Sermon Audio

"This man eats with sinners and tax collectors," His detractors cry. "This man, claiming to be holy, claiming to be sent from God in Heaven, claiming to be the Son of God, eats with the most vile and detestable and unholy lot on earth. How can one so holy deign to dwell among and associate with the unholy? It's unheard of. It's reprehensible. It's sacrilegious."

So, Jesus compares his listeners to shepherds. These detractors, these self-righteous lawyers, these scribes and pharisees are asked, "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?" Jesus compares them to shepherds, once a highly respected position, now looked down upon as the "am-ha-arets," the "people of the land"—the unclean and sinners. Furthermore, the shepherd has lost a sheep...how irresponsible.

On top of that, this shepherd leaves the 99 to find the lost one. He is so irresponsible to lose one and compounds that irresponsibility by leaving the herd to find a single wanderer. Is there such a thing as the needs of the one outweighing the needs of the many?

So, Jesus compares his listeners to a poor woman whose only monetary possession is 10 coins, the wages for 10 days work. "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?" She's so poor, she's got to be an old servant woman, another example of the "am-ha'arets," the people of the land. And she's so careless to have lost a day's wages.

On top of that, this careless woman compounds her carelessness to forget about the other nine day's wages to find the one. Furthermore, when she finds it, she throws a party with her friends, probably spending more than a single day's wages—the amount that was originally lost. Can there be so much joy over the recovery of something so small and insignificant?

Well, is there? Can there be?

Is there such a thing as the needs of the one outweighing the needs of the many? To answer that, let's go to another time when Jesus was "accused" of unlawful association. He called Levi, St. Matthew, the tax collector to follow Him—to be His disciple. Levi invites Him over for dinner, and Jesus goes and eats. The scribes and Pharisees ask, "Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" Jesus replies, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."

So, maybe Jesus was comparing the scribes and Pharisees to the 99 sheep. After all, the shepherd leaves them to go find the one needing to be brought back into the fold. And when the shepherd finds it, he puts it on his shoulders and carries it home where he calls together his friends and neighbors to rejoice with him. He does not return to the pasture, to the other 99 sheep. They are not mentioned again except in this context: "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."

In light of today's Old Testament lesson, it would certainly seem the 99 sheep are representative of the scribes and Pharisees, the self-righteous and unrepentant. There, in Ezekiel 34, God says,

[A]s for you, O My flock, thus says the Lord GOD: "Behold, I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats. Is it too little for you to have eaten up the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pasture—and to have drunk of the clear waters, that you must foul the residue with your feet? And as for My flock, they eat what you have trampled with your feet, and they drink what you have fouled with your feet." Therefore thus says the Lord GOD to them: "Behold, I Myself will judge between the fat and the lean sheep. Because you have pushed with side and shoulder, butted all the weak ones with your horns, and scattered them abroad, therefore I will save My flock, and they shall no longer be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep."

He will judge between sheep and sheep. He will discern between the 99 righteous sheep who need no repentance and the one who does. How? The prophet continues,

I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them—My servant David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and My servant David a prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken.

He will establish His own shepherd over them, One from the line of David, One Who will judge between the 99 and the one, and He will be the God of the one.

Now, it has often been said, and it is true, that there are no 99 people who are just and need no repentance. No, there is not even one. These 99 just people who need no repentance are 99 people who are just in their own sight and see no need in themselves to repent. They are self-righteous. These 99 sheep see no need for the shepherd; they can get along just fine without them. Likewise, 99 self-righteous people see, any self-righteous person sees, no need for the Good Shepherd—for a Savior—they believe they are good enough without Him.

These are not simply scribes and Pharisees. There are myriad people with myriad labels who justify themselves before the face of God, willfully and unwillfully. From among those who outright reject and deny the Savior, and even from among those who call themselves Christians. Even in this assembly, I am bold to say, we each can find and have found one sin or another to justify rather than confess.

But, that one who wanders off, that sinner and tax collector, that member of the "am-ha'arets" who has no righteousness in himself and sees it—to this one does the Good Shepherd run after, and when He finds it, He places it on His shoulders and bears it home. There is an image of burden here, and one which we should not overlook. There is a price that the shepherd pays; the journey to find the lost one is a difficult one. It is costly for the shepherd to put the lost one one his shoulders and bear it home. K. Bailey, in Poet and Peasant, wrote on this subject, "In this theme of the burden of restoration there are clear Christological implications which point in the direction of the passion. The shepherd must carry on his shoulders the burden of the lost sheep, a detail that is specifically mentioned."

What are those Christological implications? Simply this, to accomplish the restoration of the lost, the Good Shepherd, the Son of God, Jesus the Christ, came as man to suffer and die. He bore the burden of the lost on His shoulders as His arms were spread and bound to a wooden beam and nails were driven into His hands and feet. He hung, bleeding and dying, scourged, crowned with thorns, giving His life as a ransom for the lost. And of His last words before death He said, "It is done." It is accomplished. Or, as St. Paul put it, "[W]hile we were still sinners, Christ died for us...when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son." (Romans 5:8b, 10a) We were reconciled to God, restored to a right relationship with God.

No longer is the reconciled one, the restored one an enemy of God. And, "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17) The reconciled one has peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. (cf. Romans 5:1)

Can there be so much joy over the recovery of something so small and insignificant? Absolutely. Straight from the lips of God walking in the flesh we hear, "Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." God in His Son paid a price by bearing the full weight of sin and sins committed. So think of it this way: do you not rejoice when something you invested much time and money in is productive, when it does what it is supposed to do, works like it is supposed to, produces the desired the effect. Likewise, there is much rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents and receives the benefits of the price the Son of God paid: reconciliation and restoration. The difference is that the joy is not because the repentant in repentance somehow becomes worthy of the price paid for his restoration, but in that he has been restored! There is much joy in heaven over one sinner who repents because he has been reconciled and restored.

So, we go back to what Jesus said in Levi's house. "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." Jesus has come as the Good Shepherd to call sinners to repentance. He comes with all mercy and grace, comes to show us our sin and be our Savior, calling for repentance and giving forgiveness.

The joy in what He said in Levi's house is that when He calls sinners to repent, He gives the words with which to repent. Those who are not in self-righteous doubt which denies the need for repentance and a Savior then speak those words. Words such are found in today's Psalm:

Let my cry come near before thee, O LORD: give me understanding according to thy word. Let my supplication come before thee: deliver me according to thy word. My lips shall utter praise, when thou hast taught me thy statutes. My tongue shall speak of thy word: for all thy commandments are righteousness. Let thine hand help me; for I have chosen thy precepts. I have longed for thy salvation, O LORD; and thy law is my delight. Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee; and let thy judgments help me. I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandments.

Or in Psalm 51:

Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your loving-kindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight—That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.

Or in Psalm 86:

Bow down Your ear, O LORD, hear me; For I am poor and needy. Preserve my life, for I am holy; You are my God; Save Your servant who trusts in You! Be merciful to me, O Lord, For I cry to You all day long. Rejoice the soul of Your servant, For to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You. Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; And attend to the voice of my supplications. In the day of my trouble I will call upon You, For You will answer me.

Or as simply as was spoken by the publican—that "am-ha'arets"—in the back of the temple, "God, be merciful to me a sinner." (Luke 18:13)

So, when one speaks those words in repentance, there is much joy in heaven, because there are more words for the repentant. Words not for him to speak, but for him to hear from his called and ordained servant of the word: "I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost." His sins are forgiven then and there as surely and certainly as they are in heaven, and there is much rejoicing in heaven, in the presence of the angels of God, over the forgiveness given this one.

And this rejoicing is not limited to those who call themselves Christians. Even scribes and Pharisees can repent and be absolved—even those who outright reject and deny the Savior, those who persecute Him. Case in point, one man named Saul, who was a Pharisee of highest order and training, who once wrote to a young pastor that which we heard earlier and which you will again sing in a little while,

And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

Saul was converted on the road to Damascus and received forgiveness from God through His servant Ananias, and there was much joy in heaven and rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God. So it is for all who repent and receive the forgiveness of sins.

That joy is also present in the Church Militant. For here, you are gathered by the Spirit of God, where you by God-given repentance confess your sins and receive forgiveness. And we rejoice to hear those words with a joy that culminates as we laud and magnify God's glorious name with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven and take our place at the foretaste of the Feast of the Lamb which has no end. There most certainly is "joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." After all, the highest form of worship is to be in the presence of God to be given to.

So, you are invited. Come, the feast is ready, let us rejoice, because you are forgiven for all of your sins.