Sept. 15, 2013, 17th Sunday After Pentecost

Luke 15:1-10

1 Now the tax collectors and "sinners" were all gathering around to hear him. 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. Does he not 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.' 7I 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[a] and loses one. Does she not 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."

“God Of The Lost”

We who are religious like to see repentance first, then God will forgive.

Is it not the other way around?
God forgives - or offers love and forgiveness to the lost - to help them repent.

God is open to the lost and rejoices on their being found.  It is in the process of the celebration that repentance takes place.  It is done because I have been found, when I didn’t think anyone, certainly not God, would want me.

What a joy to be found and loved before I could do anything about it.  To have a party thrown for me before I could even mumble my repentance.

To be saved is to trust that God loves me enough that I dare get lost again, for He will surely find me!  It is risky living - as only love enables life to be.


“Be Lost - Be Found”

The heart of the Gospel is in Luke 15.

These two parables are about how it is with God and how God is with us.
Problem is: we have to be lost to see it.  And we don’t want to admit our lostness.

We are more interested in having our religion keep us from ever thinking we are lost than we are in having it help us be found when we are lost.  We are afraid of that much grace!

And we miss the joy of being found; the joy of living each day knowing that we are loved by a God who will not let us go,  will not stop looking for us when we are lost,  and who rejoices with us when we are found.