Seek the Lost

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday, the 6th of November, 2022, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is: 

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.]

In our Invocation, God said He will search for His sheep and seek out what was lost.  We are all His sheep, His beloved creation.  God would prefer that none would be lost, that all would be saved, but He gave us free will to choose for ourselves how we wish to live this life.  If we truly love Him, we will be saved, while so many are lost.  But there are some who, though they have strayed, may yet be saved if someone intervenes and helps.

A few weeks back, we looked at how Jesus often associated with sinners, and that tax collectors of the day were considered the worst of sinners.  This was because too many of them, being Jews themselves, collected more from their fellow countrymen than was required by the Roman occupiers, just to increase their own personal wealth.  When the Pharisees complained that Jesus spent too much time with these sinners, He told them that anyone would search for something precious that is lost, and so would God.

Zacchaeus was among those Jesus came to search for.  Not only was he a tax collector, but he was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich through his profession.  Please listen and follow along to what happened to Zacchaeus one day, as recorded by the Apostle Luke in chapter 19 of his Gospel account, verses 1 through 10, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible this morning…

1 Jesus entered Jericho and made His way through the town. 2 There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich. 3 He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.

5 When Jesus came by, He looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” He said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”

6 Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. 7 But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.

8 Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!”

9 Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”

--Luke 19:1-10 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for sending Your Son to seek out the lost and offer them salvation.  We were all lost in sin, Father, but we who have accepted Jesus as Your Christ and our Lord are saved.  Thank You, loving God, for having mercy upon us poor sinners.  Forgive us, please Father, when we stray from the path You would have us follow.  Forgive us when we return to some sinful behavior.  Please help us continue the work Jesus started of seeking out the lost and showing them the Way to salvation.  And Father, please protect us from Satan and from those who do his work.  Please keep us strong in our faith, of one mind and one purpose in our love, worship, and service, and healthy and safe through these trying times.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand the message You have for us this day.  Give us keener vision to seek out the lost and strengthen us in our search.  This we pray in the glorious name of Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Joseph M. Stowell reported this little family incident back in the December, 1989, issue of “Moody Monthly” magazine:

We were on our annual Christmas trek to Chicago.  Each year we brought our family to spend time with Grandpa and Grandma and visit the museums.  This year we decided to finish our Christmas shopping at suburban Woodfield Mall.  In the midst of all the fun and excitement, one of us noticed that little three-and-a-half- year-old Matthew was gone.  Terror immediately struck our hearts.  We had heard the horror stories: little children kidnapped in malls, rushed to a rest room, donned in different clothes and altered hairstyle, and then swiftly smuggled out, never to be seen again...  We split up, each taking an assigned location.  Mine was the parking lot.  I'll never forget that night -- kicking through the newly fallen snow, calling out his name at the top of my lungs.  I felt like an abject fool, yet my concern for his safety outweighed all other feelings. 

Unsuccessful, I trudged back to our meeting point.  My wife, Martie, had not found him, nor had my mother.  And then my dad appeared, holding little Matthew by the hand.  Our hearts leapt for joy.  Interestingly enough, Matthew was not traumatized.  He hadn't been crying.  To him, there had been no problem.  I asked my father where he had found him.  “The candy counter,” he replied.  “You should have seen him.  His eyes came just about as high as the candy.  He held his little hands behind his back and moved his head back and forth, surveying all the luscious options.”  Matthew didn't look lost.  He didn't know he was lost.  He was oblivious to the phenomenal danger he was in. 

Mr. Stowell goes on to note that, “This is a candy-counter culture, where people who don't look lost and don't know they're lost live for consumption.”  Too many people seem to live just for consumption, and our entire economy supports their lifestyle.  TV and magazine ads blare out that you simply can’t be happy if you don’t have this new product or the latest fancy thing.  People live for the baubles and gadgets of the world and all that it can offer, a dizzying array of choices.

People are lost in this “gimme-gimme-gimme” mentality, but they’re even more lost in their self-centered spirituality.  They don’t know Jesus.  Some don’t care to know Him.  They’ve heard all about Him but discount it all for rumor and myth.  Some just haven’t gotten the right information, haven’t yet had a chance to personally come to know Jesus.  And there are those who have seen some “Christians” in action and don’t want to be any part of it.

They’re all lost, and don’t even know they’re lost.  They’re glued to the candy counter, eyes focused only on the luscious options before them, oblivious to the horrendous danger they are in.  These are the ones the Son of Man came to seek, and to save.

Getting back to our tax collector, Zacchaeus heard that Jesus had come to town and he wanted to see what all the excitement was about.  Zacchaeus was short, and try as he might, he just couldn’t see through all the people lining the streets.  So he ran on ahead a little ways and climbed up into a tree where he could get a better look.

As Jesus walked by, even with hundreds of faces to His right and left, He easily spotted the little man perched among the branches.  And He called out to him by name: “Zacchaeus, come down out of that tree!”

Whether it was from being recognized and called out by name, or from divine insight that this was God calling him, Zacchaeus was instantly converted and became a believer in Jesus as the Christ.  He repented of his sinful ways and promised to give to the poor and to repay with interest any he had wrongfully taken.  And all his household received salvation that day.  Of course, some of the people grumbled that Jesus was going to be the guest of a notorious sinner, but Jesus answered them that “the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost”.

A little earlier in his Gospel account, Luke recorded Jesus instructing the Pharisees - and us - on the importance of seeking, finding, and saving the lost.  This was part of the scripture reading that I mentioned we heard a few weeks back.  Please listen to what Luke saved for us in the 15th chapter of his Gospel account, verses 1 through 10…

1 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!

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!

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 15:1-10 (NLT)

Even a wicked person, if they have lost something that is dear or precious to them, will search everywhere until they find it.  And if they don’t find it immediately, they never lose hope that it might yet be found.

How much more would God not search for something precious to Him that has become lost?  God created us all and we are all precious to Him, and He never gives up on us.  So when one who is lost is found and returned to His fold, all heaven rejoices.  These who have strayed away from God are the ones Jesus came to call and save.

Family, if we take an honest look at the world today, I think we’d see that Jesus really has His work cut out for Him.  The numbers of lost are huge and growing larger every day.  We may not notice it so much because we mostly associate with and are around the saved.  And we’re in bed and sound asleep when a lot of the wicked roam the world.

But just a few minutes watching TV shows us how self-centered so many people are.  They care only about themselves and what they can get out of this life, giving no consideration to what fate awaits them in the next life.  They have strayed far from the Lord’s path and are now lost.  But are they hopelessly lost?  No, not all of them.  For Jesus came to seek and save those who are lost.

And then He gave the job to us.  Before He left this earth to return to heaven, Jesus commissioned us to go out into the world making disciples, telling others all about Him and what He offers.  This means going into the world of the lost, seeking them out, lovingly telling them that the way to true happiness and eternal life in paradise is only through Jesus.

As Jesus said, the harvest is plentiful.  Let us be counted among the laborers, carrying out the work Jesus assigned us.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God,  You created us, this world we live in, and everything in it.  You love us all and we are precious in Your sight.  Thank You, Father, for caring so much about Your creation.  Sadly, Father, there are too many who don’t believe in You, who refuse to accept You or Your Son, who think of You as only a myth, who care only about themselves.  These are the lost that You sent Your Son to seek out and save.  And the ones He sent us out to rescue.  Thank You for loving us enough to want us all to be saved.  Forgive us, please Father, when we ignore the command Jesus gave us, whether out of fear or temerity, or just because we are too comfortable staying in our own homes where we feel safe and secure.  Forgive us when we focus our time on the wrong things.  Please give us the courage and the strength to carry on the work Jesus began.  Remind us that You created us all and that You love us all, and we should love others, too, love them enough that we want them to be saved as well.  Help us to do what is right in Your sight.  And Father, please help us remain strong, faithful, and true through all that we face in this age.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, thank You for coming for us, for seeking us out and offering us salvation.  You came to save us from our sin and give us life everlasting in heaven.  We were weak when You came to us, lost in sin, drowning in our lusts and desires, focused only on ourselves.  Yet You came and offered Your hand, pulling us from the pit of doom and despair.  Thank You, Lord, for saving us from ourselves.  And then You gave us the assignment of paying it forward.  We are to carry on your work of helping others who are lost, showing them the way to salvation.  Please, Lord, strengthen us for this task.  Please give us the courage and the right words to say when we approach others.  Help us be a blessing to them so that they too might live forever.  And Jesus, please heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us remain trusting and obedient no matter what we go through.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.