In Luke 15 Jesus tells three parables - the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son - in response to the mutterings of the religious leaders, 'This man welcomes sinners and eats with them'. These are the men who were supposed to be leading the people to God, and yet it is the tax collectors and sinners who are behaving like good disciples - by gathering and listening to Jesus. And so Jesus tells them three parables to try and communicate God's love for those who are 'lost' - those who are on the outside of the kingdom.
God loves those who are on the outside and wants nothing more than for them to be drawn to the inside. And so Jesus spent time with and welcomed those who were traditionally thought to be so far out that there was no hope of them ever getting in! He even went as far as to openly eat with them - threatening ritual impurity and even jeopardising his own position as one of those understood to be 'in'. Jesus came to seek and to save those who were lost (Luke 19:10).
But for those who see themselves on the inside it can be hard to accept that outsiders have become insiders. The free gift of God's love, His mercy (not treating us as we deserve to be treated) and His grace (treating us as we don't deserve to be treated) are available to all who repent - but sometimes we add all kinds of other requirements. Whilst there may be a party in heaven when one sinner repents, that 'sinner' can be met with suspicion and a cold shoulder. Acceptance can be slow in coming and even then it is only after all kinds of other things have had to change first - so that the outsider now looks and sounds and behaves like an insider!
The younger son had done some bad stuff and let his whole family down in a big way. Yet his father still loved him and was ready to forgive and welcome him back as a true son. When we 'come to our senses' we recognise just how much God loves us and how much He has forgiven us. And part of our response, part of our worship, should be an overflow of the loving welcome God gave us. And so we become those who welcome others and eat with them.
The older brother was also his father's son. And yet he never really lived that way. Did he ever ask his father for a goat? For surely the father that said 'yes' to the younger boys request would not have denied his older boy a goat roast. Sometimes we lose sight of the love of God and the joy goes out of our relationship with Him. We do what we do out of a sense of duty, somehow earning God's favour, trying to repay our debt... Yet God wants us to love Him. We obey Him because we love Him, not because we're scared of Him. And because we love God, and know that God loves us, we're able to love and welcome and eat with others - both those on the inside and those on the outside.
The tragedy for the self-appointed insiders in this story is that by the end they find themselves with the elder brother on the outside, while the party goes on inside.
How would the church be different if we made seeking the lost a priority and were serious about welcoming the outsider?
Click here to listen to this message from Pastor Keith. 24 February 2008. Camrose Baptist Church.
