. The crown He will wear is a crown of 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:56.379 thorns. And He needs His followers to understand that we are called to walk that same path of dying 00:04:56.379 --> 00:05:03.239 to self, of a life of sacrifice. Two ways that we can think together about counting the cost from 00:05:03.239 --> 00:05:13.079 Jesus' words. First, about priority. As we hear Jesus' words in verse 25 to 27, at very least, 00:05:13.079 --> 00:05:21.139 I imagine they sound shocking to us. They sound extremely demanding to us. If anyone comes to 00:05:21.139 --> 00:05:26.219 me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, even their own 00:05:26.219 --> 00:05:36.360 life, such a person cannot be my disciple. Clearly, if this was anything other, anyone other than the Son of 00:05:36.360 --> 00:05:44.319 God speaking these words, we would say, here is a person to avoid. This is someone looking to control. 00:05:44.580 --> 00:05:52.780 You should run. So, it's really important that we take care to understand who Jesus is, and to take 00:05:52.780 --> 00:06:00.340 care to hear what Jesus is saying and what He is not saying. Okay, because Jesus was speaking to 00:06:00.339 --> 00:06:09.759 first century Jews. So, when Jesus says, speaks about love and hate, He's not saying to us, you must 00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:17.699 literally hate your family. He's not saying to be a Christian means we abandon our family, we ignore 00:06:17.699 --> 00:06:25.559 those that we love the most. How do we know this? Because Jesus would never ask us to disobey one of 00:06:25.560 --> 00:06:33.259 God's commands. Fifth command is really clear, honor your father and your mother. But He's using love and 00:06:33.259 --> 00:06:41.579 hate as the language of our great preference. He is saying, and it's still shocking, and it's still highly 00:06:41.579 --> 00:06:50.600 demanding, we must love Jesus more than. We must love Jesus more than our family. We must love Jesus more 00:06:50.600 --> 00:07:00.980 than life itself. That's still highly demanding. The first priority of our heart must be Jesus, 00:07:01.620 --> 00:07:11.900 if we are to be His disciple. As Matthew records it from Jesus, he says, if you do not love me more than 00:07:11.899 --> 00:07:23.179 your family, you are not worthy of me. Only because Jesus is God can He claim this priority on our hearts. 00:07:24.179 --> 00:07:30.279 But think about the challenge just for a moment. Lots of ways that this challenges us, I think. 00:07:30.939 --> 00:07:36.399 One way that we will maybe experience, maybe we often experience, is when claims collide. 00:07:36.399 --> 00:07:45.439 For some of you, you're the only Christian in your family. So, suppose your family asks you to give up 00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:53.839 your faith, opposes your faith. Or a family member or a friend invites you to do something or to go 00:07:53.839 --> 00:08:01.179 somewhere that now you're a Christian you know to be wrong. At that moment and in those moments, we have 00:08:01.180 --> 00:08:06.699 choices to make choices to make, don't we? We have a choice to make as to whose claim am I going to 00:08:06.699 --> 00:08:15.759 listen to? Who am I going to follow? Who am I going to offend? And Jesus says, to be my follower 00:08:15.759 --> 00:08:27.379 is to say, Jesus is my Lord, to be ready to offend even our own family rather than to offend Jesus. 00:08:27.379 --> 00:08:33.679 Not calling us to be offensive to our family. But when claims collide, we're called to choose the 00:08:33.679 --> 00:08:43.000 way of Jesus. It's a challenge when we think about the way of the cross. He is clearly saying to us, 00:08:43.220 --> 00:08:50.820 there is no room for a Christianity that simply suits our convenience. This isn't casual following. 00:08:50.820 --> 00:08:59.020 Christianity isn't that hobby you pick up when the weather is fine and you feel like it. It's an all 00:08:59.020 --> 00:09:10.660 or nothing. It's a way of life. It's demanding self-giving, dying to self for Jesus in light of His 00:09:10.660 --> 00:09:20.800 self-giving for you. I read this week the story of a lady called Ji-ho in North Korea. For over 20 years, 00:09:20.820 --> 00:09:27.379 the hardest place to be a Christian in the world has been North Korea. 50,000 to 70,000 Christians 00:09:27.379 --> 00:09:35.360 are in labor camps, prison camps today for their faith. Well, she remembers as a child her dad being 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:42.080 taken away by the police. They found that he had buried a Bible wrapped in plastic in his garden to 00:09:42.080 --> 00:09:49.520 try and keep it secret. But he was discovered and taken away. And Ji-ho, when she was an adult, 00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:56.840 got a radio set. And one day, as she was trying to find a station, she heard messages, Christian 00:09:56.840 --> 00:10:01.059 messages coming through the radio. And she remembered those stories that my dad told me. 00:10:01.319 --> 00:10:04.519 These are the stories in the Bible, and they're about Jesus. And she became a Christian. 00:10:05.740 --> 00:10:12.139 And she speaks of counting the cost every day in the context of North Korea, starvation, 00:10:12.139 --> 00:10:20.679 the danger of discovery. And we might think, why would she pay such a high cost? Here's what she said. 00:10:21.439 --> 00:10:30.600 Jesus wanted to be my Savior, and I want to follow Him, like my Father did. She understood the cost that 00:10:30.600 --> 00:10:37.059 Jesus paid, and she is ready to pay it. Counting the cost also involves perseverance, 00:10:37.059 --> 00:10:46.199 perseverance, as we see there in verses 28 to 35. He invites this mixed crowd to carefully consider 00:10:46.199 --> 00:10:52.119 the cost of following Him. He says very clearly, you need to take this seriously. Don't take it 00:10:52.119 --> 00:11:01.639 lightly. He knows His destination is the cross, and He knows from experience the reality that many people 00:11:01.639 --> 00:11:09.919 would perform a U-turn. Following Him gladly until things got difficult, until His teaching didn't match 00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:20.139 up to expectations. And so, He invites us to very carefully consider the cost of following and 00:11:20.139 --> 00:11:30.480 persevering. He gives us three pictures. In verse 28 to 30, it's the picture of a tower builder. Suppose one of 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:36.399 you wants to build a tower, won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough 00:11:36.399 --> 00:11:41.120 money to complete it. If you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, you're going to be the 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:50.740 subject of ridicule. I was a student in Glasgow in the late 90s, early 2000s, and if you were around 00:11:50.740 --> 00:11:56.920 the city center of Glasgow in that era, up until 2013, you'd be familiar with what became known as 00:11:56.919 --> 00:12:02.879 bridges to nowhere. So, when they put the M8 right through the city center, they had these wonderful 00:12:02.879 --> 00:12:11.339 plans to build pedestrian walkways over passes, but they lay unfinished. So, you would go up the steps, 00:12:11.399 --> 00:12:15.339 and you would walk the path, and all of a sudden, you'd be met with a fence. You'd see the destination, 00:12:15.839 --> 00:12:20.740 but there's this great gap. They ran out of resources. They ran out of willpower. Who knows? 00:12:20.740 --> 00:12:27.680 But it became a standing joke in the city, these bridges to nowhere. Jesus says, before you start 00:12:27.680 --> 00:12:33.159 a project, of course, what do you do? You sit down. Do I have the resources to meet the cost? 00:12:34.419 --> 00:12:39.960 For those of us who are involved in the refurb of this church, we had lots of meetings. Do we have 00:12:39.960 --> 00:12:45.299 the money to meet these costs? Because if you start something, you don't finish. Jesus says, 00:12:45.299 --> 00:12:57.039 you become a laughingstock. Following Jesus is to be the great master project for all of life. 00:12:58.519 --> 00:13:03.000 And so, He asks us to sit down and to ask ourselves, am I ready to see this through? 00:13:04.139 --> 00:13:12.240 Am I ready to carry a cross? Am I ready to bear the costs? He gives us another story of a king 00:13:12.240 --> 00:13:18.200 going to war. Suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won't he first sit down 00:13:18.200 --> 00:13:23.960 and consider whether he's able with 10,000 men to oppose the one coming against him with 20,000? 00:13:26.039 --> 00:13:29.919 This isn't empty philosophy. There's a time for action that the enemy is coming, 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:35.980 and he's got more numbers than you. So, the king has two choices, isn't he? He can fight, 00:13:35.980 --> 00:13:39.720 and if he doesn't think he can win, he needs to urgently sue for peace. 00:13:39.720 --> 00:13:45.879 And after telling the story, Jesus says, in the same way, those of you who do not give up everything 00:13:45.879 --> 00:13:54.399 you have cannot be my disciples. There's this great call to follow and to count the cost and to commit 00:13:54.399 --> 00:14:03.879 to the end. But there's a third story. Maybe you wonder how it fits with those first two. 00:14:03.879 --> 00:14:10.439 Well, in this final picture, it's about salt. It's a negative example story, 00:14:11.159 --> 00:14:19.080 representing the life of someone who didn't count the cost, who didn't persevere, in which case, 00:14:19.460 --> 00:14:27.220 becoming like worthless salt. Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty? 00:14:27.220 --> 00:14:33.480 Again, it's fit neither for the soil nor for the manure heap it's thrown out. No good for food, 00:14:33.560 --> 00:14:42.360 no good for the soil, not even good for manure. Something has changed in the salt, and now it's good 00:14:42.360 --> 00:14:55.980 for nothing. Salt must keep its essential properties to have any value. What is Jesus saying to those who 00:14:55.980 --> 00:15:04.600 would be his followers? What's the essential property he's just been talking about? We must come 00:15:04.600 --> 00:15:15.740 and keep on coming. We must count the cost and keep on counting the cost. We must follow and keep on 00:15:15.740 --> 00:15:24.320 following Jesus our Lord, coming to him to worship him, coming for forgiveness, coming to find grace, 00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:35.920 coming to be guided. We read Paul's testimony in the book of Philippians. Paul liked to use athletic 00:15:35.920 --> 00:15:40.840 or Olympic language to speak of the Christian life. Perhaps we can think of a marathon. Some of us 00:15:40.840 --> 00:15:49.280 have run marathons. Some of us have not, will not. We'd hate the thought. But at least we know this. 00:15:49.279 --> 00:15:53.899 We know that there are never medals handed out on the starting line. 00:15:56.120 --> 00:16:02.199 Paul encourages us. Jesus encourages us. Run the race of faith with endurance. 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:11.519 Persevere to the goal, the prize who is Christ and being with Christ. 00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:20.139 Followers of Jesus count the cost. First Sunday of the year. This time of year is always a good time 00:16:20.139 --> 00:16:28.120 to reflect, isn't it? By way of application, let me give three and suggest that at least one of these 00:16:28.120 --> 00:16:35.419 might be helpful for you. First of all, think about the idea of evaluation. Think about taking some time 00:16:35.419 --> 00:16:43.959 to ask, how am I doing in counting the cost in following Jesus? Am I living under his lordship? 00:16:46.219 --> 00:16:52.000 Am I revealing more of his character? Think about that in terms of perhaps your relationships. 00:16:53.279 --> 00:16:58.279 First and foremost, your relationship with God. Your relationship with the other people in your life. 00:16:58.279 --> 00:17:07.139 Am I counting the cost to follow Jesus in my responsibilities? In the workplace? 00:17:08.759 --> 00:17:14.059 In our families? Are we looking to represent Jesus, come what may, in those contexts? 00:17:15.180 --> 00:17:22.519 For some of us, evaluation will be helpful. There's also the idea of imitation. Maybe especially 00:17:22.519 --> 00:17:29.299 for those who are younger, for those who are young in faith, this idea of following probably makes sense. 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:34.059 We follow lots of people. We follow sports teams. We follow musicians. We have those that we follow 00:17:34.059 --> 00:17:42.539 on social media accounts. Well, let me encourage you to think about this year following, looking for 00:17:42.539 --> 00:17:51.879 a godly, older follower of Jesus. To look to learn from them. That might be one of your parents, 00:17:51.880 --> 00:17:58.140 or a grandparent. It may be a member of this church, or the church you belong to. It may be even someone 00:17:58.140 --> 00:18:07.340 that you have read of in a biography. Look to learn from those who have walked the way of Jesus before us. 00:18:07.820 --> 00:18:13.880 Don't be afraid to ask questions. We have the privilege in our church of people from lots of different 00:18:13.880 --> 00:18:21.440 generations. We have lots of wise, godly, mature followers of Jesus that us younger folks can learn from. 00:18:21.880 --> 00:18:26.900 I get to class myself as younger, just for a moment. But do make the most of that privilege. 00:18:27.700 --> 00:18:31.380 For some of us, imitation will be a helpful way to think about this. What's it look like to count 00:18:31.380 --> 00:18:39.320 the cost to follow Jesus today? Perhaps the application is to hear the invitation of Jesus. 00:18:41.200 --> 00:18:45.440 This is Jesus. This is your creator. This is your king. This is the one who would be your savior. 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:53.620 He's saying, consider the cost, but come to me. Follow me, because I am your God and your savior. 00:18:54.360 --> 00:18:57.860 Think about his wonderful life. Think about his sacrificial death. Think of 00:18:57.860 --> 00:19:03.620 all that he would give to you, that you would come to him and follow him. 00:19:04.279 --> 00:19:09.519 So, followers of Jesus count the cost. And very briefly, we're going to think about the truth 00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:15.819 that followers of Jesus are those who are lost and found by grace. Because we're going to think 00:19:15.819 --> 00:19:21.960 next week about the parable of what's known as the parable of the prodigal son next week. But just to 00:19:21.960 --> 00:19:27.299 kind of flag that up, we're going to think about lost and found just for a few minutes. And in God's 00:19:27.299 --> 00:19:34.660 providence, we had a wonderful lost and found story in our house this week. Back in the year, I think, 00:19:34.660 --> 00:19:46.420 we think, 2019, we had like a kid's GoPro camera that went missing. Lost without a trace. We searched 00:19:46.420 --> 00:19:54.500 high and low. It was the cause of much frustration, mostly for us as parents. Well, it was discovered 00:19:54.500 --> 00:20:03.720 on Thursday, four years later. Joy and jubilee in the house. We love lost and found stories. They make 00:20:03.720 --> 00:20:10.079 the news quite regularly. Not that one. That's not that spectacular. But we have two of Jesus' trio of 00:20:10.079 --> 00:20:15.279 these famous and well-loved lost and found stories. But we just need to understand that he's speaking 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:24.539 about far more than hooray for a lost camera or a lost sheep or a lost coy. We're discovering something 00:20:24.539 --> 00:20:33.100 that's unique to the Christian faith. We're discovering something unique about our Savior and the nature of 00:20:33.099 --> 00:20:43.159 salvation. Because Jesus is revealing the truth that our God is a seeking God. Religion without grace 00:20:43.159 --> 00:20:50.839 says, here are the steps that you must take to try and find God. The gospel, the good news of the Bible 00:20:50.839 --> 00:21:00.319 says, this is what God has done to find you by His grace. This is what John Newton discovered. So, he could 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:06.460 sing, and we can sing, and we can sing of being spiritual wretches, being lost and being blind and 00:21:06.460 --> 00:21:12.720 being dead. But we can be saved by amazing grace. Because it's not about our efforts, not about our 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:20.539 ability to seek and find after God. It's about God seeking and finding us. It also reveals to us the heart 00:21:20.539 --> 00:21:32.019 of Jesus as we see the joy of the searcher. So, Jesus wants to reveal the grace of God to us. But you might 00:21:32.019 --> 00:21:40.119 be thinking, how do these two sections connect? I wonder if you notice the point of connection between 00:21:40.119 --> 00:21:46.859 verse 35 and chapter 15, verse 1. Let me read the end of chapter 14. 00:21:46.859 --> 00:21:55.500 Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear. Now, the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering round to 00:21:55.500 --> 00:22:03.759 what? To hear Jesus. So, you get this wonderful truth that the lowest of the low, the worst of the 00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:10.579 worst, the sinners, they're hearing this urgent call to come, this high demand of following, and they're 00:22:10.579 --> 00:22:16.500 counting the cost, and they're gladly gathering around Jesus. Because Jesus offers grace and not 00:22:16.500 --> 00:22:22.279 judgment. Again, at the start of chapter 15, Luke wants to draw attention to the fact there is this 00:22:22.279 --> 00:22:27.559 crowd around Jesus. But this time, the attention is drawn to the fact that there are these two responses 00:22:27.559 --> 00:22:34.859 going on. Those who are typically rejected in society, rejected by religious society, they're 00:22:34.859 --> 00:22:41.039 gathering and they're listening. While they're religious in society, they're standing to one side and 00:22:41.039 --> 00:22:51.619 they're grumbling. Hear their words. Verse 2, this man welcomes sinners and eats with them. Now, the 00:22:51.619 --> 00:22:58.279 wonderful thing is that though they speak these words with disgust, these words are wonderfully true. 00:22:59.379 --> 00:23:09.420 Jesus will wear friend of sinners as a badge of honor. And this reality and these words are words that 00:23:09.420 --> 00:23:17.160 will delight our hearts as they delighted the hearts of the sinners in Jesus' day, as we recognize what 00:23:17.160 --> 00:23:26.640 it tells us about Jesus and about our salvation. There's another point of connection. It's not 00:23:26.640 --> 00:23:32.960 emphasized here, but just to remind ourselves before we get into chapter 15, that it's God's grace that 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:40.920 saves sinners, but it's also God's grace, His love and power that enables people like us to count the 00:23:40.920 --> 00:23:45.759 cost and to persevere, just so we don't think we're left to do it in our own strength. 00:23:47.059 --> 00:23:52.860 Chapter 15, verses 1 to 10, two brief lessons about salvation. First, let's think about the who 00:23:52.860 --> 00:24:01.299 of salvation. Verse 4, suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn't he leave in 00:24:01.299 --> 00:24:07.240 99 in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? Now, theoretically, Jesus could 00:24:07.240 --> 00:24:15.980 have chosen any main character and any item that was lost and found. A man had many boats and he lost 00:24:15.980 --> 00:24:26.559 one and then he found it again. But notice, Jesus' choice, shepherd, sheep. This is not accidental. 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:36.039 Again, for these first century listeners who are used to hearing the Old Testament, this for them is a lightbulb 00:24:36.039 --> 00:24:45.940 moment. This is an ha moment. Because in the Old Testament, who is the shepherd? It's God. Psalm 23, the Lord 00:24:45.940 --> 00:24:55.899 is my shepherd. Ezekiel 34, we hear words of judgment on the bad religious leaders of Israel by God, and then God 00:24:55.900 --> 00:25:03.600 says, I myself will be the shepherd of my people. And then he promises to send his king, we know he's 00:25:03.600 --> 00:25:10.580 Jesus, to be the shepherd of his people. Or Isaiah 40, verse 11, here's what the sovereign Lord says 00:25:10.580 --> 00:25:20.300 about himself. The sovereign Lord tends his flock like a shepherd. He gathers his lambs in his arms. 00:25:20.299 --> 00:25:28.879 As we listen to the Bible, as we listen to this story, we're invited to remember God is the shepherd. 00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:38.819 And Jesus, he calls himself the good shepherd. He's come to call, to seek, and to save, to lay down his 00:25:38.819 --> 00:25:47.980 life for the sheep. So, it's Jesus who does the seeking, the finding, and the rejoicing. 00:25:47.980 --> 00:25:59.360 Now, we need to think about the why of salvation. The why of salvation. And it's that idea of lost and 00:25:59.360 --> 00:26:08.880 found. We have the lost sheep, and we have the lost coin. And that's saying to us as people that we are 00:26:08.880 --> 00:26:19.340 all lost as a result of our sin. That by nature, we are in a state of rebellion towards our God. 00:26:20.680 --> 00:26:29.060 That we choose to dishonor and rob God of glory. That we break his laws. That we choose to make 00:26:29.060 --> 00:26:36.680 other things more important, first priority, rather than our God. And in these two simple stories, 00:26:36.680 --> 00:26:43.620 we're being reminded that actually being lost is misery. Think about that lost sheep for a moment. 00:26:43.720 --> 00:26:55.000 He's gone astray. He's lost all security. The loss of a certain supply of food. There is the threat of 00:26:55.000 --> 00:27:06.700 danger around every mountain pass. And this lostness is something that by ourselves as people, we cannot 00:27:06.700 --> 00:27:15.079 fix. Perhaps that's the lesson of the lost coin. What can a coin do to be found? Precisely nothing. 00:27:15.079 --> 00:27:26.339 By ourselves, we are hopeless and helpless. But this isn't just a story about lost things. 00:27:27.079 --> 00:27:36.619 It's a story about lost things that are found. And it's about the God who has joy in finding the lost. 00:27:36.619 --> 00:27:44.819 Whenever we're reading one of the stories of Jesus and we come to a surprising bit that sticks out as being 00:27:44.819 --> 00:27:51.019 out of the ordinary, we know that Jesus is wanting to emphasize something. So, listen again to that first 00:27:51.019 --> 00:27:57.500 parable. So, he's found, we get to the point where he's found his lost sheep. And when he finds it, he 00:27:57.500 --> 00:28:02.879 joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Of course, you would expect joy from an owner. He's found a sheep. 00:28:02.880 --> 00:28:08.180 But here's where it gets surprising, I think. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, 00:28:08.760 --> 00:28:18.640 rejoice with me. I have found my lost sheep. Can we imagine inviting a whole community over and 00:28:18.640 --> 00:28:26.480 throwing a great feast because a sheep was found? This is the surprising element that's inviting us to 00:28:26.480 --> 00:28:36.640 see the heart of God, the overflowing joy of the searcher. And the point is made twice so that we 00:28:36.640 --> 00:28:44.319 don't miss it. Perhaps we think it's too good to be true. I tell you that in the same way, there'll be 00:28:44.319 --> 00:28:52.380 more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need 00:28:52.380 --> 00:28:59.300 to repent. Or at the end of the lost coin, in the same way I tell you, there is rejoicing in the 00:28:59.300 --> 00:29:09.560 presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Heaven, the place where God is, filled with joy 00:29:09.560 --> 00:29:18.360 when the lost are found. There's joy for the angels. There's joy for the saints who are worshiping 00:29:18.359 --> 00:29:26.000 around the throne, and there's joy for God himself as his work of salvation continues. 00:29:27.019 --> 00:29:35.500 Jesus is revealing to us the love of God, the grace of God, and the joy of God in this story and in his 00:29:35.500 --> 00:29:45.139 life. Jesus is the active seeker. He left the glory of heaven to become one of us, to live that life of 00:29:45.140 --> 00:29:52.640 perfect obedience. He doesn't just risk danger to find the lost. He actually dies on the cross so that 00:29:52.640 --> 00:30:02.660 lost sinners might be found and brought home. Jesus comes and suffers and dies so we can be welcomed, 00:30:03.660 --> 00:30:11.080 so that heaven might rejoice, that we can be welcomed home by God. 00:30:11.079 --> 00:30:19.279 No wonder the sinners gathered round and were so glad to hear this message. 00:30:20.859 --> 00:30:25.480 No wonder Jesus is known as the friend of sinners. 00:30:30.179 --> 00:30:40.159 To be found is to hear, is to repent and believe. The sinners of Jesus' day knew it. They were being told 00:30:40.160 --> 00:30:46.740 all the time, you failed. You're a terrible sinner. You've broken God's commands. But then Jesus came 00:30:46.740 --> 00:30:53.080 with a startling message of good news. Yes, by yourself, you are lost and you are in danger and 00:30:53.080 --> 00:31:01.960 you are helpless. But I have come to seek, to find, and to show grace and to joyfully restore. 00:31:01.960 --> 00:31:15.079 Jesus here is mapping out the way of the Christian life. It is to come to Jesus for grace, 00:31:15.880 --> 00:31:24.120 to be found by him and saved by him, and then with the grace and help that he provides, to then live for 00:31:24.119 --> 00:31:34.039 him. Counting the cost, persevering in our faith, making him our great priority and our great love. 00:31:36.759 --> 00:31:44.199 Is this the road that we're going to walk this year? Well, we hear these words of verse 2 00:31:44.199 --> 00:31:52.099 as wonderful words to delight our hearts also. This man welcomes sinners and eats with them. 00:31:52.099 --> 00:32:02.579 May it be that as we consider the love of Jesus for us, his undying love and loyalty for us, 00:32:04.019 --> 00:32:12.699 may that fuel our own love and loyalty for him. Let's pray together. Lord God, we thank you for the 00:32:12.699 --> 00:32:21.000 honesty of Jesus, that he wanted us to know that following him involves sacrifice, demands that we 00:32:21.000 --> 00:32:26.240 acknowledge him as king, acknowledge him as king, calls us to a life of absolute commitment and 00:32:26.240 --> 00:32:34.480 perseverance. But Lord, we thank you too that he showed such grace and love and kindness in his life 00:32:34.480 --> 00:32:42.539 and in his death. And even now, as he sits on the throne of heaven, still sending us his word, still 00:32:42.539 --> 00:32:52.779 sending us the spirit, still sending us his presence. Lord, as we see your love for us in Jesus, may we 00:32:52.779 --> 00:33:02.899 respond to your grace and may we live counting the cost, knowing the cost that Jesus paid for our salvation. 00:33:02.900 --> 00:33:04.100 Amen.