Rejoicing Over Repentance

Start Small! Search Much! Rejoice More!

7.24.22 [Luke 15:1-10] River of Life (7th Sunday after Pentecost)

2 Cor. 1:3-4 Grace and peace are yours from God our Father, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort. Our Father comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble. Amen.

Where was the last place you saw it? You know, from experience, how irritating this question is when you lost something valuable or important. It’s the last thing any of us want to hear. And yet it’s the first thing we all say when someone tells us they need help searching for something.

Why is it so irritating? Because—likely—we've already looked there. Asking us this question makes us feel like we’re back at square one. And who has the time or energy or patience? You just want to find it. Now.

So, if we know from the experience of being on the receiving end of that question, that it is so irritating, why do we all still ask it so often? Because we also know, from experience, that it is helpful. Worthwhile. It’s productive. Many times, when you’re searching for something you’ve lost, you get overwhelmed by the infinite possibilities of its potential location. It could be anywhere. (Well, not anywhere. Not where I already looked. But anywhere else!)

Thinking about all the potential places it could be is overwhelming, frustrating, & dispiriting. So when someone asks you where you saw it last, that is finite. It’s very specific. It’s something you do know, hopefully. And it’s the right place to start. It’s this little detail that helps focus a successful search.

It is amazing—and sometimes a little embarrassing—how often retracing your steps with another set of eyes, with another mind thinking about where it could be, with another person encouraging you along the way, helps you find that valuable or important thing you’ve lost.

Almost any search does best when it starts somewhere small. We do better when we start small. Even Google does this. Can you imagine how overwhelming it would be to type something into a web search and get back every possible result at once? Instead, Google gives you a dozen or so things on the first page, and then, if those aren't right, you can check the next page. Starting small often yields the most successful and productive searches.

In our Gospel text for today, Jesus talks a lot about searching for lost things. He gives us two parables, the lost sheep & lost coin.

These stories have different settings & details. A sheep & a coin get lost for very different reasons. You don’t get mad at a coin when you drop it and it rolls away. But you would get mad at a sheep if it wandered away.

These parables have things that confound us, today, too. Why would the shepherd (Lk. 15:4) leave the 99? Why would the woman immediately (Lk. 15:8) light a lamp? There are good reasons for these things. Sheep in a large group in the open country were relatively safe during the daytime. Shepherds also often worked in groups, so someone else might have been watching the 99. And the woman would light a lamp because the homes of most peasants didn’t have many windows to let in natural light, so even if it was the daytime it would be hard to see inside.

It’s also important to see that the Pharisees and the teachers of the law didn’t quibble with any of these actions. They were openly grumbling about the final outcome—the rejoicing. That is the pinnacle of these parables. And they have more in common than not. They have the same spirit, the same outcome, and the same culmination.

The spirit is one of determined commitment. The lost sheep & the lost coin must be found. So the shepherd (Lk. 15:4) goes after the lost sheep until he finds it. The woman (Lk. 15:8) lights a lamp, sweeps the house and searches carefully until she finds it.

The parables have the same outcome. The lost sheep & lost coin are found. The seeker doesn’t just point them out; they pick them up!

Each parable culminates in a community celebration. The shepherd and the woman call their friends & neighbors together and say (Lk. 15:6,9) Rejoice with me. I have found my lost treasured possession.

That was the root issue for the ones (Lk. 15:2) muttering about Jesus welcoming sinners and eating with them. They had a different idea about rejoicing in heaven & looking for lost coins. They taught that God rejoiced when those who provoked him met their end. They believed that a person should spend more energy seeking the Law of Moses than they would searching for a lost coin. Today, we see their muttering & wonder: What’s your problem, guys?

But maybe we shouldn’t be so shocked. Jesus and the Pharisees have polar opposite responses to the lost sinners being found. But, sometimes, with certain people and specific situations, we have a self-righteous curmudgeon that mutters under our breath, too.

We want to believe that we’d be rejoicing alongside Jesus and the angels whenever any lost person is found. When some stranger worships with us, when someone is brought to the waters of baptism, you are genuinely excited. I’ve seen it. It’s not an act. It's real.

But Jesus isn’t talking about complete strangers. The lost ones are those who were once a part of the flock or coin purse. That’s how they were recognized as missing. The lost sheep & the lost coin are backsliders, lapsed believers, those who've been a part of the group and for whatever reason stopped being attending or being involved.

When you find those folks walking into church—be honest with yourself—is your first thought: It’s so good to see them! or I wonder where they’ve been all these weeks, months, or years…?

That’s a small thing, in the sense that you can keep that to yourself. What about when that returning backslider is someone who has been particularly un-Christian to you? They were rude, insulting, or even offensive to you at some point. Do you celebrate their return?

More than likely, you take a wait and see approach. Cynically, you wonder what brought them back. You have your doubts & suspicions. You presume you can peer into their hearts and know their motives. The arrogant sinful nature will always struggle to see them as equals.

The prideful Pharisee receives wandering sheep and lost coins with words of admonition, rather than applause to God. The smug teacher of the law mutters You’ve got a lot of work to do rather than make much of God’s work in them. The sinful nature tells others this better never happen again rather than assuring them that God always receives repentant sinners. The arrogant Old Adam prefers to put the fear of God in a lost sheep rather than present the joy of God over the lost being found.

We do this when we forget who we were and how weak and apt to stray we are. (Is. 53:6) We all like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to our own way. Nothing short of the grace of God saved wretches like you and me. We once were lost but now are found. We did not find our own way, anymore than a blind person can restore their own sight. We needed someone to seek us out, someone to find us, someone to lift us up and carry us to the place of celebration. We need God’s amazing grace, yesterday, today, and forever.

And that is what we find here. Rather, that is who finds us. The same Jesus who tells this parable is the Good Shepherd who searched high and low for you. Jesus left the heights of heaven & plumbed the depths of hell so that you might be found, rescued, and redeemed.

Jesus lived blamelessly for his whole life. Spending time with sinners never led Jesus to take a lax attitude toward sin or righteousness. He never gave into temptation just to get along with people. But being perfect in thought, word, & deed never made him self-righteously smug either. Jesus went after lost sheep. And when he found them, no matter how messed up they were, no matter how far or why they had wandered away, (Is. 53:6; Lk 15:5) Jesus joyfully put our sins on his own shoulders so that we could have peace. He went to the cross so that sinners could call heaven home. And every time he found a lost sinner, every time he shared with them God’s desire for repentance and his plan of salvation, he rejoiced. Because that’s what happens in heaven when one sinner repents. The city of God bursts forth in celebration. Shouldn’t it be that way here on earth?

Of course that is what we are praying for when we say your will be done on earth as in heaven. Shouldn’t it be what we are doing, too?

And if we should be rejoicing on earth as they do in heaven, when one sinner repents, it only makes sense that we should join with Jesus in his searching for the lost, too! You can’t have the rejoicing without the repentance and you can’t have the repentance without the searching.

So let’s start small. There are people you have known to have once been church-goers. People that you were certain believed in Jesus and were going to heaven. Perhaps they grew up in the church. Are they not a part of (1 Pt. 5:2) God’s flock? (1 Pt. 2:9) If they are, they are his own special, treasured possession. Lost coins don’t find their way back. Lost sheep are far more likely to be devoured than wander back home. So let’s get to searching, with a heart of love, with a mind that has been steeled by God’s powerful promises. Let’s start small, search much, and rejoice even more when God blesses our work.

It’s easy for us to tell ourselves that the searching isn’t necessary. Or that it is someone else’s job. And that’s true. It’s God’s work. But guess who he works through? Us. It’s not my job alone any more than it’s your job alone. So let’s work together and trust in the power of God’s Word. The searching—calling someone to repentance— can be hard work, frustrating, and exhausting. But keep the goal in mind. See the search through the lens of heaven. Angels are ready to rejoice over your work!

It’s easy for us to tell ourselves that we just have to be patient. That is true, too. But let’s not confuse laxity with patience. Laxity is negligence. We must actively seek and say what God says: Come home! Come be with the rest of God’s flock, the rest of his special possession. That’s God’s will.

But where do I start? How about, we start small. Identify one person. Reach out to them. Remind them how much you appreciated spending time with them in God’s house. I really enjoyed worshipping alongside you. It was encouraging to my soul. I miss that. They may think of you as a more spiritual person and be surprised to hear that you benefit from their encouragement. Then ask them if there is anything you can pray for. It’s a small step, sure. But it’s the first step.

Now that you have broached the subject, follow up. You’ve started small. Search their hearts much by listening a lot. Be direct, without being judgmental or confrontational. Ask them why things changed. Their answer will be tremendously helpful. Maybe they’ve been hurt. Perhaps they’re afraid. It could be that there is some issue they’ve been trying to ignore. Listen well. Don’t make excuses for anybody’s sin. It’s wrong if Christians have treated them poorly in the past. It’s wrong if they are using that as an excuse to wander from the Word of God. Show them that God’s mercy and grace are the only answer to our sin. Start small. With a few words. Make them the powerful promises of God. Gathering in God’s house is important because it feeds our souls. Gathering in God’s house connects us to God’s undeserved love. Remind them of all those blessings they once knew well. Remind them of God’s promises. Start small. Taste and see that the Lord is good.

And when they come back, rejoice much. Thank and praise God for his work. Because it is only the grace of God which leads us to be here. And grace will lead us home, where there will be much rejoicing forever. Amen.