WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:02.920 Today is, it's kind of a sad Sunday. 00:00:03.360 --> 00:00:07.460 for me, uh, I love Christmas. 00:00:08.780 --> 00:00:09.700 everything about it. 00:00:10.280 --> 00:00:12.600 I think they made the movie elf about me. 00:00:13.100 --> 00:00:15.520 I love the songs. 00:00:15.780 --> 00:00:21.300 I love the music, the colors, the people's attitudes are generally better. 00:00:21.360 --> 00:00:25.000 I love the sights, the sounds, the smells, the food. 00:00:25.580 --> 00:00:28.870 Like you get cookies this time of year that you only get this time of year. 00:00:29.440 --> 00:00:34.920 And my mom sends me like a Big Ten of them still, and I cherish them and hold on to them like gold. 00:00:36.180 --> 00:00:40.350 but I love Christmas and everything that it encompasses. 00:00:41.260 --> 00:00:45.280 And so today is typically the end of that season, right? 00:00:45.380 --> 00:00:49.980 Actually, for some of us, it started December 26th was the end of Christmas season. 00:00:50.100 --> 00:00:55.930 And you already have your tree down and your lights are already down and everything's already boxed up and put away. 00:00:56.380 --> 00:01:03.620 I'm of the mindset that you have till January 1st, and then you take your Christmas decorations down, so you at least get that last 00:01:03.620 --> 00:01:06.560 week of enjoyment out of it. 00:01:07.280 --> 00:01:11.770 but, this is the holiday hangover or the Christmas crash. 00:01:12.260 --> 00:01:20.000 And one of the things I enjoy about Christmas, and I hate to see the season go, is because I think, we tend to as 00:01:20.000 --> 00:01:28.300 a church and as individuals, take a step back and look at more big picture things, and we look at, the 00:01:28.300 --> 00:01:35.420 whole story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation as the story unfolds and how Christmas is the 00:01:35.540 --> 00:01:39.820 pinnacle of that story, we look at the big picture of why Christmas? 00:01:40.220 --> 00:01:44.250 Why do we celebrate that day, that event. 00:01:44.960 --> 00:01:52.060 and so this is kind of the end of that season where we tend to focus on that big picture looking and we kind of get back into the routine 00:01:52.060 --> 00:01:54.020 of life and forget about it. 00:01:55.140 --> 00:02:02.220 but that's what I want to look at today is really the cure for the holiday hangover or the Christmas crash or whatever you want 00:02:02.220 --> 00:02:02.840 to call it. 00:02:03.480 --> 00:02:09.860 how do we keep that sight, that vision, that big picture looking and thinking? 00:02:09.880 --> 00:02:12.300 How do we keep that throughout the year? 00:02:12.840 --> 00:02:15.820 And so we have to ask ourselves, why did Jesus come? 00:02:16.500 --> 00:02:20.470 And if you look in Luke chapter 19 and verse ten. 00:02:22.460 --> 00:02:27.160 Says the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. 00:02:28.320 --> 00:02:32.390 If you want to turn to Luke chapter 15, that's where we're going to be spending the bulk of our time. 00:02:33.500 --> 00:02:40.560 But this is why Christmas Jesus came on a search and rescue mission to 00:02:40.580 --> 00:02:43.360 seek and to save the lost. 00:02:45.040 --> 00:02:45.180 Now. 00:02:45.280 --> 00:02:48.260 Luke 15 is a is a familiar passage to most of us. 00:02:48.320 --> 00:02:53.000 It once we dive into it, you'll find you know most of what is contained in there. 00:02:53.120 --> 00:03:00.440 Jesus tells three parables, that we're all, if you've been in church for any amount of time, have heard, I'm sure, 00:03:00.480 --> 00:03:01.340 numerous times. 00:03:02.040 --> 00:03:06.400 But if you start in verse one of Luke chapter 15. 00:03:06.540 --> 00:03:13.880 it sets the stage for why Jesus tells these parables in Luke chapter 15, verse one, it says, now all the tax collectors 00:03:13.880 --> 00:03:18.610 and sinners were coming near, near him to listen to him. 00:03:18.840 --> 00:03:25.000 Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, this man receives sinners and eats with them. 00:03:25.440 --> 00:03:26.700 So he told them this parable. 00:03:28.380 --> 00:03:34.100 And before we get into the parables, it's important to understand why the parables? 00:03:34.600 --> 00:03:34.740 Why? 00:03:34.900 --> 00:03:36.110 Why are we going to talk about these? 00:03:36.580 --> 00:03:39.190 Why does Jesus share these stories with them? 00:03:40.040 --> 00:03:43.530 And so in these first few verses, we see Jesus as usual. 00:03:43.820 --> 00:03:46.480 If you read through the Gospels, is pretty typical scene for Jesus. 00:03:47.320 --> 00:03:51.020 he's teaching and he's surrounded by sinners. 00:03:51.640 --> 00:03:55.140 the word sinners here in the original Greek would be hamartolus. 00:03:56.080 --> 00:03:58.940 And it's like the antithesis of religion. 00:03:59.140 --> 00:04:03.880 So these people aren't just not going to church and kind of, indifferent. 00:04:03.880 --> 00:04:09.130 They are as far to the opposite end of the spectrum of the Pharisees as you could possibly get. 00:04:10.220 --> 00:04:13.570 Jesus church religion, God was not on their radar. 00:04:14.180 --> 00:04:17.100 they weren't they weren't interested in that stuff. 00:04:17.100 --> 00:04:23.760 They were the antithesis of religion in the way that they lived their lives and how they acted. 00:04:25.660 --> 00:04:33.300 these were if you look in the previous chapters, you can see these were prostitutes, drunkards, liars, cheats. 00:04:33.860 --> 00:04:37.980 All these people were drawing near to Christ and Christ throughout his ministry. 00:04:38.120 --> 00:04:45.180 And in here he doesn't shoo them away, but he welcomes them and allows them to draw close to him so that he 00:04:45.180 --> 00:04:47.600 can share with them and minister to their needs. 00:04:48.600 --> 00:04:56.280 and if you have read through the Gospels or are familiar, this is the story typically goes Jesus is fellowshipping and 00:04:56.280 --> 00:05:01.090 around sinners, and the scribes and Pharisees are upset with this. 00:05:01.840 --> 00:05:07.390 and they begin to grumble, sometimes out loud, sometimes just in their hearts and in their heads. 00:05:08.140 --> 00:05:09.760 But Jesus responds to them. 00:05:09.780 --> 00:05:17.100 And the reason the scribes and Pharisees didn't like Jesus hanging out with these sinners is because they didn't just view these people as sinners, 00:05:17.200 --> 00:05:20.960 people who were not following God, but they thought that the sin was contagious. 00:05:21.380 --> 00:05:23.860 They thought it was like the flu, right? 00:05:23.880 --> 00:05:26.340 Like it's flu season here at church. 00:05:26.360 --> 00:05:31.980 And so it seems like every week we're missing at least two families because at least half of their kids are sick. 00:05:32.620 --> 00:05:34.300 And then the next week the other half are sick. 00:05:34.340 --> 00:05:35.010 So they're gone again. 00:05:35.580 --> 00:05:41.810 And so we come to church and we're like, all right, they've been sick, but they're looking better now. 00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:48.120 So I might be able to shake their hand this week, but I'm going to going to settle for a pat on the shoulder instead of shaking the hand going all the way in. 00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:54.520 And then Saturday night you're looking at your Facebook feed and you're brainstorming, okay, these are the families we need to avoid because there's kids have been sick. 00:05:54.900 --> 00:05:56.640 And then you're like, okay, this family says that. 00:05:56.640 --> 00:05:57.590 They've been they've been okay. 00:05:57.680 --> 00:05:58.580 They've avoided the bugs. 00:05:58.580 --> 00:06:02.780 We can talk to them and we'll shake their hands and you avoid the sickness. 00:06:02.780 --> 00:06:09.980 And that's how the Pharisees viewed these sinners, is we need to avoid them because we don't want to catch what 00:06:10.080 --> 00:06:10.460 they got. 00:06:11.400 --> 00:06:17.320 And so Jesus, being a teacher shouldn't associate with such people because he's going to catch what they got. 00:06:20.180 --> 00:06:26.860 And sadly, today I don't think very much has changed from the Pharisees to us. 00:06:28.860 --> 00:06:36.000 Oftentimes we see these lowly of lows and these sinners, and we think, boy, somebody should help them or, I'm going to share Jesus 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:37.830 with them, but I don't want to get too close. 00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:40.300 I'm going to protect myself and keep a distance. 00:06:41.820 --> 00:06:45.890 Like the Pharisees, we don't see these people as souls in need of a savior. 00:06:47.560 --> 00:06:51.580 Instead, we see them as another person who should just have more self respect. 00:06:51.880 --> 00:06:56.440 They wouldn't be in that situation, or someone who who's just a drain on society. 00:06:57.080 --> 00:07:04.210 Or when you really get down to the bottom of it, someone who should be more like me and they wouldn't have those 00:07:04.420 --> 00:07:06.600 problems and those issues that they're dealing with. 00:07:08.340 --> 00:07:13.050 And that's how the Pharisees saw these people, not as souls, but as people that should be more like them. 00:07:14.320 --> 00:07:18.660 But Christ came to seek and to save the lost. 00:07:20.080 --> 00:07:26.780 He can't seek and save the lost if he avoids contact and fellowship with the lost, with the sinners. 00:07:28.080 --> 00:07:35.400 And so Christ tells the Pharisees these parables to show them that these aren't just sinners or nuisances or 00:07:35.400 --> 00:07:42.520 people to avoid, but these are people with souls that has tremendous, tremendous worth. 00:07:44.280 --> 00:07:48.460 And so Jesus goes on to tell them the first two parables. 00:07:50.340 --> 00:07:57.540 And he says in verse four he says, what man of you having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the 99 00:07:57.540 --> 00:08:05.040 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. 00:08:05.880 --> 00:08:13.120 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, rejoice with me, for I found my sheep that was lost. 00:08:13.640 --> 00:08:21.120 Just so I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who 00:08:21.120 --> 00:08:21.620 need no repentance. 00:08:23.940 --> 00:08:31.240 Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently 00:08:31.240 --> 00:08:32.299 until she finds it. 00:08:33.240 --> 00:08:40.500 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. 00:08:41.320 --> 00:08:47.640 Just so I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents. 00:08:49.720 --> 00:08:57.320 And so Jesus tells these parables to the Pharisees to try and impress on them the importance of one individual 00:08:57.420 --> 00:09:00.620 lost soul, one of these individual sinners that he's fellowshipping with. 00:09:01.540 --> 00:09:05.000 And the first way that he draws a comparison for them is with sheep. 00:09:06.280 --> 00:09:13.580 Now, there's not too many of us, I believe, that are familiar with sheep or herding of sheep, or have been around sheep for any extended 00:09:13.580 --> 00:09:14.820 period of time. 00:09:15.500 --> 00:09:19.380 But in this day and age, sheep were seen as a sign of wealth. 00:09:20.540 --> 00:09:28.060 now, if I went anywhere and tried to use a sheep as any form of currency, with a beard like this and bringing 00:09:28.060 --> 00:09:30.460 in a sheep, they probably would call the police. 00:09:31.400 --> 00:09:33.430 and be slightly concerned. 00:09:33.560 --> 00:09:33.820 But. 00:09:34.260 --> 00:09:38.380 But in this day, sheep were seen as a sign of money, as wealth. 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:42.600 A person with a flock of 100 sheep was definitely someone who was doing okay. 00:09:42.760 --> 00:09:44.880 They were they had their resources. 00:09:44.880 --> 00:09:45.180 They needed. 00:09:45.200 --> 00:09:46.230 They had their needs met. 00:09:47.560 --> 00:09:51.680 and so when one would go, would be lost like this. 00:09:51.980 --> 00:09:59.240 They may search for it near the rest of the sheep, but seeing the value of 99 compared to the one they wouldn't wander 00:09:59.240 --> 00:10:06.380 too far from the bulk of the flock, and they wouldn't search too terribly hard to find it and 00:10:06.380 --> 00:10:12.280 get away from the value of the 99, because they would be able to replace that one that was lost. 00:10:14.440 --> 00:10:21.740 Now, if you know anything about sheep, they are animals that need to be in groups they don't like to be by themselves. 00:10:22.240 --> 00:10:25.980 And so this sheep that was lost most likely knew it was lost. 00:10:26.100 --> 00:10:27.740 It knew this isn't right. 00:10:28.340 --> 00:10:30.860 It knew I am not near the flock. 00:10:30.860 --> 00:10:31.890 I'm not near the shepherd. 00:10:32.060 --> 00:10:33.310 I'm not near green pasture. 00:10:33.540 --> 00:10:35.660 I am lost and wandering. 00:10:35.900 --> 00:10:38.580 And it was most likely trying to find its way back. 00:10:39.360 --> 00:10:44.360 If you also know things about sheep, they're not very intelligent, so it wasn't able to find its way back. 00:10:44.420 --> 00:10:45.900 It's wandering and lost. 00:10:47.780 --> 00:10:55.320 but the good Shepherd goes, and he finds the lost and wandering sheep, and when he finds it, he doesn't just hurt 00:10:55.320 --> 00:10:59.780 it back and drive it back like he would normally to the flock. 00:10:59.880 --> 00:11:07.070 He picks it up and he lays it on his shoulders, and he carries the lamb back to the flock. 00:11:08.380 --> 00:11:15.720 And in this parable, Jesus paints for us such a magnificent picture of what salvation 00:11:15.720 --> 00:11:15.960 is. 00:11:17.780 --> 00:11:24.540 So many of us knowing that we're made for more than this, wander through life constantly looking for that green pasture. 00:11:24.540 --> 00:11:25.850 What's going to satisfy us? 00:11:25.900 --> 00:11:31.260 What's going to fulfill us, what we need, but we don't really know what we're looking for or how to find it. 00:11:31.960 --> 00:11:37.860 And Jesus, the good Shepherd, comes into our lives and he doesn't drive us back and drive us home. 00:11:37.940 --> 00:11:40.900 He picks us up and he carries us there. 00:11:42.500 --> 00:11:43.880 Because he is the good Shepherd. 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:49.280 And he came to seek and to save that which is lost. 00:11:52.040 --> 00:11:55.620 If you talk about the good Shepherd, you have to talk about Psalm 23. 00:11:56.320 --> 00:11:59.920 This is one of the most famous passages, really, in all of Scripture. 00:12:01.380 --> 00:12:04.120 it's famous to the point Tupac rapped about it. 00:12:04.420 --> 00:12:04.960 I don't know if you guys are familiar. 00:12:06.920 --> 00:12:08.780 as I walk through the valley of the Shadow of Death. 00:12:09.260 --> 00:12:10.100 Take a look at my life. 00:12:10.740 --> 00:12:11.680 Realize there's nothing left. 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:13.430 But I've been blessing so long. 00:12:14.020 --> 00:12:18.320 Anyway, Weird Al also made a parody of it about Amish people. 00:12:18.440 --> 00:12:22.180 I don't know, maybe you might be more familiar with that, but, um. 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:29.240 But it's a famous passage, and if you read through Psalm 23 and you get to the end, you get to verse six and verse six. 00:12:29.800 --> 00:12:32.120 To me, it's like it's the home run. 00:12:32.220 --> 00:12:34.740 It's the perfect way to finish it off. 00:12:34.840 --> 00:12:41.920 And in verse six he says of the good Shepherd, he says, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the 00:12:41.980 --> 00:12:42.780 days of my life. 00:12:44.940 --> 00:12:45.980 And the word follow here. 00:12:46.020 --> 00:12:52.530 The reason this is the perfect home run, the grand finale, the perfect way to cap off a passage about the good Shepherd is this word follow. 00:12:53.400 --> 00:12:56.240 If you look it up in Hebrew, it's the word rodolf. 00:12:57.260 --> 00:13:00.100 And if you were, if you look at that word, it means. 00:13:01.420 --> 00:13:05.120 To run after with violent intent. 00:13:06.580 --> 00:13:07.700 To pursue. 00:13:09.220 --> 00:13:11.460 To hunt to follow. 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:15.420 And you think about you. 00:13:15.680 --> 00:13:16.360 I get the picture. 00:13:16.460 --> 00:13:20.400 Whenever pursue with violent intent to run after with violent intent. 00:13:20.920 --> 00:13:23.340 It's like a lion chasing a gazelle. 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:30.360 And I love to watch those shows on like Animal Planet and Discovery Channel because it fascinates me. 00:13:30.360 --> 00:13:36.680 I love to watch how they wait to the perfect second, and then they pounce and they outrun and jump and it's awesome. 00:13:37.380 --> 00:13:39.780 And you get that picture of God with us. 00:13:40.180 --> 00:13:47.340 He's waiting for the perfect moment, and he chases and he runs and he brings us down because we cannot 00:13:47.340 --> 00:13:49.180 escape his love. 00:13:51.340 --> 00:13:58.720 And Christmas is about the rescue mission where Christ came to violently and passionately pursue us 00:13:59.500 --> 00:14:00.880 as lost souls and sinners. 00:14:02.920 --> 00:14:10.040 God is pursuing his people passionately, relentlessly, 00:14:10.220 --> 00:14:15.420 recklessly, to the point where he gives up heaven to come in pursuit of us. 00:14:17.620 --> 00:14:20.800 And that's the way this good shepherd goes and searches for his sheep. 00:14:21.380 --> 00:14:28.580 When you read in Luke, when it talks about going after, it's the same idea as an adventure, meaning 00:14:28.580 --> 00:14:32.280 it's not an easy walk down the path to find this sheep. 00:14:32.740 --> 00:14:33.630 It's an adventure. 00:14:33.700 --> 00:14:40.900 It takes work, and Christ is doing work to chase after and to find us. 00:14:43.400 --> 00:14:50.620 And when that lost lamb is found and brought back in verse seven, it says, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over 00:14:50.620 --> 00:14:56.250 one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. 00:14:59.880 --> 00:15:06.780 Jesus told the Pharisees this parable to show them the value of finding that which was lost. 00:15:08.600 --> 00:15:10.420 It's like when you lose your debit card. 00:15:11.940 --> 00:15:16.000 And that moment of, oh my gosh, where is it? 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:17.360 Who has it and what did they just buy? 00:15:17.780 --> 00:15:21.440 Like, and you panic and you freak out and you tear everything out of your car. 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:22.620 Well, maybe it fell in between the seats. 00:15:22.720 --> 00:15:27.780 And you find things that you lost years ago that you forgot about, but you don't find the debit card, and you tear the house apart. 00:15:28.180 --> 00:15:31.700 And you call every location that you've been in the last 24 hours calling every store. 00:15:31.700 --> 00:15:38.350 Did somebody leave a card and you track it and try and track it down and you can't find it, and then you reach in your pocket and realize it wasn't in your wallet. 00:15:38.420 --> 00:15:39.270 You just put it in your pocket. 00:15:39.960 --> 00:15:45.000 And that relief, that satisfaction of knowing it's here, it's safe. 00:15:45.020 --> 00:15:48.620 This thing of great value is not lost, but it's found. 00:15:49.120 --> 00:15:53.400 Your joy overcomes you and you're grateful for that. 00:15:55.300 --> 00:15:57.400 The significance of a lost soul. 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:02.040 Coming to know the beauty of salvation should never be lost on us. 00:16:03.620 --> 00:16:10.820 We should never forget the celebration that occurs in heaven when the search and rescue mission brings 00:16:10.820 --> 00:16:11.780 someone back. 00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:19.280 To further emphasize to these Pharisees the value of the individual. 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:23.320 He goes on to tell them the story of the woman with ten coins who loses one. 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:32.820 Now, the piece that she loses this coin, this silver coin that it talks about is worth about 18 to $0.19 to 00:16:33.120 --> 00:16:34.280 us today. 00:16:34.460 --> 00:16:35.360 So it's less than a quarter. 00:16:38.860 --> 00:16:41.230 And she tears the house apart to find it. 00:16:42.040 --> 00:16:48.560 I'm guessing if I were to go to most of your houses and reach inside your couch, I would probably find much more than $0.19. 00:16:48.840 --> 00:16:55.940 I would probably find a good, decent amount of change, and if you have kids, I would probably find enough Cheerios or Puffs or snacks to feed 00:16:55.940 --> 00:16:57.680 a small African village as well. 00:16:58.260 --> 00:17:05.380 But it just shows you that we don't hold the value to these individuals, these small things like this woman did. 00:17:05.400 --> 00:17:09.980 She loses the coin and she doesn't just say, I'll find it later or, well, I still have nine. 00:17:10.579 --> 00:17:14.900 She sweeps the house and lights a lamp and searches for the lost coin. 00:17:17.240 --> 00:17:24.440 What's unique about this coin is it's a drachma and it holds little 00:17:24.440 --> 00:17:26.140 minimal value. 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:28.830 But it was made of a precious metal. 00:17:28.840 --> 00:17:29.660 It was made of silver. 00:17:30.680 --> 00:17:37.840 Most coins that were of this value would have been made of a lesser material lead or something 00:17:37.840 --> 00:17:44.880 like that, not of a precious metal like silver, but it shows us that these sinners 00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:51.720 that Christ is associating with and fellowshipping with, though they have little to no societal value. 00:17:52.940 --> 00:17:54.220 They're made of a precious metal. 00:17:55.920 --> 00:17:57.240 Worth searching for. 00:17:58.380 --> 00:18:01.680 And again, what Jesus does is he paints a picture of what? 00:18:01.860 --> 00:18:04.320 Salvation is for us. 00:18:05.980 --> 00:18:12.980 The lost sinner may not have much worth to society, they may not have much to offer, but their 00:18:12.980 --> 00:18:19.660 soul is a precious material and a precious metal that Christ is on a rescue mission to find. 00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:24.020 And the sheep. 00:18:25.680 --> 00:18:26.560 And the lost coin. 00:18:27.860 --> 00:18:34.940 In comparison to what was still found was still valuable enough for the shepherd to go on an 00:18:34.940 --> 00:18:40.240 adventure, and the woman to clean her house and tear the house apart to find. 00:18:40.980 --> 00:18:48.240 And so Christ pursues us because he sees the value and the intrinsic worth 00:18:48.240 --> 00:18:50.300 that our souls carry. 00:18:53.000 --> 00:19:00.060 In Psalm 40, verse two, the psalmist writes and he says, 00:19:00.060 --> 00:19:04.000 he drew me up from the pit of destruction out of the miry bog. 00:19:04.540 --> 00:19:08.960 And he set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. 00:19:10.800 --> 00:19:17.960 When you think about that, and you think about this woman sweeping her house and cleaning the dirt and the filth away to find this coin, and you see how Jesus 00:19:17.960 --> 00:19:25.040 reaches down and pulls us up out of the dirt and the filth of this world to save us and to 00:19:25.100 --> 00:19:26.080 rescue us. 00:19:27.540 --> 00:19:34.860 And once again, when you get to the end of this story, it says that heaven rejoices over this one lost. 00:19:36.420 --> 00:19:43.860 And I think today, if we would celebrate the recovery of a lost soul, 00:19:44.760 --> 00:19:49.400 the same way we celebrate the recovery of a fumble in a football game. 00:19:51.320 --> 00:19:54.300 I think we'd look at our world a lot differently. 00:19:56.080 --> 00:19:59.270 I'm a passionate person just by nature. 00:19:59.740 --> 00:20:04.450 I, I get very attached and passionate about things. 00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:12.220 and, one of the things that I am passionate about, if you have been around me for any period 00:20:12.220 --> 00:20:19.380 of time, you know that the Ohio State University and all of its athletics are very important 00:20:19.660 --> 00:20:20.060 to me. 00:20:21.120 --> 00:20:23.580 and I'm very passionate about that. 00:20:23.840 --> 00:20:31.060 I will argue and fight and, exchange words, intense words at times with 00:20:31.060 --> 00:20:34.900 people over my football team or my basketball team. 00:20:37.660 --> 00:20:44.800 To the point where on Thursday, I had second thoughts about having everybody over to the church here to watch the 00:20:44.940 --> 00:20:49.920 football games because of how I may behave while Ohio State is playing Alabama. 00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:59.080 the first year that I moved out here, I didn't have TV in my apartment or anything, and Ohio State was playing in the Rose Bowl, 00:20:59.320 --> 00:21:02.180 and Nathaniel was like, well, you can come over and watch the game at my house. 00:21:02.940 --> 00:21:10.180 Stacey and their dogs wouldn't come downstairs because they were scared of me and what? 00:21:10.340 --> 00:21:11.580 And we were winning, too. 00:21:11.580 --> 00:21:11.900 So. 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:19.260 But I get passionate, and I get worked up, and I get fired up about it to the point where depending on the outcome of Thursday will depend my demeanor for 00:21:19.260 --> 00:21:23.620 a while, for a few days or weeks even. 00:21:26.420 --> 00:21:33.900 And I'm so fired up about what a group of 20 some year old kids do with a ball on 00:21:33.900 --> 00:21:34.420 a field. 00:21:35.460 --> 00:21:42.160 But I'm not worked up about the fact that my coworkers, my friends. 00:21:43.620 --> 00:21:44.560 My family are lost. 00:21:49.850 --> 00:21:52.510 And our passion for things. 00:21:52.590 --> 00:21:55.420 If you think about it, how many people do you work with? 00:21:55.610 --> 00:22:02.790 Know who your favorite sports team is, or your favorite movie or book, or what your favorite hobby is, 00:22:03.950 --> 00:22:05.110 but have no idea. 00:22:06.930 --> 00:22:12.860 What you believe about salvation and what Christ has done for them. 00:22:16.180 --> 00:22:19.930 And as I read this passage and I began to study. 00:22:20.650 --> 00:22:28.430 So it was one of the weeks of preparation where it was a continual spiritual beat down of God in 00:22:28.430 --> 00:22:35.830 me, of conviction, because I have lost sight of the value of the soul, of 00:22:35.870 --> 00:22:38.640 my friends and family, of my coworkers. 00:22:39.150 --> 00:22:42.770 And I have lost sight that there is value there. 00:22:43.870 --> 00:22:48.970 There's value to that coworker that always takes the last of the coffee in the break room, and you have to make a new pot. 00:22:49.110 --> 00:22:54.300 There's value to the crazy uncle who only shows up on Christmas for dinner, eats all the food, and then leaves. 00:22:54.950 --> 00:22:58.170 There's value to the people that cut you off in traffic. 00:22:58.430 --> 00:23:03.470 There's value to these people that are nuisances sometimes. 00:23:04.890 --> 00:23:12.290 But if our passion was like Paul's in the book of Romans, we might see things a little bit differently in Romans chapter nine, 00:23:12.290 --> 00:23:19.310 verses two through three, and then again in chapter ten, verse one, Paul says, I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish 00:23:19.310 --> 00:23:25.750 in my heart, for I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers. 00:23:27.130 --> 00:23:31.630 My heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 00:23:34.510 --> 00:23:39.010 Paul's passion for the lost makes my passion for my Buckeyes look. 00:23:40.750 --> 00:23:47.850 Minuscule, and if our passion for the loss would only match a 10th of that of Christ, what difference could 00:23:47.850 --> 00:23:52.290 we make in the world by joining him on this search and rescue mission? 00:23:56.010 --> 00:24:03.050 Paul had a desire and a deep angst and passion to see his countrymen and his brothers 00:24:03.130 --> 00:24:08.530 come to know Christ, because he saw the value of a soul. 00:24:09.810 --> 00:24:17.070 Christ was trying to impress on these Pharisees the value of the individual soul and their need to come to salvation. 00:24:18.930 --> 00:24:25.070 And I like the way that Jesus teaches, because he understands that sometimes we're a little slow and a little thick in the head. 00:24:25.090 --> 00:24:29.500 So he gives us two examples and then he's like, I'm going to give you this third example. 00:24:29.570 --> 00:24:33.510 That's an even clearer picture of what's happening here. 00:24:33.930 --> 00:24:39.010 And this example is aimed directly at the Pharisees. 00:24:39.050 --> 00:24:43.590 So in case they might have missed the point of the first two, they could not miss the point of this. 00:24:45.090 --> 00:24:52.290 And Jesus goes on in verse 11 to tell what is the most famous of these three parables? 00:24:52.290 --> 00:24:55.150 In Luke 15 he says, there was a man who had two sons. 00:24:56.130 --> 00:25:01.130 The younger of them said to his father, father, give me the share of property that is coming to me. 00:25:01.670 --> 00:25:03.170 And he divided his property between them. 00:25:04.530 --> 00:25:08.890 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country. 00:25:09.790 --> 00:25:12.690 And there he squandered his property in reckless living. 00:25:13.770 --> 00:25:16.110 And if you skip ahead to verse 20, it says. 00:25:16.110 --> 00:25:17.930 And he arose and came to his father. 00:25:18.490 --> 00:25:25.650 But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed 00:25:25.650 --> 00:25:25.750 him. 00:25:27.310 --> 00:25:30.770 And he said to his servants, bring quickly the best robe and put it on him. 00:25:31.510 --> 00:25:35.730 Put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet, and bring the fattened calf and kill it. 00:25:36.410 --> 00:25:37.650 And let us eat and celebrate. 00:25:38.750 --> 00:25:41.210 For this my son was dead, and is alive again. 00:25:41.730 --> 00:25:43.110 He was lost and is found. 00:25:44.230 --> 00:25:45.370 And they began to celebrate. 00:25:46.770 --> 00:25:53.210 Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he was angry and refused to go in. 00:25:54.210 --> 00:26:01.290 His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, look, these many years I have served you, and I 00:26:01.290 --> 00:26:02.330 never disobeyed your command. 00:26:03.610 --> 00:26:08.390 Yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends. 00:26:09.670 --> 00:26:14.470 And he said to him, son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 00:26:15.630 --> 00:26:18.890 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad for this. 00:26:18.910 --> 00:26:21.020 Your brother was dead and is alive. 00:26:21.930 --> 00:26:24.080 He was lost and is found. 00:26:26.870 --> 00:26:34.050 And so Jesus paints this picture for the Pharisees and tells them this story, because he knows that this is going to hit them right where they're 00:26:34.050 --> 00:26:35.190 at in that moment. 00:26:35.930 --> 00:26:43.010 Who Jesus describes as the prodigal son would have been the most deplorable type of person to these 00:26:43.010 --> 00:26:43.570 Pharisees. 00:26:44.750 --> 00:26:52.290 The culture of the day was a very patriarchal system and family, and the head of the house, the father was most 00:26:52.290 --> 00:26:55.890 important, and he would never think or imagine of disrespecting him. 00:26:55.910 --> 00:27:01.090 And here this prodigal son disrespects him by saying, essentially, dad, I wish you were dead. 00:27:01.090 --> 00:27:02.180 Give me my money now. 00:27:03.410 --> 00:27:05.570 And the Pharisees would have been taken aback at that. 00:27:05.630 --> 00:27:06.470 But he doesn't stop. 00:27:06.510 --> 00:27:07.050 There he goes. 00:27:07.450 --> 00:27:14.850 And the money that he gets after he tells his dad he wishes he was dead, he goes and he wastes on partying and licentious living. 00:27:15.750 --> 00:27:22.870 The idea when it says reckless or riotous living in this text, he most likely wasted it on 00:27:22.870 --> 00:27:28.150 prostitutes, gambling, drinking, partying, living it up. 00:27:28.290 --> 00:27:31.470 He went to Vegas for the weekend and came back with nothing, right? 00:27:33.630 --> 00:27:41.310 And after he loses all of his money, which would already infuriate the Pharisees even more, then Jesus puts the cherry on top and 00:27:41.310 --> 00:27:46.210 tops it all off and says that he went and fed the pigs. 00:27:46.770 --> 00:27:47.610 He was living with pigs. 00:27:47.870 --> 00:27:51.710 Now to us that's gross because pigs are gross and they smell bad. 00:27:52.530 --> 00:27:58.450 But to the Pharisees it was even worse because pigs were unclean and just touching a pig. 00:27:58.890 --> 00:28:05.510 You had to go and become ceremonially clean before you could enter back into society and talk to people again. 00:28:07.450 --> 00:28:14.830 And here, this son who has disrespected his father and broken every commandment he could and 00:28:14.830 --> 00:28:17.130 lived with pigs, comes home. 00:28:19.590 --> 00:28:26.970 And the father doesn't say, hold on, you need to get cleaned up first, and then we can talk about this and discuss our relationship going forward. 00:28:27.030 --> 00:28:34.160 The father runs to him and embraces him, still smelling of the stench of the pigsty. 00:28:37.310 --> 00:28:38.410 And so it is with us. 00:28:39.650 --> 00:28:46.810 So often we come back to Christ and we say, well, I'm going to get my life cleaned up, God, and then I'm going to come to church, let me get this cleaned 00:28:46.810 --> 00:28:48.350 up and this taken care of. 00:28:48.910 --> 00:28:50.770 And then and then we can talk God. 00:28:51.430 --> 00:28:53.970 And that was the intent that the son had when he came home. 00:28:54.910 --> 00:28:56.260 Jesus says, I don't want you to clean up. 00:28:57.170 --> 00:29:00.970 And Jesus comes and he puts his arms around us and he kisses us on our cheek. 00:29:03.090 --> 00:29:10.450 I can't even get Greg in to hug me after I go out and barbecue or smoke some meat in my smoker because 00:29:10.450 --> 00:29:12.430 she hates that smell. 00:29:12.890 --> 00:29:19.970 And especially since she's been pregnant this time, she's been really nauseous, which is like I've had pregnancy cravings 00:29:19.970 --> 00:29:20.570 with her, which happens. 00:29:20.970 --> 00:29:22.330 I think it's normal. 00:29:22.330 --> 00:29:22.430 Right? 00:29:23.110 --> 00:29:27.150 but I've been wanting like every day I'm like, okay, what can I smoke in my smoker? 00:29:27.330 --> 00:29:27.760 And then enjoy. 00:29:28.530 --> 00:29:36.530 And I haven't been able to do it as much because she doesn't enjoy the smell, but I can't even get Greg into to give me a hug or a kiss after, barbecuing 00:29:36.530 --> 00:29:39.790 unless I take a shower or at least wash my beard. 00:29:40.930 --> 00:29:45.190 but it's impressive how it can trap smells like that. 00:29:45.230 --> 00:29:45.860 But it does. 00:29:49.380 --> 00:29:50.740 I don't even know where I was going with that. 00:29:52.580 --> 00:29:53.430 But. 00:29:53.510 --> 00:29:58.240 But the picture that Jesus gives us of himself as the father is. 00:29:58.390 --> 00:29:59.930 Don't clean yourself up first. 00:29:59.930 --> 00:30:01.890 Don't worry about trying to get your life right. 00:30:02.330 --> 00:30:03.350 I'm here for that. 00:30:03.370 --> 00:30:07.070 And he comes and he embraces and kisses us on our dirty cheek. 00:30:10.290 --> 00:30:16.830 And the Pharisees would have just been appalled at the thought of the father. 00:30:18.650 --> 00:30:21.710 Embracing a son who was not just disrespectful. 00:30:23.850 --> 00:30:24.670 And not just. 00:30:27.470 --> 00:30:29.690 Lawless, but was unclean. 00:30:31.070 --> 00:30:32.660 And the father embraces him. 00:30:34.010 --> 00:30:35.890 And this idea of cleaning ourselves up. 00:30:36.290 --> 00:30:43.630 This was the idea that the Pharisees built their lives upon was self righteous works, and doing and doing and working 00:30:43.630 --> 00:30:46.250 and following a system to be okay. 00:30:46.250 --> 00:30:53.230 And God would find favor in that, and they would clean themselves up before they came home, and God would be pleased with them. 00:30:54.830 --> 00:31:01.870 Titus three five says he saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own 00:31:01.870 --> 00:31:01.970 mercy. 00:31:03.550 --> 00:31:07.190 The prodigal son wanted to earn his way back, and the father said no. 00:31:08.630 --> 00:31:09.370 You're back. 00:31:09.410 --> 00:31:09.810 You're mine. 00:31:10.590 --> 00:31:12.070 You don't have to work or earn this. 00:31:12.870 --> 00:31:14.130 He runs and he meets them. 00:31:14.130 --> 00:31:16.390 And he puts a robe on him and gives him a ring. 00:31:20.530 --> 00:31:21.660 Not the older brother. 00:31:23.110 --> 00:31:24.950 Is who Jesus was really telling this story for. 00:31:26.610 --> 00:31:28.810 Pharisees couldn't really relate to the prodigal son. 00:31:28.810 --> 00:31:29.490 They made him mad. 00:31:30.390 --> 00:31:30.990 He made them mad. 00:31:32.770 --> 00:31:33.310 But the brother. 00:31:33.550 --> 00:31:35.510 They like this older brother. 00:31:37.050 --> 00:31:44.090 Says that the older brother says that he stayed and obeyed and always listened to what the father told him to do, and he 00:31:44.110 --> 00:31:45.870 never upset the father. 00:31:47.630 --> 00:31:48.670 So he should be rewarded. 00:31:49.230 --> 00:31:52.390 And the Pharisees thought along these same lines. 00:31:56.530 --> 00:32:03.590 And the brother hears the commotion of the celebration because his brother came home, and the father comes and invites 00:32:03.590 --> 00:32:05.390 him inside to join in the celebration. 00:32:05.850 --> 00:32:07.590 Instead, he stays outside and he pouts. 00:32:13.630 --> 00:32:13.630 And that's not fair. 00:32:13.630 --> 00:32:13.630 That's not fair. 00:32:13.630 --> 00:32:20.790 And it's just like Jonah at the end of the story of Jonah in chapter four, Jonah preaches to the city of Nineveh to 00:32:20.790 --> 00:32:22.310 repent or you'll be destroyed. 00:32:22.450 --> 00:32:24.890 And the city repents and God saves the city. 00:32:24.890 --> 00:32:27.990 But Jonah is sure that God's going to give these people what they deserve. 00:32:28.010 --> 00:32:33.050 So he goes and sits outside on a hill overlooking the city, ready to watch God destroy them. 00:32:35.530 --> 00:32:38.330 And God causes a plant to grow and give Jonah shade. 00:32:39.070 --> 00:32:41.040 And Jonah is really appreciative of it. 00:32:41.410 --> 00:32:44.120 And the next day a worm comes and eats the plant, and the plant dies. 00:32:44.390 --> 00:32:46.780 And Jonah is angry and he's upset. 00:32:47.550 --> 00:32:54.590 And in verse eight of chapter four, Jonah asked that he might die and said, it is better for 00:32:54.590 --> 00:32:56.030 me to die than to live. 00:32:56.370 --> 00:32:59.730 But God said to Jonah, do you do well to be angry for the plant? 00:33:00.350 --> 00:33:01.730 He said, yes, I do well to be angry. 00:33:01.930 --> 00:33:03.250 Angry enough to die. 00:33:03.910 --> 00:33:11.310 And the Lord said, you pity the plant for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night, and 00:33:11.350 --> 00:33:12.400 perished in a night. 00:33:13.490 --> 00:33:20.670 Should not I pity Nineveh, that great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who 00:33:20.670 --> 00:33:24.350 do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle. 00:33:27.750 --> 00:33:35.190 Jonah and the Pharisees, and the older brother wanted what was fair because they thought they 00:33:35.190 --> 00:33:36.000 were right. 00:33:36.730 --> 00:33:39.660 Those people are wrong and they should get what they deserve. 00:33:40.930 --> 00:33:48.690 But the problem is Jonah and the Pharisees and the older brother and oftentimes us don't 00:33:48.690 --> 00:33:49.090 realize. 00:33:51.090 --> 00:33:54.590 That we're just as dirty as the prodigal son who is living with the pigs. 00:33:57.370 --> 00:34:01.450 Jesus in a similar situation in Mark chapter two says. 00:34:03.750 --> 00:34:07.790 Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 00:34:09.130 --> 00:34:12.250 I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. 00:34:14.270 --> 00:34:19.510 Jesus came on this search and rescue mission because there were sick people that needed healing. 00:34:21.969 --> 00:34:23.310 And as a kid. 00:34:23.370 --> 00:34:29.230 When I would read this as a young Christian, I would read this and I would think, well, why would God not call the righteous? 00:34:29.590 --> 00:34:30.350 That doesn't make sense. 00:34:30.670 --> 00:34:32.020 Why would he only call sinners? 00:34:33.830 --> 00:34:40.870 But as I grew and understanding and studied more, I realized that God didn't come to call the righteous because 00:34:40.870 --> 00:34:44.179 there are no righteous people. 00:34:45.350 --> 00:34:46.420 There is no righteous person. 00:34:46.670 --> 00:34:50.610 Romans chapter three tells us very clearly in verse ten. 00:34:50.650 --> 00:34:57.670 It says it is written, none is righteous, no, not one in verse 20 for by the works of the law no human being will be justified in 00:34:57.670 --> 00:34:58.230 his sight. 00:34:58.310 --> 00:34:59.770 Verse 23. 00:34:59.770 --> 00:35:03.730 All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 00:35:05.290 --> 00:35:12.310 The problem with the Pharisees is they didn't see these people as souls, and they didn't realize that 00:35:12.370 --> 00:35:17.390 they were in the same situation as these sinners that Jesus was fellowshipping with. 00:35:19.730 --> 00:35:23.030 And the problem for us today is we lose sight of who we are. 00:35:25.230 --> 00:35:28.650 Compared to God's goodness and his grace and his mercy and his righteousness. 00:35:28.710 --> 00:35:30.810 And we look at ourselves and we think, well, I'm better than them. 00:35:31.570 --> 00:35:32.410 They need to get it together. 00:35:33.370 --> 00:35:34.550 And we have pity on these people. 00:35:35.690 --> 00:35:43.130 Instead of recognizing that we were saved from the same hell, the same punishment that is, that they are headed for. 00:35:43.950 --> 00:35:46.150 And just like they needed Christ, we need Christ. 00:35:48.470 --> 00:35:55.470 And when you live with that perspective and recognize that there is none righteous, there is no one who is deserving. 00:35:55.810 --> 00:35:58.830 We're all deserving of punishment and destruction. 00:36:00.210 --> 00:36:07.790 When you live with that in perspective, it's a lot easier to recognize the value of those around us, 00:36:07.950 --> 00:36:10.010 of our friends and our family. 00:36:11.910 --> 00:36:15.730 Jesus recognized this value and he left heaven on a on a search and rescue mission. 00:36:16.830 --> 00:36:23.970 Because first Peter three nine tells us that God is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to 00:36:23.970 --> 00:36:24.070 repentance. 00:36:26.130 --> 00:36:31.070 Christ came because this was his desire, and he gives up heaven to do so. 00:36:33.030 --> 00:36:34.790 I love the old hymns. 00:36:36.630 --> 00:36:42.150 I grew up in a church with just piano and keyboard and so I sang hymns my whole life. 00:36:42.310 --> 00:36:47.090 And sometimes I think we miss out on some meat that is in those hymns. 00:36:47.350 --> 00:36:48.130 One of my favorite hymns. 00:36:49.590 --> 00:36:55.290 and it is very King James if you read it or sing it, but it's called thou didst leave thy throne. 00:36:55.710 --> 00:36:56.130 So. 00:36:56.270 --> 00:36:56.450 But. 00:36:58.210 --> 00:36:59.570 The picture of this. 00:36:59.930 --> 00:37:06.990 What this hymn describes is so beautiful it says, thou didst leave thy throne and thy kingly crown when 00:37:06.990 --> 00:37:09.270 thou camest to earth for me. 00:37:10.170 --> 00:37:13.610 But in Bethlehem's home there was found no room for thy holy nativity. 00:37:15.070 --> 00:37:16.610 Oh, come to my heart, Lord Jesus. 00:37:17.430 --> 00:37:18.730 There is room in my heart for thee. 00:37:20.730 --> 00:37:22.950 Heaven's arches rang and the angels sang. 00:37:23.010 --> 00:37:24.570 Proclaiming thy royal decree. 00:37:25.610 --> 00:37:28.390 But of lowly birth didst thou come to earth. 00:37:29.130 --> 00:37:30.000 And in great humility. 00:37:32.170 --> 00:37:37.070 The foxes found rest, and the birds found their nest in the shade of the forest tree. 00:37:38.230 --> 00:37:40.030 But they couch was the sod. 00:37:40.890 --> 00:37:43.830 Thou son of God, in the deserts of Galilee. 00:37:45.730 --> 00:37:49.970 Thou camest, O Lord, with the living word that should set thy people free. 00:37:51.830 --> 00:37:53.750 But with mocking scorn. 00:37:54.850 --> 00:37:59.030 And with crown of thorn, they bore thee to Calvary. 00:38:00.970 --> 00:38:02.450 Oh, come to my heart, Lord Jesus. 00:38:03.890 --> 00:38:05.590 There is room in my heart for thee. 00:38:07.150 --> 00:38:09.490 When the heavens shall ring and the angels sing. 00:38:10.170 --> 00:38:11.810 At thy coming to victory. 00:38:12.550 --> 00:38:14.110 Let thy voice call me home. 00:38:14.230 --> 00:38:17.090 Saying, yet there is room, there is room at my side. 00:38:17.290 --> 00:38:21.250 For thee my heart shall rejoice, Lord Jesus. 00:38:23.290 --> 00:38:26.210 When thou comest and callest for me. 00:38:28.790 --> 00:38:29.510 Christmas. 00:38:29.530 --> 00:38:35.330 The reason why we celebrate is because Christ left heaven and came because we needed saving. 00:38:35.370 --> 00:38:36.350 We needed found. 00:38:39.530 --> 00:38:41.230 And he came and he died. 00:38:41.790 --> 00:38:44.530 He came from heaven to the lowliest means. 00:38:44.670 --> 00:38:48.730 Born in a stable amongst the livestock. 00:38:49.970 --> 00:38:52.350 Lived a meager life as a carpenter. 00:38:55.810 --> 00:38:58.950 Died the most agonizing, gruesome death. 00:39:01.430 --> 00:39:05.030 Because he knew the seek and save the lost was his purpose. 00:39:05.510 --> 00:39:08.110 He knew the search and rescue mission had to be done. 00:39:09.930 --> 00:39:17.050 And Christmas calls us to remember why Christ came and to join him on this search and rescue mission, and to remember 00:39:17.050 --> 00:39:18.070 that we all need rescued. 00:39:19.550 --> 00:39:22.830 All of us have worth, even the lowly of lows. 00:39:24.010 --> 00:39:26.750 Christ came to die for me. 00:39:27.870 --> 00:39:28.470 For you. 00:39:30.210 --> 00:39:32.530 For your family, your friends, your co-workers. 00:39:33.650 --> 00:39:38.890 They deserve to hear the great news of the search and rescue mission that Christ is on.