The Lost are Found & there’s a Party!
Jesus seemed to love parties.
Jesus’ first miracle was at a wedding party where he turned water into wine. You might say Jesus saved the party that day.
Jesus often met with people, sinners & saints, around tables to eat & talk. Seven different times in Luke’s story alone Jesus is found at a table eating with people. (Luke 5:29– 39; 7:36– 50; 11:37– 54; 14:1– 24; 22:14– 38; 24:30– 32; 24:36– 49)
Jesus told stories about great celebrations, feasts, & parties. (Matthew 22:1-14; 25:1-13; Luke 14:7-14; 14.15-24; 15:7; 10; 23, 27; 16.19-31)
There’s tension here for some of us in this: The Jesus who loved to party & loved to describe life in the Kingdom of Heaven like a great celebration.
In Luke 15 there are three stories where Jesus talks about a party. In all three of these stories, I think we can discover a simple pattern that reveals what life is like in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Before we read these stories, I want you to remember who Jesus is talking to:
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! Luke 15.1-2
So in front of Jesus are people from every walk of life, both ends of the spectrum, & what’s interesting to me is that everyone was drawn to Jesus.
[Tweet “Everyone is drawn to Jesus. #Luke 15.1-2 #kingdomofheaven”]And with this group before Jesus, sinners & saints, here are the 3 stories Jesus decides to tell.
Story #1: A Lost Sheep
3 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 returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away! Luke 15.3-7
So here we have a story about a sheep that was lost, then it was found, & then there was a party to celebrate! And Jesus tells his audience full of sinners & saints that this is what life is like in Heaven. There is “more joy in heaven” when someone who was lost is found!
[Tweet ” There is “more joy in heaven” when someone who was lost is found! #Luke 15.7″]Then Jesus tells this story…
Story #2: A Lost Coin
8 “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.” Luke 15.8-10
Again, we have a story about something that was lost, a coin, then it was found, & then there was a party to celebrate! And Jesus says “there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.”
I love how Eugene Peterson says it in the Message, his translation of the Bible. He says…
“that’s the kind of party God’s angels throw every time one lost soul turns to God.” — from the Message
And then Jesus makes a move from talking about sheep & coins to talking about people. And this is where the story gets personal.
Story #3: A Lost Son(s)
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, 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.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, 26 and he asked one of the servants what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’
28 “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, 29 but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. 30 Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’
31 “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. 32 We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’” Luke 15.11-32
Luke says that Jesus told this story to “illustrate the point further…”
What point?
I think it’s the same point Jesus was making in the first two stories. That whenever something that was previously lost is found, there is a party in the Kingdom of Heaven.
[Tweet “Whenever something that was previously lost is found, there is a party in the Kingdom of Heaven.”]Here’s the pattern in all 3 stories: Lost – Found – Party.
Is this what the Kingdom of Heaven is like?
Jesus would seem to say so both in the way He lived His life & in the stories He told about Heaven.
I don’t know what you think about when you think about Heaven. You may have never thought about Heaven as one big party. But I think if you were to re-read the Bible, you might find that our God is a God who loves to celebrate. He loves to party.
[Tweet “Our God is a God who loves to celebrate. #kingdomofheaven”]So what if the Kingdom of Heaven is like a party? And what if one way we participate in making things on earth as they are in heaven is through the activity of hospitality. What if participating in making things on earth as they are in heaven is about restoring things to they way they ought to be?
[Tweet “One way we participate in making things on earth as they are in heaven is through hospitality. “]May we be known as people who love parties. Who love hospitality. Who love to invite people into our homes & into our lives. A people who love to restore things to the way they ought to be. And when that happens, when it really happens, we celebrate.
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