Bible Stories Are Confusing! Lost & Found Box | Luke 15:1-24

If you are feeling lost right now, you have come to the right place by hitting this “hope button.” If you feel like you’re adrift in life right now, like you’re purposeless, I’m so glad you’re here. Jesus made his love for us so clearly evident on the cross, and He does it in His stories as well. Let’s find out more, starting in Luke chapter 15. Here we go!

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Transcription:

If you are feeling lost right now, you have come to the right place. You’ve hit the hope button. If you are feeling like you are adrift in life right now, like you’re purposeless, I’m so glad you’re here. If you are feeling adrift emotionally like you’re checked out, this podcast is for you. And if you are feeling adrift from the Lord, like you’re far from God, welcome to the Bible for Busy People. I’m Erica your host, and today’s episode is just for you. We’re telling the stories that Jesus told, and today we’re going to dive right in. We’re going to continue to bust the myth as we do, that Bible stories are confusing. Jesus was actually very plain. He made his love and his passion for us. So very clear He did that on the cross when he showed us his love, he did it in his stories as well. So without further ado, join me right now in the gospel of Luke chapter 15, beginning in verse one.

Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them!

Okay, so I want to pitch a small tent here and tell you, Jesus understood that the religious people were angry that he was hanging out with sinners, with people who weren’t right with God, with people who were feeling adrift and away from God. Okay, so verse three.

So Jesus told them this story: 4 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. 6 When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents…

And by the way, that word just means to turn around, to turn back toward God to say you’re sorry for what you’ve done and start fresh. Okay? That verse bears repeating.

In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!

What Jesus is telling you very pointedly, very clearly here is that you are precious to him. He left heaven to come to earth to rescue you, his one sheep who went astray. To bring you back into the fold into fellowship and friendship and relationship with God. Alright, Jesus is going to move on to another story here in verse eight.

“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? 9 And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”

Now we’re going to move on in moments to the third story. But there is one word I want you to hang your hat on today, and it’s the word REJOICE. When you turn to God, when you start fresh with him and come clean with him, he rejoices. He is not looking at you shaking his finger at you. He is looking at you with his arms wide open. That’s what the cross was about. Come to him. Jesus says, in another gospel, I think it’s in the gospel of Matthew, come to me, you who are weary and I will give you rest. You can come to him today and when you do, he’s going to rejoice. So again, let’s go back to this gathering where Jesus perhaps is reclining after dinner with sinners. Okay, verse 11.

To illustrate the point further, Jesus told them this story: “A man had two sons. 12 The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. 13 “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. 14 About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. 15 He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. 16 The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything.17 “When he finally came to his senses…

Maybe that’s you today. Maybe you are like the prodigal son in this story and you’re like, Wait a minute. What am I doing so far away from God, my father? Right? Let’s go back to the story.

“When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, 19 and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’ 20 “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. 21 His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. ’22 “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. 23 And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, 24 for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.

More rejoicing, right? You can run into God’s arms today. They are wide open and he’s smiling at you, not frowning. He’s welcoming you home. Sometimes we humans, we get stuck in the lost and found box. We get lost and we just kind of drift to the bottom under all the old things, the old thoughts and emotions and coats, and then a hand comes, a nail scarred hand, and pulls us out and says, I have found you. You are mine. I love you. Feel God’s hand, the hand of Jesus reaching out for you today, for you are loved.

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