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Today is, uh, it’s kind of a sad Sunday. Um, for me, uh, uh, I love Christmas. Um, everything about it. Um, I think they made the movie elf about me. I love the songs. I love the the music, the colors, the the people’s attitudes are generally better. I love the sights, the sounds, the smells, the food. Like you get cookies this time of year that you only get this time of year. And my mom sends me like a Big Ten of them still, and I cherish them and hold on to them like gold. Um, but I love Christmas and everything that that it encompasses. And so today is is typically the end of that season, right? Actually, for some of us, it started December 26th was the end of Christmas season. And you already have your tree down and your lights are already down and everything’s already boxed up and put away. I’m of the mindset that you have till January 1st, and then you take your Christmas decorations down, so you at least get that last week of enjoyment out of it. Uh, but, uh, this is the holiday hangover or the Christmas crash. And one of the things I enjoy about Christmas, and I hate to see the season go, is because I think, um, we tend to to as a church and as individuals, um, take a step back and look at, at more big picture things, and we look at, uh, the whole story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation as, as the story unfolds and how Christmas is the pinnacle of that story, we look at the big picture of why Christmas? Why do we celebrate that day, that event.
Um, and so this is kind of the end of that season where we tend to focus on that big picture looking and we kind of get back into the routine of life and forget about it. Um, but that’s what I want to look at today is really the cure for the holiday hangover or the Christmas crash or whatever you want to call it. Um, how do we keep that sight, that vision, that big picture looking and thinking? How do we keep that throughout the year? And so we have to ask ourselves, why did Jesus come? And if you look in Luke chapter 19 and verse ten. Says the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. If you want to turn to Luke chapter 15, that’s where we’re going to be spending the bulk of our time. But this is why Christmas Jesus came on a search and rescue mission to seek and to save the lost. Now. Luke 15 is a is a familiar passage to most of us. It once we dive into it, you’ll find you know most of what is contained in there. Jesus tells three parables, um, that we’re all, if you’ve been in church for any amount of time, have heard, I’m sure, numerous times.
But if you start in verse one of Luke chapter 15. Uh, it sets the stage for why Jesus tells these parables in Luke chapter 15, verse one, it says, now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near, near him to listen to him. Both the Pharisees and the scribes began to grumble, saying, this man receives sinners and eats with them. So he told them this parable. And before we get into the parables, um, it’s important to understand why the parables? Why? Why are we going to talk about these? Why does Jesus share these stories with them? And so in these first few verses, we see Jesus as usual. If you read through the Gospels, is pretty typical scene for Jesus. Um, he’s he’s teaching and he’s surrounded by by sinners. Um, the word sinners here in the original Greek would be hamartolus. And it’s it’s like the antithesis of religion. So these people aren’t just not going to church and kind of, you know, indifferent. They are as far to the opposite end of the spectrum of the Pharisees as you could possibly get. Um, Jesus church religion, God was not on their radar. Um, they weren’t they weren’t interested in that stuff. They were the antithesis of religion in the way that they lived their lives and how they acted. Um, these these were if you look in the previous chapters, you can see these were prostitutes, drunkards, liars, cheats.
All these people were drawing near to Christ and Christ throughout his ministry. And in here he doesn’t shoo them away, but he welcomes them and and allows them to draw close to him so that he can share with them and minister to their needs. Um, and if you have read through the Gospels or are familiar, this is the story typically goes Jesus is fellowshipping and and around sinners, and the scribes and Pharisees are upset with this. Um, and they, they begin to grumble, sometimes out loud, sometimes just in their hearts and in their heads. But Jesus responds to them. And the reason the scribes and Pharisees didn’t like Jesus hanging out with these sinners is because they they didn’t just view these people as sinners, people who were not following God, but they thought that the sin was contagious. They thought it was was like the flu, right? Like it’s flu season here at church. And so it seems like every week we’re missing at least two families because at least half of their kids are sick. And then the next week the other half are sick. So they’re gone again. And so we we come to church and we’re like, all right, they’ve been sick, but they’re looking better now. So I might be able to shake their hand this week, but I’m going to going to settle for a pat on the shoulder instead of shaking the hand going all the way in. And then Saturday night you’re looking at your Facebook feed and you’re brainstorming, okay, these are the families we need to avoid because there’s kids have been sick.
And then you’re like, okay, this family says that. They’ve been they’ve been okay. They’ve avoided the bugs. We can talk to them and we’ll shake their hands and and you avoid the sickness. And that’s how the Pharisees viewed these sinners, is we need to avoid them because we don’t want to catch what they got. And so Jesus, being a teacher shouldn’t associate with such people because he’s going to catch what they got. And sadly, today I don’t think very much has changed from the Pharisees to us. Oftentimes we see these these lowly of lows and these sinners, and we think, boy, somebody should help them or, you know, I’m going to share Jesus with them, but I don’t want to get too close. I’m going to protect myself and keep a distance. Like the Pharisees, we don’t see these people as souls in need of a savior. Instead, we see them as another person who who should just have more self respect. They wouldn’t be in that situation, or someone who who’s just a drain on society. Or when you really get down to the bottom of it, someone who should be more like me and they wouldn’t have those problems and those issues that they’re dealing with. And that’s how the Pharisees saw these people, not as souls, but as people that should be more like them.
But Christ came to seek and to save the lost. He can’t seek and save the lost if he avoids contact and fellowship with the lost, with the sinners. And so Christ tells the Pharisees these parables to show them that these aren’t just sinners or nuisances or people to avoid, but these are people with souls that has tremendous, tremendous worth. And so Jesus goes on to tell them the first two parables. And he says in verse four he says, what man of you having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the 99 in the open country and go after the one that is lost until he finds it, and when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, rejoice with me, for I found my sheep that was lost. Just so I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it. And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost. Just so I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
And so Jesus tells these parables to the Pharisees to try and impress on them the importance of one individual lost soul, one of these individual sinners that he’s fellowshipping with. And the first way that he draws a comparison for them is with sheep. Now, there’s not too many of us, I believe, that are familiar with sheep or herding of sheep, or have been around sheep for any extended period of time. But in this day and age, sheep were seen as a sign of wealth. Um, now, if I went anywhere and tried to use a sheep as any form of currency, um, with a beard like this and bringing in a sheep, they probably would call the police. Um, and be slightly concerned. But. But in this day, sheep were seen as a sign of money, as wealth. A person with a flock of 100 sheep was definitely someone who was doing okay. They were they they had their resources. They needed. They had their needs met. Um, and so when one would go, would be lost like this. They may search for it near the rest of the sheep, but seeing the value of 99 compared to the one they wouldn’t wander too far from, from the bulk of the flock, and they wouldn’t search too terribly hard to find it and get away from the value of the 99, because they would be able to replace that one that was lost.
Now, if you know anything about sheep, they they are animals that need to be in groups they don’t like to be by themselves. And so this sheep that was lost most likely knew it was lost. It knew this isn’t right. It knew I am not near the flock. I’m not near the shepherd. I’m not near green pasture. I am lost and wandering. And it was most likely trying to find its way back. If you also know things about sheep, they’re not very intelligent, so it wasn’t able to find its way back. It’s wandering and lost. Um, but the good Shepherd goes, and he finds the lost and wandering sheep, and when he finds it, he doesn’t just hurt it back and drive it back like he would normally to the flock. He picks it up and he lays it on his shoulders, and he carries the lamb back to the flock. And in this parable, Jesus paints for us such a magnificent picture of what salvation is. So many of us knowing that we’re made for more than this, wander through life constantly looking for for that green pasture. What’s going to satisfy us? What’s going to fulfill us, what we need, but we don’t really know what we’re looking for or how to find it. And Jesus, the good Shepherd, comes into our lives and he doesn’t drive us back and drive us home. He picks us up and he carries us there.
Because he is the good Shepherd. And he came to seek and to save that which is lost. If you talk about the good Shepherd, you have to talk about Psalm 23. This is one of the most famous passages, really, in all of Scripture. Um, it’s famous to the point Tupac rapped about it. I don’t know if you guys are familiar. Um, as I walk through the valley of the Shadow of Death. Take a look at my life. Realize there’s nothing left. But I’ve been blessing so long. Anyway, um, Weird Al also made a parody of it about Amish people. I don’t know, maybe you might be more familiar with that, but, um. But it’s a famous passage, and if you read through Psalm 23 and you get to the end, you get to verse six and verse six. To me, it’s like it’s the home run. It’s the the perfect way to finish it off. And in verse six he says of the good Shepherd, he says, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And the word follow here. The reason this is the perfect home run, the grand finale, the perfect way to cap off a passage about the good Shepherd is this word follow. If you look it up in Hebrew, it’s the word rodolf. And if you were, if you look at that word, it means. To run after with violent intent. To pursue.
To hunt to follow. And you think about you. I get the picture. Whenever pursue with violent intent to run after with violent intent. It’s like a lion chasing a gazelle. And I love to watch those shows on like Animal Planet and Discovery Channel because it it fascinates me. I love to watch how they wait to the perfect second, and then they pounce and they outrun and jump and it’s awesome. And you get that picture of God with us. He’s waiting for the perfect moment, and he chases and he runs and he brings us down because we cannot escape his love. And Christmas is about the rescue mission where Christ came to violently and passionately pursue us as lost souls and sinners. God is pursuing his people passionately, relentlessly, recklessly, to the point where he gives up heaven to come in pursuit of us. And that’s the way this good shepherd goes and searches for his sheep. When you read in Luke, when it talks about going after, it’s the same idea as an adventure, meaning it’s not an easy walk down the path to find this sheep. It’s an adventure. It takes work, and Christ is doing work to chase after and to find us. And when that lost lamb is found and brought back in verse seven, it says, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. Jesus told the the Pharisees this parable to show them the value of finding that which was lost.
It’s like when you lose your debit card. And that moment of, oh my gosh, where is it? Who has it and what did they just buy? Like, and you panic and you freak out and you tear everything out of your car. Well, maybe it fell in between the seats. And you find things that you lost years ago that you forgot about, but you don’t find the debit card, and you tear the house apart. And you call every location that you’ve been in the last 24 hours calling every store. Did somebody leave a card and you track it and try and track it down and you can’t find it, and then you reach in your pocket and realize it wasn’t in your wallet. You just put it in your pocket. And that that relief, that that satisfaction of knowing it’s here, it’s safe. This thing of great value is not lost, but it’s found. Your your joy overcomes you and you’re grateful for that. The significance of a lost soul. Coming to know the beauty of salvation should never be lost on us. We should never forget the celebration that occurs in heaven when when the search and rescue mission brings someone back. To further emphasize to these Pharisees the value of of the individual. He goes on to tell them the story of the woman with ten coins who loses one. Now, the piece that she loses this coin, this silver coin that it talks about is worth about 18 to $0.19 to us today.
So it’s less than a quarter. And she tears the house apart to find it. I’m guessing if I were to go to most of your houses and reach inside your couch, I would probably find much more than $0.19. I would probably find a good, decent amount of change, and if you have kids, I would probably find enough Cheerios or Puffs or snacks to feed a small African village as well. But it just shows you that we don’t hold the value to these individuals, these small things like like this woman did. She loses the coin and she doesn’t just say, I’ll find it later or, well, I still have nine. She sweeps the house and lights a lamp and searches for the lost coin. What’s unique about this coin is it’s a drachma and it holds little minimal value. But it was made of of a precious metal. It was made of silver. Most coins that were of this value would have been made of of of a lesser material lead or or something like that, not of a precious metal like silver, but it shows us that these sinners that Christ is associating with and fellowshipping with, though they have little to no societal value. They’re made of a precious metal. Worth searching for. And again, what Jesus does is he paints a picture of what? Salvation is for us.
The lost sinner may not have much worth to society, they may not have much to offer, but their soul is a precious material and a precious metal that Christ is on a rescue mission to find. And the sheep. And the lost coin. In comparison to what was still found was still valuable enough for the shepherd to go on an adventure, and the woman to clean her house and tear the house apart to find. And so Christ pursues us because he sees the value and the intrinsic worth that our souls carry. In Psalm 40, verse two, the psalmist writes and he says, he drew me up from the pit of destruction out of the miry bog. And he set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. When you think about that, and you think about this woman sweeping her house and cleaning the dirt and the filth away to find this coin, and you see how Jesus reaches down and pulls us up out of the dirt and the filth of this world to save us and to rescue us. And once again, when you get to the end of this story, it says that heaven rejoices over this one lost. And I think today, if we would celebrate the recovery of a lost soul, the same way we celebrate the recovery of a fumble in a football game. I think we’d look at our world a lot differently. I’m a passionate person just by nature.
Um, I, I get very attached and passionate about things. Um, and, um, one of the things that I am passionate about, if you have have been around me for any period of time, you know that the Ohio State University and all of its athletics are very important to me. Um, and, and I’m very passionate about that. I will argue and fight and, um, exchange words, intense words at times with people over my football team or my basketball team. To the point where on Thursday, I had second thoughts about having everybody over to the church here to watch the football games because of how I may behave while Ohio State is playing Alabama. Um, the the first year that I moved out here, um, I didn’t have TV in my apartment or anything, and Ohio State was playing in the Rose Bowl, and Nathaniel was like, well, you can come over and watch the game at my house. Um, Stacey and their dogs wouldn’t come downstairs because they were scared of of me and what? And we were winning, too. So. But I get passionate, and I get worked up, and I get fired up about it to the point where depending on the outcome of Thursday will depend my demeanor for a while, for a few days or weeks even. Um. And I’m so fired up about what a group of 20 some year old kids do with a ball on a field.
But I’m not worked up about the fact that my coworkers, my friends. My family are lost. And our our passion for for things. If you think about it, how many people do you work with? Know who your favorite sports team is, or your favorite movie or book, or what your favorite hobby is, but have no idea. What you believe about salvation and what Christ has done for them. And as I read this passage and I began to study. So it was one of the weeks of preparation where it was a continual spiritual beat down of God in me, of conviction, because I have lost sight of the value of of the soul, of my friends and family, of my coworkers. And I have lost sight that there is value there. There’s value to that coworker that always takes the last of the coffee in the break room, and you have to make a new pot. There’s value to the crazy uncle who only shows up on Christmas for dinner, eats all the food, and then leaves. There’s value to the people that cut you off in traffic. There’s value to these people that are nuisances sometimes. But if our passion was like Paul’s in the book of Romans, we might see things a little bit differently in Romans chapter nine, verses two through three, and then again in chapter ten, verse one, Paul says, I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart, for I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers.
My heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. Paul’s passion for the lost makes my passion for my Buckeyes look. Minuscule, and if our passion for the loss would only match a 10th of that of Christ, what difference could we make in the world by joining him on this search and rescue mission? Paul had a desire and a deep angst and passion to see his countrymen and his brothers come to know Christ, because he saw the value of a soul. Christ was trying to impress on these Pharisees the value of the individual soul and their need to come to salvation. And I like the way that Jesus teaches, because he understands that sometimes we’re a little slow and a little thick in the head. So he gives us two examples and then he’s like, I’m going to give you this third example. That’s an even clearer picture of what’s happening here. And this example is aimed directly at the Pharisees. So in case they might have missed the point of the first two, they could not miss the point of this. And Jesus goes on in verse 11 to to tell what is the most famous of these three parables? In Luke 15 he says, there was a man who had two sons. The younger of them said to his father, father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.
And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country. And there he squandered his property in reckless living. And if you skip ahead to verse 20, it says. And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And he said to his servants, bring quickly the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet, and bring the fattened calf and kill it. And let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again. He was lost and is found. And they began to celebrate. Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command. Yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends. And he said to him, son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad for this. Your brother was dead and is alive.
He was lost and is found. And so Jesus paints this picture for the Pharisees and tells them this story, because he knows that this is going to hit them right where they’re at in that moment. Who Jesus describes as the prodigal son would have been the most deplorable type of person to these Pharisees. The the culture of the day was a very patriarchal system and family, and the head of the house, the father was was most important, and he would never think or imagine of disrespecting him. And here this prodigal son disrespects him by saying, essentially, dad, I wish you were dead. Give me my money now. And the Pharisees would have been taken aback at that. But he doesn’t stop. There he goes. And the money that he gets after he tells his dad he wishes he was dead, he goes and he wastes on partying and licentious living. The idea when it says reckless or riotous living in this text, he most likely wasted it on prostitutes, gambling, drinking, partying, living it up. He went to Vegas for the weekend and came back with nothing, right? And after he loses all of his money, which would already infuriate the Pharisees even more, then Jesus puts the cherry on top and tops it all off and says that he went and fed the pigs. He was living with pigs. Now to us that’s gross because pigs are gross and they smell bad. But to the Pharisees it was even worse because pigs were unclean and just touching a pig.
You had to go and become ceremonially clean before you could enter back into society and talk to people again. And here, this son who has disrespected his father and and broken every commandment he could and lived with pigs, comes home. And the father doesn’t say, hold on, you need to get cleaned up first, and then we can talk about this and discuss our relationship going forward. The father runs to him and embraces him, still smelling of the stench of the pigsty. And so it is with us. So often we come back to Christ and we say, well, I’m going to get my life cleaned up, God, and then I’m going to come to church, let me get this cleaned up and this taken care of. And then and then we can talk God. And that was the intent that the son had when he came home. Jesus says, I don’t want you to clean up. And Jesus comes and he puts his arms around us and he kisses us on our cheek. I can’t even get Greg in to hug me after I go out and and barbecue or smoke some meat in my smoker because she hates that smell. And especially since she’s been pregnant this time, she’s been really nauseous, which is like I’ve had pregnancy cravings with her, which happens. I think it’s normal. Right? Um, but I’ve been wanting like every day I’m like, okay, what can I smoke in my smoker? And then enjoy.
And I haven’t been able to do it as much because she doesn’t enjoy the smell, but I can’t even get Greg into to give me a hug or a kiss after, um, barbecuing unless I take a shower or at least wash my beard. Um, but it’s impressive how it can trap smells like that. But it does. Um. I don’t even know where I was going with that. But. But the picture that Jesus gives us of of himself as the father is. Don’t clean yourself up first. Don’t worry about trying to get your life right. I’m here for that. And he comes and he embraces and kisses us on our dirty cheek. And the Pharisees would have just been appalled at the thought of the father. Embracing a son who was not just disrespectful. And not just. Lawless, but was unclean. And the father embraces him. And this idea of cleaning ourselves up. This was the idea that the Pharisees built their lives upon was self righteous works, and doing and doing and working and following a system to be okay. And God would find favor in that, and they would clean themselves up before they came home, and God would be pleased with them. Titus three five says he saved us not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy. The prodigal son wanted to earn his way back, and the father said no.
You’re back. You’re mine. You don’t have to work or earn this. He runs and he meets them. And he puts a robe on him and gives him a ring. Not the older brother. Is who Jesus was really telling this story for. Pharisees couldn’t really relate to the prodigal son. They made him mad. He made them mad. But the brother. They they like this older brother. Says that the older brother says that that he stayed and obeyed and always listened to what the father told him to do, and he never upset the father. So he should be rewarded. And the Pharisees thought along these same lines. And the brother hears the commotion of the celebration because his brother came home, and the father comes and invites him inside to join in the celebration. Instead, he stays outside and he pouts. And that’s not fair. That’s not fair. And it’s just like Jonah at the end of the story of Jonah in chapter four, Jonah preaches to the city of Nineveh to repent or you’ll be destroyed. And the city repents and God saves the city. But Jonah is sure that God’s going to give these people what they deserve. So he goes and sits outside on a hill overlooking the city, ready to watch God destroy them. And God causes a plant to grow and give Jonah shade. And Jonah is really appreciative of it. And the next day a worm comes and eats the plant, and the plant dies.
And Jonah is angry and he’s upset. And in verse eight of chapter four, um, Jonah asked that he might die and said, it is better for me to die than to live. But God said to Jonah, do you do well to be angry for the plant? He said, yes, I do well to be angry. Angry enough to die. And the Lord said, you pity the plant for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night, and perished in a night. Should not I pity Nineveh, that great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also much cattle. Jonah and the Pharisees, and the older brother wanted what was fair because they thought they were right. Those people are wrong and they should get what they deserve. But the problem is Jonah and the Pharisees and the older brother and oftentimes us don’t realize. That we’re just as dirty as the prodigal son who is living with the pigs. Jesus in a similar situation in Mark chapter two says. Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. Jesus came on this search and rescue mission because there were sick people that needed healing. And as as a kid. When I would read this as a young Christian, I would read this and I would think, well, why would God not call the righteous? That doesn’t make sense.
Why would he only call sinners? But as I grew and understanding and studied more, I realized that God didn’t come to call the righteous because there are no righteous people. There is no righteous person. Romans chapter three tells us very clearly in verse ten. It says it is written, none is righteous, no, not one in verse 20 for by the works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight. Verse 23. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The problem with the Pharisees is they didn’t see these people as souls, and they didn’t realize that they were in the same situation as these sinners that Jesus was fellowshipping with. And the problem for us today is we lose sight of of who we are. Compared to God’s goodness and his grace and his mercy and his righteousness. And we look at ourselves and we think, well, I’m better than them. They need to get it together. And we have pity on these people. Instead of recognizing that we were saved from the same hell, the same punishment that is, that they are headed for. And just like they needed Christ, we need Christ. And when you live with that perspective and recognize that there is none righteous, there is no one who is deserving.
We’re all deserving of punishment and destruction. When you live with that in perspective, it’s a lot easier to recognize the value of those around us, of our friends and our family. Jesus recognized this value and he left heaven on a on a search and rescue mission. Because first Peter three nine tells us that God is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Christ came because this was his desire, and he gives up heaven to do so. I love the old hymns. Um, I grew up in a church with just piano and keyboard and and so I sang hymns my whole life. And sometimes I think we miss out on some meat that is in those hymns. One of my favorite hymns. Um, and it is very King James if you read it or sing it, but it’s called thou didst leave thy throne. So. But. The picture of this. What this hymn describes is so beautiful it says, thou didst leave thy throne and thy kingly crown when thou camest to earth for me. But in Bethlehem’s home there was found no room for thy holy nativity. Oh, come to my heart, Lord Jesus. There is room in my heart for thee. Heaven’s arches rang and the angels sang. Proclaiming thy royal decree. But of lowly birth didst thou come to earth. And in great humility. The foxes found rest, and the birds found their nest in the shade of the forest tree.
But they couch was the sod. Thou son of God, in the deserts of Galilee. Thou camest, O Lord, with the living word that should set thy people free. But with mocking scorn. And with crown of thorn, they bore thee to Calvary. Oh, come to my heart, Lord Jesus. There is room in my heart for thee. When the heavens shall ring and the angels sing. At thy coming to victory. Let thy voice call me home. Saying, yet there is room, there is room at my side. For thee my heart shall rejoice, Lord Jesus. When thou comest and callest for me. Christmas. The reason why we celebrate is because Christ left heaven and came because we needed saving. We needed found. And he came and he died. He came from heaven to the lowliest means. Born in a stable amongst the livestock. Lived a meager life as a carpenter. Died the most agonizing, gruesome death. Because he knew the seek and save the lost was his purpose. He knew the search and rescue mission had to be done. And Christmas calls us to remember why Christ came and to join him on this search and rescue mission, and to remember that we all need rescued. All of us have worth, even the lowly of lows. Christ came to die for me. For you. For your family, your friends, your co-workers. They deserve to hear the great news of the search and rescue mission that Christ is on.