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Luke 15 – The Joy of the Kingdom 天國的喜樂

Thursday, 16th November 2023

Rev Daniel Xi An Poon

What is joy by our definition? To have a new house? To have a new car? To have lots of money? Our joy cannot be eternal if we rely on the things of this world. Only things in the Heaven will last forever. In the eternity, we know the joy of the Lord is different to what the world can give to us.

V1-2 The Joy of Being Accepted 被接納的喜樂

To be accepted by the Lord in the Kingdom of God can give us true joy. The Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law saw Jesus eating with the sinners. When people eat together, it shows that they accept one another. At the time the debt collectors were not accepted by the society, because they worked for the Roman government, and collected money from their own people. They were disliked by the Jewish community, and called the sinners. So when Jesus was with them, He ate with them and He accepted them.

In eternity, we will receive great joy when we truely feel accepted by the Lord. Are we willing to put down our own problems and come to Jesus? The debt collectors were rejected by their own people, but Jesus accepted them, and their joy restored. We are all accepted by the Lord, we are all sinners and we all sin against God, but Jesus is willing to accept us as who we are. Do we also come to Jesus and receive joy? Do we also bring others to come to Jesus and be accepted?

V3-10 The Joy of Receiving What’s Lost失而復得的喜樂

When we have lost a sheep, we would put down the rest of the sheep to look for the lost sheep, because every sheep is so important, just like how God sees everyone of us very precious and very important. This is sheep is lost in the wilderness, it may be tired and weary, it might not be able to walk anymore. When the shepherd found the lost sheep, it would carry it on his shoulder to bring it back.

Often we feel the Kingdom of God is so far away, whatever Word we receive from God on Sunday seems so difficult to care our in life. We might be drifting apart, because we rely too much on ourselves, and we see ourselves as god. Do we ask God about everything? Or do we choose to face our own problems? We are tired and weary, we are walking astray, but if we are willing to turn back, Jesus will come to look for us, to carry us, and to bring us back home.

A good shepherd is willing to die for his sheep. Jesus did not judge the lost sheep, He had mercy upon the sheep. Jesus will not judge us, He is not a fault finder, He knows our weaknesses, He is willing to humble Himself to come look for us, He is a loving shepherd, and He is willing to bring us back home. When the shepherd is home, he will invite his friends to come and celebrate the lost sheep has been found.

Jesus was talking to all the people, the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law, they rejected Jesus and they prosecuted Jesus, but Jesus taught them and urged them to return. The Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law are teaching others, but if they didn’t know the Truth, then how could they teach others?

The woman lost her coin in a dark place, she needed to light up the room and clean up the room in order to find the coin. She didn’t not give up, the room was dark so she lighted it up, the room was a mess so she tidied up, then she was able to find the one coin. We thought we are useless, we thought God would not care about us , we are discouraged, but Jesus will come to our house so we can be found.

V11-32

The younger son asked for the inheritance even when his father was alive, it was a

rebellious act at the Jewish society. But the father was willing to divide his inheritance to both his sons. We also receive many blessings as inheritance from God, but when we receive the blessings, we slowly walk away from God. We think that we don’t need to pray anymore, because we already have everything we want.

V14-15 “But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.” We are like the younger son, we waste the blessings and inheritance from God, we do whatever we want, and we go wherever we want to go. But one day, everything we have will one day fade away. The things of this world cannot last, our desires of this world will not always be fulfilled. We will feel lost and we will seek help from the people of the world.

V20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.” When we live a life without God, we will be filled with burdens and we will not have peace. We must wake up, we must see that our lives are a mess without God, and we must turn back. When a lost child is willing the go home, the father will give him covering, authority, and ability to keep going.

The older son was not happy with how his father treated the younger son. He didn’t have joy and he had bitterness inside him, he was waiting for the recognition from the father. He never understood the heart of his father. We are like the older son, we don’t see how serving God is our blessing, our honour. We focus on what’s on the world that would fade away, and we don’t see how everything the Father has is ours, He is willing to give everything to us. May Gods help us to really understand the Will of God. So we can receive the true joy!