Sermons at Immanuel
Return to the Sermons index page
The lost sheep and the lost coin
God's relentless love
Scripture Readings: 1 Timothy 1:12-17
St Paul writes:
12 I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service,
13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,
14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
15 The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners — of whom I am the foremost.
16 But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life.
17 To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. (NRSV)
Luke 15 v 1-10
1 Now all the tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus.
2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’
3 So he told them this parable:
4 ‘Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?
5 When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices.
6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, "Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost."
7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.
8 Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?
9 When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, "Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost."
10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’ (NRSV)
^TOP^
All sinners - great and small!
In our reading from Paul’s first letter to Timothy, Paul produces one of those sentences, in verse 15, which manages to encapsulate a large chunk of the Gospel message in a few words. He says, 'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.' (1 Timothy 1:15)
Now, when Paul uses the word 'sinner' it’s a pretty all-embracing term. It includes himself – as he goes on to say, in the next few words. But it actually includes everybody – as he says elsewhere, in another letter, '…all have sinned and fall short…' (Romans 3:23). None of us may have been, as he describes his former self in v 13, 'a blasphemer, a persecutor and a man of violence', but we can’t claim never to have harboured a selfish thought or uttered an unkind word, and most of us would admit to having done much worse than that.
Turning to our reading from Luke's Gospel, we find Jesus in the company of some sinners. But it is important to realise that, when the word 'sinners' is used in this kind of context in the Gospels it doesn’t have the same all-embracing meaning that it has for Paul.
In Luke 15:1 it says that tax-collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus. The phrase 'tax-collectors and sinners' seems to have been used in the society of Jesus’ day to refer to a group of people who deliberately and knowingly – and in most cases publicly – flouted the Law. The tax-collectors, as many of you will know, under the guise of collecting taxes for the Romans, operated a legalised extortion racket. The 'sinners' were anyone else whose lifestyle led them routinely to break the commandments.
So these tax-collectors and sinners that came to Jesus were what everyone regarded as a particularly bad lot. It was definitely not the done thing to have anything to do with them. It wasn’t even considered appropriate for anyone to approach them to try to get them to change their ways – they were outcast, quite beyond the pale.
We can contrast them with the other group, mentioned in the next verse, the Pharisees and scribes, who were among the most respected members of society. The scribes were the experts in knowing what the Law said, and the Pharisees were meticulous in keeping it. They obviously had a lot in common and seemed to go around together.
Actually, the Pharisees and scribes get a rather bad press in the Gospels, because they always seem to be arguing with Jesus or trying to catch him out. In fact, they were people who were trying very hard to be good. And if they did seem to follow Jesus around it was probably because they found something worth listening to in his teaching, at least at first. They weren’t fundamentally evil people – but they did have a rather limited view of what being good was all about and of what lay behind the Law they were so keen on.
So their complaint was that Jesus, instead of treating these disreputable people as the outcasts they were, welcomed them and indeed ate with them. Sharing a meal with someone was regarded as the ultimate way to show them respect and recognition. In their eyes, no tax-collector or sinner was worthy of that.
^TOP^
Seeking the lost
In response to this attitude, Jesus tells them two parables – in fact three, the third one being the parable we usually call the Prodigal Son, which comes next in Luke’s Gospel, after our reading. For some reason the compilers of our lectionary, the readings we have, decided that parable would be looked at some other time – so today we have just the first two, the parable of the lost sheep and the parable of the lost coin. And there’s enough to keep us occupied today just with those two!
So Jesus gives them this picture of a shepherd who finds he has only 99 sheep when he should have 100, and sets out to find the one that’s missing. Then he gives them another picture of a woman who finds she has only 9 coins when she should have 10 – and she sets about looking for the 10th. And Jesus implies they don’t stop looking until they find them. The phrase comes, 'until he finds it' in v 4, and again, 'until she finds it' in v 8. It’s a relentless search – no question of giving up after a reasonable time. 'Cut your losses!', someone might say. 'Time is money!' Keep going for an hour or two, but if the search takes days or weeks it’s just not worth while. But no. This shepherd, and this woman, are determined.
Obviously, the sheep and the coin would have been valuable. The silver coin referred to would have been worth about a day’s wage, so it was more like losing a £50 note than a 5p piece. But, even so, I think the story Jesus tells about them is a bit over the top. However valuable they were, you’d give up eventually. And would you really call all your friends and have a party when you found your sheep, or your coin, as Jesus says they do? And look what Jesus says about the 99 sheep – while the shepherd looked for no. 100 the rest were left, it says, 'in the wilderness'. Not put safely in the sheepfold, but left to roam in a desolate place. The chances are, when he came back with one sheep he’d find two or three more missing! But, despite that risk, so urgent is his desire to find the lost one that he doesn’t waste time taking the others safely home first.
^TOP^
Jesus is here for the sinners
Jesus, I think, is deliberately exaggerating what would happen – to make a point about his relentless desire to save sinners. Just like the shepherd’s joy at finding the sheep, and the woman’s joy at finding her coin, there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents – more joy, he adds in the first story, than there is over 99 righteous people who didn’t need to repent. That last bit must have been a dig at the Pharisees and scribes who would probably have regarded themselves as not needing to repent.
Jesus’ point really is that he is there for the sinners – not the Pharisees and scribes or anyone else who feel they have no real need of him. And he is there to get them back – to rescue them, to bring them to the point of repentance. As I was saying at the beginning, in St Paul’s words, Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Here is Jesus saying he will go to any lengths to do it – even for people, like the ones who were trying to listen to him, the outcasts, the ones everyone else regarded as beyond the pale, beyond redemption.
What Jesus is doing here is illustrating the tremendous love that God has for us – even for the very worst of us. Jesus loved those tax-collectors and sinners – those outcasts from society – and he wanted them back. He was glad to have them around him. Paul found himself in much the same position as these outcasts – surprisingly so, as he actually started off as a Pharisee! But after recalling in his letter to Timothy, as we read just now, how he was a blasphemer, a persecutor and a man of violence he says 'I received mercy, and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.' (1 Timothy 1:13-14)
^TOP^
Jesus wants you and me!
Paul, as most of you will know, was originally a persecutor of the early Christians – and he did it with vigour and violence! But even somebody like him was not beyond the love and grace of Jesus. Jesus loves and wants all of us – those that are bad – and those that are not so bad. He even wants those who think they’re quite good. After all, when Paul persecuted the church he actually thought he was doing the right thing.
And, of course, Jesus wants you and me. And although we often say that sort of thing when we want to get the message over that Jesus has a calling for us, a job for us, an opportunity for service, that’s not what Jesus is on about here.
^TOP^
Repentance
Because what Jesus talks about isn’t sinners who come and offer to be missionaries, or become PCC members, or help with the tea rota. That may come later, but what he says is that there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents!
I’m sure I’ve said this before, but it is probably worth saying again, that when the Bible uses the word 'repent' it doesn’t mean just saying sorry for our sins. It means a complete change of heart and mind. In this context it means a complete realignment of our thinking to let God be the controlling influence in our lives instead of whatever else was before. It’s about wanting to please God rather than pleasing ourselves. It’s not about actually doing anything so much as being with God and enjoying, and responding to, his love. God may want you to do something, but first and foremost he wants you for you – just to know you want to be with him.
So, the first message that I want to draw out from today’s readings is that God, that Jesus, actually wants you! And me! I find that can sometimes be a very encouraging and inspiring thought – no matter what goes wrong, no matter how badly we think we are doing, God wants us! You know, I’ve even written that on a post-it note and stuck it on the marker I use in the prayer book I use for daily prayer. God actually wants me! And it’s not something I’ve just done – that post-it note has been there a while – to encourage me when I begin to wonder if it’s all worth while, when I feel a bit like the lost sheep or the lost coin – and want to be found again.
^TOP^
Jesus wants everyone!
But, of course, it isn’t only me that Jesus wants, and it isn’t only you. He wants the people passing by outside, the people going round Sainsbury’s store next door, the people out on the Common across the road. He wants everyone – from all walks of life and all parts of the world. He wants even those whom we would think were a bit beyond the pale – people we would think are a bit like the tax-collectors and sinners of Jesus’ day. Who might they be? I’m sure you can think of some of them – perhaps drug addicts, illegal immigrants, people involved in gang culture.
How might Jesus reach them? Perhaps we – the church have a role – indeed, I’m sure we do! See if you can think of ways that we might make the church more welcoming to all those whom Jesus wants. And spend some time reflecting on the fact that Jesus does actually want you – that you are one of the objects of his relentless love. Think about it – and pray about it, if only to say thank you to God.
Then, finally, back to what I said just now. It’s one thing to reflect on the fact that God loves us and wants us – how do we make that love real for others? Spend some further time reflecting on we might make the church more welcoming, more attractive, to all those whom Jesus wants. And, if you come up with an idea – however vague or seemingly trivial – share it with someone.
This sermon was given at Holy Communion on 16th September 2007 - the 15th Sunday after Trinity. © Copyright David Gray 2007.
Return to the Sermons index page
Links to the main pages are at the TOP of the page.
Page last updated 25 October 2007.
This page has been labelled to indicate its suitability for viewing by young children. For further information visit the
Internet Content Rating Association (ICRA) website.
This page
has been checked for the validity of the HTML code with the
World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) HTML Validation Service.
The style sheet associated with this page
has been checked for the validity of the CSS with the
World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) CSS Validator.
Page design by David Gray 2007
© Copyright David Gray and PCC of Immanuel and
St. Andrew Streatham 2002. Photographs copyright David Gray 2002/7 except where otherwise stated.
^TOP^
