Luke 15- Andy's thoughts

A thought to ORB as we become more established-
Jesus meets the lost. I love that this chapter opens with a description of the least respectable people of society flocking to meet with Jesus. I like how this unnerved the religious establishment. “How dare Jesus do that,” they thought. Yet as soon as I get excited and want to say, “In your face religious establishment!”- I have to realize that at this point in life; I am a part of the religious establishment. In my face! Sigh.

So as I read this chapter and its three parables, I am reminded of how easy it is to settled into our Christian community. I say this as a cautionary word to us at ORB. Years ago, when we were first getting started, we were the mavericks, the outcasts. Now, however, we are an official church. It’s right there in the title- ORB Community Church. I don’t think this automatically makes us automatically like the Pharisees. I do think it should lead us to be very careful to not fall into the pitfall of stability.

I don’t think any one of the Pharisees set out to become a judgmental, hypocritical, obnoxious person. How did they become the villains of the gospel story? I’m sure it was a very slow and subtle change. For those of us who have been Christians for a few years or more, these parables are reminders to look in the mirror. Have we been lulled into a self-absorption so that we focus on securing our comfort in ORB or are we focusing on reaching out to new people so that they can know Christ? In many ways, I am glad that we have had the recent struggles with finding meeting places for our midweek meetings.

I realize that there are drawbacks as well with this. I just am saying that I hope our need to be on the move keeps us more focused on people than places or property. Our joy is in the lost being found- not in expansive meeting rooms with kooky decorations. (I know the meeting rooms and décor have been helpful to make new people feel welcomed. I am just throwing out a reminder that having a place is a means and that reaching people is the goal).

In our time at ORB, we have had some great parties. I hope that we continue to do so. I hope that we have some huge parties to celebrate people coming into a saving relationship with Jesus.

Three Parables
So to those in the religious establishment who were growing frustrated with all the attention the new people were getting, Jesus gives three parables. I think it’s pretty clear that all three are teaching the same idea. Why give three different parables? Because the message was that important. Primarily it is a story to tell the Jews that the Gentiles were going to become a full part of the Kingdom of God. Jesus knew that the Jews weren’t going to like it. So he tells them these stories to put things into a better perspective.

The first two stories are rather brief when compared with the third. The parable of the lost sheep and lost coin illustrate God the Father’s willingness to seek the lost and His delight in finding them. God says that there is partying in heaven when the lost are found. Partying. In heaven. Think about it. That’s amazing. Sadly, in our culture, we have inherited a notion that heaven will be a rather bland and boring existence of angels, harps, and clouds. Jesus tells us that God and the heavenly host are partying. Woohoo!

And why the partying? Because people are coming into a real relationship with God. They are no longer living lost lives. They are experiencing the joy of being known by God and of knowing Him. This is cause to celebrate. Years ago, I was sitting at the student center at Rutgers and was reading my Bible. Some guy comes up to me and asks me about what I’m reading. When I told him the Bible, he asked me if I believed all that stuff. I said yes. He said that he had one question for me. “If all that stuff is true, then why aren’t Christians happier?”

Dang. He was right on. I told him that he was right. Christians should be ecstatic. We should be living lives of celebration and joy. I think that as we more fully participate in the mission of God to reach the lost, we will more fully experience the joy and excitement that God himself feels. Imagine that.

The third parable is perhaps one of the most well known stories of the New Testament. So I won’t go into great detail here about it. I will say that I like Jared’s comment that the father goes out to seek both of his sons. God is so abundant in his grace.

Mike Oliver was telling me a bit about the book, The Shack. I have not yet read it, so I’m curious to hear more feedback on it. He told me that there is a passage that says that it is not exactly accurate to say that all roads lead to God; it is accurate to say that God is willing to go down all roads to come to us. I love that. I think that is perhaps the best summation of this whole chapter. (Thanks Mike and person who wrote the Shack).

Application:
• Are there people in our lives that God is calling us to tell about Jesus?
• Are we as a community being careful to guard against the desire for security and instead taking risks to bring the gospel to the lost?
• Are we celebrating enough?
• Do we need more righteous parties?