Luke 15:1-7 (The Lost Sheep)
“Now all the tax gatherers and sinners were coming near Him to listen to Him.” (yet) “….both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble….”
What is going on here? Why is it that society’s losers and outcasts were attracted to God Incarnate and society’s best and most religious kept their distance and complained? Those that knew they were unclean were drawn to Jesus. Those who believed themselves to be clean were offended. Perhaps this Parable of the Lost Sheep will shed more light on our question.
Its a short and simple story of a shepherd who leaves his flock to search for one sheep that has strayed and became lost. We know the outcome. The attention the shepherd has diverted is rewarded as he finds his sheep and his joy spills over among his friends who join him in the celebration.
Verse 7 helps us to understand the nature of the rescue. It involves repentance. It is probably no coincidence that this parable precedes the Parable of the Prodigal Son by just 4 verses. I have been thinking of repentance in the context of that parable. I first think of the younger son and the vile things he had done with his father’s wealth. His life style had been godless and unclean and a total waste. For this boy, the father’s only rescue strategy was to let sin run its course so that the child could be brought to a place of acknowledged poverty. The father was beside himself with joy that spilled over and became a huge celebration. The father did not bring up the boy’s waste and debauchery. His heart melted when he saw his precious son. It seemed it was the distance between them more than the uncleanness and defilement of the boy’s lifestyle that troubled the father. (I wonder if the prodigal went so far out of control as get a tattoo or a piercing.)
The father had to launch a second rescue mission the same day for another lost sheep. It was his older son, who even though he had lived compliantly, was just as distant and relationally alienated from his father. For this one, the father’s rescue strategy involved listening to the boy’s heart that was very sick with anger, bitterness and resentment. I think the elder brother was one of the type persons who perceived that they had no need of repentance. I think of this soul as being more deeply lost than the prodigal. Religion is a deeper bondage – a greater stronghold than a mere base lifestyle. Most people living in the gutters of life know they are lost and feel alienated from God. The religious, on the other hand, believe that God is pleased with them because they have stayed home and done their religious chores and held fast to their religious creeds and moral commitments. Deep inside, they believe God owes them a feast.
I am living proof that there is hope for both prodigals and elder brothers. I was saved at 23 as a very lost boy who had squandered some of his earthly father’s money in unrighteous living. I was rescued at 58 years old as an elder brother who had squandered a fair amount of His heavenly Father’s grace. In terms of the burden lifted from my heart, my deliverance from the stronghold of religion was nearly as dramatic as was my initial salvation encounter with the Lord. Much of what I post in middlewithmystery.com is flavored with insights gained since Father has initiated this most recent rescue.
Since my liberation, I am viewing religion as that old wineskin that is unfit for new wine. This propensity of ours toward religion is bound up in our fallen DNA and, just like sin, it distances our hearts from God and mishaps our understanding of Him, ourselves and others. Being a legitimate born-again son of God and somehow having drifted into more of a servant/slave mindset, I can see how, from our old wineskin hearts, we build old wineskin structures that are capable of keeping the Holy Spirit corporately at bay. Having said this about our structures, it is more important that we realize that our primary responsibility is not our structures. Those will likely take care of themselves as we make sure that our own hearts, as new wineskins, are utterly free of elder-brother works-oriented righteousness and are issuing forth the living water of Christ’s very own life within us.
When we become corporately successful at watching over our hearts in this way a new life will issue forth that is empowered by God’s Spirit. Christ in us, the hope of glory will be manifested for all the world to see. The earth will finally see the Bride of Christ radiantly adorned in the very splendor of God’s grace instead of some shabby garb patched together by us elder brother types. I truly wonder if this stronghold of religion very well may be the last and greatest demon between us and that day when He fully receives the reward of His suffering.
Father, as we set our hearts on the the hope of comprehensive deliverance allow us to anticipate and embrace the incremental dividends of freedoms You will impart to us as we rest in You as our Sufficiency. May you grant our hearts the courage to acknowledge where we think our track records merit Your favor. May You grant our hearts the humility to acknowledge our inner poverty that has been glossed over with works and words. May You grant us the perseverance to endure the refining process that will liberate us from the constraints of our old religious wineskins. Amen.