Sermon - Trinity III 2022 - Luke 15:1-32

Parable of the Lost Drachma, Domenico Fetti, 1618

Since Roe v Wade was overturned, many Christians have very appropriately celebrated and rejoiced. There’s certainly more work to be done still, since each state has to make abortion illegal, but this is a positive step in the right direction. Nevertheless, even though Christians have been rejoicing in this momentous decision, many pro-abortion people have strongly gone on the offense against Christianity, claiming that since we’re opposed to abortion Christianity is hateful and fails to love. But that is absolutely untrue. Christians love sinners because Christ loves sinners.

By grace Jesus and His church receive repentant sinners. We read: “The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear Him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”” Christ, nor His bride the church, hate sinners, instead Christ is He who calls sinners to repentance and welcomes them into His home!

The three parables today give us a beautiful glimpse into God’s free grace for sinners. In the parable of the lost sheep the man goes after his straying sheep until he finds it! Even though the sheep has gone astray, he goes out and searches for it! Even though the sheep is still wandering away from him while he’s looking, he goes out after it as long as it takes! When he finds the lost sheep, he doesn’t kick it and curse it for running away, he gently lays it on his shoulders and brings it back into his flock. Upon arriving home he celebrates and rejoices because He has found his lost sheep.

Christ does the same with sinners. “All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned - every one - to his own way.” When sinners wander away from the church, when they fall into sin and even continue in their sin, God seeks them out and bids them to return. He doesn’t immediately give up on them when they continue to wander away from Him; He goes after them! When sinners do repent of their sins, He doesn’t kick them and scold them, instead He rejoices! 

 In the parable of the lost coin, a woman searches diligently for the coin until she finds it. Even while it’s night and darkness fills the house, she still looks, since she lights a lamp and begins to clean her home. Upon finding her lost coin she rejoices with her friends.

So it is with God and how diligently He works to bring sinners back into His church. Even when it’s late in a sinner's life and the window to come back into the faith is very limited, God is still busy at work. He lights a lamp, He shines light in the darkness and reveals the ugliness of sin and the reality of death. He sweeps the house, He cleans out the cobwebs and dust from our lives, the gross distractions, so that He might find us among the filth of this world and pluck us out of it. 

What’s more, coins are inanimate objects, so unlike a sheep that can move around, the coin is entirely passive and just lays there until it is found. A sinner is passive like a coin and may only be saved by grace, freely and without our own efforts. Without the workings of the Holy Spirit no sinner would believe and hope in God; without God’s love to search for us we would remain lost in our sins; without the Son’s death on the cross we would remain in our sins and die forever. So it’s only by grace that we are saved by God.

In the parable of the prodigal son, the father graciously gave the inheritance to his son early, and after the son squandered the inheritance the Father still welcomed him home again. When the son began to come home, and while the son was still a long way off, the father was watching for him and saw him and ran to embrace him. The father clothes the son, puts the signet ring on his finger, kills the fattened calf, and throws a grand celebration.

So too with sinners. The heavenly Father graciously gives us every good thing in this life, even though we may and often do squander these good things with our sinful living. In spite of squandering every earthly blessing, God still eagerly watches for us to repent of our sins so that He may gladly restore us into His church. Once He forgives us, He welcomes us home with a grand reception! He restores our righteous garment of baptism. He places the signet ring on our finger, meaning that He now trusts us completely and gives us freedom in the Gospel. He throws a feast composed of the Lamb of God slain on the altar for the forgiveness of our sins; He feeds us the true and best feast: the Lord’s Supper.

In all three of the parables God’s grace reigns supreme. Both the sheep and the prodigal son wandered away of their own accord and the coin was entirely passive. The son’s confession is true: “I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” But God’s love isn’t dependent on our worthiness, it’s dependent on Him and He is gracious, therefore we receive God’s love all by grace.

The extent of the fullness of God’s grace is remarkable! You’d think there would be some sort of probationary period where the prodigal son has to prove his repentance, but there isn’t! All he does is come back and the father embraces him and kisses him; the son repents “father, I have sinned against heaven and before you,” and immediately the father restores the son completely to his place. Giving the son the signet ring is like giving him the debit card linked to the bank accounts!

This is how it is when God welcomes us back when we repent. When a sinner repents and returns to church they’re welcomed back completely and they’re equally a child of God as much as anyone else. It doesn’t matter how rotten of a sinner you are, because God’s forgiveness is complete!

Why would God be so merciful and gracious to us? Because God is the Father and Creator of all people, even those who don’t presently live as His children and thus reject Him. Remember that the man had a hundred sheep before he lost one, the woman had ten coins before she lost one, and the father had two sons before he lost one. The unbelieving sinner is still one made by God and one for whom Christ died. God loves every person very much.

Even if you’re just one in a hundred, God is like the man willing to lose 99 for the sake of one. He loves each and every person, whether it’s one out of a hundred, one out of ten, or one out of two, every person is valuable in the sight of God. So returning to the topic of abortion, God loves the tiny unborn baby, the pregnant mother, and the father of the child, even though they’re all sinners. Every abortion matters to God, even though there have been about 63 million abortions in the US since 1973, every single one of them matters to God. The murdered baby, the mother who had the abortion, the abortionist, the absent father, all of those people belong to God and God desires that they all repent and return to Him. However great your sins may be, God absolves your sins in the atoning death of Christ.

Christians are not hateful like the pro-abortion people make us out to be. Should we ever be tempted to hate other sinners, we are reminded that Jesus teaches against the pharisees. The pharisees were like the older son who was angry that his sinful brother was welcomed back so warmly, since he felt more worthy of his father’s love because of how highly he thought of himself. But the Father reminds the older son and the pharisees just like He reminds us: “‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”

Remember, every person is one created and redeemed by God, they’re your fellow human beings, and you ought to love them like your heavenly Father loves them. If someone has fallen into sin don’t despise them, rather have pity and compassion upon them. They’ve willingly separated themselves from God and they suffer for their actions, while we are with God and receive His mercy with joy. We’re no more worthy of God’s mercy than the next sinner. 

We don’t win when others remain dead in their sins and trespasses, as if we’re better than them. The only one winning then is the devil. God loses a child, the sinner loses eternal life, and we lose a brother or sister both here and in paradise. So instead of being like the self-righteous brother, let us be like the angels of heaven who rejoice when a sinner repents. For every time a sinner turns from their iniquity and returns to God, our Heavenly Father regains a child, we gain a brother or sister in Christ, and that brother or sister gains their eternal inheritance in the kingdom of God.