St. Luke 15:1-10 Dearly beloved,
Jesus eats with tax collectors and sinners; Jesus sits at table with them; Jesus is in company with them. This is not what one may expect of the holy One of God. The Pharisees certainly thought it was inappropriate behavior. What does it take for one to eat at table with Jesus? Repentance and faith--Baptism. The parables recorded for us in St. Luke 15 places before us what is needed to eat with Jesus. A parable says there are one hundred sheep. The ideal situation is for the one hundred sheep to stay together as one hundred. This is fellowship. This is life at the table with Jesus. This is the way Jesus wants it. But, alas, one sheep strays. This one sheep is a sinner and a tax collector, perhaps even a Pharisee. If the sheep remain in the flock, they are safe. The wolf will stay away because of the shepherd. Normal Palestinian practice at the time of Jesus was such that more than one shepherd would watch a flock at one time. It was the head shepherd who would leave to find the sheep that strayed. One lost sheep in the desert would be vulnerable to the attacks of the predator. The straying sheep alone in the desert would undoubtedly become an easy meal. Take this parable and bring in Christ’s meaning and we find that the one sheep that strays is a person who leaves the confines of the church, who leaves the body of Christ and denounces Jesus, because he or she desires to live a life of sin. This parable also implies fellowship at the altar in the receiving of the Lord’s Supper. When a person gives in to sin and lets sinful living become the norm, then they have turned their back on Jesus and the altar of Christ. The person can say they belong to Jesus all day long, but if the life lived does not reflect the Christian confession, then all is lost. What is needful? Repentance and faith. How many times in your life have you faltered and let sinful acts or thoughts take up space in your life? How many times have you entertained sinful notions, all the while hiding and saying to yourself, “I can’t help it...we are all sinners.” When we wander from the truth, when we entertain sin in our lives and let it have space in and amongst us, then we are in danger of being devoured by Satan. Our problem today is that we don’t take our sins seriously. We take our sins far too lightly and like a wandering sheep we are eating grass and unbeknownst to us we are alone and vulnerable in an unknown pasture. We are suddenly in the desert and alone, because we have left the sheepfold of Christ. A big and somewhat deceiving aspect of this among Christians is when we conclude that we can stay away from the Divine Service. Who among us hasn’t concluded at one time or another that we don’t need to go to church to be a Christian? This is deceptively sly. What we are actually being led to say is that we don’t need to be in the sheepfold. We can stray in the desert....”Jesus knows where I am,” we may say. The person who stays away from Christ’s gifts has no idea how vulnerable they are to the attacks of Satan. In reality, we are moving further away from the protective grasp of the shepherd. How so you may ask? First, it is in the Divine Service that Jesus cares for, nurtures, and protects His sheep through the preaching of the word and the receiving of the sacrament. When we do this, we are sitting at table, eating and drinking with Jesus and we are eating and drinking Jesus Himself. Second, the fellowship of the saints is a great blessing for each of us, as well. We are encouraged by our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are reminded by one another just how blessed we are to be in Christ’s care. Each of us stands as Christ’s children to comfort, encourage, and exhort one another to look to Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith as we journey ahead together. It is this second reason that causes the shepherd in the parable to rejoice not once but twice over finding the one straying sheep. The shepherd first rejoices when he finds the sheep, then he rejoices and asks the rest of his friends and neighbors to rejoice with him at finding the sheep. Christianity is not an exercise in solitude. Rather, it is a communal relationship. First is Christ. Then Jesus attaches those who are baptized to Himself and they become a part of the body of Christ, with Christ as the head. Solitude is the craft of Satan. Community is the work of Christ. Hebrews 10 aptly speaks in this regard, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching”(Hebrews 10:24-25). Jesus loves. Jesus loves sinners. What makes a sinner beautiful is that he is loved by Jesus. Make no mistake about it--you and I have sins which would make us unfit to eat at table with Jesus. We have strayed from the flock. We have each been the one who left. Perhaps your sins convict you even now. But it is Jesus who approaches you. Jesus is the good shepherd. Jesus is the one who seeks you out. He comes to you even now to rescue you from the prowling grip of Satan. Nowhere to turn, lost and alone you sit, and Jesus comes calling, picks you up and places you on His shoulders. Jesus rejoices in this. The entire heavenly host rejoices in the repentance of a sinner. This is you and me each week, each day. We are forever in need of the mercy and aid of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is important to hold before you the crucifix. Jesus died on the cross bearing your sins. Those sins which have caused you stray, which have left you feeling alone and detached from Jesus have all been paid for. You are on the shoulders of Christ as His beloved children. Jesus feeds you and protects you. So let us sit at the table with sinners like ourselves, tax collectors, adulterers and the like and let us look to Jesus who eats with us, and let us take Him onto our lips under the bread and wine and feast on this heavenly meal, which brings every blessing and gift from our Lord and God. Amen. -- Rev. Chad Kendall Trinity Lutheran Church Lowell, Indiana www.trinitylowell.org
