Pentecost 17: Christians Love the Lost Like Christ

The believer loves the lost like Christ. The righteous live by faith; yet how easy it is for the righteous to slip into the self-righteous judgment of other sinners, forgetting the grace that has been shown them. Today Christ calls us to love the lost as he does and rejoice over every sinner that “once was lost, but now is found.”

PRAYER OF THE DAY

Lord, we pray that your mercy and grace may always go before and follow after us that, loving you with undivided hearts, we may be ready for every good and useful work; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

VERSE OF THE DAY

Alleluia. Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Alleluia. (Romans 15:4 cf. NIV)

Artist Commentary: Visual Exegesis

This is a significant hermeneutical statement that I think I’ve overlooked before. Here is a divinely inspired apostle writing to us the mind and heart of God, and while writing under this inspiration he tells us that all of scripture is intended to do at least one thing. Now, there are many points, many purposes, many goals of God in written revelation, but one of them—in every text—is what Paul tells us here; namely, that the disciples of Jesus Christ might have hope.

Every passage in what we would call the Old Testament was inspired by God with this goal in mind—so that those who are trusting in the slain and risen Lord might have hope. That is awesome to consider. Now, why do I qualify this statement as “those who are trusting in the slain and risen Lord”? Simply because that is the category of people entailed in the “we” of verse 4. Yes, all of scripture—because if it is God’s purpose in the OT, certainly it does not cease to be so in the NT—all of scripture is intended to kindle and to fuel the HOPE of those who have received the crucified and risen Messiah as their Lord and their God.

Here, then, is a hermeneutical lens that Paul calls us to use as we read scripture…..how does this passage give me hope in Christ? How does this passage encourage me to endure with heart and mind set on the Son of God? How does this passage dispel the vapors of doubt and fear and despair and let in the bright shafts of unshaken and blood-bought hope? We have confidence that every passage will yield this fruit because “whatever was written in former times was written for our instruction so that through endurance and the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.”

Christopher Powers

THE GOSPEL: LUKE 15:1-10

The difference between the truly righteous and the merely self-righteous can be seen in the attitude displayed by the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. The Savior of nations spent even his meal times with those clamoring to know his forgiveness, while his detractors condemned him for associating himself with such worthlessness. The temptation is to place the lost and straying on the irrecoverable list without making the effort to “seek and save.” The parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin describe not only the heavenly joy at a sinner’s repentance but the priority placed on such a recovery mission. Jesus calls us to love the lost both because of their place in the flock and because of their intrinsic worth in the eyes of God.

The Lumo Project — Seeking the Lost

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Visual Exegesis — By Christopher Powers

Artist Commentary: Visual Exegesis

This is repentance; this is the foundational reason that the repentance of v.7, and 10, and the “coming to himself” of v.17 take place. If one who has been fleeing from the Lord stops and returns to Him—whatever the attendant circumstances may be—it is only because the Good Shepherd who has come to seek and to save the lost (v.19:10) has found them and placed them on His shoulders with joy.

And, of course, Jesus accomplished this seeking and saving once for all when He carried all of His wayward flock on His shoulders at Calvary…..When that rough, wooden beam was laid on His flayed shoulders so that splinters sank into flesh and muscles quivered from pain and effort, and when He—our Lord and our God—began to walk to Calvary, carrying His own cross….verse 5 was happening. That was our Shepherd having found us, laying us all on His shoulders, rejoicing….rejoicing…..

And at the cross, when He hung suspended as mediator and reconciler between heaven and earth, our sin—all of our rebellion, and, in a sense, we ourselves—were borne in His own body, borne on His own shoulders…..He found us….He found us…..and He laid us on His shoulders, rejoicing.

And then, on Easter morning, when He rose up from the grave, He carried us on His shoulders into the heart of the Father, into the true Green Pastures and Still Waters; He carried us up out of the briers and thorns of our lostness, of our death, and out into the bright, spring airs of home and of life. And, Oh, the Father’s joy! Oh, the Triune joy! As the Son who went into a far country and spent Himself for prostitutes, the Son who lost Himself in their lostness and gave His life in their death, the Son who was lost and is now found, and who was dead and is now alive, Oh, the joy as He leads an innumerable procession of wayward sons and daughters home to their Father’s heart! Hallowed be His Name!

Christopher Powers

FIRST LESSON: EXODUS 32:7-14

The account of the Golden Calf at Mt. Sinai illustrates humankind’s total depravity. At the same time, we see Moses pleading for Israel. Rather than cheering on the Lord’s divine retribution against the ungodly, we, like Moses, hold God to his promises of faithfulness to the lost and straying. In his mercy, the Lord restores the repentant heart and preserves his chosen people for eternity, even during the darkest of days.

SECOND LESSON: TIMOTHY 1:12-17

Pentecost 17-24 provides a series of readings through 1 and 2 Timothy. Few have the depth of appreciation for God’s grace as the Apostle Paul. Paul’s self-accusations of “persecutor” and “blasphemer” do not fall far short of us. Our sinful hearts, once hostile to the Lord and his love, have known the same grace poured out so abundantly on Paul. With “the chief of sinners” we offer thanks for our rescue and rejoice in our restored position in the Father’s flock. Let us always be like Paul, who never forgot the grace shown to him, and so was always ready to love the lost with Christ’s seeking and forgiving love.

SUPPLEMENTAL FIRST LESSON: HOSEA 3:1-5

To illustrate the Lord’s grace to idolatrous Israel, Hosea is instructed to marry and love an adulterous woman. The action of showing love to one considered so undeserving spoke a volume of God’s grace to sinners. When a sinner comes seeking to find the goodness of God, he finds the joyful and welcoming arms of our faithful God.

SUPPLEMENTAL SECOND LESSON: 2 CORINTHIANS 2:5-11

Satan’s schemes can twist even the act of repentance into an opportunity to plunge a soul into the depths of despair. Will the repentant man return with heart in hand only to have that heart trampled by self-righteous hypocrites who feel they are owed their due? No, the congregation is to show Christ’s love for the lost. Forgiveness and comfort are to be given to the penitent heart rather than heaping guilt over the sinner’s head and robbing the contrite heart of the joy of salvation.

PSALM OF THE DAY: 51

God Be Merciful to Me by Keith & Kristyn Getty

Psalm 51 (Wisdom in the Secret Heart) by Shane & Shane

Psalm 51 by Sons of Korah

HYMN OF THE DAY

Christian Worship #304, Jesus Sinners Does Receive

Questions to Consider

(Please share your answers/thoughts in the comments below)

1. What is God saying to me in these lessons?
2. For what do these lessons lead me to give thanks?
3. What sins do these lessons lead me to confess?
4. For what do these lessons lead me to pray?
5. What is the connecting thought that sticks out the most in these lessons? What major theme(s) connect(s) all the lessons?
6. Which piece of artwork did you find to be most beneficial? Why?