Lost (2) 迷失（二）
15 May 2019 | 5 min readsermon2019singapore | lost
In the previous sermon, two parables of being lost were raised. This sermon will cover the third and last parable of being lost.
The 3 parables in Luke 15 talk about 3 types of lost things:
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The lost sheep
This refers to being lost momentarily. Because of carelessness, the person loses his direction. He doesn’t intentionally want to get lost. There’ll be a struggle in his heart to find the right way but he’s unable to find the way. He’s in a constant state of danger, like the lost sheep who’ll be attacked by wolves. Time is important to the lost sheep. If the sheep being lost is prolonged in terms of time, it gets more dangerous; the likelihood of getting eaten up is higher. Therefore when we have lost sheep members, we need to find out how he’s doing as fast as possible. We have to react fast. Visit. Show our concern and try to bring the lost sheep back. -
The lost coin
The person gets lost due to his own actions. Such members are usually quiet. His presence isn’t usually noticed. If we’re not careful, this person will be lost. He’s not proactive in striking up a conversation. When he faces with problems, he won’t proactively seek solutions for himself, especially when he enters into temptation or is already lost. If we don’t detect this lost person in time, it becomes very difficult to bring the person back, because he feels the lost state he’s in is the state he ought to be in. Such a category of members requires us to show care and concern in normal circumstances so that we can understand the person better and bring him back. Such a category of members need the Holy Spirit to change them. -
The lost son
Luke 15:11-13
The lost son is very different from the lost sheep and lost coin. He personally made the decision to be lost. He himself knows what he’s about to do is wrong (v18). Perhaps his father tried all means to dissuade him but was not heeded. He wanted his inheritance to go to a far away place to waste it on prodigal living.
Such members know the truth. They know God is present in church, but they go after the indulgences in the world. They consciously decide to leave church and go into the world. When such a person makes this decision, no amount of encouragement and visiting can bring the person back.
In this case, notice that no effort is made to call the lost son back (cf. effort was made to search for the lost sheep and lost coin).
Luke 15:20
The prodigal son returned because he had a compassionate father who loved him dearly. The father recognised him from a great way off. By the time the son returned, a substantial period of time should have passed; at least 1-2 years. He should have looked rather different. Probably skinnier, dirtier and more haggard. Despite looking different, his father could recognise him from afar off. This shows how his father never forgot his younger son. It could have been the case where he constantly thought about his younger son. We can see how much the father loved his younger son.
What the younger son had gone through is rather amazing.
Luke 15:15-20
First, he went through a severe famine. Furthermore, it came upon him just when he had spent all he had. If it had come when he had just arrived, he could’ve travelled somewhere else.
Second, when the severe famine struck, he led a terrible life. He didn’t have anything to eat. He was so hungry, he would have gladly eaten the pods the swine ate.
Thirdly, he did not starve to death (common during a famine). At such a time, he thought about his father. When we’re in a bad state, we tend to think about the good times. Sometimes when people are in a bad state, they put the blame on others and don’t reflect on what wrong they have done.
Fourthly, he was so poor, he had no money to buy food to eat. Where would he find the resources to go on the long journey home. How did he return then? A coincidence? A miracle? God’s mercy? The speaker thinks that it was perhaps because the father kept looking out for the younger son, praying for him.
Only by relying on God’s help and guidance, a lost member can come back. What we can do is to frequently remember these members in our prayer. Ask the Lord to take care of and preserve the person.
It’s easier said than done. It’s not an effort of just 1-2 months. It’s an effort of 1-2 years, or spanning decades. In our prayers, we may not see any effects. Just like the father who keeps looking over the horizon, hoping the son will return. Day by day, disappointment after disappointment. A year of disappointment. 2 years of disappointment. A decade of disappointment. But he didn’t give up. Why? Because he had deep love for his younger son. To him, he is his only younger son.
The next kind of being lost is another kind of lost, that of the older son.
Luke 15:28-32
We can see the older son is a filial son. While his younger brother was out there indulging in prodigal living, he stayed home to serve his father. He obeyed his father’s commandments, “I never transgressed your commandment at any time”. This is hard to come by. Have you never transgressed any of your parents’ instructions? This older son never did.
The older son was also very hardworking. When the younger brother came back, he was out working in the fields. When his younger brother took his inheritance and left, he was the only heir at home. He didn’t need to work like the rest. He could stay home and enjoy life. But he didn’t. He continued to work hard for the family. The speaker says that if he were the older son and had such great possessions at home, he would probably just idle at home. The older son was exemplary, someone we should emulate. Indeed, the older son wasn’t lost. He’s filial, loyal, hardworking. He has many strengths.
But, he lost a character most important in a family. He lost love, a heart that loves his younger brother. He no longer loved his younger brother. He no longer rejoiced because his younger brother returned home safely. Instead he murmured and felt his father was being unfair. He felt the return of his younger brother was no cause for celebration.
There’s a big contrast between the reaction of the older brother and the shepherd and woman who lost their sheep and coin. When the shepherd found the sheep, he called his friends and they rejoiced. Likewise for the woman and the coin. But for the older brother, not only did he not rejoice, he threw a tantrum. Wasn’t the life of his younger brother more precious than the life of a sheep?
These 3 parables are to encourage us to reach out to the lost members. The story of the older son is to serve as a warning to all of us remaining in church. We should never lose a heart of love for our brethren.
1 Cor 13:13
“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
1 Cor 1:1-3
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.”
Love is the greatest. Having love is the most basic requirement for us to seek the lost sheep. The depth of our love determines the extent we go to seek the lost sheep.
Thrice the Lord asked Peter, “Do you love Me more than these? Do you love Me?” He instructed Peter, “Feed My lambs. Tend My sheep. Feed My sheep.”
How much do you love the Lord and how much are you willing to give up for the Lord?
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