PREACHER: REV DR JOHN ABEDU QUASHIEDATE: SEPTEMBER 12, 2010
PASSAGES: Exodus 32: 7-14; Psalm 51: 1-10; 1Timothy 1: 12-17; Luke 15: 1-10
Introduction
We thank the Lord Almighty for bringing us to the beginning of yet another academic year. The year may seem to be full of challenges but we can be assured of God’s unfailing love, protection, provision and sustenance. We have every cause to thank the Lord because He has been faithful to us in the past and we can trust Him to take us through the present and continue with us into the future.
We reflect on the theme, “Rejoice over one repentant sinner” by considering the following:
Lost Sinners
From the three scripture passages and the Psalter, one thing that becomes clear is the fact of lost sinners in the world. This fact of sin and sinners is sometimes found in the most unlikely places such as among the people of God, the church; the people who are supposed to be separated from the world and separated unto God.
In Exodus 32, we find the Israelites, the specially chosen people of God, having sinned terribly against God. They had made for themselves graven images and attributed the protection, provision and deliverance of God to these images. God was so angry that He wanted to destroy them. What led to the Psalter read for us today (Psalm 51) was a grievous sin committed by a man whom God had raised and used to deliver His people. David, a man after God’s own heart, committed murder and adultery. In 1Timothy 1:15 Paul describes his previous life as being the “the worst of sinners”.
In the gospel reading, we find the Pharisees and scribes complaining and criticising Jesus, that He had associated himself with sinners and even gone on to eat with them. In His response Jesus told the parable of the lost sheep and the lost coin (Luke 15: 1-10). In these parables, Jesus did not deny the fact that those people the Pharisees and scribes were referring to were indeed lost sinners. Jesus used pictures that would be appreciated by all the people gathered. The story of the sheep would at the time touch the hearts of the men and boys in the crowd, while the women and girls would appreciate the story of the coin.
Sheep get lost because of their foolishness. They have the tendency to go astray. While the Pharisees and the scribes had no problem seeing the publicans and others as ‘lost sheep’ or sinners they could not see themselves in the light of Isaiah’s prophecy that all we like sheep have gone astray (Isaiah 53:6). It is very easy for us, like the Pharisees and scribes, to consider others as lost and ourselves as okay. The story of the Pharisee and the publican who went to pray is a good illustration of this kind of situation. But is it not true that we have been foolish at times, going astray like the Israelites, and like David, and disobeying the word of God. Is it not just because of grace that we can claim to have a right standing with God? It is not strange that John Newton will pen down the hymn, “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me”. The fact is that we are all sinners saved by grace.
The other issue is that unlike sheep that get lost because of their foolishness, the coin was lost because of the carelessness of another. When a Jewish girl married, she began to wear a headband of ten silver coins to signify that she was now a wife. It was a calamity to lose one of those silver coins. Sometimes our carelessness at home and at work results in a soul being lost. It is important to ask ourselves whether our words and lives are not causing people to be lost.
Two things can be said about being lost. First is that one is “out of place”. Sheep belong with the flock and coins belong on the chain. All humans belong in fellowship with God and anytime that fellowship was broken, it means they are lost. The Israelites had broken their fellowship with God so they were lost. In David’s prayer of forgiveness, he dreaded this idea of being out of place and asked God not to cast him away from His presence but to restore to him the fellowship that was lost.
To be lost also means to be “out of service”. A lost sheep is of no service to the shepherd and a lost coin is of no service to the owner. As ministers in training and even lay people, we must remember that we cannot break our union with God and think that we are still in His service. We sometimes find people living in serious sin and still claiming to be working for the Lord. Well, they may be working for another lord but not
the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus categorically said that without Him we can do nothing. Are we lost? Are we out of place and out of service with the father through Christ? Do we know people who we can rightly claim are lost?
Lost Sinners are Valued
What the Pharisees failed to appreciate was that the lost are also valued. The fact that the shepherd would go after one sheep is proof that each animal was dear to him. In the same way that fact that the maiden would light a lamp and search for the missing coin was indication that the coin was of value to her. The point being made here is that the people we may think of as being lost are valuable to God. Each person in the world is so valuable that God does not desire that any should be lost forever. So Jesus described His ministry as “seeking and saving the lost” (Luke 19:10).
The lost sinner is so valuable to God that he offers the priceless blood of Christ to purchase him/her. That is why we never have to look down on anyone like the Pharisees did; that is why we never have to give up on anyone who is lost; that is why we never have to relent in our efforts in seeking the lost. Moses set us an example. When the Lord told him that He was going to destroy all the Israelites because they had broken the fellowship with Him and gone to serve other gods, but He was going to bless Moses, Moses began to remind God about the value of the people He was going to destroy. They were a people God had brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand (Ex. 32:11). They were a people God had made an everlasting covenant with through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, that He would make their descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and give them the land as an inheritance forever (Ex. 32:12). The lost are also valuable to God.
The two parables teach us about the value of the lost sinner. If you lose something that is not valuable, you don’t mind. For the shepherd to search for the one sheep, it indicated that the one sheep was valuable and for the maiden to search for the one coin, it indicated the value of the coin. It is because of the value of the lost sinner that when one repents, there is rejoicing.
Sinners Have the Capacity to Repent and be Found
The two parables also suggest that it was the shepherd who goes after the lost sheep, and the maiden who goes after the lost coin. This may not immediately bring out the fact that there is the capacity in the ‘lost’ to be found. There are situations in which announcements are made about lost but found items which the owners had to come for. Could it be that the lost sheep was looking for a way back but was helpless? The third parable which follows the two read today brings this fact out clearly. In the parable of the lost son, we find the son repenting and returning to the father.
People have the capacity to repent and go back when they realise their foolishness. David, in Psalm 51, expressed the desire to be restored to God. The Lost son was desirous to be restored back to the father. Paul was happy to have been restored back and was thankful to God. His statement in 1Timothy 1: 15 that Christ Jesus came to the world to save sinners is an indication of the fact that sinners can be saved. In fact, his statement that he is the worst of sinners seems to give an indication that all sinners can be saved. If the worst has been saved, then it is easy to save the “not so bad”.
Every lost person has the capacity to be restored back to their place and to their service with God. That is the reason we should never give up on them. There are people who have prayed for the salvation of their loved ones for years and after so many years, it eventually happened. In his song “Welcome Home”, Ron Kenoly talks of his son who left home at 16 and after some years came back in repentance.
Unfortunately, the Pharisees failed to recognise this capacity in the “sinners” with whom Jesus ate. Do we recognise the capacity in sinners to be saved or we totally condemn them as if nothing good can come out of them?
Attitudes towards Sinners
In the passages, there are two kinds of attitudes displayed regarding sinners. First we have the attitude of the Pharisees. For them, sinners were lost and could not be found. Nothing good could come from them. To them there was no possibility of repentance.
Unlike the Pharisees however, we find Moses, Jesus and Paul having a different attitude to sinners. Moses’ example was a striking one. God had decided to destroy all the Israelites and to leave him alone blessed. If you found yourself in that situation, what would be your reaction? There are people who see their success in other people’s failure. If those people were in Moses’ situation they would have become excited about the idea and asked God to quickly do what He was talking about. Do you see yourself also wanting to be better than the other person? Do you see yourself rejoicing over the downfall of a fellow believer because you think it raises your prospects? Or do you see yourself hurt about the brother or sister who has fallen and praying earnestly about his restoration? What is your attitude to sinners?
Jesus’ attitude was one of hate for sin and love for the sinner recognising the potential of the sinner to be the best. Due to the recognition of this potential in the sinner, Jesus is always patient with the sinner. Paul declared in 1 Timothy 1:16 that in him, Christ Jesus displayed His unlimited patience and that was intended to be an example to those who would believe in Him. What is your own attitude to the sinner? Are you eager that the sinner should be punished or like Moses, you always plead on their behalf that God will have mercy upon them? Do you hate sin and love the sinner or you hate both sin and the sinner?
Rejoicing: The Right Reaction towards Repentant Sinners
Our attitude also informs our reaction to the sinner who has repented and received mercy. Because the Pharisees had a negative attitude, they could not rejoice over the fact that the sinner has repented and received mercy. On the other hand Jesus explained that just as a shepherd would rejoice over a lost but found sheep and a maiden would rejoice over a lost but found coin, so do the angels rejoice over one sinner who repents. There are three things that we may consider as the right reaction towards the repentant sinner. First is rejoicing over the sinner’s repentance. If heaven rejoices over a repentant sinner, our reaction to the repentant sinner should be one of joy and celebration. A lost brother/sister has been found and there is every cause for celebration.
Second those who are genuinely in tune with God reach out to the lost to restore fellowship with them in a very intimate way to the extent of eating with them. The shepherd reaches out to the lost sheep and the maiden reaches out for the lost coin. True believers welcome the repentant sinner and seek to help them stand firm on their feet as they find their place among the people of God and become of service to God.
Third, those who have a right attitude towards sinners are not ashamed associating with the repentant sinner. Jesus was not ashamed of associating with sinners, something that the Pharisees could not just take in. Barnabas was not ashamed associating with Paul and that helped Paul a lot to find his place in the fellowship of the Lord and of the believers. Some believers behave like the Pharisees and shun those who have fallen from grace even when the people have genuinely repented and received mercy from God. The attitude of Christ is to receive the repentant sinner and encourage them to stay strong in the Lord. Could we follow the example of Jesus and help those who fall to rise on their feet instead of “shooting the wounded”.
Conclusion
The fact is that there is sin and sinners in the world, sometimes found in the most unlikely place like the church. Sinners are out place in the fellowship with God and also out of service. However in the sight of God, there a great value in every sinner and every sinner has the potential to repent. Our attitude to sinners must not be one of looking down on them but rather one of hate for sin and love for the sinner. This attitude leads us to rejoice when they repent, share fellowship with them and not become ashamed associating with them. May we have the grace to follow the example of Jesus and that of Moses towards sinners who have repented! Amen.
2. Sinners are out place in the fellowship with God
3. Sinners are out of service out God
4. However in the sight of God, there is a great value in every sinner and every sinner has the potential to repent.
5. We must not look down on sinners, rather we must hate sin and love the sinner...
6. ...that attitude leads us to rejoice when they repent, share fellowship with them and not become ashamed associating with them.
7. May God grant us the grace to follow the example of Jesus and that of Moses towards sinners who have repented!
Amen.
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