Luke 15 Caring for the lost

In Luke 15 Jesus is criticized by the Pharisees for "welcoming sinners and eating with them". Jesus responds with not just one parable, but three. (The parable of the lost sheep, the parable of the lost coin, and the parable of the lost son/prodigal son.) I haven't studied for themes in the gospels as far as the number of times Jesus tells stories around a certain theme (yet) but three in a row strikes me as greater emphasis than we see at other times. This made me pick up my head and pay attention.

The footnotes in my bible led me to Luke 19, the story of Zaccheus, a wealthy tax collector. Zaccheus is short and so he climbs into a tree to see who Jesus was. Jesus sees him and invites himself over to Zaccheus' house to eat, which he is happy to oblige. When people begin to mutter about Jesus eating with a sinner Zaccheus responds by telling Jesus that he will give half of his wealth to the poor and pay back 4 times the amount of anything he cheated someone out of. Here Jesus says:

Luke 19:10 "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

I am struck by how Jesus seeks out this man. His heart for the lost is so evident here. It is literally the reason that he came.

This is an issue that I struggle with as far as how to respond. I know that it is important to him.  Jesus came to seek and to save the lost.  He came to die so that the lost may have hope.  What do this mean for my life?  Sometimes I feel what I think might be a call to missions, but lately I have felt more of a call to generously support missionaries.  I also see that there are opportunities where I am, there are lost all around me.  I pray for eyes to see, and a mouth to speak.