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INJ
St Luke 15:1-10
'This Man Receives Sinners and Eats with Them'
Divine Service | Confirmation Sunday
3rd Sunday after Trinity Sunday | June 24, 2007
Dear Ron, Lena, Lindsey, Our Catechumens, Dear Saints of God,
The Pharisees are all worked up about Jesus. “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.” Your not supposed to do that if your a Pharisee, if you are holy. That Pharisees were hell-bent on making sure that everyone thought they were holy, perfect, outstanding. They avoid sinners, keep clear, make sure that you're not associated with them. So the Pharisees were give Jesus a great insult when that say of Him, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.”
But how marvelous for us that this greatest of insults it for us the greatest Gospel, a wonderful passage of comfort. Jesus is not like the Pharisees, He's not interested in staying pure and holy. He doesn't try to keep clear of sinners, of sin and death and all the dirty filth that surrounds us, and that's in us.
The insult of the Pharisees is Jesus' reason, it's what He's doing down here on earth. “For the Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost.” [Luke 19:10] So Jesus tells the parables of the 'Lost Sheep' and the 'Lost Coin', or better we could name them the parables of the 'Found Sheep' and the 'Found Coin', or even better yet, the parables of the 'Seeking and Finding Shepherd' and the 'Seeking and Finding Woman'.
For while these parables teach us how we are, that we are lost and helpless, they teach us more than that, that we have a Savior, One who comes after us.
"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.' Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”
"Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.' Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents." [Luke 15:4-10]
It's dirty business going after a lost sheep, trudging off through the wilderness, thrashing through the thorns and fighting off the wolves. You all have seen the old painting of the shepherd dangling over the edge of the cliff, reaching down to grab the sheep. That's your Jesus. He comes after you. He is your Savior.
And it's dirty business going after a lost coin, your down in the dirt, in the dust, scrubbing and sweeping and getting covered in dirt to find that coin. That's your Jesus. He is your Savior. He has sought you and found you and He is not ashamed to name you as His brother and sister and friend.
“This man receives sinners and eats with them,” with us; He's not afraid to get His hands dirty. He pulls His chair up to our table and says, “Take and eat; take and drink.” In His eating with us He gives Himself up for us; He gives Himself to us.
And Jesus, our Jesus, doesn't just eat with sinners, sit with them, dine with them (I should say with us), He becomes a sinner. “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” [2 Corinthians 5:16] The Shepherd becomes the Sheep, the holy Lamb of God, who is devoured by the wolf and sacrificed on the altar of our guilt and shame.
This receiving sinners and eating with then and seeking and saving them, all this is what puts Jesus on the cross. That is where He finds you and rescues you and delivers you and has you as His own.
And over this Jesus and the angels and all the company rejoice. “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” Joy in heaven. Perfect joy. Eternal joy. Choirs of angels singing their Te Deum's and Praise God's when we sinners know our sins and then when we know Jesus' love for us; when we are found by Him.
There is no joy for the Pharisees, their too busy polishing their own self image ad their own self-righteousness. But not Jesus. He is busy making and calling and declaring us righteous, to the glory of God the Father and to the joy of the angels in heaven.
May the Lord grant us this joy as well as we rejoice in being found by Jesus. Especially Ron, Lena, and Lindsey, may this joy be yours, for today is your confirmation day, the day you come to the Lord's Table.
You have learned the catechism, the Lord's teaching. The six chief parts. You know the Ten Commandments, that the Lord commands that we love Him and our neighbor, and you know that you have not kept these commandments. You know the Creeds of the ancient church, it confession of the faith taught by the apostles, that the Father is your Creator, the Son is your Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit is your Sanctifier, the One who makes you holy by the forgiveness of all of you sins. You know the Lord's Prayer, the words to the Father put on your lips in your baptism when God called you to be His son, and His daughters. You know about Confession and Absolution, the two parts of repentance, that we have sorrow over our sins and, most importantly, that we trust the Lord's promise, that He has put away our sins, forgiven them. And last of all you have learned of the Sacrament of the Altar, that the Lord here gives you His very own body and blood for the forgiveness of all of your sins.
Soon you will join your mouths to all the Lord's people in confessing this faith, and then in joining us in the communion of the Lord's church. And soon, it will be my great honor and privilege to welcome to the Lord's Table. It's yours now, this marvelous gift of the Lord's Supper, His body and blood on your lips for your forgiveness.
May the Lord grant to you, and to all of us, that we would remain in this true faith until He returns, or calls us to Himself in heaven. Amen.
And the peace of God which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller
Hope Lutheran Church | Aurora, CO