Outcasts: The Lost Son

This series looks at five different passages that highlight Jesus' pursuit of those many might label "outcasts."  We'll look at Zacchaeus, the woman who anointed Jesus' feet, a leper, and the thief on the cross.  In each of these situations, Jesus goes out of his way to reach the outcasts of society.  It doesn't matter what we've done, or how far we've wandered, God is actively pursuing us to come back to Him. 

 
Today’s message is based on Luke 15:1-31.  To read this now, click here.
 
 
 
Today is the Second Sunday in the Season of Lent, and we’re starting a new teaching series I’m calling, Outcasts.  We’re going to look at some of the outcasts that Jesus reached out to, including Zacchaeus, the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet, a leper, and the thief on the cross.  In each of these cases, Jesus reached out to someone who no one else would.  He truly loves the least, His love for even the least is extravagant and relentless.
 
In the beginning of our reading, several tax collectors and sinners were gathering around Jesus to hear what He was saying, they were interested in His teaching.  These were some of the outcasts of Jesus’ day.  They were people that good Jewish men avoided.  In the minds of the religious, they were people that Jesus should have avoided, too.  So some of the religious leaders, the teachers and Pharisees, commented about this.  They said, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”  Obviously, this wasn’t a compliment.  They meant it as an insult.  They meant that since He associated with sinners, He was probably one of them.  If He were a Jewish teacher, He would know to avoid people like this.
 
Knowing what they were saying, Jesus responds to their concerns.  Only He doesn’t address them directly.  He tells three parables.  The first was the Parable of the Lost Sheep.  If you have 100 sheep, and one goes missing, what do you do?  Do you just yawn and roll over?  No!  You go look for it!  In fact, you leave the 99, and your focus is on the one that’s missing.  And you don’t stop looking for it until you find it.  And when you find it, you rejoice.  You might even call your friends and neighbors together for a celebration. 
 
That’s human nature, isn’t it.  If you lose something, you want to look for it. And while you’re looking, your focus is on the thing you lost.  And depending what it is, if it’s something of value you might look for a long time, you might not look very long if it’s not all that valuable, but while you’re looking, your focus is on that one thing.  And when you find it, you feel relief. 
 
Then Jesus follows up the story with the moral of the story, in verse 7: “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”  The story about a lost sheep might not have meant anything to those Pharisees and teachers of the law without this line.  But it makes it clear to us that God will look for and search out a sinner, just as a shepherd will look for and search out a lost sheep.  And even the angels in heaven will rejoice when a sinner turns to God.
 
Next, Jesus tells of a woman who has ten silver coins, most likely drachmas, a denarius, a silver coin worth about a day’s wage.  We have the picture of this woman who is a bit frugal, she’s saving her money, and over time, she has saved up these ten coins.  But then she loses one of them.  And it’s valuable, the ten together were worth about two weeks wages, the one is a days wage.  Does she say, “Oh well, at least I still have these nine.”  Of course not, she drops everything to look for the one that’s lost.  She lights a candle, because they didn’t’ have any flashlights back then, and she checks every corner, beneath everything it could be hiding under, even sweeps the floor again, until she finds it.
 
That coin is worth something to her.  And when it’s lost, she’s going to look until she finds it.  And nothing else is going to be important until it’s found, her focus is on finding that lost coin.  And when she finds it, she’s relieved, she rejoices, even calls her neighbors to rejoice with her.  This is a big deal, she was very concerned, and now she’s very relieved.
 
And then we see the same line, in verse 10, “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”  I don’t think the Pharisees or teachers of the law would care less about a woman with a lost coin.  But, you can’t miss the point, God will look for and search out the sinner, just as a poor woman will look for and search out a lost coin.  And even the angels in heaven will rejoice when the lost are found.
 
There’s one more story that Jesus tells, and it’s a popular story, I’m sure you’re familiar with it.  It’s the story of the Lost Son.  A man has two sons, one of them is tired of life on the farm, he wants to get away and experience life.  So he asks his father for his share of the inheritance.  It was enough for the youngest son to go off and live the high life for a while. 
 
We don’t know how long the money held out, but we do know that for a while, the son lived the party life – the proverbial wine, women, and song.  I think it’s safe to assume that he really loved life for a while.  But it didn’t last.  It rarely does.  And the wild life caught up with him.  And he lost everything he had.  The only job he could get was back on a farm, feeding the pigs.  And maybe it was probably okay, until he realized the pigs were eating better than he was.
 
We’ll stop at this point in the story to see something.  At this point, how is this man doing?  Not too good, right?  He’s at the low point in his life.  He’s lost everything.  He’s destitute, and would be starving it wasn’t for this meager job feeding pigs.  He was so bad off that he couldn’t even support himself, couldn’t even feed himself. 
 
Think of what a man like that would look like today.  Homeless?  Hungry?  Dirty?  An Outcast, right?  Maybe you’ve never thought of this son as an outcast before, but he really is, isn’t he?  At this point in his life he is the kind of person you would avoid having any contact with.  Maybe he’s the kind of person that would scare you, because that kind of desperation can lead to unpredictable behavior, even criminal behavior, right?  We’re better off avoiding people like that.  You just never know.
 
You’ve heard the rest of the story.  You know that the man finally decided to go home, even offering himself as a servant to his father.  But when he got back home, he found his father at the end of the drive, just outside the gate, looking for him, waiting for him, knowing that one day his son would return home.  Like the shepherd with a lost sheep, or the woman with a lost coin, he never stopped looking for his lost son.  And when he found him, he rejoiced, and he threw a feast to celebrate.
 
There are two brothers in this story.  You might be like the son in the story who left.  You might be hungry.  You might be an outcast.  You might be one of those people that has a hard time fitting in with others.  Maybe you’re the quiet one.  Maybe you’re misunderstood.  Maybe others just don’t understand you, so they leave you alone.  And so you’re left out.  And you’re lonely.  And you hurt.  Because you feel like the son in the story.  And maybe you did something foolish, like the son in the story, or maybe you didn’t, maybe it’s just who you are.  But you’re not popular.  You don’t feel loved.  You don’t feel wanted.
 
I’m here to tell you this morning that your Father in heaven is at the gate, waiting for you to come back to Him.  Because no matter what anybody else thinks about you, He loves you. He always did.  And you can come back.  And you will be accepted.  And you will be loved, because that’s what God does best. 
 
Or maybe you’re like the brother who stayed home.  Let’s think about him for a few minutes.  When his brother came home, he was angry.  You see, he was faithful all these years, if anyone deserved a special celebration, it was him.  Maybe he thought he was a little superior, or a little more worthy, because he stayed and worked.  He never left, he never strayed.  Are you like that?  Do you look down at others who haven’t been faithful?  Do you withhold you’re greeting strangers if they look like they’re a little down on their luck? 
 
Back to our story.  Remember Jesus is telling this parable to some Pharisees and teachers of the law that were grumbling about Jesus’ spending time with and teaching sinners.  The brother who felt superior because he stayed home, because he was faithful when his other brother wasn’t, had a lot in common with those Pharisees and teachers.  They were the righteous ones, the faithful ones, and they thought God owed them something.  God should just be with them, and He shouldn’t mess with those unrighteous and unfaithful ones.
 
Jesus started a with shepherd who lost one sheep out of hundred.  And there was great rejoicing when the sheep was found.  Then he told about a woman who lost one coin out of ten.  And there was great rejoicing when the coin was found.  Finally, He told about one son out of two that was lost.  Isn’t a person worth more than a sheep?  Or a coin?  Shouldn’t there be great rejoicing when is person is found?  Shouldn’t we be out looking for lost people?
 
Next time you see someone who looks a little like an outcast, don’t walk away.  Don’t avoid them.  Strike up a conversation.  Invite them to church.  Your heavenly Father is waiting for them.  Help them find their way to Him.