Listen to Sermon
Pastor Tom Johnson, September 11, 2016
Sinners and tax collectors draw near to listen to Jesus. The “bad crowd” likes Jesus. And Jesus welcomes their company. “This fellow welcome sinners and eats with them,” the religious leaders accuse. But their comment does not reveal a flaw about Jesus. It reveals his acceptance, love, and forgiveness. The Scribes and Pharisees are standing outside looking in to this miracle—the eternal Son of God is communing with sinners. He breaks bread with them and speaks to them an encouraging word. The religious leaders can only witness this party from a distance. They are not part of the conversation. They have not even eaten a crumb from this table or sipped from the cup by this teacher from Galilee.
But Jesus has compassion, mercy, and love for all people—including the proud and judgmental. He tells the Scribes and Pharisees three parables: the parable of the lost sheep, lost coin, and prodigal son. This morning we hear the first two. It may be liturgically correct but I think we may miss the beauty of all that Jesus is saying here. We have to wait until March 31, 2019 until we finish this wonderful trilogy of parables with the Prodigal Son…that is if you don’t pick it up sometime later today to see it for yourself.
The shepherd leaves the 99 to find the one lost sheep. Sheep go astray. They need constant care, attention, and guidance. They are prone to wander. They hardly know the danger they are in. They lose their way. Sheep get lost to themselves. They don’t know the way back. They need someone outside of themselves to pick them up. They need a shepherd to revive their soul, lead them back to the green pasture, and to drink from the still waters. “All we like sheep have gone astray,” the prophet Isaiah says, “we have all turned to our own way and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” And as he carries the weight of our sin on our shoulders, he cries, “Rejoice with me, for I have found the sheep that was lost.” “Pharisees and scribes over there, I’m sitting at the table with one of these sheep who lost her way. Don’t stand back there all sour and critical. Rejoice with me. Join the celebration.”The woman who had ten silver coins loses one. She tears up her house looking for the one lost coin. It hardly sounds like good economics but when she finds it, she wants to spend it on her neighbors. She invites them into her space. She brings outsiders into her world. She loves her neighbors by bringing them into her home to celebrate. “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost!”
The third parable is of a human being who wanders away like a lost sheep and tears up his home by robbing his family of silver. It is the same refrain when he returns to his loving father. The older son does not want to celebrate his return. The father pleads with the son to rejoice with them. But the older son will not go into the home. He will not go to the table, eat the fatted calf, or raise a glass to God for bringing his lost brother home.
This morning Jesus gives us a beautiful picture of Gospel ministry. God welcomes sinners and eats with them. This is the work of the church—to rejoice with God over every individual who experiences life transformation. “I'm telling you,” Jesus says, “Look! I’m serious, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” It just takes one wayward soul to change in the direction toward life to start a party in heaven. It may sound ridiculous, but our biggest fans are surrounding the throne of God. Our biggest cheerleaders can’t wait—they are chomping at the bit to give a shout out to God when God brings a lost soul on the right course of forgiveness, life, and salvation.
The real punchline to these parables and words of Jesus is this: Jesus finds a way to turn the tables on the proud, religious, and self-righteous. They are the ones who have wandered off into arrogance, pride, and self-righteousness. They are the ones who are being called to rejoice and join the table. Jesus is welcoming these notoriously sinful Pharisees and Scribes to find their way into the real world—the kingdom of grace, mercy, and redemption.
One of those Pharisees may have been someone very much like the Apostle Paul. In our reading from 1 Timothy he describes how he was lost in blasphemy, persecution, and violence. He was a proud, self-righteous, an ignoramus… Those are his words. Even more than that, since he knew his own heart better than anyone else’s, he could call himself the chief of sinners. “The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am foremost.” But God brought him back on his strong shoulders as an example for us to celebrate and give glory to God…along with the example of sheep and coins. So that when we or others around us wander off, go astray, or are lost to ourselves we also know that we are never lost to God. He is there to bring us safely home. And he invites all the creatures in heaven and earth to celebrate his renewed relationship with us.
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