This post is written by Andrew Hall as a companion for Unit 23, Session 3 of The Gospel Project for Adults, Volume 8: From Wonder to Rejection (Summer 2023).
Any parent who has experienced alienation from a child knows how heart wrenching it can be. Even the famous evangelist Billy Graham prayed for his oldest son, Franklin, to return back to the Lord.
Growing up in the Graham household was not easy for the oldest of Billy and Ruth’s children. Franklin felt the pressure of the ever watching eye as his dad was a famous evangelist. Struggling with the family name and public admiration of his father, Franklin began a pattern of rebellion against his parents and the Lord that would lead him to travel and live as a rebel.
Struggling to find his place in the world outside of the spotlight, Franklin embraced several vices including smoking, drinking, and being rebellious against authority. But one night, alone in a Jerusalem hotel, with no where else to turn, Franklin turned to the Lord. In his book Rebel with a Cause, Franklin recounts how the Lord captured his heart, leading him away from rebellion to having a heart for those who are underprivileged and in need.
In the poem “The Hound of Heaven,” English poet Francis Thompson describes the experience of salvation like a relentless hound that slowly chases down a hare until he catches it. And in the parables of Jesus in Luke 15, we have a picture of a Savior who is relentlessly pursuing sinners like the hound of heaven in order to bring them back to God. In each of the three parables, something is lost: a sheep wanders from the other ninety-nine and finds itself in peril (Luke 15:1-6); one of ten silver coins goes missing in a dark house (15:8-9); one of two sons decides he’s leaving home and heads to a distant country to squander his inheritance on rebellious living (15:11-19).
In each parable, Jesus tells us something about the nature of how the lost are sought: with the sheep, there is a sense of urgency to return it to the fold; with the coin, the woman lights a lantern and sweeps the house diligently; with the son, the father welcomes him back with arms wide open and a heart full of compassion. But the end result in each of the parables is the same—there is great rejoicing (Luke 15:7,10,22-24). A party is thrown. People celebrate.
If we ever wondered what the heart of Jesus is like for lost sinners, Luke 15 tells us that He is in a relentless pursuit. This draws the ire of the Pharisees. They don’t understand why Jesus welcomes and eats with sinners (Luke 15:1-2). Jesus, however, makes it clear: this is what the Father has sent Him to do. He has come to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10).
No matter how wayward a child may go, no matter how lost someone may seem, and no matter how hopeless the situation may look, the hope of the gospel is that God sent His Son in a relentless pursuit of sinners for whom His Son has died.
Don’t ever wonder if someone is beyond the hope of salvation. That’s what the Pharisees did. Instead, marvel at the Lord’s gracious pursuit of sinners, and rejoice with heaven any time someone comes to the Lord in saving faith.
Andrew Hall is the Lead Pastor of Community Bible Church, located in Ilderton, Ontario, Canada. He is a graduate from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Melanie, have four children.
