On February 2, Denver Gratia Community church held the Sunday service. P. Thomas delivered a message based on Luke 15.
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
15 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 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 Parable of the Lost Coin
8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins[a] and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
sermon
There is a reason Jesus said these 3 parables. All tax collectors and sinners came to hear Jesus’ saying. It explains why these 3 parables were delivered among us. But Pharisees and teachers of the law muttered and grumbled, “this man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Regarding their muttering, Jesus said these 3 parables in Luke 15.
The Gospel of Luke depicts a brilliant picture. When we talk about the love of God, it is difficult to explain it. Now the love of God is delivered to us through the picture. The Bible is not the book of philosophy or metaphysics. When we look at Gospel, there are many pictures among Jesus’ parable. Jesus explains about heaven through parables, for the heavenly things cannot be described or explained by human language. Heaven is beyond our rationality and reasoning.
Pharisees ask Jesus, “why do you eat with sinners?” It is said that the word ‘Pharisee’ derives from a Hebrew stem, parash, which means “to be separated”. Pharisee would mean “the separated ones” or “distinguished one” , and they tried to separate themselves from secular Jews by observing the law strictly.
They are complaining, “if truly you are the teacher of the word of God, how can you eat with sinners?” But Jesus says about the mercy of God falling on both sinners and the righteous.
Luke 15:4-6
The shepherd had 100 sheep, but then he lost one of them. But he did something strange. He left 99 sheep in open country and went after the lost one. When we look at it, it does not make sense. Of course, 99 sheep are more important than 1 lost sheep. When we compare 99 to 1, of course 99 are larger than 1. But in this message Jesus taught, he left 99 on the open country and went after the lost one.
The math in heaven is different from the math on earth. We cannot interpret or analyze the love of God with our reason. The love of God cannot be grabbed by the filter of our reason. Knowing God is impossible with our reason or knowledge. No matter how we pile up our data and knowledge, no matter how the analyzing method is precise, there is an immense gap between man and God, between Eternity and Time, so there is no way we can reach heaven. With our knowledge or analyzing method, God is hidden and cannot be grasped. It is called an infinitive qualitative difference.
It is the same in Genesis 3. God commanded them “not to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil”. But Adam and Eve disobeyed. Man is different from animal because man has reasoning. Reason is an important trait of humans. But when we walk on the path of faith, we need to go beyond our reasoning. There is dimension beyond reason. Søren Kierkegaard identified 3 possible stages that a person can move through in their lifetime: the aesthetic stage, the ethical stage, and the religious stage. In the first stage, the aesthetic stage, people seek the beauty and satisfaction of their desire. In the aesthetic stage, the person lives as a slave to their senses. They define ‘good’ as that which brings them pleasure. The next stage is the ethical stage. In this stage, people seek what right is. But he said there is another stage, which is beyond ethical stage and that is the religious stage. The most obvious example is the Sacrifice of Isaac. When we look at this story with ethical viewpoint, Abraham’s act, giving his son as a burnt offering cannot be admitted or accepted.
There is another dimension beyond the knowledge. We should know the noble knowledge. In the kingdom of heaven, 1 lost sheep is more important than 99 sheep. Because the lost one is precious, the shepherd went after it and that is the shepherd’s love. This is the love of God.
How can we know this noble knowledge? It’s only faith. This noble knowledge cannot be known through our knowledge but with faith.
8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins[a] and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
We have practical thoughts. Is it better to keep 99 sheep? Does it make sense to go after 1 sheep? Isn’t it all right to give up 1 sheep? Judas had this kind of thought. When he saw a woman break the alabaster jar and pour it on Jesus’ feet and wipe his feet with her hair, Judas reproached her and was indigenant. He objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He looked at the woman’s act of love as waste.
In John chapter 12, when greek people came to Jesus, what did he say? He said, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” When we think about it with our reason, when we die, we just die. But it says when we die, we can bear many fruits.
I usually evangelize in markets or campus. When I was in Denver, I usually evangelized these places. Evangelizing is not easy. I evangelize and invite people, but there are few people who respond to me. It is difficult to find someone who seeks the word of God. It is really like the woman lights the lamp and sweeps the house and searches carefully for the silver coin. When I evangelize, I can feel the heart of a shepherd who searches for the lost one sheep.
The love of God is like this. It is different from teaching of the world. It cannot be understood by pragmatic and calculating thought. God loves us unconditionally and forgives us without asking our sin and past. This is love of God. What kind of person was Matthew? He was a tax collector and it means he was a betrayer of his people Israel. But he came to him and called him as his disciple. The tax collector everyone hated changed and through him the precious gospel can be brought to us.
Why did the lord search us? Why did the lord call us? For what did he come to us? We have to think about it deeply. Though we were sinners, he did not ask our sin nor look at our flaws, he accepted and forgave us with unconditional love.
I accepted the Lord when I was in college. I was tired of worldly pleasure and wanted to know Truth. I asked about ultimate things : why I was born and why I live. I always prayed to God and asked where God is. I searched God. As Isaiah 45:15 says “Truly you are a God who has been hiding himself, the God and Savior of Israel.”, I could not find him. I did not want to get drunk or commit sin, but the world enticed me to drink or commit sin. I wanted to become pure and honest and live according to consciousness. Every night before I went to bed, I prayed with all my heart. But it seemed like God did not answer my prayer or there was no God. I was about to conclude that there is no God. But at that moment, God came to with indescribable love.
When I accepted that the Lord carried our sin and crucified on the cross for us, because of that our sin was redeemed and we are saved, peace came to me. When we just accept this love, our soul truly can be joyful.