Kingdom Eyes: Living for the Lost in the Midst of the Found
by Michael Stevens
“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’” — Luke 15:1–2 (RSV)
Jesus wasn’t just eating with sinners—He was inviting them home. And the religious elite couldn’t stand it.
Luke 15 opens with their judgment and ends with Jesus’s warning. In response, He tells three stories: a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. Each is found. Each is restored. And each shows not just how God saves—but how we are to live once we’ve been found.
This chapter is not only about mercy. It’s a mandate for mission.
1. The Lost Sheep – Go After the Wandering
“What man among you, who has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open field and go after the lost one until he finds it?” – Luke 15:4 (CSB)
The shepherd doesn’t wait. He searches. When he finds the sheep, he rejoices and carries it home.
This is Christ’s pattern—and our call.
“Brothers and sisters, if someone is overtaken in any wrongdoing, you who are spiritual, restore such a person with a gentle spirit… Carry one another’s burdens; in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” – Galatians 6:1–2 (CSB)
The wandering need our presence before they can hear our preaching.
2. The Lost Coin – Notice the Forgotten
“Or what woman who has ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?” – Luke 15:8 (CSB)
The coin didn’t rebel. It just vanished, buried beneath ordinary life.
People do the same. Quietly. Painfully. Unnoticed.
But Jesus says: Search anyway.
“My brothers and sisters, if any among you strays from the truth, and someone turns him back, let that person know that whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.” – James 5:19–20 (CSB)
No one is beneath God’s notice. We must live the same way.
3. The Lost Sons – Extend Grace, Not Grudges
“But while the son was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran, threw his arms around his neck, and kissed him.” – Luke 15:20 (CSB)
“Then he became angry and didn’t want to go in. So his father came out and pleaded with him.” – Luke 15:28 (CSB)
One son leaves in sin. The other stays in bitterness. Both are lost in different ways.
But the father runs to both—one with restoration, the other with rebuke wrapped in invitation.
“Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation… Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us.” – 2 Corinthians 5:18, 20 (CSB)
You were not just saved to sit. You were saved to serve—and reconcile.
Kingdom Eyes
Luke 15 shows God’s relentless pursuit of the lost. But it also charges us to take up that same mission.
You live in the midst of God’s Kingdom. That means someone around you is wandering. Someone near you feels forgotten. Someone close is broken.
We don’t get to choose who’s worth the effort. We are called to carry the Father’s heart—to leave the ninety-nine, light the lamp, and run to the undeserving.
“The church is the church only when it exists for others.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Final Word
To be a transformative agent for God and others, you must look for the opportunity, listen to the opportunity given to you, and obey the Word to effect the transformation.
Christ saw you when you were lost.
Now, He sends you to go and do likewise.