40-Day Devotion, Day 38

PREPARATION: READ LUKE 15:1-10

Feel The Urgency

One Sunday morning after worship service began, a stranger walked into the worship room of a very well-dressed conservative congregation. The man’s appearance was shocking by Church standards: unkempt hair, T-shirt with holes, jeans and no shoes. The service has already started and the room was packed, so this man started down the middle aisle looking for a seat.

The man was clearly out of place, and as he walked, every eye was fixed on him. The discomfort increased when the man got closer and closer to the pulpit and realized there were no seats... so he just squatted down on the carpet. You could cut the tension in the room with a knife. Nobody knew what to do.

About that time, from way at the back of the Church, a Deacon slowly began making his way toward the stranger. This Deacon (in his seventies) was very dignified, dressed in a three-piece suit and polished shoes. He walked with a cane in his hand... and everyone said to themselves: “You can’t blame him for what he’s about to do. How can you expect a man of his age and polished background to tolerate some ragamuffin who walks into our Church and plops down on the floor?”

It took a long time for the man to reach the boy. The Church was utterly silent except for the clicking of the man’s cane. All eyes were focused on him... and the people were thinking: “The minister can’t even preach the sermon until the Deacon does what he has to do.”

But when that Deacon reached the stranger, to everyone’s chagrin he dropped his cane on the floor... and with great difficulty lowered himself and sat down next to the man. He began to worship with him so he wouldn’t be alone.

Choking with emotion, the minister gained control and said: “What I’m about to preach, you will never remember. What you have just seen, you will never forget.”

In Luke 15:2, the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law criticized Jesus because “He welcomed sinners.”

Translated: Jesus didn’t fit their paradigm of what a spiritual leader should be. He didn’t dress in their royal robes, follow their regimented rituals, and show disdain for those who were ‘spiritual inferiors’. Instead Jesus welcomed sinners. That’s where He spent all His time. He walked with them; ate with them; taught them; counseled them; made friends with them; relaxed with them; slept in their houses. Think about the characters in the New Testament that Jesus elevated:

The woman at the well

Zacchaeus the tax collector

The blind man beside the road

The woman caught in adultery

The Roman centurion

The list of unsuitables goes on and on. The amount of time that Jesus spent with such people was so over-the-top that He became known as a Sinner Himself! Guilt by association I suppose.

WHY? WHY DID JESUS DO THIS?
Simple answer: It’s who He was... and who He is. Jesus loves all people, but the very purpose and definition of His life was to seek and to save. And who needs to be sought and saved? Sinners. End of story. His life was a constant expression of that passion of His heart: Sinners. Jesus knew that time was short. Eternity is sure. Hell is horrible. Judgment Day is coming, and sinners are facing imminent danger. Sinners. Jesus just couldn’t get them off His mind.

We’re Christians, right? We’re “Jesus People.” Connected to our Creator. Members of His Church. Followers of His way. Worshippers of the Lamb. Headed for Heaven. Examples of faith, walking in His will... or are we? Do we really pass the litmus test of being in tune with the heart of Jesus?

In Luke 15 Jesus defined what He expects of us when He told 2 short parables.

PARABLE #1:
A shepherd had 100 sheep in his flock (small by the standards of that day).
Somehow one night one of those sheep escaped from the fold. No big loss, because it was only one sheep. Who cares about one measly missing sheep? The shepherd did... because he knew that sheep are dumb, defenseless, and directionless. That sheep was doomed to die unless someone intervened. So the shepherd searched and searched until he found it and returned him to the fold.

PARABLE #2:
A woman lost a coin somewhere in her house. This coin had very little intrinsic value, except that it was part of the 10-coin headdress that she would wear on her wedding day. That’s why she literally tore her house apart to find it. She retraced her steps and moved furniture and swept the crevices in frantic search for this coin that completed her wedding dowry. And just when it seemed that the coin was gone forever, she found it! (To continue reading, please go to my comment below. Thanks!)