"Are You Ready for Rejoicing?"

Luke 15:1-10.

What man of you, having just finished eating dinner at a restaurant and walking out to your car to go home, and reaching into your pocket to get the keys to your car, but find them missing? Will you not frantically check the other pockets to see if you didn’t put them in a different pocket? Or even return inside the restaurant to the place where you sat and check to see if those keys hadn’t fallen to the floor? What panic you experienced! What relief and joy you found when the keys were discovered wedged in the cushion of the seat where you sat!

Or what mother of you, when you take your toddler to Wal-Mart, and look at all things interesting to you, but do find not your toddler with you? Do you not panic and fear for his life? You begin to call his name, checking each row in the store, and in a near run search the whole store for your child. But when you find him, you hug him dearly, and after doing that parental thing of telling this child that he should always stick close to Mommy, breathe a sigh of relief.

Or what child of you, when you are putting together a new toy, only to find that a small piece is missing, won’t check the floor where you are and look carefully in the carpeting until you find that small piece? But when you find that piece, you, too, like your parents, are happy.

There is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.

REJOICE, FOR JESUS HAS FOUND YOU!

Do these parables sound familiar? Granted, this is a contemporary version of Jesus’ two parables in our text, but still rings true for us today. The setting of our text of the Parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin is found when Jesus was returning to Jerusalem at the close of His Galilean ministry.

(Luke 15:1-2, NKJ) Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, "This Man receives sinners and eats with them."

The Scribes and Pharisees and Tax Collectors and Sinners were all hearing these parables in what is often called the "Heart of Luke’s Gospel."

The Pharisees and scribes had a problem, however. They accused Jesus of welcoming and eating with sinners. The verbs in the Greek implied that this was ongoing and a habit of Jesus. The Scribes and Pharisees accused Jesus of violating their table fellowship etiquette. Those with whom you would eat supper are those with whom you have same beliefs. Jesus had previously eaten at the house of Levi, and again in another setting, at the house of a leader of the Pharisees. This sent a confusing message to the Pharisees, and hence the reason for their murmuring.

Jesus tells these two parables, The Lost Sheep and The Lost Coin, which set the momentum for the third, the Parable of the Forgiving Father and His Two Sons.

Both of our parables for today express four things: one, the severity of being lost, two, the earnestness of the search, three, the resultant joy upon discovery, and four, the restoration in the community.

As we take a look as the two parables side by side, you will want to think of what it was like being either that lost sheep or that lost coin. In addition, in many of the parables that Jesus tells, the hearer has to picture the setting and be mindful of the details in that setting. Unfolding the details of the whole picture provides a better understanding and gives a better feel for the background in which Jesus sets the story.

(Luke 15:4, NKJ) "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?

In the Parable of the Lost Sheep, we unfold the severity of the peril facing that lost sheep. There is the sheep, wandering away from the protection and the responsibility of the shepherd. The ninety-nine sheep were left in the wilderness in an open space, generally where they were accustomed to grazing. But the lost sheep would stray away, become a delicious dinner for a wolf, or die of starvation. It could fall off a dangerous cliff, try to drink from a swift river and be caught in the current and drown, or becoming cast, that is, fall down onto its back in a low spot in the ground and be unable to stand itself upright. Without the presence of the shepherd, there would be no one around to protect it and deliver it from peril as well as to check for infestation of parasites, disease, or other wounds. This paints a pretty nasty picture for that lost sheep, doesn’t it?

(Luke 15:8, NKJ) "Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?

The condition of a lost coin may take a little more thought because in contrast to being in the wide-open places, the setting becomes the small house in which it is lost. The types of houses in the Mediterranean area were dimly lit, having little or no windows, and what windows there were, were usually small to allow for ventilation. The floor was often times just a dirt floor. The floor could also be made of large slabs of stone fit together like patio blocks are today. The coin could easily have been swept out with the dirt and discarded in the manure pile. Or the coin could fall into a crack between slabs of rock and escape the view of the woman if it lay vertically, or it could become wedged in tightly, where the woman may not be able to pick it out. She needed to find that one coin, as it might represent this poor family’s life savings.

Did you sense the earnestness of the search by both the shepherd and the woman? The Shepherd leaves the ninety-nine in the grazing land and goes after the lost one until he finds it (he literally has to think like a sheep to know where it may have wandered). He may search for tracks, or find evidence of where the sheep walked. The time it took to search is not mentioned, but it would probably take a good share of the day to find it.

(Luke 15:5-6, NKJ) "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 which was lost!’"

The woman’s search uses three action verbs. She lights up the house, probably by lighting as many lamps as she can to brighten it. She sweeps the house, moving everything from the floor. She searches carefully by retracing her steps to remember where she was the last time she had seen that coin. She might even check the folds in clothing as it might have slipped silently into hiding.

(Luke 15:9, NKJ) "And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’’’

As a result, both the shepherd and the women express great joy upon discovery of the lost sheep or the lost coin. The shepherd places that lamb on both his shoulders and carries it back to his house (note, not the flock). He calls together his friends and neighbors and tells them to rejoice with him for he found that lost sheep. The woman calls her girlfriends and neighbors together and tells them to celebrate for she found that lost coin.

But these parables are not about sheep and coins.

Rather these parables are about joy in finding the lost. After all, are we to get more excited about animals and money, rather than the soul of a sinner who repents? What about our family, friends, neighbors, or coworkers who may not yet know the Savior?

Jesus said,

(Luke 15:7, NKJ) "I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.

And again, Jesus said,

(Luke 15:10, NKJ) "Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

These parables tell the reason for this joy—finding the lost sinner. The people in the parable become the primary focus. And it is the audience, not the characters in the parables, which are noteworthy. Remember, Jesus told these parables in order to reach out to the hearts of those who hear him, namely the Pharisees and scribes, the tax collectors and sinners, you and me. He tells us that everyone will be found, for Jesus says later in Luke’s Gospel, "The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which is lost." God’s almighty power will find all the lost. The sinner will be found by a loving Savior; but the proud and self-righteous will be found by a Judge.

You and I are lost sinners. We have wandered like sheep and gone our own way.

We murmur and complain about things at church and wander away from our True Shepherd. We are attracted to the poisonous weeds of materialism rather than the life giving food of God’s Word. We become sick with hoof and mouth disease because of where we walk and what we say. We walk in the way of sinners and our mouths are filled with evil talk.

We were in danger of sin, death, and the devil. Our sins eternally separate us from God and we are subject to His wrath and eternal punishment. We are no different than the Children of Israel in the Old Testament reading, having set up our own ‘golden calf’ and worshipping it instead of worshipping God. We were as the Apostle Paul was, namely, the chief of sinners. We did not possess God, we did not search after Him, nor have we found Him. We, in fact, like Adam and Eve, were HIDING from God.

But Jesus knew the severity of our lost condition, HE earnestly searched for us and HE lit the lamps and HE swept and HE found us.

REJOICE, FOR JESUS HAS FOUND YOU!

It was Jesus who saved us from being swept up with the dirt and into the manure pile. He sought after us and found us. He caringly and lovingly picked us out from the tight places in life and restored us to Himself. We, like the Tax collectors and sinners, now draw near in true repentance to hear His Word, to be catechized and nurtured. We hear those words in the Divine Service each time as we confess our sins before God our Father, imploring Him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to grant us forgiveness. Jesus laid us across His shoulders to bring us to His house, the Church, through the waters of baptism. Within His church, we join the angels and archangels in the joy of repentance and join Him at the Feast of the Holy Supper. God’s kingdom is established for helping sinners and making them righteous.

Jesus draws you and me to Himself by His death on the cross. Leo the Great, the first Latin speaking Pope and Bishop of Rome in the mid-fifth century, wrote, "O wondrous power of the Cross! O ineffable glory of the Passion, in which is contained the Lord’s tribunal, the world’s judgment, and the power of the Crucified! For thou didst draw all things unto Thee, Lord and when Thou hadst stretched out Thy hands all the day long to an unbelieving people that spoke against Thee, the whole world at last was brought to confess Thy majesty. Thou didst draw all things unto Thee, Lord. (Leo I, Sermon LIX, Part VI)"

The actions of Jesus, Who welcomes sinners and eats with them, are continuous and habitual, even to the end of the age. For does He not welcome us sinners today? Does He not eat with us, as He is both Host and Meal, as we eat His true Body and drink His true Blood?

Are you ready for rejoicing? Are you ready to rejoice for new members to this congregation and the Church at large? Are you ready for thanking God for your salvation? Can you begin to hear the joyous cheering from heaven now?

Another church father once wrote, "…To rejoice over the sinner’s repentance—that is, at the recovery of lost man—is the attribute of Him who long ago professed that He would rather that the sinner should repent and not die." (Tertullian, Against Marcion, Book IV, Chapter XXXII)

REJOICE, FOR JESUS HAS FOUND YOU!

As we draw near with a true heart and confess our sins to God our Father, we know that Almighty God, our heavenly Father has given his only Son to die for us and for His sake forgives us all our sins. There is joy in the presence of the angels in heaven; that is, there is joy with God Himself. We graciously receive His forgiveness and He restores our soul. The Lord is gracious and righteous, our God is full of compassion.

Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

How unsearchable are his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! This expresses the deep, unmeasurable love of God Who would welcome sinners and eat with them.

For from him and through him and to him are all things.

To him be the glory forever! Amen!