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17th PENTECOST Sunday

September 23, 2007

Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church

Sioux Falls, SD

Rev. Norman F. Seeger

 

Luke 15:1-10

       Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him.  2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

3 Then Jesus told them this parable:  4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?  5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders  6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’  7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?  9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’  10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

 

Luke 15:1-10  

"REJOICE!  WHAT WAS LOST IS FOUND”

1. An Unrealistic Rescue -- Jesus Saves Us ‘Lost Sheep’

2. An Unreal Celebration -- Jesus Saves Other ‘Sinners’

 

Dear souls saved by Jesus,

Someone’s wedding ring slips from their finger as they slide into a pool at Wild Water West & quickly disappears in swirling waters.  A phone already ringing as we walk into the house tells us someone surprisingly found this ring in their pool’s filter.  When we know we can retrieve our ring tomorrow, our entire family rejoices.  Two days later, someone mistakenly leaves their purse under a lunch table at the mall.  A quick phone call finds out someone already returned our purse to the clerk at the counter.  Retrieving it with all its cash & credit cards amazingly intact, our entire family rejoices.  What other reaction would anyone expect?

When something that was lost is found, we rejoice – we all rejoice.  Painting two parables picturing people’s naturally joyful response when we recover some lost possessions or find some misplaced money, Jesus encourages us to rejoice, to regularly rejoice on an even higher level as we see our Lord & Savior recovering one lost sinner after another.  First, we witness an unrealistic rescue as Jesus, our Good Shepherd, saves us ‘lost sheep.’  What can we do but rejoice?  Then, as we see Jesus saving other ‘sinners’ – as a woman finds a lost coin – we observe & become engaged in an unreal celebration as Jesus invites everyone to rejoice with his angels every time a sinner repents.

Rejoicing when what was lost is found is an obvious point of a first parable Jesus speaks as self-righteous Pharisees grumble when Jesus willingly talks with tax collectors like Matthew.  In fact, Jesus even eats supper with souls who are generally despised & avoided by other Jews because they gather money for Roman rulers & are assumed to collect more taxes than necessary so they can also fill their own pockets.  Who are today’s “tax collectors?”  Who are today’s “sinners?”  Picture types of people or identify individuals in this world with whom you absolutely refuse to associate because they are so evil or are so obviously inferior.  These souls tempt us to feel self-righteous, tempt us to proudly assume God would be pleased to spend time with us believers but ought to avoid any interaction with those sinners other than to eternally judge them the last day when he can quickly convict & condemn them to hell.

Whatever personal pride we would harbor in our hearts & all our disdain for other souls will disappear, I pray, when we hear Jesus picture a person who possesses one hundred sheep losing one of them.  “What would you do?” Jesus asks, as if the pharisees’ answer is obvious.  Leaving ninety-nine sheep in the open country, this man goes looking for his lost sheep & keeps searching until he finds it.  Lifting this lost sheep onto his shoulders, he brings it back to the flock, where he calls for his friends & neighbors to “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.”  Supplying the spiritual truth we are to see in his earthly picture of a shepherd rescuing his lost sheep, Jesus explains, “I tell you, in the same way, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”

Are we to look down our nose & disassociate ourselves from lost sinners surrounding us in this world?  Obviously not.  Jesus did not avoid contact with tax collectors like Matthew, whom he calls to “Follow me” as he sees Matthew sitting at his tax booth.  Leaving his past profession, led to follow Jesus into a future where the Holy Spirit inspires him to write a gospel proclaiming Jesus as the Savior for every soul, Matthew thankfully throws a great banquet where he invites his tax collecting associates & sinful friends to also meet Jesus.  When Pharisees & teachers of the law complain about Jesus eating with Matthew’s associates, Jesus explains, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.  I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”[LK 5] 

When Jesus later enters Jericho, he stops by the tree a short tax collector curiously climbed because he wants to see Jesus.  As Jesus tells this wealthy, tax collecting official, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately.  I must stay at your house today,” Zaccheus gladly welcomes Jesus into his home.  Again, people begin to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a ‘sinner.’”  But Jesus urges joy rather than rejection as he announces, “Today salvation has come to this house…for the Son of Man came to seek & to save what was lost.”[LK 19]  When what was lost is found – whenever a sinner, when any sinner repents – rejoice…rejoice in Jesus’ forgiveness!

What will we do other than rejoice as Jesus pictures heaven “rejoicing more over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” when we realize there are not ninety-nine people; in fact, there is not even one person who does not need to repent right now.  A pharisee’s assumption that he was living a sinless life was unrealistic.  Any self-righteous soul’s assumption that I really have nothing to repent of today is unrealistic.  The reality is we “all have sinned & fall short of the glory of God.”[ROM 3]  Whatever illusions I may have about my own life, the daily truth is each one of us Christians, just like the apostle Paul, “does not do the good I want to do (the good God commands me to accomplish)…no, the evil I do not want to do (the evil God forbids), this is what I keep on doing.”[ROM 7]  Am I righteous?  No, I am a wretched sinner God rescues through Jesus Christ!

Can I do anything other than rejoice when we realize I am the lost sheep Jesus unrealistically rescues?  Jesus’ picture is not humanly wise because the truth of God Jesus illustrates does not follow human logic.  Would it be wise to “leave ninety-nine sheep in the open country” where they are easily attacked by wolves while their shepherd searches for one lost lamb?  Will a store owner today be upset if only one percent of their merchandise is lost to shoplifters?  No, we regularly ignore little losses.  We may not even bend over to pick up pennies falling from our pockets when our billfolds are still bulging with God’s blessings, but Jesus, our Good Shepherd, specifically searches for each one of us lost sheep.  Not logically, but graciously -- out of billions of souls he created in our world – Jesus singled us out, specifically calling us to “follow him”…to faithfully follow him as “the Good Shepherd who laid down his life for us sheep…only to take it up again.”[JN 10]  Not reasonably, but graciously, Jesus willingly died as our Substitute to pay the price of death our sins demanded.  Jesus rose from his grave the third day to guarantee us God’s forgiveness – to give us life, eternal life, as he calls & compels us to follow him faithfully.

When I see the shepherd in this parable lifting a silent lost sheep onto his shoulders to carry him back to the flock – when I realize I was not even a little lost child stepping into & getting stuck inside a school locker, only to calmly call, ‘Can someone please help me?’ -- when I realize Jesus’ power, only our Lord’s lover power which found me & called me to faith in the first place now searches to find me again & again & again whenever I foolishly wander away from my Good Shepherd’s side, what can I do other than rejoice?

Yes, rejoice!  What was lost has been found!  Sheep who too frequently, sinfully fail to follow Jesus’ voice in my daily life – we believing sheep who wander away from our Good Shepherd on a daily basis -- are repeatedly sought by our Savior calling us to repentance, are regularly lifted onto our forgiving Lord’s shoulders & are brought back into his flock as angels in heaven rejoice.

Rejoicing because what was lost has been found is obviously Jesus’ emphasis as he not only pictures our Good Shepherd’s unrealistic rescue of us lost sheep, pictures our Savior graciously forgiving our sins, but also describes a somewhat unreal celebration -- this poor lady would not normally be able to throw such a thankful party -- when a woman finding her one lost coin calls her friends & neighbors together, inviting them to “Rejoice with me.”

Is losing one of ten silver coins serious?  Will I worry if I lose one day’s wages?  Maybe not – a little less income does not necessarily dent everybody’s bank account.  If we lose ten percent of our money, however – a woman loses one of her ten silver coins – I suspect we will also “light a lamp, sweep the house & search carefully until we find it.”  Financial analysts sound alarmed as the stock market drops one hundred points in a day.  Could you imagine the panic if stocks suddenly dropped one thousand points in an instant?  Can you imagine their joy if what had been lost was suddenly found -- if every dropping stock immediately rebounded to its previous price?  Notice, not the loss, but the joy of finding what was lost is Jesus’ focus for us today as his parables call for the Pharisees – call for us all – to rejoice when we see Jesus saving other ‘sinners’ the same way he saves us.

Is Matthew forgiven?  Rejoice!  Are Matthew’s tax collecting friends listening to Jesus’ call to confess their sins?  Rejoice!  Is repenting Zaccheus being forgiven by Jesus the Christ whose life, death & resurrection will win his eternal life?  Rejoice! 

Can you remember the types of people we maybe pictured as being too evil to associate with us in this world – like Pharisees & teachers of the law separating themselves from tax collectors & other obvious sinners?  Did your mind maybe identify specific individuals who appear too wicked for us or for our Lord Jesus to touch?  None were more wicked than Matthew or me.  Not one of these individuals, I assure you, is more evil than the persecutor Saul – the repentant & redeemed apostle Paul. 

Whenever you joyfully find something that was lost, please remember Jesus who “Came to seek & to save what was lost” calling all sinful souls to repent of their wickedness – please hear Jesus calling our own sinfully straying souls to repent of our evil actions & ungodly attitudes.  Then, rejoice!  Rejoice to realize Jesus searches, finds & saves us ‘lost sheep!’  Rejoice to see Jesus saving ‘other sinners!’  Rejoice as God’s angels in heaven “rejoice over every sinner who repents!”

Amen.