Word of Salvation – Vol. 24 No. 52 – September 1978

 

The Searcher For The Lost

 

Sermon by Rev. N. Teekens, L.Th., Th.Grad. on Luke 15:1-24

Scripture reading: James 4, Luke 15:1-24

Psalter Hymnal: 114; 205; 417; 407; 38; 380

 

Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

The parable of the lost sheep has an innocent beginning. The sheep is perhaps distracted by a bird rising suddenly from the grass just ahead; the rustle of the wind startles the grazing sheep; or a greener patch of grass just away a little distance seems a better place for feeding. There is the first slight turn of the head, a step or two in the wrong direction… and soon the sheep is feeding well away from the flock.

The same happens in human life.

For example, a father decides to move away from the busy suburbs to the foothills, to a quiet place of rest and recreation, closer to nature and to God, in a beautiful environment…! He can now keep some chooks, and build a bird cage and Johnny can finally have his Labrador dog. Of course, it will mean farther travel to work and church, but look at all the advantages!

Before long the plan becomes reality and at first everything seems too good to be true.. To come home is to come to a haven, a real outdoor sanctuary, a miniature park! But soon it is discovered that to live away from the church means a longer drive on Sundays, and the weekly drives to Catechism for the children and Cadet and Calvinette meetings become a burden. Then, fortnightly the same trip for Bible study as extra as well! And during the week we don’t see members of the congregation as often as before either.

AND BEFORE LONG THE FAMILY HAS MOVED AWAY FROM REGULAR CHURCH ACTIVITIES AND THE DISTANCES INVOLVED AND THE RISE IN COST OF PETROL MAKES THE FAMILY BUDGET TOO TIGHT FOR CHURCH PARTICIPATION AS THEY WERE USED TO.

And this family, congregation, is moving away from the flock. It is actually threatening to become a LOST family. Like the lost sheep, it had such an innocent BEGINNING! No-one PLANNED FOR THIS to happen, but happen it did, nevertheless!

Or it can happen that an older teenager decides to move away from home and into a flat with a friend. Although it is in itself not wrong for grown-up young people to want some independence, the new situation demands a disciplined order of life and activities. All too easily this delightful situation has developed into a bad move, for the worship services and the Saturday evenings have become too demanding in time and energy. And then an estrangement occurs from the home and the church.

In the parable of the lost sheep, it is not likely that the sheep itself realised it was first becoming and then being actually lost. Yet, as time took its course, it happened! The flock has moved elsewhere and the sheep is all alone. In the parable, the shepherd goes out of his way to search for the lost sheep. When we think about it for a minute, it becomes debatable how important it was for the shepherd to go and find the sheep. After all, the loss here is only one sheep out of a hundred, really only a 1% loss. And at the next lambing season, more sheep would be born most likely. Is one sheep all that important?

But the shepherd takes good care of his sheep. He knows that that one sheep cannot live without the shepherd, and the safe protection of the flock! The sheep cannot miss its owner, although the owner could exist without this sheep! Thus, for the sake of the one lost sheep, the shepherd searches for it and when he finds it he hoists it on his shoulders and joyfully brings it back to the flock.

THE LOST COIN

In the parable of the lost coin, a lifeless object is searched for. Whereas the lost sheep became lost out of sheepish negligence, the lost coin became lost because of some mishap or some carelessness.

Perhaps the woman knocked over a pile of the coins and one fell to the ground and rolled to a dark corner; perhaps a leather thong holding the ten coins together had broken; perhaps the woven cord holding the coins in a bracelet or necklace had frayed through. But notice that in this parable, one object out of ten is lost, making it a 10% loss.

And, of course, that one coin was quite indifferent to where it lay. A dark and dusty corner was as good as its place on a bracelet. And note the search by the woman for the coin began, not because the coin needed her, but because SHE HAD NEED OF THE COIN! It must be found by her! Perhaps it had sentimental value for her; perhaps it was part of her savings; perhaps it had been a precious gift from a close friend! At any rate, SHE NEEDED THAT COIN! So she searched for it, and found it, and rejoiced!

THE LOST SON

In the third parable, the one of the lost son, the father loses not 1% as the shepherd did, nor 10% as the woman did, but 50%, for he had two sons and one became lost. In this parable, the loss is caused by a cold-blooded, calculated plan on the part of the son. The son demanded from his father the property that would become his when his father decided to ‘retire’, or when the father decided to hand out to his sons whatever property he thought they should have.

The son did not become lost through an innocent and careless move, which was the cause of the sheep’s predicament, nor by a mishap on the part of the father, which was the case of the lost coin, but by a wicked, premeditated rebellion of his son.

And, the loss was as total as could be, for we read that the son travelled to a far country, squandered his possessions with immoral living and ended up… not on the dole because of unemployment but engaged in a worse situation, a situation utterly revolting to the Jews, namely feeding pigs, an employment prohibited for Jews by Jewish law! He could sink no lower!

It was then that he came to himself; he considered his predicament and repented and returned home. His father saw him from a distance. The father had hoped and prayed for this to happen.

In the return of the son and the fact that the father was waiting for his son, we come to recognise that in this case, NEITHER COULD DO WITHOUT THE OTHER! The son needed the father’s favour and home life and employment; and the father needed his son to be around him.

They belonged together! Both depended upon each other!

(Psalter Hymnal 38- Psalm 23 – “The Lord’s My Shepherd” may be sung at this point, if so desired by the reader.)

In these three parables, the Lord Jesus is reacting to the harsh judgement of the Scribes and Pharisees. They saw sinners, those given up as ‘lost’, surround Jesus; and they saw Jesus take to these sinners with forgiving love and compassion, instead of condemnation.

In these three parables, Jesus shows He realises that these people are sinners. And yet He offers the bystanders – and us also today a glimpse of heavenly joy when a lost sinner returns and joins the flock, God’s Covenant people, with repentance.

That return causes joy in heaven, a celebration of joy, for he who was lost, for whatever reason, has returned to the place of belonging: to the fold, the other coins, or to the home. And that joy is as real for the loss of 1% as it is for 10% or 50%!

That searching and resulting joy is the Lord’s GRACE in seeking and finding and celebrating. That is a three-fold illustration by Jesus of the love of the Father, told by the One Who came especially to search out the lost, enabling them by His forgiving love to be re-instated as real sons of the Heavenly Father. The parables here show His seeking for Covenant children who belong with the Covenant congregation. The Lord is their owner, because He has set His stamp upon them by their BAPTISM into that Covenant! They belong to Him and remain His property. And their wandering away is HIS CONCERN!

And yet, beside the indication of God’s careful search for the lost, we ought not. to overlook the degrees in these parables of dependency of the lost objects in relation to their respective owners.

The shepherd could do without the sheep, but the sheep desperately needed its shepherd; the coin could do without the woman, but the woman desperately needed that coin; the son similarly needed his father, and the father needed his son back. The parables indicate a mutual need, a dependency on each other.

As in the parable of the sheep, we need the congregation, the people of God. We cannot grow in grace and faith and knowledge apart from the regular congregational activities, on weekdays and Sundays! We need to frequent the worship services! Our children need the Youth programs that suit their age group! They need Catechism and Sunday School! And, a thoughtless decision can put a great distance between us and these necessary activities.

Distance can be a step to this dangerous alienation; shift-work can do the same thing; a new hobby can do this also; or a non- church friend can keep us away from the church. At first the step away may be a very small one, unnoticed by anyone. But that first step is the dangerous one!

We must recognise that our plans be made IN SUBJECTION to the Lord’s plans. James reminds us: “…you ought to say,!If the Lord wills, we shall live… here or there and we shall do this or that” (James 4:15). It may well mean that we need to wait patiently for the Lord’s will to become known by us before plans become reality. It will definitely mean constant prayer for guidance and the readiness to do or not to do what we first thought right.

It will also mean that we end our friendship with the world and commence with more dedication to our friendship with God. It will also mean to end praying for the fulfilment of our passion and to pray for the will of the Lord to be done in our personal as well as our family life.

And secondly, the parables show in two cases that the owner had need for the lost object, in the case of the lost coin and the father’s need for his son to come home. Yes, the Lord has need for the lost (in His grace, that is!). They also have a purpose in His Kingdom work! The Lord charged men to spread the Gospel in evangelism and men to make their offerings for the saints and needy in the world and men to teach the Covenant children and lead them in their Youth programs and men to take care of the church members in the office of Elder and Deacon. Unworthy and unreliable as we are, the Lord has need of us, to work in the church and the world! By His grace He equips us to be disciples with various tasks, calling us to be diligent to develop our talents so as to serve Him better.

The Lord seeks out the lost. That is a wonderfully assuring thing to know, isn’t it? But FIRST OF ALL, minister and counsel each other SO AS NOT TO BECOME LOST! It is, admittedly, a hard lesson for us to learn to be HUMBLE, but James reminds us: “GOD opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble!” But when JESUS is first in our family and serving Him our main purpose and joy, we will be assured of His guidance in big and minor decisions.

The LORD is my shepherd,

I shall have no needs;

  Lord, teach me to be a humble sheep!

He makes me lie down in green pastures;

  Lord, let Your leading satisfy me always;

He leads me beside still waters;

  Lord, may I find my peace in You!

  And lead me in Your paths of righteousness; now and always!

AMEN.