5. “There are no strangers, only friends we haven’t met yet.” My old church had a slogan: “There are no strangers, only friends we haven’t met yet.” Now you might expect me to make fun of it. My generation has a curious habit of doing that, after all. But I actually like it. I think that if more of us treated strangers like friends we haven’t met yet, we’d see people behaving a lot more decently to each other, and a lot more peace and harmony. I think you’ll agree we need that. You just have to be prepared for the fact that not every stranger is a friend you haven’t met yet. 4. Unbelievers aren’t believers we haven’t met yet. Many churches seem to think that unbelievers are believers they haven’t met yet. They think that the only reason the unchurched are unchurched is because they haven’t found the church that “meets their needs.” “If you build it, they will come,” they think. They think that, if they find that one quick fix, be it a program or a worship style, or whatever, the unchurched will be lined up out their front door for blocks! That may have been true years ago, but not now. Quick fixes may have seemed to work in the past, but they aren’t working now. Just about every type of program and gimmick has been tried, but the unchurched are still unchurched. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink, the old saying goes. Furthermore, the unchurched are content to remain unchurched. The lost are content to remain lost. Unbelievers aren’t believers we haven’t met yet. 3. Saving the lost is harder than we think it is. Our Lord tells 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 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 in heaven over one sinner who repents.” From these words of Christ, you get the idea about His passion for seeking and saving the lost. We try to live out that passion, only to find it hard. People today seem to be doing just fine without Christ or His Church. Besides, how are they supposed to cram church into their already busy schedules? And the Master says that there is rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents, but sinners don’t want to repent. People don’t want to be told they’re sinners or that they need to repent. It might hurt their self-esteem. What? Did you think this would be easy? Saving the lost is harder than we thought it would be. It’s so hard that some churches seem to have given up on it entirely. So what’s to be done? Well, the first step might be the hardest one of all: We have to admit that we, ourselves, are lost. It’s not like they’re the “lost” and we’re the “found.” It’s not like they’re the “sinners” and we’re the righteous who have no need of repentance. When we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean, we should say it like we mean it. We’re just as much a bunch of fallen sinners as our unchurched friends and neighbors! Furthermore, the Greek word for “lost” doesn’t just mean “misplaced.” It means “in mortal danger” and “might just as well be dead.” And we are dead. All humanity, churched and unchurched alike, is dead in trespasses and sins. Actually admitting that might help our image problem. People complain that the church is full of hypocrites. What could be more real – and therefore less hypocritical – than confessing that we’re just as much a bunch of sinners as those who don’t go to church, and just as much in need of God’s forgiveness? If they really get to know us, they’ll find that out anyway, so let’s just be honest about it. It isn’t a quick fix. It probably won’t pack our pews. And it won’t be easy. Christ never said it would be. 2. Saving the lost was the hardest thing Jesus ever did. Our working definition of a parable is: “an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.” Well it has its limits. Right about in today’s Gospel reading, we begin to see how totally different heaven is from earth. As our Lord told His parable, some of His listeners might have asked each other, “Would you really leave ninety-nine sheep in the open country to search again for one lost one? I don’t think I would.” You wouldn’t. I wouldn’t. But Jesus would. He would leave the ninety-nine to save the one. He would leave His throne in heaven to save one lost sinner. Saving the lost isn’t easy. It’s the hardest thing our Lord ever did. But Jesus isn’t about doing the easy thing. He’s about seeking and saving lost sinners, even though it cost Him His life. He’s about saving people who are dead in their sins by bringing them through death to life through Holy Baptism, just as He rose from the dead on Easter Sunday. And He continues to come and seek us in His Means of Grace. Every time we get lost; every time we sin – and we do every day – He comes to seek us out and forgive us. That’s the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That what makes believers out of unbelievers. And it need s our gimmicks and quick fixes like prime rib needs ketchup. 1. And there was much rejoicing. And to end both the Teacher’s parables, I might borrow a phrase from Monty Python: “And there was much rejoicing.” But our Lord is absolutely serious when He concludes His parables saying that there is rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents. So why isn’t there rejoicing on earth? The next parable Jesus told answered that question: the Parable of the Prodigal Son. Like the older brother, the Pharisees thought the party should be for them: the “righteous who don’t need repentance.” But what they didn’t know was that they needed repentance. We all do. We get lost every day. The Savior finds us. There is rejoicing in heaven. It’s an ongoing process, until the Lord comes again, sin is no more, and the rejoicing is eternal. And as Lutheran Bible commentator Paul Kretzmann said, the sneer of the Pharisees: “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them” becomes our song of joy: “Jesus sinners will receive.” + In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. + - Ward I. Yunker, Pastor
Posted on: Mon, 16 Sep 2013 13:36:46 +0000
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