Sermon for Pentecost 14, 14.09.2025
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Luke 15:3-7: Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
Rejoice with me.
The sheep are "bahhhhhhhking" mad this morning! They woke up with no one guarding the gate. They felt abandoned and let down. They felt unloved and scared.
"The master is irresponsible and reckless," one bleats to another.
Another one says, "We could have all died."
Yet another cries, "It's all too horrible to think about."
The fearful frenzy carried on until well after sunup until one of them saw the shepherd coming over a distant hill. Immediately the mood changed from despair to elation. They all rejoiced with one accord. They jumped and frolicked and bleated with joy but their celebration lasted only until they saw 'THAT OLD EWE!"
There, on the shepherd’s shoulders was Sheila! All her life she was getting into trouble, always the last to do as she was told, nibbling her way into trouble as her stomachs, that’s right, all four of them took her further and further away in search of fresh snippets of grass. Yes, Sheila was one of them, but she was also "one of those." She was different and didn’t fit in. No-one had even missed Sheila that morning.
They all raised an eyebrow each. "What's the big idea, boss?" they bleated, "Going out after one and leaving us all behind?"
They were convinced that they were in the right; that they knew better. "We didn't wander off!" "We behaved ourselves!" "We do what you and the dog tell us, quick smart!" "We are not as silly as we look,” they all bleated.
In light of the night's events, the time had come for the sheep to hold a convention to discuss what they needed to do to get a decent shepherd to look after them. They called it "Sheepvention!" They weren't going to put up with another "Sheepgate" scandal.
At the convention they butted their heads together and came up with a list of complaints that they would take to the shepherd. It read as follows:
Whereas, some days ago, we, the sheep were left alone to fend for ourselves, and
whereas, we were given no indication that the shepherd ever intended to return and
whereas, the uncertainty over the doubtful return caused serious distress amongst us, and
whereas all this distress was caused over just one troublemaker,
therefore be it resolved:
that we, the sheep, do strongly protest our abandonment on the night in question,
that we demand a full explanation of the reasons for said abandonment, and
that we demand an apology for such thoughtless and irresponsible action on the part of the shepherd.
We demand better care and consideration.
Signed - The Flock.
When the shepherd heard the indictment he responded to each of the items in turn.
"Yes, it’s true I left you last night and you were left to fend for yourselves for a while, but Sheila was in danger and goodness knows where she might have ended up. Nobody ever objected those other times I went out to look for one of your lost lambs."
"Yeah, but that's different – that was a lamb," bleated one of the sheep.
"As to the part about not knowing whether I’d come back, well, frankly I’m a little surprised at all of you. Haven’t I always come back and never abandoned you before? Haven’t I always protected you from wolves and taken you to fresh pastures and clean and cool water? I have never abandoned you before, why would I start now?"
"Yeah but …" another of the sheep bleated.
"And finally, as to this part about it being unfair, what was unfair about it? Wouldn’t I have done the same for any of you others?"
"Well," said the ringleader, Roger the ram, "going out and saving all the rest of us, that’s one thing. But, well, you put all the rest of us in jeopardy for just... ...her." He snorted towards Sheila, who, true to form, was already starting to nibble her way some distance away from the proceedings.
"That’s what really bothers us", said Roger the ram, "Why didn’t you just let her take her chances? Why has she ever done to deserve that kind of special attention? Why does she deserve so many chances? When will you go off again to look for her and leave us all alone by ourselves?"
And for once, though he probably didn’t know it, Roger the ram had told the truth. Sheila didn’t deserve that special attention, to be saved from herself and all the potential dangers that exist beyond the flock, but neither did any of the others deserve the care and protection the shepherd gave them.
This story would have had a happy ending if its conclusion was that Sheila, nor any other sheep ever wandered off again, and that the flock never complained again and they all lived happily ever after. That's the fairy tale ending we all want. But in real life at some time the shepherd had to carry every one of the sheep on his shoulders even when they were uncooperative, unwilling and complaining back into the fold.
Roger the ram and the rest of the sheep were right when they said that Sheila didn’t deserve to be loved by the shepherd the way she was.
Fellow sheep in the Good Shepherd’s care: the reason why Jesus taught using three successive parables about "Lostness" was that he was dealing with the same problems. People were saying that those he mixed with and shared dinner with didn’t deserve to be sitting at and sharing the same table. They complained, "This man welcomes outcasts and even eats with them!"
Very few ever understand and appreciated the kind of love that Jesus had. It’s a love that can look past the ugliness of our common stupidity and selfishness and looks to transform hearts and minds by unmerited love, mercy and kindness.
We know it makes more sense for the shepherd to forget about one mindless, or stubborn or disobedient sheep. The heartache they cause, the disruptions they bring, the expenditure of time they waste - it all adds up to a big baaaaaad debt.
But the Good Shepherd knows that about his sheep. They will always be sheep. He knows the costs involved. He knows exactly the price that has to be paid - the constant care that has to be taken! The flock could hog the Shepherd just for themselves. But they’re not hogs; they're sheep!
God’s grace and mercy and kindness is to be shaaaaaared. It’s God’s undeserved grace that comforts, soothes, forgives, reassures, and values each sheep as an individual. But it also drives individual sheep in the direction that ensures that everyone else gets to know and appreciate how much the Shepherd loves them and wants them to be brought into or returned to the fold.
To the shepherd, every sheep is a treasure; every sheep is valuable; no sheep will be lost if he can help it, even if that sheep is mostly obstinate and rebellious. That’s the kind of love that Jesus has for the sheep.
Jesus concludes his parable with the shepherd saying, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ Each of Jesus’ parables in Luke chapter 15 ends on a very joyful note. At the end of each search there is a party going on. What was once lost is now found - the sheep, the coin and the son.
When the lost are found there is great rejoicing. When one sinner repents and responds to the love and care of the Shepherd there is great rejoicing in heaven by the angels and archangels and the whole heavenly host who worship the Lamb who was slain and bring all praise and glory to him. That's what the flock of God is all about and on about. That's the fold into which you have been brought by the blood, sweat and tears of the Good Shepherd himself.
(change slide) It does seem crazy that Jesus would leave the 99 for just the one sheep. But it will only remain crazy until you discover that one was you!
And the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, the Good Shepherd. Amen.
Sermon for Last Sunday in the Church, 20.11.2022
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Jesus said, “I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away” (Luke 19:26).
Let us pray: Lord, sanctify us in the truth; your Word is Truth. Amen.
From little things, big things grow (but not as an investment, but as an act of trust [i.e. faith])
The reader of the New Testament meets Jesus only a few, but nevertheless, very important times in his first 30 years of life. At birth we see him lying in a manger in Bethlehem. Then eight days later we hear of his circumcision when he is given the name, Jesus. Then at 40 days old we hear of Joseph and Mary presenting him at the Temple in keeping with the requirement that, ‘Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord’ (Exodus 13:2, 12). In fulfilment of prophecy (Hosea 11:1), and because of the fears of King Herod and his murderous plot to keep control of his position of power, we learn of the holy family’s flight to Egypt until the threat passed. Then we meet him again at age 2, and this time along with the Magi at the holy home in Nazareth (Matthew 2:9-11). And most importantly to today’s message we hear the narration that, ‘Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man’ (Lk 2:52). Connected with this fact, next we meet Jesus, now age 12, on the road with his family heading towards Jerusalem for the annual Passover Festival. But no one sees him on the road back to Nazareth. That’s because he was still in Jerusalem ‘in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers’ (Lk 2:46-47).
Then at age 30, or as St Luke time-stamps the occasion saying, ‘Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry’ (Lk :23), we see him ‘fulfilling all righteousness’ (Mtt 3:15), now out at the Jordan River being baptised by John and the Holy Spirit, ‘descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased’ (Mtt 3:16-17). Then following his overcoming of temptation by the devil in the wilderness and subsequent to his rejection by his hometown folk, we hear of the calling of his first disciples and the expanding and unfolding of the next three years of ministry of giving life and healing and salvation to those who believe; in Galilee, Phoenicia, Judea, the Decapolis and Samaria - all culminating at Jerusalem on a cross, and evidenced by an empty tomb, and 500+ witnesses of his resurrection.
When compared to the recorded events of his three-year ministry, which consume 60 out of 68 chapters of the Synoptic Gospels (i.e. Matthew, Mark & Luke), we are told scant little about Jesus’ childhood, adolescence and working career, until the time when he “downed-tools” [pun intended], and began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near’ (Mtt 4:17 & Mark 1:15). Church Tradition might want to fill-in the gaps, but the Evangelists don’t.
Well, I hear you saying, “What on earth have the aforementioned facts got to do with today’s parable?” Well, just a minute ago I flagged that what might seem as no more than a transitional comment from St Luke, is actually most important to today’s parable. Luke records the fact that, ‘Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man’ (Lk 2:52). This comment is actually preparatory commentary on today’s parable – The Parable of the Gold Coins. How so?
St Luke makes the comments, saying, ‘And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him’ (Lk 2:40). And 12 verses later he says, ‘Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man’ (Lk 2:52). Growing in strength and in stature tells us Jesus was not a sickly boy. Being filled with wisdom no doubt came from his study of the Scriptures. The grace of God was upon him, and he was in favour with God, because he was God’s beloved Son. But what about the relevance of the extra information, ‘in favour with God and man?’ Why should that be of any significance? Why would the Son of God need to curry any favour with man? How was that going to matter at all when God knew that his Son was one day, for certain, going to, ‘suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life’ (Mtt 16:21)? Yes, Jesus had a single year of Popularity, but the climax of his three-year ministry is called his Year of Opposition! Jesus certainly received no favours from those who set out to get rid of him! Even one of his own gave him no favour, but instead sold him out for 30 pieces of silver!
But because the Scriptures cannot lie or deceive, we must accept the fact that, yes, during his Year of Popularity, (i.e. his Second year of ministry), that Jesus fell into favour with those people whose lives he transformed, but also as-much-so in those 30 “years of obscurity!” How so? How on earth did Jesus have as much impact on the world in his first 30 years of life as he did in his final three?
How many of us default to the thought that Jesus was “biding his time” for 30 years until the phone rang from heaven, as it were, with the go-ahead to start preaching and ushering in the kingdom of God? It’s a natural thought to think that what Jesus was doing for the majority of his life, let’s say 18 years of it (from age 12-30) amounted to nothing, especially in comparison to his climatic and world-changing final three! Put another way: How many people out there, perhaps being guilty of it yourself, think that the work-a-day week, our jobs and careers are only the stepping stones one needs to trudge and traverse to arrive at a true and happy and proper destination, that being retirement? How many people live their lives longing every single day, religiously marking-off calendar-page after calendar-page, to finally reach retirement age so that they can begin to truly do the things they want to do; to truly live the life they have lusted after for a lifetime? If you have fallen into that worldly way of thinking, then not only today’s parable, but the “age old” Book of Ecclesiastes will set you straight!
‘A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? (Eccl 2:24-25).
So would you know it (I certainly didn’t until reading what the Rev. William Barclay wrote about it) that today’s parable should get our minds spinning a 180 on the thought that our work-a-day week, even Jesus’ work-a-day week, was only worthwhile in regards to being merely preparatory for something grander, or only something to keep us occupied in the meantime, or something only to keep the income coming in each fortnight!
So listen as I more-or-less quote what William Barclay teaches us of the import of the Parable of the Gold Coins. He writes:
The parable of the King and his servants (Parable of the Gold Coins) tells us about certain great facts of the Christian life.
(i) It tells us of the king’s trust. He gave his servants the money and then he went away and left them to use it as they could and as they thought best. He did not in any way interfere with them or have them submit quarterly return statements. He left them entirely to their own devices. That is the way in which God trusts us. Someone has said, “The nicest thing about God is that he trusts us to do so much by ourselves.”
(ii) It tells us of the king’s test. As always, this trust was a test. The king’s test was whether or not a man was faithful and reliable in little things. Sometimes a man justifies himself in the pursuit of grand things, at the expense of little things, that is, the routine affairs of life. Little things are all too often deemed trivial and therefore unimportant and negligible. Man, in his pursuits, thinks that ‘he has a mind above trifles.” God has not. It is precisely in these routine duties that the tests of God are testing men. Think of Jesus, the Son of Man! Of his thirty-three years of life Jesus spent thirty in Nazareth. Had he not discharged with absolute fidelity the tasks of the carpenter’s shop in Nazareth, and the obligation of being the bread-winner of the family, God could never have given him the supreme task of being the Saviour of the world.
Brothers and sisters in Christ: Have you ever thought this way before about this parable? I certainly hadn’t. What awesome Christ-centred clarity is shed upon the verse, ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away’ (Luke 19:26)!
It’s incredibly Good News! As with all things and all laws of life, Jesus first fulfils them all for us! So many garbage messages have been preached on this parable, with moralistic law-based give-away titles, such as: ‘Make the most of your talents.” “Gauging your trust in God.” “Excuses or Opportunities.” “A king with great expectations.” “Put this money to work.” Or “Don’t waste your talent.” That’s why my eyes lit up and my heart rejoiced when I read Barclay’s commentary on Wednesday arvo! These two verses of the hymn LH 155 ‘Jesus, Jesus, only Jesus’ sprung to mind:
1 Jesus, Jesus, only Jesus
Can my heartfelt longing still.
Lo, I pledge myself to Jesus,
Evermore to do His will;
For my heart, which He has filled,
Ever cries: Lord, as Thou wilt.
2 One there is for whom I’m living,
Whom I love most tenderly;
Unto Jesus I am giving
What in love He gave to me.
Jesus’ blood hides all my guilt;
Lord, O lead me as Thou wilt.
I’ll condense what Barclay goes on to say about the import of the parable in just a few sentences. He writes, ‘Not only does the parable tells us about the king’s trust and test, but also of the king’s reward. For the reward from God is even more trust. We learn that the faithful servant’s reward was trust over ten cities for one, and over five cities for the other. More trust gives rise to more testing. It has been said that the greatest compliment we can pay someone is to give them greater, and even harder tasks to do. And that’s why Jesus states one of the general laws of life, saying ‘…everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away’ (Luke 19:26). This law of life is not foreign to us. It's very down to earth. We apply it to our children. We apply it to our apprentice workers and trainees. Any good boss or parent operates with this rule.
Brothers and sisters in Christ: Imagine Jesus, being quite young and loitering around Joseph’s workshop. Imagine him observing his father sharpen a chisel. Imagine Joseph noticing his son’s keen eye and inviting him closer. Imagine Joseph, for the first time ever, putting a blunted chisel into Jesus’ hands and giving him permission to place upon the stone. After inspecting the result and showing his son the finesse needed on the wheel to shave the hair on the back of his hand with it, then imagine him taking Jesus over to the workpiece and saying, “I’ll hold it, you strike it with the mallet.” Imagine the growth, the trust, the growth and more trust growing as the duties of mallet-strike and wet-stone become a perfect mortice-and-tenon joint. And with more time and trust, imagine Jesus’ signature equalling and perhaps surpassing Joseph’s on receipt of table, chair, stool, frame, panel, joist, beam, gable, strut, stud and girder…
Imagine the fictitious, but not inconceivable conversation at home between a certain husband and wife, post-resurrection:
“Husband, dear! It’s time for us to remodel the kitchen. Who did your fellow Centurion-mate and his wife, Longinus and Hannah, get in to do theirs?”
“Well…umm…turns out that they got God himself to do theirs!”
“What?”
“Yep! I kid you not. They got Jesus of Nazareth to remodel their kitchen. Turns out he really was “the Son of God’ (Mtt 27:56).
Brothers and sisters in Christ: the Holy Grail, as you know, was a wooden cup used at the Last Supper. But there certainly was, and perhaps still are in existence, other “holy relics” of that Wood-shop in Nazareth. Turning out workpiece and wooden implements and utensils and whatever other projects came his way, was no “biding time,” nor just to be considered mere-stepping stones to something better or grander, but rather, in the there-and-now of dust, woodchips, sweat, fatigue and “another hard day at the office,” Jesus of Nazareth, God in the flesh, was raising up our work-a-day weeks to holy heights, and demonstrating that, ‘…everyone who has, more will be given, but as for the one who has nothing, even what they have will be taken away’ (Luke 19:26).
And the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus. Amen.