In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
Last week our Lord said, “Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.” Well, if you want a text to rail on the importance of Missions, that sounds like one! And then this week we get the lost sheep, the lost coin – oh, the fundraising for missions I could do, the finger wagging, the guilt trips that could come! But is that the point of what Jesus is driving at with these parables?
You see, there's a way of hearing these parables that has become common, where we hear parables like these, and we think that they are descriptions of what we, you and I, are supposed to do. Well, I'm clearly supposed to be finding lost sheep, or finding the lost coin. This parable is about what I do. We turn these parables into giant law bombs about how we should go do more... and then we either justify ourselves by saying we do enough, we go through points in the past, oh, I remember when I was nice to Bob when he was sort of lost, I did this. Or we maybe put a bit extra to missions – all nice things, mind you – but that's not the point of these parables. That's not the set up. Listen.
Now, the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear [Jesus], and the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.” The reason Jesus preaches these parables isn't that He's trying to make the Pharisees work more or squeeze a few bucks out of the Scribes – it's because they are grumbling. It's because they are looking down on “sinners”. Oh, blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God – woah, wait! What in the world are you doing eating with THAT person, Jesus!?!? You're a healing spoilsport at our feast and now you're eating with the riff-raff – this is just messed up Jesus! So do you see? These parables are not told to be a motivational speech or a money grabbing guilt trip. They are addressing the disdain that we can have towards our neighbor.
So He told them this parable. What man of you, having 100 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? Well, some shepherds might not. They might do a cost-benefit analysis – I might gain one sheep, but something bad could happen to the rest, maybe I just write this off and use it as a tax benefit. But Jesus is rhetorically speaking against such cold-blooded heartlessness. Let's assume there's a shepherd who actually loves the sheep, who owns them, who sees the wolf coming and doesn't flee. Well, that sort of shepherd, when he sees that one sheep is lost, he goes after the sheep. Why? Because he loves that sheep, he values that sheep – probably knows the sheep's name, and quite possibly has a good guess at where Bob wondered off to because that's what his Bob does.
And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.” You all know this sort of conversation. Something went wrong in your day, but it resolved well – there was a happy ending, and you sit around and you laugh with your friends as you tell them about it. You might have had conversations like this before church, and you might have them afterwards. You know those sorts of happy conversations – that's exactly how Jesus responds to forgiving people – Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
Sometimes we get tempted into thinking that forgiveness exasperates Jesus – as though when He hears about sin He sighs, and rolls His eyes and then sort of just, “Okay, I forgive you... again. Try not to do it any more.” Almost as though forgiving people is an annoying chore. No, that's not Jesus – that's your sinful flesh. Jesus actually delights in forgiveness. That's why He came. That's why He was born, why He lived, why He died, why He rose – so that He could forgive, so that He would fill heaven with the joy of forgiveness, so that He would pack heaven full of forgiven sinners, lost sheep who were wandering off in stupidity and folly. Sheep are going to be sheep, sinners are going to sin – but that doesn't stop Jesus from being who He is – the Good Shepherd who forgives sin. Who not only finds the lost sheep but saves the sheep from the great wolf that seeks to devour it.
Okay, fine, fine, fine Jesus. You don't mind forgiving Bob, even though he's a stupid sheep. Well, no, don't denigrate these sinners – that misses the point. Let's give another parable. 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? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors saying, “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost!” Just so I tell you, there is joy before the Angels of God over one sinner who repents. Don't denigrate that “sinner” who repents, that “sinner” whom you don't like and think that you're better than. They are valuable. They're a silver coin. They are a drachma, a day's wages. They're an awesome $200 coin from the US Mint. And they ought to be found, they ought to be recovered – and God rejoices when they are. When they are pulled out from under the couch, when they are pulled away from sin and brought to God's House and feast, that's a joyous thing! And if you are tempted to think that I'm overselling the idea that the sinners have value, the next parable that rolls right into this one is the prodigal son – where the younger son has just as much value as the older son. This is the point, Jesus loves forgiving. Jesus came to forgive sinners.
And now, perhaps, the elephant in the room. Consider the Pharisees and the Scribes, how they looked on with disdain – He eats with sinners! Well, yeah, and He ate with you last week, and don't you remember how He was pointing out your sin last week? You should know from experience that Jesus eats with sinners... or do you not think of yourselves that way? In your pride, in your smugness, did you think that Jesus was talking about those people, those sinners over there. Or even that, dear Trinity folks, that Jesus was just talking to the Pharisees? Oh, no, no, no my friends – this is Jesus speaking to you.
How does Jesus respond to you when you sin? When you act the foolish sheep – you are one of Jesus' little lambs after all, are you not? It's common, beloved imagery – but we forget what it means. Yes, sheep are cute, lambs are cuddly – but they're also – well, I could say “prone to wander” if I wanted to be polite – but the point is sheep are often stupid. And foolish. And don't pay attention. And wander off into danger. And don't really have good ways of protecting themselves. Sound like you this week? I bet it does. I'm sure each of you here wandered into some places you shouldn't have in thought, word, and deed. Foolishly even. And yet, here you are in God's House. You've been found, rescued by Christ, brought back to the fold in repentance. And what is Jesus' reaction to you, now? Joy. Utter joy and delight that you have been repented and forgiven. He's going to gather up the angels and archangels and all the saints of heaven and have a feast of celebration with you and over you in a few minutes – because this Supper is for the forgiveness of your sins.
Oooo, but sometimes we don't want to deal with the reality of our sinfulness. We're much more comfortable talking about maybe some extra holy homework we could do – maybe a little less on my sin pastor and maybe a bit more on how I can help missions? I can write a check and feel better. Not so! Did you not hear – Jesus doesn't want your money; you are His money, His silver coin. We see our sin, and we try to avoid confronting it, because we know that our sin cheapens us. It makes us less than we were meant to be. Money lost in the couch can't pay any bills, after all – it's lost, it's useless. As in your sin, so often you are. Your sin wrecks your utility – you get mad at Bob and then you don't show love to Bob like you ought – that's sin and you've been useless, a lost coin. Yeah... and Jesus finds you and rejoices. He finds you and He redeems you, He buys you back, He forgives you, He restores your value, He strengthens you in faith towards God and in love toward neighbor and He will use you wisely and to His good plans. He'll use you before you even notice the goodness He is doing through (Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you?), and when you are lost and sinny He will find you and restore you, because that is who Jesus is and what He delights in doing – forgiving sinners, forgiving you.
You see, the danger is this. Our sinful flesh loves creating categories, putting people into boxes. And we love to put people into boxes where they are lower than us – we put them down there and think we're so great because we're not them. But that misses the joy, the heavenly joy. You are a sinner, you are a lowly and miserable sinner – you're not better than them – you are in fact the chief of sinners, the dumbest of the sheep, the coin lost in the stupidest place in the house – but Christ Jesus became man for you, and He died and rose for you, to forgive you, to find you, to rescue and restore you – and He delights in this. So you sin – duh. That's no surprise to anyone else. But Jesus repents you, and forgives you, and all heaven rejoices precisely because Jesus finds and forgives you. We laud and magnify Christ's glorious Name, evermore praising Him and saying... oh, let's get to the Supper and rejoicing already. You've been found by Jesus. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
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