As members of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, we take doctrine seriously. We do not demean the Word of God by treating it like a self-help manual. We do not degrade the Word of God by trying to dismiss the teachings that conflict with our culture. We do not debase the Word of God by offering to agree to disagree with a heretic. We figure if God took the time to say it, we should take the time to listen to it, live by it, and defend it. We are serious about the Word of God.
But we ought never confuse serious with somber. Our German heritage may compel us to be more modest and moderate in our expressions, we may be more conservative and controlled in our venerations, and we may be more refined and reserved in our adorations. But we ought not act like the Word of God, these doctrines that we are so serious about, makes us sad. We must remember the reason we are so serious about doctrine is because it gives us a “peace that transcends all understanding”[1], it fills us with a “living hope”[2], and it offers us an “everlasting joy”[3].
Today, It is my intention to focus on that everlasting joy so that you might avoid slipping from serious into somber. In our gospel lesson from Luke 15:1-10 our savior Jesus says to you and to me, “Rejoice with me!”.
In our gospel lesson for today we have two of the three lost and found parables that Jesus told. The parable that is not presented today is the familiar parable of the lost or prodigal son. Today we are going to focus our attention on the lesser known but, I hope you will soon agree, equally awesome parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin.
Jesus tells all three of these parables in response to a group of Pharisees and teachers of the law who were muttering about Jesus eating with “1 tax collectors and sinners” (think drug dealers, prostitutes, and that guy from overseas who keeps calling your grandmother about malware on her computer). No one had slipped farther from serious into somber than the Pharisees and teachers of the law. These guys were strict adherents to the laws of the Old Testament and to numerous additional traditions they had established. I can’t think of a single passage in all of scripture that depicts a Pharisee having fun or a teacher of the law enjoying …anything. These guys knew the law but were apparently ignorant of the gospel. That is why when Jesus sat down to eat with the “tax collectors and sinners” “the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” These sad somber sacks clearly had no love for the lost. The only thing they seem to love is the law.
Jesus loves the law, but He also loves the lost. Which is why He said to the Pharisees and teachers of the law, “4 Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?” Jesus invited the Pharisees and teachers of the law to imagine that they were shepherds, something that they would rather not be since shepherds were considered unclean and not someone they would typically associate with; not quite as bad as a tax collector or sinner but still, as far as the Pharisee and teachers of the law were concerned, gross. But at least the shepherd in the story, who owns 100 sheep, seems to be moderately wealthy. That such a shepherd would set out into the wilderness to look for one lost sheep would seem unusual to the Pharisees and teachers of the law. Why, when he still had 99 other sheep, would he risk life and limb to go looking for one sheep. Better to cut his losses than put himself in harm’s way, at least that is what the Pharisees and teachers of the law would reason.
When you hear Jesus talking about a shepherd who leaves the safety of his home to set out into a hostile wilderness, don’t you immediately think of Jesus leaving the safety of His heavenly home to set out for the hostile wilderness that is the earth? I imagine the conversation between God the Father and God the Son going something like this. “Father, the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve; our beloved creation have become lost in sin, I must set out to find them.” “Son, are you sure that is what you want to do? The earth is becoming an increasingly hostile place.” “Father, I must set out.” “Son, there are not just lost sheep there, there are wolves there.” “Father, I must set out.” “Son, those wolves will tear the flesh from your back and pierce your skin.” “Father, I must set out.” “Son, they are going to kill you.” “Father, I must set out.” “Why, why my Son, why must you set out?” “Because you love them Father, because I and the Holy Spirit love them, because We love them that is why I must set out.” I don’t think the Pharisees and teachers of the law understood why a shepherd or the Son would set out to find the lost, but you who have come to know the God who so loved the world understand.
Before we finish the story of the lost sheep, let’s jump to the second story Jesus tells the Pharisees and teachers of the law. There we see a woman carefully searching her home for a lost coin. Jesus says, “8 Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?” In such a male dominate society as theirs (and frankly also ours) I do not think it a coincidence that Jesus makes a woman the lead actor in His second story. In the eyes of the Pharisees and teachers of the law, she would have had a lower status than even the shepherd. Again, not as bad as a tax collector or sinner but still they would have thought her to be beneath them. But at least this lowly woman in the story seems has an admirable quality; she is diligent. The value of the coin the woman lost would be equal to a modest day’s wage. In Georgia it would be worth about $60. It is not a fortune, but considering it represents 10% of the woman’s wealth, it was valuable to her and was certainly worth looking for. But this woman did not just look for the lost coin, she tore her house apart to find it. She diligently used all her resources and expended all her energy to search for her lost coin.
When you hear Jesus talking about a woman who diligently uses all her resources and expends all her energy to search for something she lost, don’t you immediately think of Jesus diligently using His resources and expending his energy to search for the lost? I think of the time Jesus spent going from town-to-town house-to-house person-to-person teaching, preaching, and performing miracles. I can’t help but hear Jesus inviting the weary and heavy laden to “come to me”[4]. I hear Him begging an entire city to be gathered “as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings”.[5] I hear Him comforting a wee little man like Zacchaeus by assuring him that “the Son of man came to seek and to save what was lost”.[6] For three years, from sun-up to sun-down Jesus used His resources and spent His energy searching for the lost. But also, I can’t help but noticing that even after His three years had come to an end, Jesus has not stop searching for the lost. Jesus is still using His resources and energy to seek the lost. He employs the Holy Spirit to shine the light of the Gospel from a font full of water, from an altar where His body and blood are distributed, and from a pulpit that proclaims the Words of everlasting life. Jesus is still using His resources and energy to seek not only the lost but also the occasionally misplaced like me and you.
It is comforting to think of Jesus selflessly setting out like a shepherd or diligently seeking like a woman. Especially when we learn in Jesus’ story that both the shepherd and the woman found what they were looking for. And having found what they were looking for, the shepherd and the woman have the same response. He calls his friends and neighbors together and she calls her friends and neighbors together and they both say, “‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep”, “…I have found my lost coin.” No doubt to the Pharisees and teachers of the law the celebration seems kind of silly. In their eyes the cost of the celebration would far exceed the value of that which was lost. But not to the shepherd who so loved his sheep that he was willing to leave the safety of his home and set out into the hostile wilderness to find his lost sheep and not to the woman who valued her coin so much that she was willing to use all her resources and expend all her energies to find it. To both the shepherd and the woman who had found what was once lost, celebrating seemed like the obvious thing to do.
After Jesus tells us about the celebration over the lost being found, He tells us exactly what to think. Jesus concludes the story of the lost sheep by saying, “7 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.” And He concludes the story of the lost coin by saying, “10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” When you who are loved by the Son were found, the great multitude who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, rejoiced. When you who are precious to the Son were found, the ten thousand times ten thousand mighty ones who do His bidding, rejoiced. When you who were lost in sin were found by your Savior, all the heavenly hosts rejoiced.
Since your salvation was the cause of such a celebration in heaven, doesn’t it make sense that you who once were lost but now are found would do a little rejoicing of your own? You can express your joy here in worship. You can let laughter rumble from your belly and praise leap from your lips, my friends if you are so inclined you could even lift up holy hands in prayer to the Lord, saint Paul says it o.k. Don’t worry about expressing a little joy in worship, you are not going to turn into a crazy charismatic and start flopping around on the floor. You start treating worship like a celebration and you might get a couple of old crusty Lutherans looking at you kind of funny, but just tell them you are starting to understand what king David meant when he said “I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the LORD.””[7]
Worship is an easy place for those who once were lost but now are found to express their joy. Singing hymns and praying prayers is a great way to express your joy but it does not have to be the only way you express your joy. You see, the world is full of people who are lost. Some of them have wandered from the fold, others are still in the house but are at the moment temporarily misplaced. If you want to express your joy you can do what the shepherd in Jesus’ story did, you can love the lost enough to leave your comfort zone and set out to find them where they are at. If you want to express your joy, you can do what the woman in Jesus’ story did, you can value the lost so much that you are willing to use the resources available to you and expend your energies to seek them out. If you who once were lost but now are found want to express your joy, you can do for the lost what Jesus has already done for you.
As members of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, we take our doctrine seriously, but we are not somber. Far from it, we are full of joy because we have a Savior who set out to find us when we were lost and still seeks us when we become temporarily misplaced. We join the celebration of the saints and angels because, much to the chagrin of the Pharisees and teachers of the law, we have a Savior who loves the lost. Alleluia! Amen.
[1] Philippians 4:7
[2] 1 Peter 1:3
[3] Isaiah 35:10
[4] Matthew 11:28
[5] Luke 13:34
[6] Luke 19:9
[7] Psalm 122:1