WEBVTT 00:00:16.740 --> 00:00:19.460 Some stories are polite. Some stories blow the 00:00:19.460 --> 00:00:23.239 hinges off the door. This is one of those. Jesus 00:00:23.239 --> 00:00:24.879 is eating with the kind of folks we'd rather 00:00:24.879 --> 00:00:27.980 forget. Tax men with greasy hands. Women with 00:00:27.980 --> 00:00:31.179 a past. Sinners. With names you don't dare say 00:00:31.179 --> 00:00:34.579 in the daylight and the religious elite, they're 00:00:34.579 --> 00:00:36.439 grumbling like their throats are full of gravel. 00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:41.539 Into that tension, Jesus doesn't argue. He tells 00:00:41.539 --> 00:00:44.539 a story about a shepherd so unreasonable, so 00:00:44.539 --> 00:00:47.700 reckless with love that only heaven could explain 00:00:47.700 --> 00:00:50.700 it. Tonight, that story isn't just about sheep. 00:00:50.780 --> 00:00:53.619 It's about you. And if the word stirs something 00:00:53.619 --> 00:00:55.500 and you don't keep it to yourself, share it, 00:00:55.520 --> 00:00:58.399 subscribe, drop your thoughts below. Sometimes 00:00:58.399 --> 00:01:00.659 the best way to testify is to spread the story 00:01:00.659 --> 00:01:03.299 that found you. I'll see you on the other side. 00:01:09.180 --> 00:01:11.299 You know, I was thinking, like, if we ever make 00:01:11.299 --> 00:01:14.420 it to TBN, Wayne's going to be my stage manager, 00:01:14.540 --> 00:01:16.420 the guy with the headphones, and he's like... 00:01:16.420 --> 00:01:23.299 He does the... That's going to be Wayne. Wayne 00:01:23.299 --> 00:01:28.519 has given me the okay to start. So I'm going 00:01:28.519 --> 00:01:31.500 to. And if tonight's parable, we're still talking 00:01:31.500 --> 00:01:33.340 parables, if tonight's parable, if you were with 00:01:33.340 --> 00:01:36.500 us last week, if it sounds familiar, it absolutely 00:01:36.500 --> 00:01:39.920 should. It is in the same part of Scripture. 00:01:40.260 --> 00:01:44.359 It is at the same time, the same events, same 00:01:44.359 --> 00:01:49.120 crowd. I think even same message. So we'll dive 00:01:49.120 --> 00:01:52.700 into it, see what it says. The evening gathers 00:01:52.700 --> 00:01:56.319 like a crowd, voices stack upon voices. Some 00:01:56.319 --> 00:01:59.540 come hungry enough to swallow every word. Others 00:01:59.540 --> 00:02:04.459 have come to evaluate and grade. The narrow street 00:02:04.459 --> 00:02:07.319 is full, traders still counting coins in their 00:02:07.319 --> 00:02:10.639 heads. Mothers pulling children close, men with 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:14.719 faces look older than their years. Women have 00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:17.120 learned to read room faster than the scribe reads 00:02:17.120 --> 00:02:20.699 a scroll. No one here is neutral. No one is bored. 00:02:20.840 --> 00:02:24.080 Something is happening, and everybody can tell. 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:28.319 On the near side are the ones that have history 00:02:28.319 --> 00:02:31.680 in their eyes. They've made deals they regret. 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:36.939 They've said yes when no should have been holy. 00:02:38.039 --> 00:02:41.460 They've carried shame so long it feels almost 00:02:41.460 --> 00:02:45.479 like a second skin to them. And yet their bodies 00:02:45.479 --> 00:02:48.759 tilt towards Jesus as if gravity has changed. 00:02:49.560 --> 00:02:53.000 Luke says that they were drawing near to him, 00:02:53.139 --> 00:02:56.819 not coming to audit a class or collect a quote. 00:02:56.879 --> 00:03:00.219 They were coming like people who found a spring 00:03:00.219 --> 00:03:06.039 in a dry land. Across from them stand the tidy 00:03:06.039 --> 00:03:09.400 faithful, the scribes and the Pharisees, keepers 00:03:09.400 --> 00:03:13.629 of orthodoxy, protectors. of the proper boundaries. 00:03:14.569 --> 00:03:18.289 They carry the law like a lantern and wield it 00:03:18.289 --> 00:03:22.810 like a sword. They're not here to eat and drink. 00:03:22.889 --> 00:03:28.569 They're here to inspect. And their lips, their 00:03:28.569 --> 00:03:32.069 religious lips, do what they have done since 00:03:32.069 --> 00:03:39.840 the Sinai. They grumble. It's that wilderness 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:42.979 word, the sound Israel made when bread fell from 00:03:42.979 --> 00:03:47.159 heaven and it still wasn't to their taste. This 00:03:47.159 --> 00:03:51.139 man, Scripture says, this man receives sinners 00:03:51.139 --> 00:03:55.780 and eats with them. And that was meant as a stain, 00:03:55.960 --> 00:03:59.319 as a smear on Jesus. They could have said, He 00:03:59.319 --> 00:04:02.620 lectures sinners. They could have said he warns 00:04:02.620 --> 00:04:05.539 them. That would have fit the script of a holy 00:04:05.539 --> 00:04:09.400 man. But he receives them and he eats with them. 00:04:09.939 --> 00:04:13.259 That's table fellowship, shoulder to shoulder, 00:04:13.400 --> 00:04:17.879 cheeks wet with laughter. A loaf torn and passed 00:04:17.879 --> 00:04:22.879 with no attention to clean hands. Holiness with 00:04:22.879 --> 00:04:26.519 a heartbeat often makes religious people nervous. 00:04:28.240 --> 00:04:32.300 And the whole scene hangs like held breath. And 00:04:32.300 --> 00:04:35.600 Jesus answers, not with a motion to adjourn, 00:04:35.600 --> 00:04:41.519 not with an apology for tone, not with some biblical 00:04:41.519 --> 00:04:46.120 footnote for context. Instead, he answers their 00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:50.740 critique with stories, three of them. Not three 00:04:50.740 --> 00:04:55.519 arguments, but three windows thrown open on the 00:04:55.519 --> 00:04:59.529 same house. Peek in any one of them, you'll see 00:04:59.529 --> 00:05:03.629 the same family. Stay long enough, you'll hear 00:05:03.629 --> 00:05:09.149 the same music. So, open your hands, open your 00:05:09.149 --> 00:05:13.629 ears. These are not museum pieces. They're a 00:05:13.629 --> 00:05:16.689 voice you know better than your own. This, my 00:05:16.689 --> 00:05:20.250 friends, is the word of the Lord. Luke chapter 00:05:20.250 --> 00:05:24.579 15, verse 1. Now the tax collectors and sinners 00:05:24.579 --> 00:05:26.680 were drawing near to him, and the Pharisees and 00:05:26.680 --> 00:05:29.839 the scribes grumbled, saying, This man receives 00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:34.160 sinners and eats with them. So he told them this 00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:39.100 parable. What man of you, having a hundred sheep, 00:05:39.319 --> 00:05:44.600 if he has lost one of them, does not leave the 00:05:44.600 --> 00:05:47.740 ninety -nine in the open country and go after 00:05:47.740 --> 00:05:53.959 that one who is lost until he finds it? And when 00:05:53.959 --> 00:05:58.000 he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:01.879 rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together 00:06:01.879 --> 00:06:05.500 his friends and his neighbors saying to them, 00:06:05.540 --> 00:06:09.160 rejoice with me for I have found my sheep that 00:06:09.160 --> 00:06:14.560 was lost. Just so I tell you, there will be more 00:06:14.560 --> 00:06:18.220 joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than 00:06:18.220 --> 00:06:22.139 over 99 righteous persons who need. No repentance. 00:06:23.259 --> 00:06:26.300 Let me also show you the parallel of that same 00:06:26.300 --> 00:06:28.839 story in Matthew. This is Matthew 18, 12 through 00:06:28.839 --> 00:06:32.639 14. What do you think? If a man has a hundred 00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:34.680 sheep and one of them has gone astray, does he 00:06:34.680 --> 00:06:36.839 not leave the ninety -nine on the mountains and 00:06:36.839 --> 00:06:40.300 go in search of the one that went astray? And 00:06:40.300 --> 00:06:44.660 when he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices 00:06:44.660 --> 00:06:48.240 over it more than the ninety -nine that never 00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:52.180 went astray. So it is not the will of my Father 00:06:52.180 --> 00:06:55.000 who is in heaven that one of these little ones 00:06:55.000 --> 00:06:59.180 should perish. Ascends the reading of the word. 00:07:00.040 --> 00:07:03.680 If your heart is listening, hear this. The shepherd 00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:08.420 is already on the path. Last week, we found ourselves 00:07:08.420 --> 00:07:12.060 in the far country with a different story. One 00:07:12.060 --> 00:07:16.579 out of two sons. Pockets full of an inheritance. 00:07:17.959 --> 00:07:24.319 A will. set on leaving. The prodigal traded a 00:07:24.319 --> 00:07:28.120 father's face for a fantasy. Then discovered, 00:07:28.480 --> 00:07:34.139 famine always finds you when cash is king. And 00:07:34.139 --> 00:07:37.500 he rehearsed a speech in a pigsty, but the words 00:07:37.500 --> 00:07:41.360 never finished. The embrace of the father arrived 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:45.399 too early. This week, it's not a son running 00:07:45.399 --> 00:07:51.060 away, it's a sheep wandering. One out of a hundred. 00:07:51.560 --> 00:07:55.860 No manifesto, no fist raised, just the steady 00:07:55.860 --> 00:07:59.500 pull of appetite. One nibble further than yesterday 00:07:59.500 --> 00:08:02.420 until the flock is gone and the night is loud. 00:08:02.740 --> 00:08:09.560 But it's two roads, same cliff. Drift and defiance 00:08:09.560 --> 00:08:13.759 are cousins. And they're raised in the same house 00:08:13.759 --> 00:08:17.759 and they are both allergic to wisdom. Jesus. 00:08:18.199 --> 00:08:23.459 Sets them side by side. He wants to close every 00:08:23.459 --> 00:08:28.920 possible escape route away from Grace. You can't 00:08:28.920 --> 00:08:33.360 say, well, I'm not a rebel like that boy. And 00:08:33.360 --> 00:08:36.779 you can't say, well, I'm not an idiot like that 00:08:36.779 --> 00:08:42.620 sheep. In both cases, you are wrong. We are capable 00:08:42.620 --> 00:08:47.549 of both. And tucked. Right between these two 00:08:47.549 --> 00:08:51.710 stories stands a third story right in the middle, 00:08:51.730 --> 00:08:54.149 like a sandwich, two pieces of bread and the 00:08:54.149 --> 00:08:57.990 meat. And this is the one about the woman who 00:08:57.990 --> 00:09:01.789 had 10 silver coins. She lights a lamp. She sweeps 00:09:01.789 --> 00:09:04.809 the house. She searches carefully until she finds 00:09:04.809 --> 00:09:09.870 that missing drachma. Her joy echoes the shepherds 00:09:09.870 --> 00:09:12.809 and anticipates the fathers, which she says, 00:09:12.870 --> 00:09:16.120 rejoice with me. For I have found the coin that 00:09:16.120 --> 00:09:24.480 I had lost. Sheep, coin, sun. Wandering, hidden, 00:09:24.740 --> 00:09:30.200 rebellious. Three different ways to be lost. 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:36.220 But one unchanging rhythm of heaven's joy when 00:09:36.220 --> 00:09:40.639 the lost becomes found. The coin reminds us that 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:44.620 sometimes Lostness is not chosen for us at all. 00:09:44.740 --> 00:09:50.320 It just happens. A coin cannot walk away, but 00:09:50.320 --> 00:09:54.139 it can slip between the cracks, disappear into 00:09:54.139 --> 00:09:59.259 the shadows, lie unseen until grace stoops over 00:09:59.259 --> 00:10:03.539 to find it. This middle parable keeps the arc 00:10:03.539 --> 00:10:08.320 of the story here honest. Whether your lostness 00:10:08.320 --> 00:10:14.809 is careless? or hidden, or downright defiant. 00:10:15.529 --> 00:10:19.710 Heaven's joy in finding you when you're lost 00:10:19.710 --> 00:10:26.889 is still the same. Watch what moves first. The 00:10:26.889 --> 00:10:31.789 shepherd leaves before the sheep realizes. The 00:10:31.789 --> 00:10:37.350 woman sweeps before the coin shines. The father 00:10:37.350 --> 00:10:42.929 runs. before the sun speaks. And the ending is 00:10:42.929 --> 00:10:45.629 not some certificate filed away in the church 00:10:45.629 --> 00:10:48.450 office. It's a feast that keeps the neighbors 00:10:48.450 --> 00:10:52.970 awake at night. The only frown in this entire 00:10:52.970 --> 00:10:57.529 chapter belongs to the kind of people who say 00:10:57.529 --> 00:11:06.509 not fair and not smiling when mercy wins. Let's 00:11:06.509 --> 00:11:09.049 keep the prodigal's outline, that story from 00:11:09.049 --> 00:11:12.529 last week, in our peripheral vision. We're preaching 00:11:12.529 --> 00:11:16.570 sheep tonight, but the sun and the coin will 00:11:16.570 --> 00:11:20.409 both help you see. The evening settles, the flock 00:11:20.409 --> 00:11:23.990 settles along with it. A hundred lives composed 00:11:23.990 --> 00:11:28.990 into a low chorus of contented bleating. The 00:11:28.990 --> 00:11:32.049 shepherd stands a little bit apart, his eyes 00:11:32.049 --> 00:11:36.950 sweeping, his lips counting. He knows the count 00:11:36.950 --> 00:11:40.549 by pattern and by animal. The old ram with the 00:11:40.549 --> 00:11:44.309 scarred ear. The skittish ewe who always dances 00:11:44.309 --> 00:11:47.909 sideways when she's startled. The yearling who 00:11:47.909 --> 00:11:51.990 loves to test the fence. He counts the way a 00:11:51.990 --> 00:11:54.289 mother counts her sleeping children without waking 00:11:54.289 --> 00:12:02.889 them. 96, 97, 98, 99. And the number catches. 00:12:04.360 --> 00:12:09.259 And it won't go up. He stands very still. The 00:12:09.259 --> 00:12:12.460 mind that he has trained against panic in moments 00:12:12.460 --> 00:12:17.200 like this begins to sort out possibilities. The 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:21.259 one that lags behind. The one that always follows 00:12:21.259 --> 00:12:25.299 the water. The one curious about the grove beyond 00:12:25.299 --> 00:12:30.519 the ridge. And he sets his staff down and chooses... 00:12:31.019 --> 00:12:35.779 What should and would look like madness to anyone 00:12:35.779 --> 00:12:39.919 who doesn't love like he does. He steps into 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:43.360 the rough ground, away from the stability of 00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:46.320 the flock, towards a world that does not care 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:50.940 if he returns. Rocks wait for him, patient as 00:12:50.940 --> 00:12:57.240 traps. Thorns lean out like grasping hands. And 00:12:57.240 --> 00:12:59.779 somewhere off in the distance, lamps of homes. 00:13:00.699 --> 00:13:04.379 Twinkle in the distance, the kind of distance 00:13:04.379 --> 00:13:09.659 that even hurts to look at. Still he goes. He 00:13:09.659 --> 00:13:12.360 calls a name into the entering of the night, 00:13:12.440 --> 00:13:16.259 not a lecture, not a scold, a name. There are 00:13:16.259 --> 00:13:19.519 voices that scatter, and there are voices that 00:13:19.519 --> 00:13:24.759 gather, and his is the gathering kind. At first, 00:13:24.779 --> 00:13:27.679 there's nothing but the old noises, wind and 00:13:27.679 --> 00:13:31.580 scrub. A crow settling heavy, the skitter of 00:13:31.580 --> 00:13:37.919 something small. Then, thin as a thread, there 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:44.120 it is. A cry that can't take a breath long enough 00:13:44.120 --> 00:13:48.899 to become a shout. He follows that sound into 00:13:48.899 --> 00:13:54.299 a tangle of thorns knitted tight as a net. The 00:13:54.299 --> 00:13:58.899 body inside the bramble quivers. His eyes wide 00:13:58.899 --> 00:14:01.519 with the dumb terror of a creature built for 00:14:01.519 --> 00:14:06.379 flocking and now found alone. Each attempt to 00:14:06.379 --> 00:14:12.179 back out has just woven the barbs deeper. And 00:14:12.179 --> 00:14:17.620 he gets on his knees. It hurts. A thorn finds 00:14:17.620 --> 00:14:20.820 that soft spot below his thumb. Another rakes 00:14:20.820 --> 00:14:25.539 his forearm. He doesn't stop. He works the wool 00:14:25.539 --> 00:14:30.210 free. And he works it slowly with sure movements. 00:14:30.289 --> 00:14:34.450 There is a way to hurry this work, but it leaves 00:14:34.450 --> 00:14:40.009 scars. And he refuses it. And when the sheet 00:14:40.009 --> 00:14:44.009 is loose, it springs at the first open space, 00:14:44.250 --> 00:14:47.470 legs shaking as if the ground itself were an 00:14:47.470 --> 00:14:50.950 enemy. And he doesn't tell it to walk it off. 00:14:51.909 --> 00:14:57.419 He doesn't try to make it. Prove a lesson that 00:14:57.419 --> 00:15:02.120 it's learned. He lifts. He sets the weight high 00:15:02.120 --> 00:15:05.799 across his shoulders. One foreleg on one side, 00:15:05.840 --> 00:15:09.299 the other on the other. A hand firm around the 00:15:09.299 --> 00:15:14.440 bundle. The smell of lanolin and fear and life 00:15:14.440 --> 00:15:21.299 fills his lungs. His steps find a cadence. Somewhere, 00:15:21.399 --> 00:15:24.899 a vulture sings an ugly song and then goes quiet 00:15:24.899 --> 00:15:28.679 without getting what it had wanted. Home is a 00:15:28.679 --> 00:15:32.799 direction before it's a place, and he walks towards 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:36.639 it like a liturgy. When the gate he knows better 00:15:36.639 --> 00:15:39.179 than his own name comes into view, he doesn't 00:15:39.179 --> 00:15:43.100 slip in, shut the hatch, and call it a day. He 00:15:43.100 --> 00:15:45.519 does what God has always done when he rescues. 00:15:46.039 --> 00:15:49.600 He calls for a crowd. He makes his joy public. 00:15:50.250 --> 00:15:54.570 Rejoice with me. The lamps answer. The neighbors 00:15:54.570 --> 00:15:57.629 knock sleep from their eyes and come anyway because 00:15:57.629 --> 00:16:00.309 some parties are worth it even when you have 00:16:00.309 --> 00:16:03.870 an early morning. The shepherd laughs the laugh 00:16:03.870 --> 00:16:06.049 of a man who has hefted the weight of one he 00:16:06.049 --> 00:16:10.870 loves and not collapsed. A table appears, as 00:16:10.870 --> 00:16:14.429 tables often do in Israel when something truly 00:16:14.429 --> 00:16:18.490 good happens. The evening is loud with holiness 00:16:18.490 --> 00:16:21.529 respectable people often forget to recognize. 00:16:22.809 --> 00:16:26.370 That's one parable. But you can hear another 00:16:26.370 --> 00:16:29.909 breathing behind it, the cadence of the father's 00:16:29.909 --> 00:16:33.450 running feet, the slam of a gate flung wide open, 00:16:33.649 --> 00:16:36.070 the sound of a robe gathered above the knees 00:16:36.070 --> 00:16:39.870 because the father refused just to merely walk 00:16:39.870 --> 00:16:46.720 to his boy. Same music, different verse. Lostness 00:16:46.720 --> 00:16:51.740 wears a gentle face and a fierce one. The gentle, 00:16:51.879 --> 00:16:56.200 a sheep who's wandered without knowing it's wandering, 00:16:56.440 --> 00:17:00.220 led by its appetite until appetite turned on 00:17:00.220 --> 00:17:05.960 them. Then the fierce, a son who wandered from 00:17:05.960 --> 00:17:10.779 the father on purpose, a rebel who called distance 00:17:10.779 --> 00:17:14.759 freedom. and discovered it was just another word 00:17:14.759 --> 00:17:20.720 for starving. The gospel handles both, not by 00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:25.940 minimizing one and dramatizing the other, but 00:17:25.940 --> 00:17:30.140 by reframing the whole question. The most important 00:17:30.140 --> 00:17:33.940 thing about lostness is the character of the 00:17:33.940 --> 00:17:37.859 one who doesn't rest until home happens again. 00:17:39.400 --> 00:17:45.059 Remember the action. Leave, go, seek, find, lift, 00:17:45.339 --> 00:17:51.099 carry, rejoice. In the prodigal son parable, 00:17:51.220 --> 00:17:57.640 see, pity, run, embrace, kiss, clothe, feast. 00:17:59.539 --> 00:18:03.700 Salvation is not the story of a clever sinner. 00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:10.029 It is a story of a moving God. And if your version 00:18:10.029 --> 00:18:13.789 of Christianity makes you the main verb, you 00:18:13.789 --> 00:18:18.269 have not yet heard Luke sing. Luke says, more 00:18:18.269 --> 00:18:22.769 joy in heaven over one sinner who repents. The 00:18:22.769 --> 00:18:28.269 sheep didn't say anything, right? The first motion 00:18:28.269 --> 00:18:31.910 of repentance is not eloquence of words, but 00:18:31.910 --> 00:18:36.690 yielding. It's the shift from struggling alone 00:18:36.690 --> 00:18:39.960 in the thorns. for letting yourself be born by 00:18:39.960 --> 00:18:43.960 another's strength. The son's speech begins with 00:18:43.960 --> 00:18:47.579 a confession and ends with bargaining. The father 00:18:47.579 --> 00:18:50.079 interrupts before the bargaining because grace 00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:55.759 is not about wages. And both parables end with 00:18:55.759 --> 00:18:59.599 noise. Friends and neighbors summoned, music 00:18:59.599 --> 00:19:03.880 and dancing. Heaven's joy is not a library whisperer. 00:19:03.900 --> 00:19:07.700 It's a street festival. It is resurrection volume. 00:19:08.380 --> 00:19:12.779 And that noise isn't perilous. It's deliberate. 00:19:13.579 --> 00:19:17.779 Joy made audible is heaven's protest against 00:19:17.779 --> 00:19:22.099 despair. And then let's talk for a second about 00:19:22.099 --> 00:19:27.059 the 99, because people stumble here. Is the shepherd 00:19:27.059 --> 00:19:35.000 reckless? Are the 99 abandoned? But in the parable's 00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:40.059 economy, their safety is not in question. The 00:19:40.059 --> 00:19:44.640 99 are never in danger. Because if Jesus is the 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:47.880 shepherd, the 99 aren't in danger. That's not 00:19:47.880 --> 00:19:51.519 the point. The point is not arithmetic, but assurance. 00:19:53.220 --> 00:19:57.019 And the realization that no percentage of loss 00:19:57.019 --> 00:20:02.319 is ever acceptable to God. One gone is one too 00:20:02.319 --> 00:20:07.980 many. That's not bad math. That's divine refusal 00:20:07.980 --> 00:20:13.900 to treat any soul as expendable. In the world's 00:20:13.900 --> 00:20:19.420 math, 1 % loss is tolerable. In God's, it's intolerable. 00:20:19.740 --> 00:20:23.180 In the world's math, finding one coin is not 00:20:23.180 --> 00:20:26.279 worth waking the neighbors. In God's, it's worth 00:20:26.279 --> 00:20:29.380 sweeping until dawn and then throwing a party. 00:20:30.380 --> 00:20:33.099 In the world's math, one foolish son could be 00:20:33.099 --> 00:20:36.619 written off because another more faithful one 00:20:36.619 --> 00:20:41.400 remains. In God's economy, one child gone is 00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:45.779 a hole the size of the world. His math is mercy, 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:50.480 and mercy doesn't balance accounts. They overflow. 00:20:52.099 --> 00:20:55.359 And the shepherd doesn't lecture the sheep into 00:20:55.359 --> 00:20:59.390 string. He carries it. The father doesn't send 00:20:59.390 --> 00:21:04.910 a servant. He runs. The woman doesn't shrug when 00:21:04.910 --> 00:21:08.549 the lamp begins to burn low. She keeps on sweeping. 00:21:10.269 --> 00:21:15.589 Restoration is not rhetorical. Shows up as touch 00:21:15.589 --> 00:21:19.930 and sweat and laughter and food and song. It 00:21:19.930 --> 00:21:23.049 is as physical as wool across your shoulders, 00:21:23.130 --> 00:21:27.720 as salty as tears on your cheek. and as noisy 00:21:27.720 --> 00:21:31.900 as music spilling out the door. Now we're going 00:21:31.900 --> 00:21:36.039 to learn some theology. Luke 15 sings in three 00:21:36.039 --> 00:21:41.160 stanzas. One hundred sheep, first one, ten coins, 00:21:41.299 --> 00:21:46.380 the middle one, two sons, the end. Each time, 00:21:46.380 --> 00:21:52.759 the percentage of loss rises. Each time, in each 00:21:52.759 --> 00:21:58.269 story, the value of what is lost Increases. Each 00:21:58.269 --> 00:22:04.190 time the setting narrows from wilderness to household 00:22:04.190 --> 00:22:09.630 to family hearth. The ark here, these three, 00:22:09.710 --> 00:22:14.150 is called a chiastic. A chiastic. And in scripture, 00:22:14.269 --> 00:22:16.710 Luke and Matthew both do this, where they will 00:22:16.710 --> 00:22:21.400 take a story. And then there'll be another story 00:22:21.400 --> 00:22:23.579 here. And in between, it'll be another story 00:22:23.579 --> 00:22:25.440 that sometimes it doesn't even seem like it fits. 00:22:25.519 --> 00:22:28.160 But whenever you look at the two and the one 00:22:28.160 --> 00:22:30.680 in the middle, you can actually see what all 00:22:30.680 --> 00:22:35.880 three mean. This is a chiastic. The sheep are 00:22:35.880 --> 00:22:39.059 found, the coin is found, the sun is found, and 00:22:39.059 --> 00:22:43.480 heaven's joy is always the refrain. The crescendo 00:22:43.480 --> 00:22:47.420 is not the sun alone, but the symmetry of the 00:22:47.420 --> 00:22:54.900 whole. Coin, son, wandering, hidden things, rebels. 00:22:55.940 --> 00:22:59.839 What Jesus is doing here in this chiastic is 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:04.759 he is stacking the deck until no listener can 00:23:04.759 --> 00:23:10.079 wriggle free. Whichever way you are lost, the 00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:13.500 shepherd, the sweeper, the father will not rest 00:23:13.500 --> 00:23:18.380 until you're found. All three parables are portraits. 00:23:19.180 --> 00:23:23.980 The shepherd is Christ. The woman sweeping is 00:23:23.980 --> 00:23:27.420 the Holy Spirit. The father in the story of the 00:23:27.420 --> 00:23:31.779 prodigal son is God Almighty. Three brushstrokes 00:23:31.779 --> 00:23:34.579 of the same face turn towards you and refusing 00:23:34.579 --> 00:23:38.160 to give up. We often think that theology somehow 00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:41.539 must be explained on charts. Jesus gives us a 00:23:41.539 --> 00:23:45.579 family photo album. Also again, notice the geography, 00:23:45.900 --> 00:23:47.900 wilderness for the sheep, house for the corn, 00:23:48.039 --> 00:23:52.619 coin, heart for the sun. Salvation moves closer 00:23:52.619 --> 00:23:56.680 and closer and closer to the core of human life, 00:23:56.880 --> 00:24:02.680 from creation to culture to kinship. No space 00:24:02.680 --> 00:24:09.079 is outside the reach of God's finding work. The 00:24:09.079 --> 00:24:12.849 sheep drifts, the coin is misplaced. The sun 00:24:12.849 --> 00:24:17.230 chooses rebellion. These cover the spectrum of 00:24:17.230 --> 00:24:23.170 lostness. However it happens, the response of 00:24:23.170 --> 00:24:28.490 heaven is always the same. Search, find, rejoice. 00:24:30.210 --> 00:24:34.269 And rejoice with me is more than just an invitation. 00:24:35.130 --> 00:24:40.220 It's a command into joy. Heaven will not allow 00:24:40.220 --> 00:24:44.160 misery to have the last word. The neighbors are 00:24:44.160 --> 00:24:48.839 summoned because joy is commuted. No one should 00:24:48.839 --> 00:24:51.660 get to stay on the sidelines when mercy wins. 00:24:53.240 --> 00:24:58.720 And friends, if we cannot rejoice when the lost 00:24:58.720 --> 00:25:03.259 return, then we are not yet aligned with heaven's 00:25:03.259 --> 00:25:07.910 music. If the church looks bored when prodigals 00:25:07.910 --> 00:25:11.650 come home, then we have forgotten the sound of 00:25:11.650 --> 00:25:16.230 our own rescue. These parables are not just comfort, 00:25:16.450 --> 00:25:21.750 they're correction. And at last, we stand where 00:25:21.750 --> 00:25:25.569 all three parables converge. A shepherd with 00:25:25.569 --> 00:25:28.210 wool across his shoulders, a woman with a coin 00:25:28.210 --> 00:25:31.130 in her palm, a father with a son in his hands. 00:25:31.190 --> 00:25:34.619 All three sing the same song. And the question 00:25:34.619 --> 00:25:39.460 comes not as a riddle, but as a reckoning. Will 00:25:39.460 --> 00:25:45.099 you join the music? So friends, here is the gospel 00:25:45.099 --> 00:25:49.900 according to Sheep, Coin, and Sun. Lost things 00:25:49.900 --> 00:25:56.839 matter. Lost people matter. You matter. However 00:25:56.839 --> 00:26:00.140 you got lost by drift, by accident, rebellion, 00:26:00.579 --> 00:26:04.730 you are not written off. There is a shepherd 00:26:04.730 --> 00:26:08.950 who will leave the 99, a woman who will sweep 00:26:08.950 --> 00:26:11.710 until the lamp burns out, and a father who will 00:26:11.710 --> 00:26:15.410 run until his lungs are on fire. And when you 00:26:15.410 --> 00:26:19.289 are found, a party will happen that is loud enough 00:26:19.289 --> 00:26:23.369 to shake the windows of heaven. The only question 00:26:23.369 --> 00:26:26.230 is not whether you're worth finding, but whether 00:26:26.230 --> 00:26:29.670 you'll let yourself be carried, whether you will 00:26:29.670 --> 00:26:34.140 yield. Will you walk into the music already being 00:26:34.140 --> 00:26:38.299 sung? And I stand here to tell you, the music 00:26:38.299 --> 00:26:42.019 has already started. But let me stretch this 00:26:42.019 --> 00:26:44.980 closing just a bit further. Sometimes a preacher 00:26:44.980 --> 00:26:47.599 has to linger at the table before he lets his 00:26:47.599 --> 00:26:53.019 people leave. Consider this. Every parable in 00:26:53.019 --> 00:26:56.900 Luke 15 ends in a party. Not a lecture, not a 00:26:56.900 --> 00:27:00.480 tribunal. Not even a solitary sigh of relief, 00:27:00.759 --> 00:27:06.740 but a party. Do we see what that means? It means 00:27:06.740 --> 00:27:11.160 that salvation is not just about survival. It's 00:27:11.160 --> 00:27:15.319 celebration. It also means the kingdom of God 00:27:15.319 --> 00:27:20.299 is not stingy with joy. Heaven does not ration 00:27:20.299 --> 00:27:24.599 music. Every sinner found, every wanderer coming 00:27:24.599 --> 00:27:28.369 home, every hidden one uncovered. Every rebel 00:27:28.369 --> 00:27:31.529 embraced becomes the spark for a new chorus of 00:27:31.529 --> 00:27:37.089 praise. Angels don't yawn, they dance. And if 00:27:37.089 --> 00:27:41.630 heaven throws a feast, so should we. The church 00:27:41.630 --> 00:27:43.829 that cannot rejoice when a sinner comes home 00:27:43.829 --> 00:27:48.690 has not understood its own rescue. If we do not 00:27:48.690 --> 00:27:52.690 clap, sing, embrace, and feast when mercy wins, 00:27:53.029 --> 00:27:56.190 we are not aligned with the heartbeat of God. 00:27:57.680 --> 00:28:01.799 A joyless church is a contradiction in terms. 00:28:02.500 --> 00:28:06.180 For if the shepherd sings and the woman shouts 00:28:06.180 --> 00:28:09.160 and the father runs, then people who bear their 00:28:09.160 --> 00:28:15.579 name cannot and should not remain silent. So 00:28:15.579 --> 00:28:18.640 hear it again. You are not too lost to be found. 00:28:18.759 --> 00:28:20.980 You are not too broken to be carried. You are 00:28:20.980 --> 00:28:24.259 not too guilty to be kissed on the neck and clothed 00:28:24.259 --> 00:28:28.039 in new robes. Shepherd is already set out for 00:28:28.039 --> 00:28:32.279 you. Lamps are already lit. Father is already 00:28:32.279 --> 00:28:36.279 on the porch scanning the horizon. Story is not 00:28:36.279 --> 00:28:40.240 about their patience with our sin. It's about 00:28:40.240 --> 00:28:44.099 their impatience for reunion. Therefore, friends, 00:28:44.140 --> 00:28:47.160 take courage. If you're wandering, know that 00:28:47.160 --> 00:28:49.779 someone is walking the hills calling your name 00:28:49.779 --> 00:28:52.839 right now. If you're hidden, know that someone 00:28:52.839 --> 00:28:55.500 is sweeping the floor until light catches ahold 00:28:55.500 --> 00:28:59.200 of you. If you're rebellious, know that someone 00:28:59.200 --> 00:29:01.859 is running to meet you, robe flying in the wind. 00:29:01.980 --> 00:29:06.759 And when he finds you, and he will, he will not 00:29:06.759 --> 00:29:10.359 scold you into the kingdom. He will carry you, 00:29:10.420 --> 00:29:14.079 embrace you, lift you into joy you cannot even 00:29:14.079 --> 00:29:17.380 imagine. So brothers and sisters, join the music, 00:29:17.480 --> 00:29:21.130 enter the feast. Shepherd's shoulders are broad 00:29:21.130 --> 00:29:24.890 enough. The Spirit's lamp is bright enough. The 00:29:24.890 --> 00:29:28.009 Father's table is plenty long. And the sound 00:29:28.009 --> 00:29:32.869 rising even now is for you. So step into it and 00:29:32.869 --> 00:29:38.730 let it step into you. Amen? Amen. Thanks, guys. 00:29:45.730 --> 00:29:49.339 Friend, you've heard the familiar refrain. Shepherd 00:29:49.339 --> 00:29:52.920 leaves the 99. The woman sweeps until the coin 00:29:52.920 --> 00:29:56.119 gleams. The father runs with his robe and his 00:29:56.119 --> 00:29:58.759 fists. These are not parables just for a children's 00:29:58.759 --> 00:30:02.319 book. They're your invitation, however you got 00:30:02.319 --> 00:30:06.619 lost. By drift, by accident, maybe by choice. 00:30:07.380 --> 00:30:10.839 You are worth the search. The search is already 00:30:10.839 --> 00:30:15.160 underway. That's comfort. But here's the conviction. 00:30:16.140 --> 00:30:20.039 When others are found, do you celebrate or do 00:30:20.039 --> 00:30:22.599 you stand outside the door with your arms crossed? 00:30:23.319 --> 00:30:26.920 Heaven won't let you stand neutral. Mercy demands 00:30:26.920 --> 00:30:31.279 music. So here's what I'm asking, not just for 00:30:31.279 --> 00:30:33.980 your consideration, but for this conversation. 00:30:33.980 --> 00:30:37.119 If this story of the shepherd's joy has met you 00:30:37.119 --> 00:30:40.359 tonight, don't walk away quietly. Subscribe so 00:30:40.359 --> 00:30:43.259 you can keep walking with us. Share it so somebody 00:30:43.259 --> 00:30:45.319 else wandering might hear their name called. 00:30:46.059 --> 00:30:49.359 Leave a comment so we can rejoice with you. The 00:30:49.359 --> 00:30:51.559 party isn't complete without your voice.