October 5-7, 2019 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Luke 15:1-10 WELCOME HOME!

PENTECOST 17/WELCOME HOME

October 5-7, 2019

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Luke 15:1-10

WELCOME HOME!

AN EFFORT TO FOLLOW JESUS…

1.     In caring about the lost.

2.     In seeking the lost.

3.     In rejoicing over the found.

Luke 15:1-10 “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. ² But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” ³ Then Jesus told them this parable: ⁴ “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? ⁵ And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶ and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 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. ⁸ “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?⁹ And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ ¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”



          Last weekend we had a wonderful hymnfest service prepared by Pastor Waldschmidt that helped us observe the Church year Festival of St. Michael and All Angels Sunday. With hymns and the word of God he reminded us of so many of the things God has angels doing. I couldn’t help but notice that he didn’t answer all the questions we might have about angels like, “How many angels can fit on the head of a pin?” “Or how do angels greet each other?” You know that one, right? No? How do angels greet each other? With a “Halo!” Okay, bad joke. I also don’t remember him telling us what makes angels happy. And that’s OK because the Word of God you just heard told you, didn’t it? What makes angels happy? Why do they rejoice? When the lost are found. When sinners repent. Today we begin an emphasis throughout our synod to welcome home brothers and sisters who have strayed from a weekly worship pattern, maybe haven’t had the blessing of Lord’s Supper, the announcement of forgiveness for their sins and the Lord’s Blessing for a year or more. It’s important that we do so with the right spirit. With a spirit that follows Christ. That’s what our Welcome Home effort really is: an effort to help us follow Christ by caring about what He cares about, by doing something about it and by finding joy where he finds joy. And we don’t have to guess the answers to any of the questions. They were answered by Him in His word.

          What Jesus cares about is the lost. “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. ² But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” There are three very different players in this part of God’s word. First there are the tax collectors and sinners. It’s important to acknowledge that the people in this group had done wrong and they knew it. The tax collectors used their position to regularly steal from their own people. The “sinners” mostly likely refers to women who had turned to prostitution, probably out of desperation to feed children when they lost their husbands. No matter what the reason though, sin is sin. And these people knew they had sinned because others in their society let them know. Hopefully some let them know out of love so they would repent. They were excluded from their churches and since God’s word always works I have to believe not every Jewish synagogue was bad. Some followed the intent of God’s commands. But not everyone. That brings us to the next group. The Pharisees and teachers of the law. They were upset that Jesus was hanging around people who they didn’t want back. If the Pharisees and teachers of the law had simply told the tax collectors and sinners that what they were doing was wrong they would have been at least partially right. But what they told them was what they were doing could not be forgiven. There was no coming back. The lost were just plain lost. And that takes us to Jesus. Why was He hanging around these people? Let’s let Him tell us again.

          Then Jesus told them this parable: ⁴ “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? ⁵ And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶ and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 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. ⁸ “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?⁹ And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ ¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

          Some parables you have to work to figure out. These are easy. When you lose something precious to you, you want it back. You try to get it back. You are happy when you get it back. It doesn’t mean you don’t care about the 99 sheep who weren’t lost. The shepherd didn’t leave them hanging. He left them in a safe spot. The woman didn’t leave the other nine silver coins out to be stolen. Both shepherd and woman were happy to have them. It’s just that they ached for what they lost. The message is clear. Jesus cares about the lost. He cares for every soul. He is so glad when believers are with Him and following Him. And at the same time his heart aches for those believers who have slipped away from Him.

          Follow Jesus. Welcome Home. Those phrases remind us to work to care like He does for the lost, those of the family of faith of have strayed from Him. Honesty is needed. It’s easier to care about things that don’t really matter. There was likely more caring done about the Brewers’ loss Tuesday night than about people we know who have left the Lord. More angst. More disappointment. So repentance is needed. Lord, don’t let us become the Pharisees and teachers of the law. Don’t let us get to the point we don’t want the lost back. Do help us change our priorities. Do help us keep the things of this life that provide momentary escape and distraction like sports in their proper place and help us care more about people.

          Do help us seek the lost. Jesus did some things only Jesus could do. Only Jesus could live a life of perfect righteousness to cover over the imperfect lives of the lost and the found. Only Jesus could take the full punishment for sin so the lost and found can be free. We can’t do that. But Jesus did some things we can do also as we follow Him. He modeled caring for all people. He assured people that God loved them and forgave them. He said the same to crowds and to individuals. He prayed for people. Welcome Home. Follow Jesus. Those phrases remind us to work to seek the lost like He did. There are many different ways. You will need to figure out what is appropriate for you. Will you pray? Is it time to have the conversation you have been avoiding? If you have been having the conversation too often so that they shut you off is it time to look for someone in their life who might be the better seeker than you? None of us can do everything. All of us can do something as we follow Jesus.

          And then we can rejoice like Jesus. Do you really think there are 99 who don’t need to repent? We all need to. And Jesus loves it when we do. The angels love it. They rejoice. They are happy.  And so are we. The Pharisees and teachers of the law didn’t want to let repentant sinners back in. In the reading from Corinthians it’s clear those believers struggled to let a sorrowful sinner back. May the Lord prevent that from happening among us. Instead no matter what the sin our family members, our church family members, have done let’s always be happy when they repent to say, “Welcome Home!”

We have three weeks to go before our Welcome Home weekend. Let’s all make an effort to follow Jesus in caring, seeking and rejoicing. May the Lord help us get back as many as we can so that the heavens are filled with a joy filled Jesus, rejoicing angels and some day a whole bunch of Jacobians. Amen.