Luke 15:1-7
1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
3 So he told them this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
- contrast between Christ and religious elite- What does Jesus think?
--99% isn't good enough
---99 found < 1 lost
---Christ is searching frantically; am I?
- What does Jesus do?
--go after the lost (v4)
--doesn't just call out to lost, going to them
---chases after the lost; active search
---hard to convince them you care unless you make room for them in your life
--carries the lost home (v5)
---not us
---we weren't designed to carry them; if we try, we'll become frustrated/annoying
--He rejoices (v6)
---public party
---any sheep is worth celebrating
- How do I know if I have a heart like Christ?
--do I have love for the lost?
--do I go out to point them home?
-Sheep that are lost will get dirty
--Christ takes them home and cleans them
---doesn't have to be clean to go home
- If I don't have a heart like Christ:
--spiritual amnesia: forgot what it was like to be lost and then found
--never known that experience
--either case, we don't remember/know what Christ did
---must focus on him and his saving grace
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