Lost

Campsite service, Peter Schütt, 1997-05-25 automatically translated , Campsite Wersbach Leichlingen

I would like to begin by reading you a sentence from the Bible that Jesus said (Luke 19:10). said (Luke 19:10):

The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is that which islost.

By Son of Man, Jesus always means himself. But what or who is meant by "lost" ?

I would like to start by reflecting a little with you on this term. "lost". Surely everyone has experienced losing and looking for something. searched for something. It can drive you crazy when the lost thing just cannot be found. cannot be found. And when you do find it, the joy is great. great.

In the Bible, too, some of Jesus' parables revolve around this theme:

Luke 15, 8.9 (NGÜ)

8 Or what if a woman has ten silver coins and loses one of them? Doesn't she light a lamp, sweep the whole house and search in every corner until she finds the coin? 9 And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbours together and says: 'Rejoice with me! I have found the coin I had lost'.

Luke 15, 3-6 (NGÜ)

3 Then Jesus told them the following parable: 4 Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep, and one of them gets lost to him. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the lost one until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he takes it on his shoulders with joy 6 and carries it home. Then he calls his friends and neighbours together and says to them: 'Rejoice with me! I have found the sheep that was lost to me'.

Now it can get on your nerves when you lose something you need or - even more so - an animal you are attached to. you need, or - even more - an animal you are attached to.

But it is much worse when you lose a person. lost. I would like to read you an incident that Jesus told. You may know it, it is quite well-known.

Luke 15, 11-24 (NGÜ)

11 Jesus continued, "A man had two sons. 12 The younger one said to him: 'Father, give me the share of the inheritance that is mine!' So the father divided the property between them. 13 A few days later, the younger son had sold his entire share and moved to a distant country with the proceeds. There he lived in luxury and made his fortune. 14 When he had used it all up, a great famine struck that country. Then he also got into trouble. 15 In his distress he turned to a citizen of the land, and he sent him to herd swine in his fields. 16 He would have been happy if he had been allowed to satisfy his hunger with the pods that the pigs ate, but no one would even give him any. 17 Now he came to his senses. He said to himself: 'How many day labourers my father has, and they all have more than enough to eat! I, on the other hand, am dying of hunger here. 18 I will arise and go to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me one of your day labourers!' 20 So he set out for his father. He saw him coming from afar; Full of compassion he ran to meet him, fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 'Father,' the son said to him, 'I have sinned against heaven and against you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' 22 But the father ordered his servants, 'Quickly, get the best robe and put it on him, 'Put a ring on his finger and bring him a pair of sandals.' 23 Get the fatted calf and slaughter it; let us have a feast and be merry. 24 For my son was dead, and now he is alive again; he was lost, and now he is found.' And they began to celebrate.

This son was lost to his father. He had run away and all bridges behind him. This was not, after all, a natural natural separation from the parental home; he was claiming his inheritance and was saying He was claiming his inheritance and saying: "You, father, are dead to me! I have no more interest in you. I have no interest in you any more. What might have been going on in the father's mind? He probably went through a difficult time, with a lot of pain and personal pain and personal questioning.

With this story, however, Jesus was not primarily pursuing the goal of talking to the listeners about parent-child conflicts. to reflect with the listeners on parent-child conflicts. with the listeners. This can easily be seen from the fact that the three stories - the lost silver coin, the lost sheep, the prodigal son - which I have read so far come one after the other in the Bible and the first two stories are and the first two stories end with an explanatory sentence which I had left out for the time being. I read the I read the first two stories again in the correct order:

Luke 15, 3-7 (NGÜ)

Luke 15, 8-10 (NGÜ)

And then comes the parable of the prodigal son that we just read.

You remember the sentence from the beginning: The Son of Man, Jesus, came to seek and to save, what is lost. So Jesus seeks sinners who are lost.

I would like to stop at the word "lost" first. The prodigal son was lost to the father, he was far away. The father could no longer exert any influence on him, neither help him nor force him to do anything. help him or force him to do anything. He could have invested a lot of money and sent people to look for him and then put pressure on him. then put pressure on him. He did not do that. He let him let him go. And therein lies the key to understanding what "lost" means.

God lets people go their own way. He does not force his help on anyone. These people are lost to God, he can no longer help them. They live without God, they will die without God and they will be without God in eternity. God in eternity and according to the Bible that must be terrible.

Who are such lost sinners today? Do they exist at all still today in our Christian Occident ? Many are of the opinion that no one is lost, because today we can no longer see can no longer be seen in this way. I am convinced that the statements of Jesus' statements on this subject are timeless. What has changed? Back then as today, everyone did what they wanted. Most of them were not against God. Many went to some religious event or other on a regular basis others only on special occasions. God should be taken into account in certain respects. Many were even of the opinion that God likes what they do according to their own ideals and ideals and at their own discretion.

Let us imagine the prodigal son: Maybe he thought about home he thought about home from time to time. Some people do think about God from time to time, but is that a relationship? What does one have to do with God if, from time to time God if you think of him from time to time, in certain moments or moods? Whether the prodigal son thinks of his father from time to time or not, he still has no relationship with him. He is lost for the father...

Jesus came here to this earth because he wants to seek such lost people. seek such lost people. He paid the price on the cross for the fact that we lost human beings do not want to submit to God on principle. The question is, do we want to understand this, or does it seem unnecessary, uninteresting or nonsensical?

1 Corinthians 1:18 states:

The word of the cross is foolishness to those who are lost, but to us but to us who are saved, it is the power of God.

If we do not ask God to open up to us the word of the cross, then we cannot understand it (2 Cor 4:3):

But if our gospel is hidden, it is only hidden from those who are lost. those who are lost

You can understand it, but to do so you have to return to God like the prodigal son. return to God. You have to admit that you have lived without God. And one must go to the go to the right place. The prodigal son knew where his father lived. He could have gone to Rome, but he would not have found his father there. his father there. God sent Jesus as the way to himself. It is not easy to understand, but the Bible says that God can be found God can be found if you look for him. I would like to invite you to take the Bible and look for God. You certainly have plenty of time to do that, but remember, at some point there is a time when it is too late.

If the prodigal son had died far from his father, he would never have come home again. home again, just as a person who dies away from God is is eternally lost from God.

Finally, I would like to read you a sentence from the Bible (2 Peter 3:9). Peter 3, 9):

The Lord is patient with you, not wanting any to be lost but all to any to perish, but that all should return to him.

He is waiting for them.