Loving God, you seek out and rescue the lost and you call us to come and rejoice. Teach us to place the same value on ourselves and on others as you do; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Jewish story tells of the good fortune of a hardworking farmer. The Lord appeared to this farmer and granted him three wishes, but with the condition that whatever the Lord did for the farmer would be given double to his neighbour. The farmer, scarcely believing his good fortune, wished for a hundred cattle. Immediately he received a hundred cattle, and he was overjoyed until he saw that his neighbour had two hundred. So he wished for a hundred acres of land, and again he was filled with joy until he saw that his neighbour had two hundred acres of land. Rather than celebrating God's goodness, the farmer could not escape feeling jealous and slighted because his neighbour had received more than he. Finally, he stated his third wish: that God would strike him blind in one eye. And God wept. [Culpepper, Luke, New Interpreter’s Bible, p. 298]

"Only those who can celebrate God's grace to others can experience that mercy themselves." [http://www.crossmarks.com/brian/luke15x1x10.htm]

Think about that for a moment: Only those who can celebrate God’s grace to others can experience that mercy themselves. The Pharisees and the scribes, for example, were not able to experience God’s mercy. In fact, they felt no need for God’s mercy, for they considered themselves to be righteous. They were absolutely unable to rejoice over the fact that the tax collectors and sinners kept coming to Jesus. By eating with such people, Jesus was treating them as if they might even be acceptable. No – the Pharisees were unable to celebrate God’s grace to others and unable to rejoice over the lost being found.

At least one of the questions for us today is if we are able to celebrate God’s grace to others. Are we happy with the people whom Jesus has invited to the feast, or do we give knowing sideways glances to those who might have sinned a little more than would be to our liking? Are there certain people who are welcome to come and join us for worship and others who are not? Are there certain people who are welcome at the Lord’s Table and others who are not? Are we the gatekeepers who keep the riff-raff out, or are we those who have experienced being lost and being found and want others to be found as well?

Imagine, for a moment, that you are one of the 99 sheep who have been left to fend for themselves in the wilderness (Lk. 15:3-7). What are you doing while the shepherd is off looking for that one, lonely sheep who is lost? Are you happy that the shepherd has left you? Do you decide that this would be a wonderful time to go astray because the shepherd isn’t looking? Do you grumble and complain to the other sheep about how neglected you all are and how you’ve been left alone in the wilderness? Do you simply continue to eat and sleep, oblivious to the fact that the shepherd is gone? Or, do you rejoice with the other sheep, saying, “What a good shepherd we have! I’m so glad that he went to bring that lost sheep home!”

Of course, if you are that one, lost sheep, your relief is going to be immense when your shepherd comes to find you and bring you home. When you were lost you were scared. You were lonely. You got yourself stuck and you didn’t know how to get out. You knew that you could never find your way home on your own. And so, when you see the shepherd, who has left all of those other sheep just to come and find you, you are overwhelmed with relief and gratitude. You are amazed that the shepherd would place so much value on your well-being.

In fact, this is true for each and every one of us. God values us so much that he would come to seek us out. God values us so much that he would come to live among us in the person of Jesus. God values us so much that Jesus would even offer himself in order to bring us home. Does this sink in for you? Do you realize how much value God places upon each one of you? Do you realize that you are created, redeemed and loved by God? Do you realize that the lost ones who live in this world are also created, redeemed and loved by God?

You see, this was the big stumbling block for the Pharisees. They viewed only themselves as the righteous ones. They viewed many other people as worthless sinners. It incensed them to no end to see Jesus welcoming those whom they deemed to be “not worth the time of day.” That was when Jesus told these parables about the lost sheep and the lost coin.

Interestingly enough, the apostle Paul was also a Pharisee. He shared their self-righteous attitude and was so convinced of his own righteousness that he sought to rid the world of Christians. He sought them out, arrested them, put them in prison and voted to put them to death. Yet, God had other things in mind for Paul. In fact, the risen Jesus appeared to Paul as he was travelling on the road to Damascus, on his way to go and arrest more Christians. At that time, he was still known as Saul, and a voice said to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4). Of course, Saul wanted to know who was speaking to him. The voice replied, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”

It was after this encounter with the risen Jesus that Saul became a Christian and became known as Paul. It was also after this encounter that Paul was able to rejoice in the mercy and grace that God was showing to others. In fact, did you notice in today’s second reading why Paul says he received God’s mercy? He says, “I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief” (1 Tim. 1:13). That’s when God’s grace to him overflowed with the faith and love that are to be found in Christ. Paul knew that he had been saved as an act of grace and mercy, for he had done nothing to deserve such a great gift.

We haven’t done anything to deserve it either, no matter how good we think we might be. That’s what it means to be saved by grace. Salvation is always an undeserved gift. And so, what does this mean for us?

This does not mean that we should go out and sin as much as possible in order to receive more grace. You might remember that there were people in the early church who misunderstood Paul to be saying just that. Listen to what he writes to the Romans:

What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? (Rom. 6:1-2)

One who belongs to Jesus does not intentionally turn back to sin. Instead, we are being called today to recognize that we are neither more deserving nor less deserving of God’s salvation than any other person. It is given as a gift to all of us.

Thus, we are also being called to rejoice today whenever and wherever the lost are found. The joy in heaven is a given. Yet, will there be joy on earth? Each one of us is invited to come to the feast, and to share the meal with Jesus, and to welcome all those who come to seek him. For the grace of our God has overflowed for us. Amen.

Lectionary 24(C) Luke 15:1-10
September 16, 2007 1 Timothy 1:12-17
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison Moore

(c) 2007 Lynne Hutchison Moore All Rights Reserved