- Psalmody: Psalm 25:16, 18; 1-2a; Psalm 55:22a, 17b, 18b; Psalm 18:1-2a; Psalm 9:10–11a, 12b; Psalm 17:6
- Lection: Micah 7:18–20; 1 Peter 5:6–11; Luke 15:1–10
In the Name of the Father and of the ✠ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
There will be great joy in heaven, for this all people with eyes and hope set there do long and expect. Ask any of those persons, yea, even believers, what joyous thing about the yonder that awaits do you look forward to now and the answer is likely to be seeing family, friends, pets or having favorite things, hobbies, perfect sunrises, food, drink, pleasure, and bliss. Our dear Lord Jesus teaches in today’s parable that which brings true joy in heaven. He explains the true hope of heaven, as in, what do those in heaven, God, his saints, his angels, long to see, have, and rejoice over? First and foremost are not the best golf courses, the most satisfying naps, the World Cup or NBA Finals, the perfected favorite things of here, not even the reunion with loved ones, but there shall be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. Heaven has a mission and thankfully it is not based on the corrupted desires that we now hold here. It’s mission, commissioned by God Himself, is to find sinners and bring them to repentance and thus eternity spent in His satisfying presence. Pray that all goodness in what is given here is rightfully retained and valued within us while all dross and evil desires are burned away so that our vision of eternal life becomes clearer as we approach it.
Jesus’ mission is clear and the Holy One of heaven saw to carrying it out perfectly, lovingly, definitively, and unwaveringly while upon the earth. He cared not that some would object to His actions, that some would oppose His words, that some would respond to His grace with, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” This Man receives sinners and eats with them, a phrase to which the righteous say, “Alleluia! Thanks be to God!”, but in the mouths of the Pharisees and scribes was complaint, viewing it as a bad thing that the undesirables among them were being sought, found, and rejoiced over by this Man and all the host of heaven. It was as if many among them were glad that there were actually lost sheep of the children of Israel or lost valuable coins within the house. Isn’t it their own fault for being lost after all? Yes, this is true. We are to blame for our sin. We carry the guilt. But it is never good for hearts that are shared and led by Christ’s heart to desire that the riff-raff and the shameful are best not to be where Jesus is, only because that’s where we are and we really don’t want them to be near us, to associate with them, to eat with them, desires very unlike those of our Savior. He desires heaven to rejoice.
As sinners, let us seek to relate and see ourselves in the Pharisees, scribes, and the shameful, for we share common plights with them all. All we like sheep have gone astray, each to his own way, and in most sinful moments, we’re pleased with our wandering. We’re like the beast led by what we want more than by the Shepherd’s guidance and care. Thus we end up in places where He must come and find us, where He must sweep away the dirt and restore us. But the beastly, sinful mind, comparable to a determined human toddler, is often bound and determined to have and to hold a singular desire over which it obsesses. We’ve seen this in our children and in our pets, as they struggle and strive to get into things that they shouldn’t; things that are harmful, yet greatly wanted, such as a dog returning to his own vomit. Pick him up, carry him 20 yards away, and you can still see his focus remain on the disgusting pile. Set him down and you know right where he’s headed.
This is why Jesus mentions repentance in a lost sheep being restored and a lost coin being gathered again. An important part of the man seeking and finding his lost sheep and of the woman lighting a lamp sweeping the house in search of her lost coin is the realization of what causes us to be lost and to turn away, to repent, of it. This can be seen in the beginning of this text in that All the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Jesus to hear Him. They responded to Jesus’ words. They remained not content with that which lost them, but wanted more from Him Who found them. Jesus aims to sanctify the will and the desire so that they seek the vomit no longer, but Him instead and to stay with Him. He does this by guiding us by His word. The woman lights a lamp that the coin might be found. Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Jesus lights the way so that when He finds us, we don’t turn away from Him in shame of our sin, but repent in confession and acknowledgment of it, joyful together with heaven that there is forgiveness that comes with repentance. Fear not when Christ comes looking for you, finding you where you have led yourself by your sin and disobedience, demanding that you forsake it, for He comes not to condemn the world, but to save it. He comes to seek and to find that which was lost, even the riff-raff, even the scribes, even the Pharisees, even the Christian.
And from whence does this One full of grace come? The Man leaves the ninety-nine in the wilderness and goes after the one which is lost until He finds it. Earthly speaking, we can see how He does this by actively seeking out in His ministry those who have ears to hear and understand that they are lost: tax collectors and sinners. The Pharisees and scribes were a brood of vipers, having the stopped ear of a Deaf Adder, ready only to strike with venomous self-righteousness, never to humble themselves under the mighty hand of God and see that we all need repentance and forgiveness. When confronted with this reality in St. Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” The same danger lies in all sinners; in the lost, and in the lost and found. Even we, who regularly respond to the invitation of the Master of the house to come for the supper is ready, have the inbred desire to return to the scoffer’s seat of disdain and judgement. Or, if not there, to the deep shadows, to the cliffs, to the thorns and thistles of shame, doubt, and unbelief that cause us to hide ourselves when we hear His holy voice and not to receive the Savior’s grace in repentant faith. That resultant problem is present in both groups. It is the repentant sinner, the one turning away from that which scatters and trusting in the heart of the One Who finds us, Who restores us, yea, even unto holy living.
Heavenly speaking, Jesus leaves those who have no need of a physician; not because they are determined to remain lost, but because they shall never be lost again. They are of the eternal flock with no sinful desire ever to wander off. From whence does the Holy One full of grace come? He comes from Bethlehem, from Egypt, from Nazareth, and from the cross and tomb. But before that, and now today, He comes from heaven to seek and save the lost, to bring us to repentance, to stir up our hearts to rejoice, for there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. Heaven’s mission is in the mirror. As a sinner, draw near to Jesus to hear Him, and that mirror shall reveal why you are lost, but also shall become a window by which you may then clearly see the gracious One by Whom you are found.
In ✠ Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.