Admit You Are Lost: God Is Already Running Toward You

Admit You Are Lost: God Is Already Running Toward You

Sermon by Jean-Claude DATHEVY, service of January 4, 2026, on Luke 15:1-32.

On this first Sunday of the year, Pastor Jean-Claude DATHEVY opens the Bible to Luke 15 and reads straight through the three parables Jesus links together: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the prodigal son. Three stories, one heart: God seeks the one who is far from him. Here is the message shared with the church to step into the new year with eyes fixed on Jesus.

1. The context: who is Jesus really speaking to?

Luke 15 opens in verse 1: "Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming close to him to hear him. The Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, 'This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.'"

The Pharisees are the religious leaders of the time, the ones who know the law of Moses and teach it. They accuse Jesus of spending time with people of bad reputation. Why would the Son of God take interest in them? Jesus answers with three parables that all speak of the same thing: salvation. Who can be saved? Why do we need it? What are we saved from? And how do we receive it?

2. Recognizing yourself as a sinner

A sheep, a coin, a son: at first glance, nothing in common. And yet all three are lost. The sheep has wandered from the shepherd, the coin has disappeared, the son has left the father.

We don't know why the sheep got lost. Was it looking, like the younger son, for greener grass elsewhere? The third story tells us exactly why the son went far away: he asked for his share of the inheritance, went off to spend it all in a distant country, and lived, the Bible says, a reckless life.

This expression comes up several times in Scripture. In Numbers 25, "Israel stayed in Shittim, and the people began to play the prostitute with the daughters of Moab; for they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate, and bowed down to their gods. Israel joined himself to Baal Peor, and the anger of Yahweh burned against Israel." Through disobedience, the people turn away from God and begin worshiping other gods.

Proverbs 23:19-21 says something similar: "Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path! Don't be among ones drinking too much wine, or those who gorge themselves on meat: for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor; and drowsiness clothes them in rags."

That is exactly what happens to the younger son: he wanders from God's commands, follows his own desires, and ends up starving, sent to feed pigs, envying even the pods they eat.

Brothers and sisters, how hard it is to be separated from God's presence. Revelation 22:14-15 warns us: "Blessed are those who do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood." The life led by the wayward son doesn't allow him to come home, not in that state.

3. The Pharisee's trap: believing yourself righteous

So what do we do? In Luke 5, Jesus had already answered: "Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." The Pharisees consider themselves righteous. They don't recognize themselves in the description of reckless living.

Jesus gives another parable for their benefit (Luke 18:9-14). Two men go up to the temple to pray. One is a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing, prays like this: "God, I thank you, that I am not like the rest of men, extortioners, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get." The tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, "God, be merciful to me, a sinner!" And Jesus concludes: this man went down to his house justified rather than the other.

What's the difference between these two men? One recognizes he is a sinner and relies on God's grace; the other relies on his own merit. That is exactly what Jesus stages in Luke 15: the lost sheep, once found, set against the ninety-nine who need no repentance, and the younger son brought back, set against the older son who does not understand the grace shown by the father.

The Bible is clear: "For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). We are all, one day, that lost sheep or that prodigal son.

4. Receiving salvation: recognize, rise, return

Thankfully, there is a way. A way God leaves open for us, a way that only Jesus opens. "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me" (John 14:6).

The prodigal son recognizes his condition: "How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough to spare, and I'm dying with hunger!" Like Bartimaeus who cries out, "Son of David, have mercy on me," like the Roman centurion who declares at the foot of the cross, "Truly this man was the Son of God," he accepts his condition: a sinner in need of salvation. And he says, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son."

Paul writes to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 12:21): "that again when I come my God would humble me before you, and I would mourn for many of those who have sinned before now, and not repented of the uncleanness, sexual immorality, and lustfulness which they committed." And James (5:16) invites us to confess our sins, to lay them before God, to trust in his grace, just as David himself did.

The pastor shares a personal word here: "I too was once someone who did not know the Lord. One day, he gave me the grace to reveal that he was the one and only God, Jesus Christ." To those who already know him, he says again: hide yourselves more deeply in him. To those who do not yet know him, he says again: the Lord is still reaching out this year.

5. Rising and setting out

The prodigal son doesn't stop at recognizing his state: he rises and walks. He leaves behind the place of ruin. Like Zacchaeus climbing down from the sycamore to meet Jesus, he sets out toward his father's house.

Coming to God means separating from what displeases him. James 4:6-9 puts it forcefully: "But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, 'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.' Be subject therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you."

6. God rejoices: he runs, he welcomes, he forgives

Just as the tax collector goes home justified, just as the son is welcomed with joy, just as the found sheep is carried on the shepherd's shoulders, just as the woman rejoices with her friends and neighbors, God rejoices in heaven when we come to him.

God seeks us before we even seek him. Like the shepherd seeking the sheep, like the woman seeking the coin, like the father running to meet his son. Isaiah 65:1 says it: "I am inquired of by those who didn't ask. I am found by those who didn't seek me. I said, 'See me, see me,' to a nation that didn't call on my name."

Romans 5:8 goes even further: "But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." He did not wait for us to be perfect. He loved us just as we were.

Matthew 18:14 confirms it: "Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish." Jesus is that good shepherd (John 10:14-16): "I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I'm known by my own; even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd."

And if we confess our sins, "he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). Just as the father killed the fattened calf and dressed his son in the finest robe, he welcomes us again as his children.

Romans 8:13-15: "for if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God. For you didn't receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!'"

Revelation 7:9-10 shows us where it all leads: "After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of all tribes, peoples, and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. They cried with a loud voice, saying, 'Salvation be to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'"

Key takeaways

1. The three parables of Luke 15 all speak of one thing: the salvation of the one who is lost.
2. The first step is recognizing yourself as a sinner, like the tax collector, not like the Pharisee.
3. The prodigal son doesn't stop at admitting his state: he rises and walks toward his father's house.
4. God doesn't just wait for us: he runs to meet us, seeking us before we even seek him.
5. In Jesus there is welcome, forgiveness, adoption, and heaven rejoices over a single sinner who repents.

Personal application

1. Am I today closer to the younger son who went far away, or the older son who stays home without understanding the Father's grace?
2. Is there an area of my life where I justify myself before God instead of recognizing myself as a sinner?
3. What do I need to concretely leave behind to set out toward the Father's house at the start of this year?
4. Do I truly believe God is running to meet me, or do I still think I have to earn his welcome?
5. Who around me is today a "lost sheep"? How can I carry that person in prayer and in welcome?

Verses cited

• Luke 15:1-32 - the three parables of the lost being found
• Numbers 25:1-3 - Israel and Baal Peor
• Proverbs 23:19-21 - warning against reckless living
• Revelation 22:14-15 - inside and outside the city
• Luke 5:30-32 - Jesus calls sinners
• Luke 18:9-14 - the Pharisee and the tax collector
• Romans 3:23 - all have sinned
• John 14:6 - I am the way
• James 4:6-10 - draw near to God
• Isaiah 65:1 - I am found by those who didn't seek me
• Romans 5:8 - Christ died for us
• Matthew 18:14 - God does not want to lose one of these little ones
• John 10:14-16 - I am the good shepherd
• 1 John 1:9 - he is faithful to forgive
• Romans 8:13-15 - the Spirit of adoption
• Revelation 7:9-10 - the great multitude before the Lamb

FAQ

Why does Jesus tell three parables in a row?
Because the Pharisees accuse him of eating with sinners. All three parables answer the same question: who has the right to come to God? Answer: whoever recognizes that they are lost.

What does it actually mean to "recognize yourself as a sinner"?
It means doing what the tax collector does in Luke 18: stop comparing yourself to others, stop relying on your own merit, and say to God, "be merciful to me, a sinner." That turning point is what makes forgiveness possible.

Is the father in the prodigal son really an image of God?
Yes. He runs to his son while he is still far off, embraces him, dresses him in the finest robe, and throws a feast. Jesus portrays a Father who does not simply wait: he takes the initiative to welcome.