DREAM International Creative Ministries

JumpStart: We All Standing In Need

February 1, 2010

 

http://www.248am.com/images/lost.jpg

 

Have you ever been lost? I am not talking about knocking on a wrong door in a neighborhood while you were looking for a friends house which happens to be in the next block. I am talking about being lost for over 2 hours and not knowing where you were! Well, I had just arrived on the Island of Okinawa and I had barely spent four months, when I was invited by a friend for a party in her house to celebrate President Obama’s Election victory. I took of with a lot of confidence that I will get there on time and not miss out on the food, at least while it is still nice and hot. I printed out the directions that she had emailed me feeling very certain that I was well equipped to making this trip to the unknown.

    To cut a long story short, I found myself driving in circles without end and often coming back to the same place. I was lost for two hours. I missed out on the food, at least the warm one. But I got there, albeit 2 hours late!

    While it is dreadful for us to get lost physically, what should concern us more is being lost spiritually. Luke 15 is a chapter of the lost. Jesus presented three different kinds of parables that focus on being lost; or do they? The lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son, better known as the prodigal son.

    To put this into persepective, we can not miss to take notice of the people that make up the audience of Jesus. His listeners always influenced what he spoke; and in this case, the Bible says in verse 1-3 “Now all the tax collectors and the sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him. Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” (NASB)

    From then on, Jesus presents three different stories that highlight a different kind of “lostness” that we all go through in one way or another. Through the first story of a lost sheep, Jesus presents a group of people who are lost, they know that they lost but they do not know how to get back to where they are supposed to be. The second story, the lost coin, highlights the group of people that are lost, they do not know that they are lost and consequently, they do not even feel they need to get back to where they are supposed to be. Finally, on the last story, he showcases those among us who are lost, they know they are lost, and they know how to get back to where they belong. It is most likely that his audiences comprised people that could belong to one or more these category.

    I have often focused my attention on the lost items in the stories as the common theme in this chapter. However, with a closer look, I find that in all these stories, what is common is the celebration that comes as a result of the lost being found.

    When the man who lost his sheep found it, Jesus says that “he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’”. Similarly, when the woman found her lost coin, Jesus said “When she found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost!’”. In the same line of thought on the last story of the prodigal son, as we may be aware, “the father said to his slaves…’bring the fattened calf, kill it and let us eat and celebrate;’”

    I wonder what point Jesus was seeking to make with this celebratory theme in all these stories. Could it be that Jesus was seeking to contrast the grumbling of the Pharisees and scribes against the joy that was His in associating with the sinners and tax collectors and in extension seeing them redeemed and brought back to the fold of His love.

    What is in this for us today? The fact is that whether our “lostness” is reflected in the form of the Sheep, coin or Son, God’s joy is full in the salvation of all of these. The sinners and the tax collectors who were present there were represented by the lost sheep. They know they are lost but they do not know how to come back home. The Pharisees and scribes on the other hand were represented  by the lost coin. They are lost and yet the do not know they are and as a consequence they do not feel the need of a savior. The overiding theme that is all important and that we should not miss is, God rejoices in the salvation of all equally.

    For those of us who are ministry, we sometimes tend to forget in the rejoicing of the lost in  equal measure. We tend to grade the quality of salvation depending on how bad the person was before coming to Jesus. However, Jesus is seeking to bring us to a higher ground here. He is seeking to show the equal rejoicing we should have in the salvation of a murderer and that one of a gossipper; the salvation of a drug dealer and that one of a young man that takes 2 dollars from his dad’s wallet without permission. Bottom line is, all are lost and all are in need of the same savior in the same degree.

    Luke 15 turns out to be a chapter that is not just about the lost, but rather the seriousness of sin of any kind in our lives that prompts a great amount of rejoicing in the heart of God when we choose to forsake our own ways and seek God not just as the better choice, but the best choice.

    Do you wish to be the one to start the party in heaven right now by accepting Jesus’ way or do you want to join the party in rejoicing for the salvation of anyone and everyone. Take your pick!



Share and Enjoy:
  • del.icio.us
  • YahooMyWeb
  • StumbleUpon
Posted by dream at 10:31 am | permalink

All comments are moderated. Your comments will not appear here unless approved by the blog owner. Thank you.

Add a comment