9-11-22 Grace-Tucson Sermon

Luke 15:1-10 Pentecost 14 Pastor Ron Koehler

Grace-Tucson, AZ

September 11, 2022

We’ve all done it. Intentional or not, we’ve hurt someone, offended someone, cost someone something. We said something to a friend that we desperately wish we could take back…but once you say it, you know you can’t. We broke something irreplaceable that was not ours. When we realize the pain we’ve caused, we’re heartbroken. We ask for forgiveness because that’s all we can do. We can only be happy again if we are assured we are forgiven and the relationship is good again.

Today Jesus uses some stories to talk about damaged relationships with God that need his forgiveness in order to be fixed and the joy that results when they are.

FORGIVENESS FOR THE LOST AND REJOICING OVER THE FOUND—that’s what Jesus teaches us about today.

Some were excited to see the teacher that day, and some…not so much. There was a crowd of notorious sinners who wanted to hear Jesus and a group of religious experts who didn’t want them to be taught. Although people didn’t realize it, Jesus was on his last trip to Jerusalem; he was going to his death. As he went along from place to place, he continually drew crowds like this. Tax collectors, publicly-known sinners, religious people, and religious experts all huddled around him, but for different reasons.

The super-religious looked on as these notorious sinners sat at Jesus’ feet listening intently to what he was saying…and they weren’t very happy about what they saw!

A few years back, Jesus had even made one of those tax collectors into a disciple of his! You may remember that Jesus called Matthew to be his disciple straight out of his tax collecting booth! Matthew was so happy that he immediately held a party for Jesus.

And who did he invite? Other tax collectors! (Who else would come, right?!)

That was early in Jesus’ earthly ministry. Here toward the end, Jesus was still hanging around with society’s undesirables—people with few friends, the kind of people you avoid eye contact with and don’t get to close to, the kind you don’t want to be seen speaking with. There was a constant stream of people flocking to Jesus because they wanted to listen to what he had to say. And Jesus received them, as we just sang.

Why was he doing that? Because these sinful people—and in many cases publicly known sinners—needed to repent. Their sin guaranteed that they had no relationship with God. They needed to know that they had offended God with the things they said and the things they had done—whether public or not. They were spiritually lost, wandering through life until they would reach a devasting eternal destination. If they would listen to Jesus, repent of their sins, and trust in him for forgiveness, they would be saved and there would be rejoicing in heaven! This is why Jesus welcomed these people—they were lost and he wanted them to be found. He wanted them to experience his amazing grace.

Like a loud bang outside your house in the middle of the night jolts you awake and demands your attention, the reputation of Jesus, word of his miracles, and tales of his powerful teaching got people’s attention and drew them in. Spiritual curiosity brought them to Jesus. How different were the Pharisees and experts in God’s law! They were there, but they weren’t there to listen. They were there, once again, to find fault with Jesus…and to complain. “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Clearly Jesus was not a trustworthy spiritual leader if he would do that! They wouldn’t let it go but kept on muttering and grumbling to the people there. When it came to Jesus, they had lots to complain about because he had continually confronted them with many hard truths and kept doing things like this. Jesus was no Pharisee, but they expected him to act like they did, looking down on those who weren’t as pious as they were, and avoiding them entirely.

Well, Jesus had a story for them—a parable, an earthly story with a spiritual meaning.

The story is about the 1 out of 100. Did you notice that Jesus made the Pharisees consider themselves as the subject of his short story? “Which one of you, if you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that was lost until he finds it?” It wasn’t really a question though, was it? He was saying, “If it was you, you would leave the 99 totally alone to find that one lost sheep.” No one could argue; this is absolutely what they would have done. And the person who does that—leaves the rest to find the one— would be overjoyed in finding the lost one—so much so that he would call together friends to share his joy. Because that’s what people do with good news, isn’t it? That short story was easy for them to agree with, but the hard truth was coming.

What does it mean that the lost sheep has been found? Jesus made it easy for them by explaining what his story meant. I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent.

The lost sheep is a person who is lost in sin and facing the prospect of being lost eternally in hell. God doesn’t want that for anyone! God wants the sinner to repent.

When that happens, the person rejoices in the forgiveness of God. The rejoicing of the shepherd and his friends in the story is like the rejoicing of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, and all of heaven when a sinner repents, when one who was spiritually lost is found.

Jesus was teaching the tax collectors and sinners because he wanted to rejoice in their repentance and reliance on him as their Savior.

Any self-righteous complainers who didn’t feel they needed to repent, who felt they were better than those tax collectors and sinners, should have taken warning that they needed to repent also in order for them to be rejoiced over in heaven and to be found there one day.

Back-to-back stories would emphasize his point. The second story is about a woman who had ten drachmas, ten coins. Since each coin was worth a day’s labor wage, we might think of 10 days at minimum wage. For us, that would mean a total value of about $1000. The woman lost a coin—so, about $100 bucks. If you lost a $100 bill, you’d search for it too! The woman lights a lamp, sweeps the house, and doesn’t stop until she finally comes up with the coin. She tells her friends about how she lost a significant part of her money to live on, but has found it. Her joy is magnified as others around her join in celebrating her good news. Jesus explains again, “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

God has 8 billion people in this world, not just 100 sheep and not just 10 coins. And in a way we cannot even begin to fathom, he loves them all and wants them all to be saved. He wants every person to repent of their sins before him, turn to him in faith, and live eternally with him in heaven. God desperately wants this. That’s how big his love is—again, beyond our comprehension, but Scripture tells us that is true. That is why he sent his Son to die. That’s why Jesus was going to Jerusalem. That’s why Jesus spent time with sinners. That’s why he made the effort to teach those who didn’t really think they were sinners.

Jesus would have rejoiced over the Pharisees and the experts in the law had they listened to him and repented. On a number of occasions, Jesus ate with them too. We heard about one of those times a couple weeks ago. But from what the Bible tells us, they didn’t listen to what he had to say. Instead they rejected his teaching. They didn’t listen to his appeal to repent and see him as the promised Savior.

There’s a warning for us here. We need to watch that our hearts are not pharisaical.

People might be different from us in all sorts of ways, but they are people Jesus loves.

We dare not judge them to be less important than we are.

People may not seem like the “religious type” or seem like they are likely to listen to us if we talk to them about God and the Bible. But we dare not make that judgment because we don’t know that. AND we were no more likely to believe either! All of us require God to find us and bring us to him.

People may seem to us to be too sinful to be forgiven—or so sinful we don’t want them to be forgiven—insert your preferred terrorist’s name here. We dare not sit in judgment on others when we ourselves would have been rightly damned if not for God’s grace.

We are warned not to be self-righteous like those pointing fingers while Jesus was finding the lost.

There is also encouragement for us here. Some of us may have only applied these stories of Jesus in this way: that when someone isn’t coming to church, Jesus to go after them and bring them back. Sometimes, it is suggested that this is the pastor’s job.

While it is true that all Christians are called to reach the lost and straying, do you see what Jesus is really driving at? It’s much bigger than that, isn’t it?

Seeing the efforts and hearing the teaching of Jesus toward obvious sinners and the inwardly-corrupt but outwardly-religious, really directs us to see that this is God’s searching and God’s forgiveness and God’s rejoicing. God finds sinners and brings them to repentance and life! Jesus came to both parts of the crowd that day to do just that.

You and I have been the recipients of God’s grace! You and I have been rejoiced over

by God and angels! How amazing is that?! You and I did not cause that to happen because we’re such good people. That can be a hard truth, actually, because we have a little Pharisee in us that wants to think we are something when we are not, that we are pretty good—or at least better than others. The truth is that God, in his grace, gave us faith to trust Jesus, gave us the desire to listen to him, and brought us to repentance. It is God who did these amazing things in us. It wasn’t us; it was God. So, now we think like God. We want everyone to hear about and to experience Jesus’ forgiveness and love.

Doesn’t this move us to action then, these stories of Jesus? How can we not want to serve as the way Jesus chases after the “wandering sheep” in our lives? How can we not want to be the ones who search relentlessly for the “lost coins” that are nearby?

We can be God’s hand working here, bringing Jesus to them so that they will no longer be lost, but found. As we bring God’s law and gospel to people, some will resist it, but some will listen intently and believe! There will be rejoicing in heaven over those who are found. If you are so blessed, so fortunate, to be the instrument of God, the person who sees this happen in someone, then you too will rejoice!

Your prayers to God today should include: thanks that he found you when you were lost, asking that he always keep you mindful of his grace so that you never think like those self-righteous Pharisees and experts in the law, and asking that he would use you to search for and share forgiveness with the lost so that they may be found.

That will be my prayer today as well. May God in his goodness grant those things.

Amen.

Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.