Who Is Your (One)
Who Is Your One? What Jesus Says About Pursuing the Lost
Jesus told three stories in a single breath. Not because He was asked a question, but because something about the heart of God was at stake. If you've ever wondered why faith in Christ is meant to be shared, or what God actually feels about people who are far from Him, these stories answer that directly.
Key Verses:
Romans 1:16
Luke 15:1-2
Luke 15:4-7
Luke 15:8-10
Luke 15:11-32
Why Did Jesus Tell These Three Stories?
In Luke 15, the religious elite, the Pharisees and teachers of the law, were muttering about Jesus. He was eating with tax collectors and sinners. Not just tolerating them. Welcoming them. Hosting them. In that culture, welcoming someone into your home and eating with them was an elaborate, meaningful act of honor.
The religious leaders were offended. And Jesus responded. Not with a few words, but with 658 of them. For context, He used only 49 words to send His disciples out on mission. He used 262 words to teach on prayer. But the idea that the lost don't matter? That tripped something in Him.
He told three stories. And He barely paused between them.
The Lost Sheep: Are You a Stakeholder in God's Mission?
"Suppose one of you has 100 sheep and loses one of them. Doesn't he leave the 99 in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, rejoice with me; I found my lost sheep. I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent." - Luke 15:4-7
This is a business story. Owning 100 sheep in that era likely meant co-owners, investors, stakeholders. When one sheep goes missing, it is not just a sentimental loss. It is lost inventory. It affects the bottom line. The shepherd goes after it with urgency and intention, and when he finds it, he calls everyone together to celebrate.
Jesus is saying something pointed to the Pharisees, and by extension to anyone who follows Him today: you are a stakeholder in this. The mission to reach people who are far from God is not someone else's job. It belongs to everyone who has experienced the grace of being found.
The question worth sitting with is this: Do you actually see yourself as a stakeholder in God's mission to bring people home?
The Lost Coin: What Does Holy Discontent Feel Like?
"Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn't she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin. In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." - Luke 15:8-10
Ten coins on a necklace. Lose one, and the entire set loses its value. The woman does not shrug it off. She lights a lamp, sweeps the whole house, and searches carefully until she finds it.
Jesus is saying that when someone is missing, something is genuinely incomplete. There is a gap. And that gap should be felt.
Is there someone in your life you wish could share in your faith? A spouse, a friend, a sibling, a neighbor? That ache you feel when you think about them is not random. That is God prompting you. It is what you might call a holy discontent, and it is an invitation to pray, to be intentional, and to ask yourself whether that person might be your one.
The Prodigal Son: What Does the Father's Love Actually Look Like?
The third story is the most familiar, but it carries the sharpest point.
A younger son asks his Father for His inheritance early. In the culture of that day, this was the equivalent of saying, "I wish you were dead." It was deeply offensive and dishonoring. Yet the Father gives it to Him.
The son leaves for a distant land, spends everything, and ends up feeding pigs during a severe famine. Hungry, humiliated, and out of options, he decides to go home. Not as a son. Just as a servant. He rehearses his apology the entire way.
But while he is still far off, his Father sees Him. And the Father runs.
In that culture, a nobleman did not run. Running meant lifting your robe, exposing yourself, abandoning dignity. But the Father runs anyway. He reaches his son, and what follows is not a lecture or a punishment. It is weeping, embracing, kissing. The Greek word used is one that describes compassion pouring out from deep within. The Father calls for the best robe, a ring, sandals, and a feast. His son who was lost is found. His son who was far is home.
The Older Brother: You Can Be Lost Right Outside the Door
Here is where the story takes its sharpest turn.
The older brother is in the field, doing everything right, checking every box. He hears the celebration and refuses to go in. He sits on the curb in protest. And the Father, who just ran to the younger son, now goes out to the older one too.
The older son's response is telling. He does not say "my brother." He says "this son of yours." He has already written him off.
Jesus ends the story there. No resolution. Just a question hanging in the air, directed straight at the Pharisees who were muttering outside while the celebration was happening inside.
Will you call him brother?
Lostness does not always look like wild living in a far country. Sometimes it looks like sitting on the curb just outside the door, having done everything right, but missing the heart of the Father entirely.
What These Three Stories Have in Common
Each story follows the same pattern:
Something of great value is lost.
Someone searches for it with intention and urgency.
When it is found, there is celebration.
And in each case, Jesus says heaven itself rejoices. Not politely. Not quietly. Heaven throws a party over one person who comes home.
The ratios shift across the three stories. One out of 100. One out of 10. One out of two. The intensity increases. The point sharpens. Every single person matters to God. Not as a category. As an individual.
Who Is Your One?
Pete and Stacy had neighbors named Jason and Shelly on their hearts. With intention, with thoughtfulness, with consistency, and with a little courage, they showed up. They invited. And it changed everything.
You probably have someone like that in your life. Someone you love and wish could experience what you have found in following Jesus. Not just church attendance. The actual joy, the community, the beauty, and yes, the hard and grace-filled path of knowing and being known by Him.
Sometimes when there are many people on your heart, it leads to action for nobody. So the question is simple: who is the one?
Life Application
This week, write down one name. Just one. The person who comes to mind when you feel that holy discontent, that ache of wanting to share the most important thing in your life with someone who does not yet have it.
Then do something small and intentional. Send a text. Make a call. Invite them to coffee. Pray for them by name every day this week. You do not have to have all the answers. Pete and Stacy did not either. They just showed up with consistency and care.
Ask yourself these questions as you think about your one:
The Pharisees were people who had ‘checked every box’ religiously but were still missing the heart of God. In what ways can religious routine or self-righteousness cause us to lose sight of people who are far from God?
Do I genuinely see myself as a stakeholder in God's mission, or do I treat it as someone else's responsibility?
Is there someone in my life whose absence from faith creates a real ache in me? What am I doing with that feeling?
Am I more like the Father in this story, willing to run toward people regardless of the cost, or more like the older brother, keeping my distance from those I have already written off?
What is one small, intentional step I can take this week toward my one?
Jesus ends the parable of the prodigal son with a cliffhanger. The older brother is still on the curb, and we never find out if he goes in. Why do you think Jesus left the story unfinished, and what does that open ending say to us as His followers today?
Heaven celebrates when one person comes home. You get to be part of that story. Who is your one?
Setlist
WFC Lenexa + WFC Anywhere
Glorious Day - Passion
No One Like The Lord - Bethel Music
Trust In God - Elevation Worship
WFC Speedway
Breakthrough - Red Rocks Worship
Goodness Of God - Bethel Music
The Blessing - Kari Job, Cody Carnes
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