Bayside Baptist Church

Jason King: In 2002, there was a man named Leonardo Diaz who decided he wanted to go on a mountain climbing expedition with some friends. They set out to climb a significant volcano in the Andes Mountains. On the second day of the climb, a major blizzard hit the area. As a more novice and inexperienced mountain climber, he began to fall behind his group of friends.

As the blizzard got worse, he got further and further behind. He initially wasn't too concerned, but then he realized that his food was running short and he would suffer from the bitter cold as he began to see what was unfolding in front of him. He was in a bad situation. Although he had a cell phone in his backpack—and it is kind of amazing that in this place there was actually cell service to be able to use that phone—his prepaid minutes that he had purchased for his phone had already expired.

So, he had the cell phone that was worthless and no way to call or to ask for help in this moment. He had this realization that he was not going to make it out of this situation alive. He laid down in the snow in the midst of this blizzard, preparing to die, when all of a sudden his phone rang. It was a telemarketer in nearby Bogotá, Colombia, wanting to know if he was interested in purchasing some more minutes for his cell phone.

"We called him to remind him that his cell phone was out of minutes," the rep said. Leonardo said it was the work of an angel because he was lost in the Andes. He began to describe his location to the caller and asked that he notify his family and help him out. Sure enough, the person on the other end of the phone, who had called to try to sell him some more minutes on a cell phone, called the search and rescue folks. It took them seven hours to get to him, but this person called every 30 minutes to keep him awake, alert, and to help him have hope that he would be rescued.

He finally was; he made it because of a telemarketer. Can you imagine? That would be the one time that you would welcome a call about somebody trying to sell you something, no matter what it was. I bet in that moment you wouldn't ignore that call either. Throughout Scripture, the Bible paints this picture of everyone who is far from God as being just like this man who was stranded on a mountain, whether they realize it or not.

They're in grave danger. But let's be honest, if you're a believer, if you're a follower of Jesus Christ and you've heard those words to go and to share the hope of Jesus and to try to bring people with you on this journey, sometimes you feel like you receive the same response as a telemarketer does when you try to tell people about Jesus. It's the same response that you give when somebody calls you about an extended warranty or that you need new windows or doors or whatever it is that they're trying to sell you that you don't need.

There's this tension and this reality that we find ourselves in. But I want you to know this today, and this is the word for us today: although it may feel that way when people respond to you, the reality of our life and day—even though our culture tells us the exact opposite—being far from God is not freedom, it's actually slavery. It's not your best life, it's ultimately your worst nightmare. Finding the Kingdom is not what you do later in life after you go have some fun and live it up. Instead, when somebody is far from God, the Scriptures paint this picture that they're just in as grave danger as this man stranded on the side of a mountain in the midst of a blizzard headed towards death.

That's where Jesus sends you and me. If you're a part of the family of faith, if you're a part of the body of Christ, if you've given your life to Jesus and you've experienced the forgiveness of your sin and you've been made right with God, the Bible says that this is where He is leading you to step in. If you have your Bible, I want you to open up to Luke chapter 15 today. What you need to understand about the passage that we're going to look at today is that although our culture and our day and most of the people around us don't really understand that this is where they are—that they're far from God and they're in grave danger—Jesus has a word to those of us who are a part of the faith.

He gives us this word today to help us to understand His heart for people who are far from Him and to change your heart towards people who are far from Him. The Pharisees and the religious leaders in Jesus' day, if you've read through the Gospels, you know that they were often very critical of Jesus and they almost would look for opportunities to attack or try to discredit or belittle Jesus and His approach. They were critical of Him because He didn't fit into the traditional conventions of their day.

Yet what we're going to see today in this passage in Luke 15 is this reality that Jesus is teaching you and me how we are to respond to people who are far from God. Jesus goes so far as to tell us that we're to pursue people who are far from God. I want us to do that today. I want us to learn how to do this from these words: how we can pursue people who are far from the Kingdom of God. How can you, as we've been talking about over the last few weeks, go beyond for people who are far from God?

That's the journey we've been on. We've been learning what it means to go beyond in our own spiritual life and for our family and for people that are hurting, and today for those who are far from God. I want you to listen to the ways from this Scripture that you and I are to go beyond for people who are far from God. The first way that we're going to see in Luke chapter 15 is this: you and I are to pursue, not avoid, people who are far from God.

Look in Luke chapter 15, beginning in verse one. It says tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and the teachers of the religious law complain that He was associating with such sinful people. He was eating with them, even eating with them. The people that were drawn to Jesus didn't fit the mold that the religious leaders thought people should fit into to come to church or that Jesus should even spend time with.

The religious leaders throughout the story of the Gospels had a problem with Jesus associating with folks who were outside of the religious box. Here in this moment, it really starts to come to a head because they're having a problem with Him because He's associating with these people. The picture of them gathering and sharing a meal together is more than just, "Hey, how's your mama and them?" and carrying on. It's an invitation. It means He was looking them in the face. He was gathered with them. It meant that He was associating with them and that He accepted them as people.

In this day, table fellowship was so significant. This level of acceptance that Jesus was giving these people who are identified as tax collectors—those who were blatantly, typically dishonest in how they conducted their business of collecting taxes—and when it says notorious sinners, it's not talking about all of us who have sin in our lives. It's talking about the people that you would say, "Whoa, okay." That's who Jesus is sitting at the table with. That's who He's looking across the table with, gathered with, and it was a picture of Jesus saying, "I care about you. I welcome you."

The Pharisees weren't having that. They were uncomfortable and they would talk amongst each other and say, "Who does this guy think he is? This is not how we do church today. This is not how you're supposed to do this. What about your own personal reputation and personal holiness? You're sacrificing that by sitting across from these people." The Pharisees wouldn't even associate with these people who were out of bounds spiritually, much less try to help them find the Kingdom of God. They didn't think they should be in there to begin with. When Jesus was doing that, they had a beef with Jesus.

Let me lean into this for just a minute because here's a temptation, if you've been in the faith for a while or maybe you've been in church for a while, that you're going to face. At times when you come to faith or maybe you start to grow in your faith, you recognize the need to separate yourself from sinful habits and maybe places or environments that you've found yourself in. You may even have to change your group of friends that have been leading you or walking down a path with you that you're trying to get away from, that God has convicted you of, that you've repented from, that you've turned around from. And that's wise.

The Proverbs talk about how important it is that the voices that you are surrounding yourself with, who is speaking into your life, it is so important. The Proverbs say guard your heart and guard your closest relationships and ensure that you're surrounding yourself with people who are as iron sharpens iron helping you grow in your faith. You don't want people who are going to pull you back in the pit; you want people that are going to help encourage and foster spiritual growth in your life. That's called wisdom. So in your closest relationship, those most important voices matter and you need to have people who are encouraging you in your faith as you're walking with the Lord.

But can I say this: you don't need to live in a holy huddle. The danger is that you can end up, especially if you've been in the church for a while or you've been around the church for a while or you've been walking in faith for a while, that in a desire to experience God's blessing and to grow in fellowship and to grow in your faith, that you begin to exclude people who are outside of the faith from your life. You can withdraw from the world around you in pursuit of what's a good thing, but you're just taking the wrong approach.

We're not to go into a cocoon to get away from people, separating ourselves from the world. You and I are to love people and to draw them to God. So when you choose or we choose to live in a holy huddle and avoid the very people that God has sent you into their path and into their life to bring into the Kingdom of God, you're headed down the same road that the Pharisees found themselves in, where the other religious leaders were of their day and it won't take you very long to get there.

The very next parable, if you continue to read after the passage we're looking at today, the end of Luke chapter 15 is probably a familiar story: it's the parable of the prodigal son. It's a story in the midst of it that reminds us that if you're already in the faith, sometimes if you don't fully understand God's heart for other people and the Kingdom of God and how much God desires for people to come to faith, you can begin to feel a resentment because there's such an emphasis and celebration over somebody who was lost or far from God returning or somebody who's come back who was way out there and done some bad things.

You feel neglected because you've been here all the time. What's the big fuss about that person? You want some attention. Why is the church always showing the story of somebody whose life has changed or why are we so focused on that when I'm the one that gives money or I'm the one that's here and I want things this way or I prefer things differently? You see, if you've been in the faith for a while, it's a temptation and a danger. The reality of it is that you can gradually begin to creep into that place that Jesus is addressing here.

So let me ask you this: if you've been in the faith for a while, do you remember what it's like to be far from God, to be lost? What it's like to be wrapped up in sin, struggling each day? Don't let your heart and eyes become spiritually blind to the realities of your own life. If you're not careful, if you begin to insulate yourself and isolate yourself from other people, if you're trying to avoid those people, you're going to end up in a place like the Pharisees and religious leaders.

I mean, they started out maybe in a good direction. The Old Testament warnings and descriptions of what it looks like to live as the people of God told them to not participate in sinful stuff, but the Pharisees and the religious leaders took it one step further and said don't associate with sinful people. When in reality, the Scriptures, the Old Testament is full of direction to God's people to care for people outside of the faith, to step towards them, not away from them. And Jesus was reminding the religious leaders here that they were actually missing the heart of God and far from God in this moment themselves.

So the whole parable, this whole story that we're about to jump into, is here because of the response of some religious people who were grumbling about the fact that Jesus was associating with people who were outside of the faith and He was inviting them into the Kingdom. All the people that these guys were trying to avoid, Jesus was inviting them in. All the people that they were trying to create separation from, Jesus was sitting across for them and next to them at the table. Everybody that the religious leaders were looking down upon, Jesus got down on their level and looked in their eyes and they were drawn to Jesus because they realized that He really cared about them.

Warren Wiersbe, the great preacher of yesteryear, said this: it's significant that Jesus attracted sinners while the Pharisees repelled them. He said in parentheses, what does that say about our churches today? He said lost sinners came to Jesus not because He catered to them or compromised His message, but because He cared for them. He understood their needs and He tried to help them while the Pharisees criticized and kept their distance.

So church, one of the things that Jesus is saying to us today through this word is that you and I are to pursue people far from God, not avoid them. Pursue them. The second way that Jesus is teaching us to go beyond for people that are hurting is this: it's what happens as you will find that God's heart for people becomes your heart for people when you step into this. When you begin to pursue people and you understand the message of the Kingdom of God and it is for everyone, God's heart for people who are far from God now becomes your heart.

Look in the text in verse three. Jesus told them this story: if a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won't he leave the 99 others in the wilderness and go search for the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. When he arrives, he'll call together all his friends and neighbors saying, "Rejoice with me because I've found my lost sheep." In the same way, there's more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over 99 others who are righteous and haven't strayed away.

He continues. He says, or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won't she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she'll call in her friends and neighbors and say, "Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin." In the same way, Jesus says, there is joy in the presence of God's angels even when one sinner repents.

Now Jesus tells a couple stories or parables to help everybody understand not only why He's doing what He's doing, but also to understand the heart of God. The religious folks who were grumbling about Jesus, Jesus is letting them know that they had missed the heart of God. The message is that God actually searches for lost sinners. Come on, somebody. You weren't looking for Him; He found you. You've been praying for somebody and they're not looking for Him, but God found them. That's what God does: He pursues us. He's not waiting on them to just come to church, make sure they're dressed right and do all the right stuff when they come.

No, He's pursuing. He's not criticizing them and keeping His distance. Jesus is working to find those who are far from Him and the Pharisees missed this. Look, that's the basic idea of both stories. There's a search. Something is lost; the sheep is lost, the coin is lost, and there's a search and then there's incredible joy when the lost one is found. When the sheep is found, when the coin is found, joy is experienced when what you find has been lost. And that's God's heart.

God's intent, that's what Jesus is saying here. He talks about a shepherd that's lost a sheep and a coin that's been lost by a woman. The sheep was lost because of foolishness, the coin probably because of carelessness. But either way, something that's valuable was lost. Look at what Isaiah says speaking about Jesus in Isaiah 53:6. He says all of us, not just those people out there, all of us like sheep we've strayed away. We've left God's paths to follow our own. All of us, he says.

And yet the reality of the Gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, is this passage was telling us about the One who would come and suffer and die for our sin to offer to make us right with God and forgive us of our sin. It says yet the Lord laid on Him, Jesus, the sins of us all. All of us have strayed. Now, I've never had sheep before and honestly, I don't ever want to have sheep, but I did see a video that helps me understand sheep, but it also helps me understand myself and you and everybody else.

Isn't that us sometimes? It's like, man, you get pulled out of the pit, you go right back in there. That's how it is sometimes. But you know, it's also other people who are far from God, too. Now you may wonder, why in the world would the shepherd care about just 1%? Man, a 99% success rate is pretty good. Shouldn't we just be content with that? I mean, just losing one coin, what's the deal with that? That's not a big deal. You got the rest of them. Shouldn't we just make sure that the sheep that stayed behind are good or the coins that we still have are good?

Is that good enough? The answer's no, it's not. Jesus knew in this moment as He's telling this story that the 99 sheep who stayed together would be good, but the one lost sheep was in danger. Every single sheep was of high value to the shepherd, just like every single person that God has created is of incredible value to Him. So much so that even when we are stuck in a ditch, we have to be pulled out and we go right back to the ditch, God continues to pursue us. You're worth pulling out of that ditch. God says so. And He's pursuing you to do that.

So I want you to hear this. Whenever you look into the eyes of someone else, you're looking into the eyes of God's creation, of God's handiwork, and God doesn't make junk. Somebody here needs to hear that today for themselves and for the people that keep jumping in the same ditch over and over. They're worth pursuing. No matter what you've been told, you're not junk. God doesn't make junk, no matter what you've endured, what you've done, what you've chosen, what's been done to you, what you've walked through so far. This is a word for you.

Now this other story that Jesus gives is a story of a lost coin. It's not a lot of money by any standard. The word that's used speaks that it's just a meager amount of money. It's not some huge, vast collection of wealth, but it's a lot to this woman. Many scholars said that she would wear this around her neck or it would be in some way she would carry it with her and it was extremely valuable to her. But now one of the coins was gone. Fellas, it's kind of like when you lose your wallet. Anybody do that this morning? Maybe you lose your keys, ladies you lose your purse, you're trying to find a belt or you're trying to find the right shoes or trying to find a sock. You know what happens: you turn the house upside down, right? That's what happens at our house. You're searching everywhere, blaming everybody else, and then all of a sudden you find what you're looking for and you get excited. "Hey, I'm sorry about that. I left it there. My bad." But here's what we know and we need to know and we need to never forget.