Series C, proper 19: Ezekiel 34:11-24; 1 timothy 1:5-17; Luke 15:1-10
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Ever wonder why Jesus taught so
many parables? I happen to think it’s because he likes telling stories and that
all these stories point to his cross and his resurrection. But the parables
aren’t meant to keep Jesus at a comfortable distance. Jesus teaches us his
parables in order to draw us into the story. Jesus’ teaching is no spectator
sport.
Now, we’re probably not too
familiar with sheep or shepherding. And we don’t usually spend our time
sweeping the floor searching for 1 lost penny out of 10. But we’ve probably all
lost something.
Nothing kick starts an earthquake
in your chest like the panic of losing something. Losing your keys on the way
out the door with a kid in one arm, three bags in the other, and 10 minutes to
get through 30 minutes of Southern California traffic. Losing your passport the
morning before you head out of the country. Losing your hard drive and every
last file the night before that final paper for school or presentation to the
company is due. Temporarily losing that son or daughter at the park or in the
store.
Today’s Gospel reading is about losing
things. Luke 15 is about lostness, seeking, finding, and rejoicing – a lost
sheep, a lost coin, and in the third parable which you didn’t hear this
morning, a lost son.
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing
near to hear him. 2 And the Pharisees and
the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
Even before Jesus begins his
parables, there are a few shocking
surprises for us. First of all, it’s wasn’t the wealthy Israel elites, the religious
expert Pharisees, or high society Romans who were drawing near to Jesus, but the
outcasts, the poor, and degenerate – the sinners. And this – according to the
Pharisees – is precisely the sort of behavior that respectable Messiahs don’t
engage in; at least if he knows what’s good for him.
But social propriety matters
little to Jesus. Jesus is in the business of finding the lost, going to the
outcast, and rescuing sinners. And here’s the second surprise. The Pharisees
are angered again. They don’t consider themselves sinners. But here’s the problem with the Pharisees and
our Pharisaical sinful nature. Unless
you see yourself as a sinner, as the apostle Paul says, “the chief of sinners,”
you have no need for Jesus as Savior. It’s as simple as that. Those who don’t
know their sin and fear the judgment of the Law have no use for Jesus’
forgiveness and the justification that comes by grace through faith for Jesus’
sake. If you have no sin, if you have kept God’s law perfectly in thought,
word, deed, and desire, then you have no need for Jesus.
So he told them this parable: 4 “What man of
you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the
ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he
finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays
it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 6 And when he
comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them,
‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’
8 “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? 9
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.’ 10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of
God over one sinner who repents.”
Once again, Jesus’ parables are
surprising. One thing’s for sure. He wouldn’t make a very good businessman – at
least not in the way the world measures success. A wandering sheep is bad for
business. And given the odds, 1 out of 99 isn’t all that bad. Most businessmen
would mark it off as dead loss. After all, you’ve got 99 sheep safe in the pen.
Why go mess things up and run off after the one. Well, thankfully for the Pharisees
and for us, Jesus isn’t like most businessmen.
The same is true for the lost
coin. It’s kind of like picking up the occasional penny in the crosswalk, you
spend more time and energy looking for it than it’s worth. Again, the business
of the Kingdom of heaven isn’t measured by profit margins and spreadsheets, by
numbers and books. That’s not how Jesus works. God’s economy is measured out in
mercy, grace, and unmerited, outrageous forgiveness. 
That, of course, is the whole
point of these parables. Jesus won’t settle for 99 out of 100. He wants all
100. He wants all to be saved, not some, or many – All.
That’s why Jesus goes to the
Pharisees. In one of the most glaring ironies in Jesus’ parable – it is the
Pharisees, even though they considered themselves closer to God by their works
– they were actually the lost ones, just like the older son in the parable of
the two sons. Jesus is calling them to repentance, to leave behind their works
and religion of self and find true joy in him. Jesus came to rescue them.
And that’s good news for us too.
Jesus came for sinners and Pharisees like us today too. Jesus still loves
eating and drinking with sinners. He does it here every Sunday.
Jesus’ parable reveals our sin.
We’re the lost sheep. We’re the lost coins. The losers. The outcasts. Each of
us – the chief of sinners. Isaiah was right about us, “All we like sheep have
gone astray, each to his own way.” This is why confession isn’t about admitting
our mistakes and promising to be on our best behavior. Confession is an
admission that we are dead – and lost – in our sins and that we have no power
to save ourselves or convince anyone that we’re worth saving. Confession and
repentance is the recognition that our whole life is entirely out of our hands
and that if we do ever find our way out of this lostness of sin it’s going to
have to come from someone else.
Yes, this parable is about
losing. Losing your sin. Losing your death. Losing it all in Jesus.
But Jesus’ parable reveals
something greater than your sin and mine– something more shocking, a joyous
surprise. This parable is also about finding. About Jesus’ outrageous,
undeserved grace. The Shepherd, the woman, the Father – these parables are all
about Jesus saving you, raising you from the dead.
Isaiah has more to say about your
sin…the Lord has laid our iniquity – all of it – on Jesus. Jesus is your
finder, your searcher, your seeker, your rescuer, your deliverer. That’s how valuable you are to God. God
refused to write you off as a dead asset, but instead made you the object of
His seeking and saving love. God turned over every rug, He looked under every
pillow and sofa cushion, He turned the world upside down in order to find you
in your lostness. Our value is completely in Christ who saw something in us
that we could not see in ourselves.
Thank God the Pharisees were
right about this: Jesus delights in sinners, real dyed in the wool wandering
sheep like you and me. You are the joy set before Him that endured the cross
and scorned its shame. You are the reason that Jesus ate with sinners in the
first place.
This parable gives us a picture
of what heaven is like: a bunch of wandering sheep and lost coins and wayward
sons enjoying fellowship with God for no other reason than Jesus found you in
His death.
Rejoice. You are found in Jesus’
death and resurrection. Jesus seeks you out, throws you over his crucified and
risen shoulders and rejoicing, brings you home, seats you at his table, and
feeds you as an honored guest.
And God loves a party. No expense
spared. The finest of wine in Jesus blood. The best food in Jesus’ body. A
feast of forgiveness where Jesus still delights in eating and drinking with
sinners. “Rejoice with me, for I have found that which was lost.”
In the Name of Father and of the
+ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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