Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

3 So he told them this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? 9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.’ 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

11 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. 14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.

17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.

25 “Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 28 But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, 29 but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ 31 And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32 It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”

Luke 15:1-32

Jesus was regularly found consorting with religious outcasts, prostitutes, tax collectors (people who were greedy and unscrupulous), folks looked down upon by proper society folks and Pharisees in particular. We consider Jesus to be the example of how we should live when it comes to his compassion, his truth-telling, his devotion to the Father, and many other of his character traits. We often fail to adopt his missional methods for reaching the people for whom he came, lived, and died. I think we should look harder at his methodology for reaching the world. We too should spend time with “sinners and tax collectors.”

Luke 15 is a series of three parables following a short two-sentence set up. Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.  And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”

Sinners and tax collectors were drawn to Jesus. Pharisees grumbled.

Maybe we don’t have the same charisma that Jesus had to draw “sinners and tax collectors” to us, but we should make an effort to engage those around us who are far from God and in need of the Savior.

Look at the structure of this chapter. There is the two-sentence introduction followed by the word “so.” So, he told them this parable. The reason for the parable was the action of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were not to be tainted by the filth of the sinners and tax collectors, while Jesus’ parable illustrated that He was sent to rescue the lost sheep.

That parable was followed by the phrase, “Or, what woman…” This parable is an alternate to the parable of the lost sheep; the parable of the lost coin.

Next Luke wrote, “And he said…” This connects the parable of the prodigal son to the previous two parables. This third story is more pointed to the Pharisees who are depicted by the older brother who “stayed home” and worked the farm while the “sinner” brother took and squandered his inheritance. There are two primary points to the story. The biggy is the picture of the running Father going to welcome home his son who had strayed so terribly. The second point indicts the Pharisees who were complaining of Jesus loving people who were like the prodigal. They were depicted by the older brother who complains when the Father graciously receives home the wayward son. The Father tells the older son that all he has is his and has been all along. His jealous heart had so corrupted him that he could not rejoice at receiving back his lost brother.

These three stories make at least 3 points:

  • We are represented by the lost sheep and the lost coin and the prodigal son. In other words, without Jesus, we are lost.
  • Jesus has come to minister to and save the sick and sinful. Therefore, he purposely spends meaningful time with us loving us. We who have been found by Jesus are the lost sheep, lost coin, and lost son.
  • Religious people who are afraid of being soiled by association with people who do not know God are depicted by the jealous, threatened older brother. We are not to aspire to be a Pharisee who misses the point of being in the Father’s house.

I am afraid that too many of us fail to see ourselves for who we are in this chapter. Are you afraid to associate with people who do not know God, especially those who are sexually promiscuous? Maybe some folks involved in the LGBTQ crowd? Would we allow ourselves to be seen associating with business people known to be unethical and greedy? What about drug addicts and alcoholics? Maybe outspoken atheists or advocates of other religions?

One of the unfortunate phenomena is that after a person has been a Christian for a while, say maybe five years or so, they will have practically no regular associations with non-Christians, except perhaps at work. They will have been entirely drawn into our Christian bubble. I understand that there are good reasons for this, especially in some circumstances, like an addiction. It can be very tempting for a former addict to succumb to temptation and re-engage their old addiction.

However, Jesus has issued a commission to us to make disciples of all nations starting right at home (Jerusalem). How can we disciple people with whom we have no relationship? The general rule given by Jesus is that we “go” and make disciples of people who do not follow Jesus now. Again, how can we do that if we do not accept Jesus’ methodology and hang out with sinners and tax collectors?

This is something that I personally have to really work at. I have been a Christian for over seventy years and so am deeply ensconced into the Christian bubble. I have to pray and work at touching lives outside of the Christian community. Engagement with people who do not know Jesus needs to become a priority for we who are in the body of Christ, especially those who complain about the fact that our culture has gone downhill. We can be heard to say that the only hope for America is a revival or another Great Awakening. And then we do nothing about bringing this Great Awakening into being, either through extraordinary prayer or efforts to hang out with sinners and tax collectors so we can introduce them to the Jesus of the Bible.

My point is that we who know Jesus must intentionally engage with people who do not know God. We must pray that God will open their hearts to receive the message of the gospel as God did with Lydia in Acts 16. I’m not advocating becoming a mass of street preachers. I’m not convinced that that is an effective means of proclaiming the gospel when the objective is to make Jesus followers out of our hearers. I am advocating a very “natural” means of connecting with people who do not know Jesus. A way that allows them to discover Jesus through engaging conversation and discovering God in the Scriptures for themselves. First, we must become intentional about reaching our neighborhood, city, or county.

Be a follower of Jesus and engage the lost in love. That is really all we are doing; we are loving our neighbors as ourselves, the second Great Commandment. Now, who doesn’t want to be loved? We need to be intentional lovers in Jesus’ name.