14th Sunday after Pentecost - Sermon and Video of Divine Service

Video of Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer

14^th Sunday after Pentecost 

Ezekiel 34:11-24      

1 Timothy 1:5-17      

Luke 15:1-10

O Lord, your Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen. 

One of the pleasures of following the three-year lectionary like we do is that in the long season of Pentecost we get to march sequentially through the gospels. While we receive what Jesus says as addressed to us personally each time he speaks, we are told by the narrator that Jesus is actually addressing the concerns or the false doctrines of a particular individual or group. Jesus does not have just one message that he repeats over and over again. He has lots of messages that ultimately lead us into faith in Him as our Savior who takes up the cross for us. 

For example, the last two Sundays we were in chapter 14. While at the home of a leader of the Pharisees, Jesus tells three parables. The Parable of the Wedding Feast is addressed to the pride of the guests. The Parable of the Great Banquet is for the benefit of the man who invited him. The third Parable is for the benefit of everyone in the house to expand their theological imagination regarding who and what kind of people are going to be seated at God’s banquet table in the coming kingdom. At some point later, great crowds are following Jesus, he provides a teaching on discipleship that warns them that he is not a spectacle or an entertainer. He is here to be a sacrifice. Following Jesus means you may be called to be sacrificed for God’s purposes too. You can bet that took the jocularity out of the air

In chapter 15, Jesus is speaking to a specific group of men. Yet, his words are intended for all to hear, especially those drawn to the Good News that Jesus is projecting. The three parables of Luke 15, the Parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Prodigal Son are addressed to the grumbling Pharisees and scribes specifically because they have long since lost the grand vision that God provides in the Old Testament about how earnestly the Lord our God desires that all people have faith in Him. 

The Pharisees and scribes wrongly believe that God is only interested in those who have made themselves presentable and holy to God through their own best efforts at keeping the demands of the law and being obedient to the letter of those laws. In their minds, their holiness is a sweet fragrance unto God because of all that they do and do not do. They do not betray their country or their faith by working as tax collectors for the Romans. They are not sinners. For they do not steal. They do not fornicate. They do not sell the use of their bodies like prostitutes do. They keep the Sabbath rigorously. They only walk as far as legally required to get to Synagogue or Temple. They do no work on that day. If work needs to be done, that’s what gentiles are for. They are holy. They know their Bible and they attend to the teachings of their spiritual fathers. They keep the commandments and more.

The Pharisees and scribes’ false perception of what God desires allows them to look down upon the lost, the compromised, and the desperate. And, because Rabbi Jesus does not keep a solid barrier up and keeps associating with, talking to, sitting with, eating with, and occasionally evening touching, tax collectors and sinners; In other words, Jesus keeps getting way too close to the lost, the compromised, and the desperate. Despite Jesus’ brilliant intellectual acumen, unique riveting teaching and preaching style, and these spectacular miracles that he does nearly every day, even, inconveniently, on the Sabbath; despite all of that, the Pharisees and scribes, look down their nose on Jesus too. 

Despite the attitude, Jesus reminds them that the Father desires all of his people be gathered into one flock. He wants those who have strayed away to return. The prophet Ezekiel tells those who are in exile in Babylon that the Lord has not forgotten them, he desires to bring them home to Him. For those whose faith have been beaten down by the rigor of being captured, transported to Gentile territory of modern day Iraq, and living as slaves, the Lord seeks them out too. He desires to return them to the fold through their repentance and the renewal of their faith.

The Lord says through the prophet Ezekiel unto His people: “Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries and will bring them into their own land.”

The Lord seeks out the compromised, the lost, and the desperate. God wants to restore those who have lost their way and those who have lost their faith He leads them into repentance. He brings them to himself. 

Let us not forget that God’s covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as well as the covenant established through Moses is intended to serve as a witness to the world of God’s presence. Let us not forget that Jonah was sent to Ninevah in northern Iraq to preach God’s judgment so that the people would turn from their false gods to the true Lord God. For God desires that of all that spring from the image of God in which Adam and Eve are created, should return to Him and be found in His flock. 

The Lord goes to extraordinary lengths to seek out the lost, the compromised, and the desperate, so that they may be returned to Him. In the Parable of the Lost Sheep, the shepherd risks the safety and wellbeing of the rest of his flock by pursuing the sheep that was lost. The shepherd places the weak lamb on his shoulder and carries him back to the others. In the Parable of the Lost Coin the woman turns the whole house upside down. That coin is precious. She seeks it out with vigor. Yes, there is rejoicing that the lost are found! So, when the compromised, the lost, and the desperate sinner repents, there is joy in heaven. That which was lost is found. They are returned to the Lord’s keeping. 

The Pharisees and the scribes do not know it yet, but they too are lost. Their faith is in themselves, not in God. Nor do they yet understand that the one who fascinates and irritates them so, is the one who is sent to rescue them from their pride. For the Lord seeks out the proud, for they are compromised too in a way they do not see. Jesus takes up his cross for all of us who are compromised, lost, and desperate sinners. His blood is spilled for our sakes. His blood covers our sins. Through faith, we receive his forgiveness and peace. 

Jesus restores us, brings us into his flock, and feeds us with his promises of salvation, forgiveness, abiding presence, and an everlasting home with Him. 

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.