January 13, 2019
Hope Lutheran Church
Rev. Mary Erickson
Luke 15:1-10; 1 Timothy 1:12-15
Lost and Found
Friends, may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and Christ Jesus our Lord.
“Just so I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance.”
Perhaps the greatest novel ever written is Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. The book was the inspiration for the Broadway musical Les Mis.
The novel tells the story of Jean Valjean. The story begins in the early 1800’s in France. Valjean has spent 19 years in prison. He went to jail because he had stolen a loaf of bread for his sister, who was starving. He’s finally out of jail, but his passport marks him as an ex-convict. No one will help him. He comes to the home of a kindly bishop. The bishop feeds Valjean. When he leaves, Valjean steals the bishop’s silverware. The police capture Valjean and take him back to the bishop’s house. But the bishop says, “I’m so glad you’re back. You forgot to take the candlesticks, too!”
The police have no recourse but to release Valjean. Eventually, he forms a new and successful life under an assumed name. He’s a well-respected village mayor and a successful businessman. He’s also a kind-hearted and compassionate man.
But a certain police officer, Inspector Javert, doggedly seeks out Valjean. Throughout the epic, Javert hunts after Valjean in order to bring him to justice.
Never mind that Valjean has paid his dues. Never mind that he’s been thoroughly reformed. Justice must be served. To Javert, Valjean is simply a corrupt man. He must not be allowed to live among respected society.
There’s a great divide between the mercies Valjean practices and the cold execution of justice pursued by Javert. In the end, Javert recognizes that Valjean is a better man than he. But he can’t reconcile it with his obsessive need for rightness.
The story resonates in every day and age. Mercy reforms more perfectly than punishment.
Today Jesus faces the criticism of some individuals who are as dogged in their pursuit of righteousness as Inspector Javert. The Pharisees and scribes see themselves as self-appointed religious police in society.
In their world view, there is a holy order that must be maintained. Wicked, sinful people must not comingle with the righteous. They’ve had their eyes on Jesus. They’ve been monitoring his ministry. As the religious police, they want to make sure that Jesus is following proper holiness behaviors.
And then they see it. Corrupt tax collectors and all kinds of “sinful” people are approaching Jesus. And Jesus doesn’t seem to mind at all. In fact, he even sits down to EAT with them! He is in no way setting a proper example to society.
There’s a great divide between Jesus and the religious leadership, every bit as expansive as the one separating Valjean and Javert. It’s as if Jesus and the Pharisees are living in alternate universes.
Jesus very patiently tries to explain the economy of God’s kingdom. In this fifteenth chapter of the gospel of Luke, Jesus relates three short stories to describe the mercy of God. He tells the two stories we heard today and then tops it off with the beloved parable of the Prodigal Son and his Waiting Father.
In the two stories of the lost sheep and the lost coin, something precious has been lost. The shepherd and the woman go into active search mode. They search high and low. They look and they look. They’re downright pursuant in their search. They don’t stop until the lost is found.
And when the lost is found, then the celebration begins. Jesus tells the Pharisees that this is what happens in God’s realm. A great search is in motion to seek out the sinful and lost. And when they’re found, when they’re brought back into the fold of God’s tender mercies, then all of heaven rejoices.
In both universes, there is intent searching. The Pharisees and scribes are ever vigilant in their pursuit of unholy actions. They want to corner it and separate it out so that Israel can remain holy and pure.
Ironically, Jesus is seeking out the very same people the Pharisees are. But he doesn’t perceive them as corrupt and base. He sees them as lost. These are lost souls, looking desperately for a way back home.
Both Jesus and the Pharisees are pursuant. The Pharisees actively search for the speck in their neighbors’ eyes. But in their dogged search outward, they’ve lost something, something essential to the Kingdom of God.
They’ve lost God’s heart of mercy. They wander in the cold wilderness of judgement. They’re every bit as lost as the sinful people they’ve targeted. But they’ve wandered away in a different direction. And, really, it’s a more dangerous path they’ve taken because they don’t know that they’re lost! They think they are squarely located in the center. But they’re blindly veering into a ravine of cold-hearted scrutiny. They’re far away from the warm heart of God’s mercy. They’re every bit as lost. And Jesus came to seek out the lost.
Years later, Jesus searches after a lost Pharisee. His name is Saul. Saul has pursued a righteous mission. He’s zealous in his search to root out followers of the Christian movement. He wants to keep the faith pure and clean. These followers of Jesus are corrupting the pure heart of religion.
Pharisee Saul is in dogged pursuit of his offenders. He’s got marching orders to go to Damascus so he can root them out there, too. But along the way, the pursuer becomes the pursued. Jesus is seeking out the lost. He has left the 99 and he’s looking for his one very lost sheep.
He finds him on the road to Damascus. And once Jesus finds him, Saul’s life changes radically. Saul comes to see just how blind he’d been to the truth. He realizes how very lost he had really been.
We heard an excerpt today from his letter to Timothy. Paul reflects on what occurred on that road to Damascus. He writes, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the foremost.” Paul got it. Christ Jesus came to seek the lost and save the sinner.
Paul was ever grateful for the merciful persistence of Jesus. Christ’s mercies were greater than his errant ways. The realization of his own forgiveness changed Paul through and through. He became a new man and his heart was free.
As established church folk, we find ourselves more closely aligned with the Javers and the Sauls of this world. We’re on the inside and hold the keys to power. In that position, we might think our job is to keep a tight hold on righteous living. We’re prone to see ourselves more as gate keepers rather than door openers.
But as my internship supervisor liked to say, “Mary, we’re in sales, not management.” Judgment belongs to the Lord. Our calling is simply to proclaim this amazing grace shown to us through the life and death of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And what good news it is! Jesus is the word of God in the flesh. He left the perfect fold of heaven to seek out his lost sheep. He took on our human flesh so that we could see exactly the full extent of God’s love. He welcomed sinners and ate with them. Pursuing his lost sheep took him to the very ends of existence. That search took him to the tomb. He travelled even to hell itself. There was nowhere he left unexamined to reclaim his lost.
Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners. His love is God’s love. And it’s a love so complete it loves us even in our brokenness. Praise God for this amazing grace!
