Thursday 18 September

Passages

1 Timothy 1:12–17 “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief. The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

Luke 15:1–10 “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.””

Songs:

O praise the name

Thank you for saving me

Content

God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.

Why?

Because he save us.

Each of us will be able to think of a time - either when we did not know of God, we did not have any contact with church, we were far away from knowing anything about Jesus - and God brought us close - into relationship with him / or when we strayed away from God and God found us a brought us back

The thing I noticed in these passages this morning was the idea of being lost … or as Paul puts it, acting in ignorance …

I have often heard people talking about coming to faith like - I had no idea about who God was, I had nothing to do with God, and then something happened which changed everything - and that is what some people’s experience is like.

But the idea of being lost suggests that at some point we got lost … and it made me think about who we are to God and how salvation works …

It sometimes feels like to us that we never had anything to do with God and then suddenly God comes into our lives and we go from being lost to being found. But God was never not there. God was never absent. So Paul talks about it like he was ignorant, he wasn’t aware, and then he becomes aware.

If we look at the Bible we see that all of humanity is made in the image of God … Genesis 1:27 “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”

We’re made by God … we are made for relationship with God … and God holds and sustains the whole of creation …

So from the moment of our birth, God is never absent, God is present … God sustains us through the very air that we breathe, through everything that we receive that sustains us … every good and perfect gift comes from him.

But for many different reasons we may not be aware of God … or we may stray away.

So the language of being lost is really quite beautiful … because it implies that we were already God’s possession, we were made by him and for him, to enjoy him and for find our identity in him … and what’s happened is that in some way we have got lost … we have wandered away … the Book of Common prayer says ‘we have erred and strayed from you like lost sheep … we have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts’

But when we get lost … we see in the parable that is aches God’s heart … God like the shepherd longs for us and comes after us ...

The pharisees don’t like it … this man welcomes and eats with sinners … and Jesus tells the parables to say … that’s who God has come for

And when we read Paul, we understand that he was a high ranking pharisee, and yet he found that he was the worst sinner … and that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners

And then there is joy when we are found