Let's pray together and then we're gonna jump into Luke 15. So let's pray. Oh Father God, God, again we want to praise you this morning. God, I thank you for the opportunity that we have to gather as your redeemed and worship you. God, to proclaim your goodness and your great love towards us. Father God, we thank you that you've ordained this time, God, that you've given us your word. Jesus, you yourself said, he who has ears to hear, let him hear. God, please, I ask that you would let us hear your words this morning. Holy Spirit, please draw us and point us to your Son Jesus, that we would know him and treasure him to a greater degree this morning. In Jesus' name, amen.
Well, obviously Matthew's gone another week, but we are going to continue on in Luke, and this is going to be our first time in Luke 15. So, man, I don't know, we've been going about a year in Luke and we're up to Luke 15.
So if you would, if you'd read together with me I'm going to jump into Luke 15, verse 1. It starts out like this. It says, now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him, referring to Jesus. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, this man receives sinners and eats with them. So he, Jesus, told them this parable. What man of you, having 100 sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the 99 in the open country and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, and he says to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I found my sheep that was lost.' Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. Or what woman, having 10 silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.' Just so I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
Well, quick story. When I was younger, grew up in Wisconsin area, and what we would do, we'd make it a point— my extended family lives in Green Bay and the northern Wisconsin, upper Michigan area, so My grandparents are there and every summer we would go and we'd visit them. We'd drive about 2 hours north of Green Bay into upper Michigan where my grandpa lived. And it was the summer of, I think it was in 1990. So I was 10 years old and he decided that year that we were going to go to the Michigan State Fair. I was trying to think back. I don't know if it was the state fair or like the upper peninsula fair. It was just a big fair. Big fair, was bigger than a county fair. There was lots of stuff going on. As a 10-year-old boy, I mean, I can't really remember that much. I just remember it was fun, lots of food. My grandpa spoiled us. We got to ride all the rides.
And we were a couple hours into it, and I was there with my dad and grandpa, my mom, older brother, and two younger sisters. And a couple hours into it, we're having a great time, but my mom she noticed something. And what she noticed was that my youngest sister, Bonnie, who was 6 years old at the time, she wasn't with us. She was nowhere to be seen. And in that moment, I remember this as a 10-year-old boy very vividly. My mom absolutely freaked out. It's like somebody flipped a switch, and I, I I've never seen her act like that, and I've almost never seen her act like that since. What she did, and you gotta understand, she's a very calm and collected person. She's very cool, and it takes a lot to shake her and rattle her. She has a very dignified personality. But in that moment, she just freaked out. She started yelling at the top of her lungs, running around saying, 'Bonnie! Bonnie, where are you?' She's running up to booths, running up to vendors, running all over saying, 'Bonnie, where are you? If you can hear my voice, voice, Bonnie, Bonnie, where are you?' And then without saying anything to my dad or grandpa or us, she just took off running looking for Bonnie.
And we were left there and my dad and grandpa, they took us and the rest of the kids and we went to the, I don't even know what you call it, like the official's podium or whatever, where the police were and everything and reported, hey, we have a missing kid. And obviously this was before the days of cell phones or Amber Alerts or whatever methods they have of when kids get lost like that. And it was probably about 10 minutes later, there was a stir, there was a buzz going on. They had it over the loudspeakers and everyone was looking for this little girl and what she was wearing. And then about 10 minutes later, I saw, and I can remember again very vividly, I was sitting there and we saw my mom walking up from a distance and in her arms was little 6-year-old Bonnie. And of course they were both bawling. My mom was crying because she was so relieved and Bonnie was just freaked out and honestly kind of messed her up a little. She didn't want to leave my parents' side for about the next 6 months. She hates clowns, hates fairs to this day. Go figure, right? But, um, in that moment I remember, because people knew what was going on, We saw my mom and Bonnie walking up. I can't remember who it was, but people started to clap. People started to cheer because we had found little Bonnie. We'd found Bonnie. It was like this moment of really rejoicing. It was, it was exciting.
6 · Bridges from the personal illustration to the biblical text, arguing that the universal human experience of joy in finding lost objects connects to—but is surpassed by—the joy in Jesus's parables
You know, we've all had moments like that, right? Where we've lost something that's important, something that's valuable to us. Maybe it's just like a lost shoe or something. But something, we've lost something, and in that moment, it's important. We're like single-minded, single-track on this lost object, and all of a sudden, kind of nothing else matters in that moment. And then when we find it, even if it's a lost shoe or like a lost gift card or something, you're like, yes, I found it! There's joy, there's ecstasy, there's a yes, I found this, right? And that's a little bit of what we see in these stories, in these parables that Jesus tells us this morning, although to a greater degree.
7 · Establishes the immediate literary context of Luke 15 by connecting it to Jesus's preceding parables about banquets and the kingdom of God, and noting the large crowds following Jesus
And in continuation to what Derek preached last week, which he did an excellent job, it's really, yes, amen, it's really quite interesting to note the context of what's going on in this moment as we approach Luke 15. Because what's happening in this moment is Jesus just gets done telling 2 other stories, 2 other parables about great banquets and what the kingdom of God is like. And he's teaching large crowds. These large crowds of people are gathering and gathering around him and following him.
8 · Expounds on Jesus's counterintuitive teaching method—challenging the crowds about the cost of discipleship rather than capitalizing on popular momentum—and imagines the disciples' confusion
And then he continues in a way that is really counterintuitive to the way we would do things or the way that a marketing or strategist might do things or campaign manager might do things. He goes on, and like Derek did an excellent job preaching last week, he challenges the people to consider, 'Why are you following me? Here's the cost in following me. Here's what it's gonna look like if somebody's gonna be a disciple of mine.' I can almost just picture the disciples next to him saying like, 'Jesus, what are you doing? All these people are around me.' All these people around us and you're telling them to stop and consider?
9 · Identifies the critical hinge statement connecting Luke 14 to Luke 15—Jesus's call for those with ears to hear
But the very last words that Jesus says to the crowds, the very last thing he says as we move into our text for today, is he proclaims to the crowd, to the crowds, he says this, the very last sentence in Luke 14, he says, he who has ears to hear, let him hear.
10 · Demonstrates Luke's intentional word choice, linking Jesus's call to 'hear' directly to the tax collectors and sinners who draw near to 'listen,' establishing this as more than coincidence but theological point-making
And then the very next statement he says, going into Luke 15, and obviously when Luke wrote this, there were no chapter breaks. He was just writing a letter to Theophilus. The very next statement he makes is he says that the tax collectors and the sinners, they're gathering around Jesus to do what? To listen to him, to hear him. And, you know, I don't think it's a coincidence in these choice of words. That Luke is using here. The exact same words that Jesus says, 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear.' And then Luke right after that says the tax collectors and sinners are drawing near to listen to Jesus.
11 · Establishes the first of two contrasting groups—the tax collectors and sinners, the cultural and ceremonial outcasts who are nonetheless leaning in to hear Jesus
So what Luke's doing here is he's very intentionally drawing our attention to two different types of people. Over here we have the sinners. We have the tax collectors. We have the castaways of that culture. We have the impure. We have those who are ceremonially unclean. We have probably the kind of awkward people to be around. We have the people who don't say the right things, who they're just going to kind of be uncomfortable to be around with. But what are they doing when they're with Jesus? They're drawing near. They're leaning in. To listen to him.
12 · Establishes the second contrasting group—the Pharisees and scribes, the respected religious leaders who know Scripture but are grumbling about Jesus's association with sinners
And then on the other side, you have the Pharisees and the scribes. You have the knowledgeable ones, you have the respectable ones, you have the— those who, who know the scriptures. These are the church leaders. These are the community leaders. These are the ones who everyone looks up to. And what are they doing in their hearts and outwardly? They're nattering, they're grumbling, and they're complaining that Jesus receives these sinners, that Jesus receives these ceremonially unclean people, and that he actually sits down and has a meal with them.
13 · Explains the cultural and legal context making clear why the Pharisees find Jesus's behavior scandalous—He is violating ceremonial purity laws by eating with the unclean
And to the Pharisees and the scribes and anybody who knew the law, that would have been scandalous, because according to the Jewish law, you are not supposed to sit down and have a meal with somebody who is ceremonially, ceremonially unclean. And that's exactly what Jesus is doing.
14 · Makes the interpretive move that Jesus's scandalous table fellowship is not aberrant behavior but the perfect representation of the kingdom of God and His mission
It's really a compelling picture of what Jesus is about, isn't it? What Jesus is doing is he's perfectly representing what the kingdom of God is about and what he's come to do.
15 · Expounds on the stunning nature of the incarnation and Jesus's mission—the Son of God who sustains creation choosing to associate with broken, awkward people rather than protecting His reputation
And just think about this for a moment, because I don't want to skim over this. I know it's just a couple sentences at the beginning of Luke 15, but I don't want our minds to just skim over This moment and what Jesus is doing here, just think about it. Here's Jesus. Here's the Son of God. Here's the one who holds everything into existence by his very breath. And what's he doing? He's not concerned with his reputation. He's not concerned with the seats of honor. He's revealing himself. He's relating with brokenness. He's giving himself to a bunch of messed up, awkward people. He's God in the flesh, putting humanity on, showing humanity that he's come to restore and to redeem.
16 · Synthesizes the exposition into two contrasting attitudes toward Jesus—the humble sinners who lean in versus the respectable religious who grumble and miss what Jesus is doing
And then in this moment, Luke uses this scene to show his readers, to show us that there's two types of attitudes going on here. We have the attitudes of the sinners, the ones who are messed up, the awkward ones who are leaning in to listen, who've come to Jesus and recognized there's something about this man. And then we have the attitude of the respectable ones And what are they doing? They're pointing fingers, they're grumbling, they're complaining. They miss what Jesus is doing.
17 · Direct pastoral appeal to the congregation to engage with the text's central message about what God values and celebrates rather than passively hearing the sermon
And now, as we look at this passage more this morning, as we dig in deeper, consider this: if we see Jesus illustrating to us what's valuable in the kingdom of God, what's worth rejoicing in, and what God himself and the angels in heaven massively celebrate, I don't want to miss this, you guys. I don't want to sit through this. I don't want to sit through, you know, 40 minutes and miss what this text is saying. As a church family, I don't want for us together to miss this.
18 · Issues a call to personal ownership—not merely hearing the text but pausing to consider and be stirred by what Jesus says is valuable
So here's the thing this morning. I pray that we would own this. I need to own this personally. I want to own this. I don't want to read a passage like this and not pause to consider what's really valuable. Just like Derek preached last week, I don't want to come and, you know, recite the Apostles' Creed and sing these songs and then not pause and consider what Jesus says is valuable. I want my heart to be stirred.
19 · Diagnoses the universal sinful tendency to gravitate toward the Pharisees' attitude—preferring comfort, reputation, and ease over Jesus's mission to the broken
And here's the tension, even as I'm preparing for this the last couple weeks, I'm reading this and getting excited and, you know, even crying and, you know, what Jesus has done and I'm up at night and, you know, writing this out, but all the while I know my sinful tendency. Our sinful tendencies and our idolatrous hearts, they're gonna be to lean towards the exact same things that the Pharisees were doing. What are we gonna want to do just naturally? We're gonna only want to associate with those that we're comfortable with, with those who make us look good, with those who are like us, with those who are easy to get along with, with those who kind of stroke our egos and put a notch in our reputations. And you know those other people who are uncomfortable and awkward and who don't have it together? Obviously not like us, right? Ever. Never. You know, let's just kind of let them be. I just kind of let them go off and do their own thing.
20 · Challenges the congregation to examine their hearts for subtle grumbling and resistance to associating with 'those types of people' when the Holy Spirit stirs them
And maybe, you know, I was thinking about this, maybe in our own hearts it's not something that we're blatantly pointing fingers at anyone, but in our hearts we know when the Holy Spirit's stirring us, don't we? In our hearts we know where there's those murmurings and those grumblings when we think about associating or considering spending time with those types of people.
21 · Articulates the primary application—that remembering how Christ pursued us when we were lost would motivate us (not by guilt but by the Spirit's stirring) to pursue the lost and share in God's joy in redemption
So as we look at this beautiful picture of what the kingdom of God is about, how Jesus has come to save and redeem, more than anything this morning, more than anything, I pray that our hearts are stirred to know what Christ has done for us, that we would know that we've been forgiven much, that we would know and remember that he saved us, that he's redeemed us, that he's He's sought us out and that He's relentlessly pursued us when we were lost and hopeless. And in turn, that we would go and do likewise for others. Not under guilt, not under, you know, man, I feel like I have to do this now. No, that the Holy Spirit would stir us because we so want to share in the joy that God has in redeeming the lost. Because there's a lot of joy, there's massive amounts of joy here, and that we would want to share in this joy.
22 · Structural transition announcing the sermon's main body—four themes showing the gospel and Christ's redemption in both parables
So in both stories, I want to quickly and very briefly, because I want to have time to move into the Lord's Supper as well, I want to quickly touch on 4 themes and how we see the gospel at work, how we see Christ's redemption at work in these 2 parables.
23 · Establishes the first theme—something is lost
So the first thing we see, the first theme we see is something's lost. This is pretty obvious, right? We see a sheep that's lost, we see a coin that is lost. Both of these objects, they're completely helpless. Both of these objects can do absolutely nothing in their own power to bring them back to where they rightfully belong, right? They have absolutely no way in and of themselves to get back, to be found. They can't do anything. It's not just going to happen, right? They're lost. They're hopeless. They're helpless.
24 · Connects the parable's theme of lostness to humanity's condition in sin, then suggests Jesus may have had Isaiah in mind when telling this parable since Isaiah prophesied about human lostness 1,000 years earlier
In our own sin, in our rebelliousness, we're lost. We're separated from the one to whom we rightfully belong. And you know, I like to think of Jesus, this is just my own commentary, I guess, but I like to think of Jesus as he's telling this parable about a shepherd, of him giving the words to the prophet Isaiah and thinking back when he gave the prophet Isaiah these words 1,000 years ago before he gave this parable because Isaiah says the same things as he's foreshadowing our hearts and a Messiah coming.
25 · Exposits Isaiah 53:6 to establish the universal human condition of lostness—all have gone astray and turned to their own way, needing a rescuer
Isaiah 53:6 says, all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned, everyone, every one of us has turned to his own way. We're all lost in sin. We've all turned. We all need a rescuer. We're all hopeless, we're all helpless. We all need a rescuer, we all need somebody to come and save us.
26 · Introduces the second theme—the rescuer, the hero who does the finding
And that's exactly what we see next. We see a rescuer. That's the second theme. We have a rescuer. There's a hero to this story. There's the person who does the finding.
27 · Expounds on the shepherd figure who leaves everything and enters danger to save one lost sheep that rightfully belongs to him
So we see a shepherd. We see a shepherd who leaves all he has to go into the open country where there's danger, there's peril, there's thieves, there's bandits, there's wild animals. To do what? To save one puny little sheep. But he knows it rightly, that it rightfully belongs to him, right?
28 · Expounds on the woman who uses costly resources (oil for light) and meticulous effort to find one coin worth a day's wages because it rightfully belongs to her
And then we see a woman who meticulously sweeps her house, cleans her house. She uses precious oil to light up her house, and she diligently seeks to find this one coin worth about a day's wages, but it rightfully belongs to her.
29 · Makes the typological move connecting the shepherd and woman to Christ, who left heaven's glory to pursue and rescue sinful humanity at the cost of His own life
And we see Christ. We see Christ leaving the glory of heaven. We see Christ leaving the chorus of angels who worship him day and night. We see Christ leaving the Father's side. We see Christ who's full of omnipotent power and glory. And what does he do? He comes down to earth, he clothes himself in humanity, and he stops at absolutely nothing, even giving his very own life as a sacrifice to pursue and rescue a sinful and messed up people like us, like us sitting here this morning. You guys, this is our hero, this is our Savior. Christ is our rescuer.
30 · Transitions to the third theme by establishing that the rescue isn't the end—the heroes don't abandon what they've found
But there's even better news, because the story doesn't end there, does it? The shepherd doesn't just leave his sheep there out in the country, in the open country, right? The woman doesn't just leave that coin there, sitting there. Hey, I found it. That's great. Jesus doesn't come to earth and just leave us helpless. What do our heroes do?
31 · Introduces the third theme by negative example—the woman doesn't treat the found coin as worthless or a waste of effort despite the cost of finding it
Which brings us to the third theme. After our heroes find what rightfully belonged to them, what do they do with their lost objects? You know, the woman What she doesn't say, to put this negatively, what she doesn't say is she doesn't clean and sweep and use precious oil, and then she doesn't say, 'Man, you know what? All that hard work, this is only a day's wages. I could have been working. I could have been doing something else. This is just pointless.' She doesn't take that coin and just say, 'Ah, this is stupid. I'm just gonna leave it here. This is dumb. This is a waste of time.' And she doesn't angrily stomp off.
32 · Uses humorous hypothetical negative examples to show what the shepherd does NOT do—insult the sheep, beat it, or use it for his own comfort and gain
Same thing with the shepherd. The shepherd doesn't go into the open country and then find that sheep and just take that sheep and start insulting it. Say, 'You stupid sheep!' And get its staff and start beating it over the head. Say, 'You stupid sheep! Man, you're such a dumb sheep! All these other sheep know what to do. I mean, sheep are dumb anyway, but you're the most dumb sheep. Like, you wander off. You can't even follow the rest of the flock.' Like, what's going on? Such a dumb animal. You didn't say, you know what, I'm kind of cold right now. You know, your wool looks pretty good. I might make myself a sweater. I've been kind of hungry. I've been searching you out all day, all night. Some lamb chops sound really good right now. I mean, if that's me, if I'm the shepherd, that's probably what I would do.
33 · Makes the uncomfortable theological point that the sheep actually deserved harsh treatment because of its foolishness
And in all honesty, In all fairness, that's probably what the sheep deserved, wasn't it?
34 · Pivots to what actually happens—the shepherd treats the sheep with care, compassion, and mercy
But in our story, how does Jesus show what the shepherd does? How does the shepherd treat the sheep? With care and with compassion. He shows mercy.
35 · Describes the shepherd's actions—gently picking up the sheep, carrying it on his shoulders, removing it from danger, and rejoicing while bringing it home
And not only that, what he does with the sheep— he gently picks up the sheep He puts the sheep on his shoulders and he takes it away from peril and danger, and he rejoices. There's great joy. There's great joy. And he brings the sheep back to where it rightfully belongs.
36 · Connects the shepherd carrying the sheep on his shoulders to Isaiah 53's prophecy of the Messiah bearing our griefs and carrying our sorrows on Himself
Back to our section in Isaiah 53, the prophet Isaiah, again, he's foreshadowing a Messiah coming to save. And he writes this foreshadowing about Christ's coming. He says, 'Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.' See the imagery there? See what Christ is doing? He has borne our griefs. He has carried our sorrows. Where we deserve to be left in our grief and sorrow because of our sin and our rebellion against God, Because we've strayed, because we've willingly left our Creator, what does Jesus do? He carries our grief and our sorrow just like that little sheep. He puts it on His shoulders.
37 · Exposits Isaiah 53:5 showing the substitutionary nature of Christ's suffering—He was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities
Isaiah 53:5 says, 'But He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities.' Here's the imagery again. Upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we're healed.
38 · Poses rhetorical questions establishing what humanity deserves—chastisement, judgment, mockery, and wrath—because of willful rebellion against God
Were we deserved chastisement? And were we deserved insults because of our wrongdoing? Were we deserved even by God to look at us and judge us and mock us and insult us because of our willing our willingly— willingfulness, rebellion against him, where we deserve the wrath of God because of our disobedience. How does God treat us?
39 · Answers the rhetorical question—instead of treating us as we deserve, God crushes His Son, who carries our sin, shame, and deserved punishment, and brings us back where we belong
He crushes his Son. He has his Son go to the cross, and Jesus himself puts our sin upon him. Just like the shepherd carries that little lost sheep on his shoulders, Christ carries us in our shame, in our brokenness, and all the insults and chastisement that we deserve because of our rebellion. He heals us and he brings us back to where we rightfully belong.
40 · Completes the exposition of Isaiah 53:6, showing how the verse that begins with humanity's universal lostness ends with God laying all our iniquity on His Son
Isaiah 53:6 ends with this, where we read the beginning of the scripture: All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned, every one of us, to his own way, that scripture ends by saying, and the Lord God Yahweh has laid on him, has laid on his Son, the iniquity of us all.
41 · Synthesizes the typological connection—the iniquity we earned Christ carries on His shoulders just as the shepherd carries the sheep
The iniquity that we earned and we deserve, Christ puts on his shoulders.
42 · Makes the claim that Christ went to the cross with joy—the joy set before Him motivated His sacrificial work
And how does he do this? How does he walk this out? He does it with joy. For the joy set before him, he went to the cross.
43 · Transitions to the fourth and final theme by noting how both parables show the rescuer calling others to share in the joy of finding what was lost
In our stories, we see a very obvious outward expression of the rescuer's joy in that there's a sharing of this joy. There's a calling together and an invitation. The rescuer says, 'Come, rejoice with me. I found what's lost. Come.' There's an invitation to this celebration. There's a big party. There's lots of people who are gathered around who are celebrating. Celebrating and rejoicing in that what was once lost is now found and it's brought to its rightful place, which is where I want to end this morning with our last point and the last theme we see.
44 · Expounds on the friends and neighbors in the parables who join in the rescuer's joy when what was lost is found
I want to dig into a little deeper application in this because there's another side of this parable as well. We see that there are friends of the finder. They're friends of the rescuer. They're friends of our hero. And what are these friends doing? They're rejoicing. The rescuer joyfully explains the news of redemption, and the rescuer's joy and excitement spills over, and the rescuer's friends and neighbor, they, neighbors, they want to join in with the rescuer. They want to join in with the hero. They want to be a part of what's going on.
45 · Reestablishes the critical contextual point—Jesus is addressing these parables primarily to the Pharisees and scribes, the religious elite
And now remember the context of this parable. Remember who Jesus is speaking to. He's not necessarily speaking to the sinners. He's not necessarily speaking to the crowds. Jesus is responding to the Pharisees and the scribes. He's responding to the ones who are concerned with appearances. He's responding to the ones who have it all together, right? He's responding to the rock stars. Of the day in their churches.
46 · Articulates Jesus's message to the Pharisees—that His mission is to pursue and rescue the lost, and those who are His friends and followers will share His joy in redemption rather than grumble
So Jesus is making a point here. He's saying to these people who are mumbling and grumbling, he's saying, I'm here. This is what I've come to do. Look, look, I've come to pursue the lost. I've come to seek out those who are rightfully— who rightfully belong to me. I've come to rescue those who are messed up. I've come to redeem them and to bring them back to me. I've come to bring those who are lost back to their rightful place. And if you know what the kingdom of God is about, if you're a friend of mine, if you're going to follow me, if you're going to claim my kingdom, I'm going to share my joy with you and you're going to rejoice in redemption. You're going to rejoice in seeing these people repent. You're gonna rejoice in my work of pursuing the lost and bringing back what rightfully belonged to me.
47 · Applies the parable to the congregation—calling them to examine whether they truly rejoice in repentance and redemption as their vision and goal
Friends, again, this is what I pray, this is what I pray we would own as a church family here at Providence. Are we a people, let's consider this, are we a people, are we a community that truly rejoices, that our vision and our goal is truly to rejoice in repentance and redemption? Is this really what we long to see as we gather?
48 · Applies the parable concretely—when we encounter broken, awkward, crude people who make us uncomfortable, is our desire to see them rescued and redeemed, because that's what's valuable in God's kingdom?
When we see messed up people, when we see people who don't have it together, when we see brokenness inside of our church or outside of our church, in our neighborhoods, our coworkers, the people that we go to school with, the people that we just kind of associate with every now and then, those people that we think, man, it's so hard to be around with, around with these people, it's just awkward, man, they're crude, man, if I would invite them around my Christian friends, they're just gonna say all the wrong things, it's just gonna look weird, it's gonna make me feel weird, it's gonna make me feel uncomfortable. I don't like awkward situations. Even when we see gross sins that our culture now deems as acceptable, is our genuine desire to see these lost people rescued, to see them redeemed, to see them brought to repentance by the saving power of Jesus? Because this is what's valuable in the kingdom of God. This is where there's much rejoicing.
49 · Exposits Luke 15:7, emphasizing the astonishing claim that there is more joy in heaven over one repentant sinner than over 99 righteous persons
And that's what Jesus says in verse 7. He says, just so I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven. Think about that. I just, I can't even imagine. I was reading this. I was trying to think, man, there's got to be a lot of joy in heaven. There has to be a lot of celebration going on in heaven. And Jesus says there's more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance.
50 · Exposits Luke 15:10, reinforcing that there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents
Verse 10, Jesus says, just so I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Jesus teaches us that there's much joy in the kingdom of God over these rescued sinners who repent.
51 · Applies the question of values to family life—are we modeling for our children that we value what heaven values, the rescue of lost sinners?
Is this what we really value? Is the same true for our families? Is the same true in what we model for our kids, for our children? Is that what we're showing? Is that what we're modeling for the next generation? When we think about and consider others, is that what we value?
52 · Personal application—the preacher's own desire not to be like the Pharisees but to value what Jesus values and pray for God to use his resources, reputation, and influence to bring the lost to repentance so he can share in God's joy
When we see someone who's lost, man, when I see someone who's lost, I don't want my heart— I don't want to miss this. I don't want my heart to be like that of the Pharisees and the scribes. And Jesus is at work right there in front of me. Jesus is here. He's like right here. He's in the midst of these people. I don't want to be like the Pharisees and scribes, and I don't want to miss that. I don't want to be so consumed concerned with how I feel or how great I am or how weird things are or how whatever is going on in my heart. I want to be concerned with what Jesus values in that moment. And I want to cry out on behalf of these people, on behalf of the lost and say, God, would you please have mercy on them the same way that you had mercy on me? God, would you save these people? God, would you use me? God, would you use my resources? Would you use my home? Would you use my family? God, would you use my reputation, my influence to bring these people to your glory, to lead them towards repentance? God, I want to share in this massive joy that you have in redeeming the lost.
53 · Statement of pastoral vision—the preacher's commitment to lead the church and his family according to Jesus's vision of what the kingdom of God is about
You know, if Jesus says this is what the kingdom of God is about, by his grace and power, that's what I want to lead our church in. That's what I want to lead my family in. That's what I want to be about.
54 · Transition to concrete application—introducing two specific ways to walk out the sermon's message
And just kind of the nitty-gritty as we walk this out together, I was thinking of two things.
55 · First concrete application—when the redeemed gather, there should be genuine rejoicing rooted in knowing we've been forgiven and redeemed, not manufactured joy but real celebration underlying everything we do
First of all, on a Sunday morning, not just on a Sunday morning as we gather in small groups or just as we gather together as the redeemed, whatever that looks like, You know, I think based on these parables, I think there should be a lot of rejoicing that happens when we gather together knowing that we are the redeemed, knowing that we are the ones who Christ has led to repentance. And, you know, I say that not to say, you know, there's going to be hard times and we live in a broken and sinful world. We live in a fallen world. So, yeah, there's going to be times where we agonize together and we cry together And I'm not talking about a man-made, manufactured, fake joy, but a knowledge, a genuine knowledge of knowing we've been forgiven, we've been redeemed. We were those lost sheep that Christ pursued and gave himself for, and that we would celebrate that. That would be the underlying current of everything we do. As we gather together.
56 · Clarifies the nature of corporate rejoicing—it's not self-congratulation because we are not the heroes; we gather to remember we were lost and Christ redeemed us
Now, we wouldn't come gathering together to think about how awesome we are. You know, the hero of the story isn't the sheep. The hero of the story is the shepherd and the woman who found the coin. The heroes of the stories aren't the lost objects. We'd gather together and remember that we were lost. That Christ has redeemed us.
57 · Applies the sermon's message to the upcoming baptism service—it's an opportunity to gather and celebrate individuals who were lost and have been rescued by God, making public proclamation of their redemption
I think about next Sunday, man, this— our baptism, it couldn't have come at a more providential time with this, with this, what we're talking about this morning. Because what we're going to be doing next Sunday with our baptism, what you're all invited to do next Sunday, is to gather, to celebrate, and to rejoice that these individuals who were once lost who once part of the kingdom of darkness, that God has given himself, that he's pursued them, that he's rescued them, and they're going to be making a public proclamation that they have been redeemed, that Christ has rescued them. And you guys, if we're a church that walks this out, I think we're going to want to rejoice in that. I think we're going to want to be a part of that.
58 · Pastoral charge—if we don't want to celebrate at the baptism, we should examine whether we understand what it means to follow Jesus, letting the Holy Spirit and Scripture wrestle with us
And if we don't, I would just think, and this isn't— man, I don't want to sound harsh, but I would just say if we don't want to be a part of that, go back last week, listen to Derek's sermon, what it's like to be a part of the kingdom of God, what it's like to follow Jesus. And don't take my words for this. You know, just please let the Holy Spirit, let the word of God wrestle with this, wrestle with these things.
59 · Celebrates the corporate gathering where the church sings the gospel, remembers Christ's work, and rejoices together
I love our Sunday mornings. I love when we get to gather together because we get to sing the gospel. We get to remember what Christ has done for us. We get to rejoice in it together.
60 · Second concrete application—when the redeemed gather, there should be no class distinctions or status-seeking like the Pharisees who were concerned with reputation rather than Jesus in their midst
The second thing, as we gather together as the redeemed, there are no different classes and there are no different statuses of the redeemed. We look at the Pharisees and the scribes and, 'I don't want to be like them,' who are so concerned with kind of like looking around and kind of sizing one another up. They thought they were pretty awesome, didn't they? They thought they had it all together. They were more concerned with what they were about, with their feelings, with how people viewed them, And they had Jesus right in the midst of their presence.
61 · Warns against being distracted by our feelings and expectations when we gather, missing what Christ wants to do in and through us by His Spirit's presence
Man, I just think, oh, I don't want to waste that. I don't want to miss that. I don't want to— like, they had Jesus right there. When we gather together as the redeemed, we have the Spirit of Christ, his presence here at work amongst us. How sometimes I get so distracted. We get so distracted with how we feel, how we think things should happen with our expectations, and we miss what Christ wants to do in us and through us with the rest of the body of Christ.
62 · Defines gospel maturity in concrete terms—the spiritually mature come alongside sinners, welcome the struggling, encourage outliers, and ask how they can serve and point them to Christ
Part of our mission statement as our church is to— we want to be a community of disciples that matures in the gospel. And I think about that, and I think, you know what? Maturity, growing in maturity in the gospel might look something like this as we gather on a Sunday morning. When we come into church, when we come into our small groups, the spiritually mature, I think what they're going to do is they're going to come alongside the sinners. They're going to welcome the sinners. They're going to come alongside those who are struggling. They're going to encourage the outliers, they're gonna wrap their arms around them and say, 'You know what? I'm so glad that you're here this morning. I'm so glad that your desire is to sit and listen to Jesus and to sing these songs. What can I do to serve you this morning? What can I do to point you to the one who's rescued me?'
63 · Models the language and posture of gospel hospitality—inviting the lost into one's home and life to share the Savior's joy in seeing them come to know Him
You know, if you don't know the redemption and the life that there is in Christ, can I tell you what he's done for me? Can I encourage you? You know, will you come to my house? Let me, let me, let me introduce you to my wife, to my kids. Do you want to come to my small group, to my care group? I want to share in my Savior's joy. And seeing you know better.
64 · Direct address to potential unbelievers in the room or listening later, summarizing the gospel they've heard in the sermon
And for you, those of you here this morning, well, maybe you've sat in church hundreds of times. I don't know, I don't want to assume anything. Maybe you're here for the first time, or maybe even— I know these sermons, these are gonna go online. Maybe you're listening to this and it's like 2 years from August— what is today, August 8th, 7th? August 7th. I don't know, maybe you're listening to this in You're hearing this, you're hearing redemption, you're hearing about Christ making the old new, and you're hearing about repentance and turning away from sin and how God's kindness and mercy draws us to himself. You're hearing about Christ taking our sin and punishment and casting it upon himself.
65 · Gospel invitation—proclaiming to unbelievers that there is a Savior who went to the cross to reconcile the lost and who rejoices in opening their eyes to His glory and giving them new life
I want you to know this this morning. Know that there is a Savior. Know that there's a rescuer, know that there's a redeemer who's given himself. There's a redeemer who went to the cross to reconcile those who are lost, to bring them back to where they rightfully belong. Know that he rejoices in opening your eyes to reveal his His glory, His greatness. That's what He loves to do. He loves to reveal His greatness. He loves to see us turn from the worthlessness of sin and to cast our gaze on the treasure that's Him and to receive new life in His kingdom.
66 · Transitions to communion by celebrating the opportunity the redeemed have to proclaim through the Lord's Supper that Christ saved us, brought us to the Father, and made us heirs with Christ in God's kingdom
And for the redeemed here this morning, sitting here, man, it's good that we can sit here this morning together. We get the opportunity to celebrate this morning. We get the opportunity to proclaim together this morning through the Lord's Supper, a means of grace that Jesus himself gave us, that's a tangible reminder, a tangible representation of his shed blood, the breaking of his body on the cross to save and reconcile a sinful people like us. Like us, who deserved God's punishment. God's punishment. He pursued us. He brought us back to his rightful place with the Father, and now we get to share in his joy. Now we get to identify as heirs with Christ. Isn't that an unbelievable thought? That that's what we get to remember and proclaim this morning, that we get to identify as heirs of God the Father, his kingdom.
67 · Charges the congregation to remember their identity as forgiven people who love much, forgive one another, rejoice when the lost come, and point them to Christ's excellencies
So as we make this proclamation at the table this morning, remember why we exist, what we walk out together as a community of disciples. We get to proclaim to the world that we are living and breathing examples of those who know we've been forgiven. And hopefully we know we've been forgiven much because we're gonna love much. And in turn, we walk together. We forgive one another. We rejoice when we see the lost come here. We point them towards Christ's excellencies, then we extend the gospel to one another.
68 · Reads the institution of the Lord's Supper from 1 Corinthians 11:23-26, establishing the biblical foundation for the communion practice about to take place
So Nick, if you and the worship team, if you guys could come on up. I'm gonna read from 1 Corinthians 11:23, where the Apostle Paul, he gives us instructions from Jesus on how we are to take the Lord's Supper So 1 Corinthians 11:23 says this. Paul, he's writing to the church in Corinth, speaking to us as well. He gives these instructions. He says, for I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed betrayed, he took bread, and when he'd given thanks, he broke it, and he said this: This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And in the same way, he also took the cup, and after supper, he said this: This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, as often as you do this, just like we're doing it this morning, you are proclaiming the Lord's death until he returns, until he comes.
69 · Invitation to communion with qualifications—professing faith in Jesus, baptism, and accountable relationships with other believers
So this morning I want to invite you to the table. I want to invite you to this remembrance, to this proclamation. And here at Providence, we do practice an open table, which means that all are invited, provided, provided you've made a profession of your faith in Jesus, that you would say, God, your kingdom come, your will be done, you've pledged your allegiance to Christ, that you've been baptized, that you've showed that externally, that you've been baptized, and that you're a part of some form of accountable relationships with some other believers. It may not be here at Providence, it may be at another church, but you're a part of some form of accountable relationships. I want to invite you to join us at the table.