Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Luke 15,1-10. 3. Trinity

Friday, June 25, 2021

Luke 15,1-10. 3. Trinity

Luke 15,1-10 3621

3. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 048

Pudens, Senator, 2^nd c.

20. Juni 2021

1. O Lord God, Heavenly Father, we all like sheep have gone astray, having suffered ourselves to be led away from the right path by Satan and our own sinful flesh: We beseech You graciously to forgive us all our sins for the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ; and quicken our hearts by Your Holy Spirit, so that we may abide in Your Word, and in true repentance and a steadfast faith continue in Your Church unto the end, and obtain eternal salvation. Amen. (Veit Dietrich)

2. »Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to Jesus. And the Pharisees and scribes grumbled, saying: „This man receives sinners and eats with them.“«

3. In Luke 15 Jesus’ 3 parables teach the common theme of rejoicing together and table fellowship. Jesus told these parables in the presence of tax collectors, sinners, the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus wanted each group to hear these parables and see themselves in them, for the parables illustrate that the nature of the kingdom of God is joyous feasting with God (Just 587).

4. Throughout the Gospel according to Luke, the tax collectors and sinners have been drawing near to Jesus and it began when they were baptized by John in the Jordan: they were seeking repentance, forgiveness and acceptance. On the other hand, most of the scribes and Pharisees rejected John’s baptism of repentance, for they believed they were already righteous, and thus in rejecting John’s call to repent they were rejecting Jesus for whom John prepared the way.

5. At issue here is salvation, particularly, how is one saved? The scribes and Pharisees taught that one is saved by keeping the law, for in keeping all the tenants of the Mosaic covenant a person merits righteousness. The tax collectors and sinners do not keep the law, and in the pharisaic understanding of salvation such law-breakers are unrighteous and not saved. Jesus Himself acknowledge mankind’s unrighteousness, and He preached: Repent, for the reign of heaven is at hand (Matthew 4,17). Jesus exhorted the tax collectors, the sinners, and even the scribes and Pharisees to repent. When He preached in His Nazarene synagogue Jesus read from the Prophet Isaiah 61: »The Spirit of Yahweh is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives and restoration of sight to the blind, to send freedom to those who are being oppressed, to proclaim the year of Yahweh’s favor. Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing« (Isaiah 61,1-2; Luke 4,18-19.21). Jesus arrives to save those were lost and bring them home. He finds them, declares them righteous and rejoices.

6. „This shared joy of the community at the restoration of a lost sheep becomes the chief point of Jesus’ application of the parable, introduced by the important phrase ‘I say to you’ (15:7). The community of joy that Jesus has in mind is the earthly and now heavenly community that exists through him and the coming of his kingdom. The joy is over a sinner who repents. That is what his ministry has been about: calling tax collectors and sinners to repentance. Jesus stated this as the goal of his ministry at the very beginning, while at table with Levi the tax collector, when he said, ‘I have not come to call righteous, but sinners to repentance’ (5:32). And he will reiterate it at the end of his ministry, entering the home of Zacchaeus, the chief tax collector, when ‘the lost’ become the declared goal of his ministry: ‘For the Son of Man came in order to seek and to save the lost” (τό άπολωλός 19:10). Repentance here is not like that of the Pharisees or the rabbis at the time of Jesus but is the repentance that John the Baptist preached and Jesus continued to call for in his ministry“ (Just 590 ¶ 1).

7. We we share this joy over sinners to repent. Each week we confess that we are these very sinners repent and are absolved. „Restoration brings joy to the shepherd in finding the sheep, and joy to the village when the shepherd returns with the sheep. This is why joy is repeated twice around the center of restoration to the house where the community lives. Joy is generally shared by a community in first-century Palestine. And in that culture joy would be shared at a meal and fellowship around the table. The table fellowship context of this entire section strongly suggests that the hearers would envision a shepherd/woman inviting friends and neighbors into his/her home to rejoice over a meal“ (Just 589-90 ¶ 3). This church is a community and we share this joy around the table of the Lord’s Supper.

8. Those those who consider themselves righteous and therefore have no need of repentance must listen to the Prophet Isaiah: »We have all become unclean for our righteousness is a polluted rag« (Isaiah 64,6). To such who are unclean and unrighteous, Christ arrived to seek you out. Those who live on the fringe of society because they deviate from the religious or moral ideals of the elite, Christ arrived to bring you into fellowship. To those who endure social, economic or moral poverty, Christ calls you to His kingdom. Rejoice, for Christ searches for such as these who are lost and marginalized. Such were we, but Christ found us and created our faith in Him. The lost are found; the sinner is forgiven; the unclean is made righteous. Rejoice, for Christ has brought you into His presence. Amen.

9. Let us pray. O Merciful and Gracious Lord; be quick to find the lost, so that they may dwell among Your abounding loving-kindness. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm

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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Friday, June 25, 2021

Luke 15,1-10. 3. Trinity

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