Trinity 3

1  God rejoices to find the lost.

God rested on the seventh day from all His works.

When man disobeyed Him, Creation’s perfection was shattered. The perfect rest of God existed only in His own holiness,

and we no longer had a part in it.

So Jesus said in John 5:

My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.

This is not the work of creation,

but God’s work to bring mankind back into His rest.

In that sense, He has not rested since the Fall.

We, on the other hand, always look for the easy way;

we want rest for ourselves on our own terms.

If God says, “I give you work to do,”

Man rebels against it and wanders off to take it easy,

causing untold problems in our lives as a result.

If God says, “I give you rest from your labors,”

Man rebels against that too, because it’s not on our terms. We’d rather say that we’ve earned our rest on our own.

Why would God work so hard since the Fall

to bring rebellious people like us into His rest?

Jesus gives the answer in our text, and it’s our theme today.

God rejoices to find the lost.

Because only the lost may be found. Because He has made each one precious.

2  Luke 15:1–10

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.”

So He spoke this parable to them, saying: “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? 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!’ 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.

“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? 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!’ Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

2.1  Because only the lost may be found.

These parables were Jesus’ answer to Pharisees and scribes

who were complaining that Jesus associated with sinners

instead of with them.

There He was, a popular teacher and miracle-worker.

But He walked right by the Pharisees and scribes.

“Where’s he going?”

Well, it seems He’s eating today with known sinners. It was a slap in their face.

But Jesus explained himself with these parables.

99 sheep were in the wilderness. 9 coins were in the woman’s purse.

But was the shepherd concerned about those sheep? Was the woman concerned about those coins?

No, it was the lost one that had their attention. Why? Because it was lost.

But there are two ways for a sheep to be lost.

Consider what it means to be a lost sheep.

It’s simply this: that you are not with your shepherd.

Now, consider what our text says about these 100 sheep:

One had wandered off from it shepherd: that’s one way. But the 99 were left in the wilderness.

Why was that? It’s not only because the shepherd is concered with the one.

The sheep are supposed to follow their shepherd!

Jesus said, John 10:27:

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.

But the 99 in this parable did not follow,

not when the shepherd was searching for the lost one.

So they also became lost, by not following their Shepherd.

The difference between the Pharisees and scribes,

and the sinners who came to Jesus

was that the sinners were lost sheep

who heard His voice and followed Him.

But the Pharisees and scribes

refused to hear His voice and follow Him.

They were convinced that they were not lost,

and they didn’t want to be found..

The thing about being lost is that sometimes you don’t realize it.

Now, there are different methods of finding your way.

You can have a list of directions. You can have a map showing the way. You can have a sense of direction,

or a general knowledge of the place where you are.

As long as I have any of those things when I travel,

I won’t ever admit that I’m lost.

The fact is, I can probably still find my way,

though it may take longer.

Yet sometimes our sense of direction is turned around,

or our knowledge of the place in imperfect.

Sometimes the map is too old,

or the list of directions is mistaken.

What then?

That’s what it’s like to be a sinner of any kind.

That’s what it’s like to be an imperfect human being.

The 99 may have been confident they were in the right place,

but the fact is, the right place was with their shepherd,

and once He was gone, they couldn’t find him!

The one may have been so certain it was in the right place.

The grass or berry bushes were so tasty, the sunshine was so pleasant.

But when the lightning flashes and the wolf howls,

it can’t see its Shepherd anywhere, nor hear His voice.

Sinful human beings also have no ability to find their way home.

We can’t even figure out which direction to go.

Our moral compass is flawed, and our lives become a mess. Our spirituality is skewed,

and we pray to things that can’t help us.

If your life ever seems out of control,

and your shepherd is not there to set things straight, it’s probably because you’ve stopped listening to Him,

and maybe even wandered away from His presence.

Jesus’ point to the Pharisees and scribes

was that to Him, every lost sheep is worth looking for.

He even wants them to repent and hear His voice. He wants them — and us — to stay with Him

as He goes after every one of His lost sheep.

Sometimes that lost sheep will be you. Maybe even today.

So when you hear His voice, listen to it. Follow His Word, and let Him direct you homeward.

Our God rejoices to find the lost,

because only the lost may be found.

2.2  Because He has made each one precious.

A live sheep today is worth a bit over $100.

One of the coins in the second parable is worth a bit less.

In the first parable, one of the flock is lost,

so the shepherd leaves $10,000 of sheep in the wilderness

and searches for the lost one until he finds it.

In the second parable, one of the coins is lost,

so the woman ignores her $800 of savings

until she finds the $90 or so that was missing.

There’s quite a difference between the value of the lost

and the value of those that were not lost.

If you drop and lose a penny, are you likely to look for it? How about a nickel? A dime?

At some point, we’re willing to look.

If I dropped $90, I’d look for it.

But God doesn’t even consider the value of the lost.

He just does whatever it takes to find it.

But Pharisees and scribes thought value was important.

They considered sinners to have little value,

so that Jesus shouldn’t be associating with them.

They considered pious-living people to have greater value,

so that Jesus should be eating with them.

It makes sense.

Someone who lives contrary to God’s commandments

is against God,

Anyone who rejects God and His authority

deserves His punishment.

But even though sinners shouldn’t be worth much,

God still imitates the woman who forgets the nine coins,

spends all day sweeping the corners and crannies of the house, until she finds the lost one and adds it to the purse.

If you measure the value of these coins by the time she spends,

then the lost coin is worth more than its face value.

Same thing with the shepherd:

The lost sheep is worth far more to him than its market value.

These parables teach us something about God’s economy.

The sheep and the coins represent human souls. Though the Pharisees and scribes understood the searching

to find a single sheep, or a single coin, they couldn’t understand it to save a human being.

In their eyes, a sheep was more valuable than a sinner. Which is more valuable for us:

a $125 sheep, or the perishing soul of a human being? …a $90 coin, or a lost human creature?

Too often we think as Cain spoke:

Am I my brother’s keeper?

Little did the Pharisees and scribes realize

that they had also lost sight of their Shepherd too.

But Jesus cares for every lost soul.

Its value to Him is far above that of a sheep or any coin.

The value of a human being is the price paid to redeem us.

Our guilt required the shedding of blood,

and the price God paid was the blood of His Son.

In ourselves, we have lost all righteousness,

all claim to God’s favor, and most of our value as creatures on Earth.

But Christ has done so much to seek us out:

redeeming us with His own life, and now calling us to Him with the Word of His voice, and washing the muck of our guilt away

through holy absolution,

and feeding us supernaturally with His body and blood.

This continuing work of God actually gives us a value

far greater than we have earned.

Every one of us: each human being has the same value,

because each is redeemed

with the priceless blood of Christ.

When our Finder finds us again,

He lays us on His shoulders, rejoicing. He calls to all His friends, so that everyone may rejoice.

So precious to Him is each individual one who was lost.

If you have been straying beyond earshot of your Shepherd,

or if you’ve been stubbornly refusing to follow Him

in pursuit of the lost sheep,

then repent today.

If you do not, then you are lost.

But be assured: He wants you back.

He offers complete forgiveness in the blood of Christ. Only hear the Word of His voice now, as He rescues you,

and remain with Him by living according to it.

Thus, heaven is filled with joy over you, over me,

and each one who was lost but now is found.