The Third Sunday after Trinity, 2014. Luke 15:1-10. The Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin

These parables teach the grace of God in our Savior, with a secondary emphasis on faith in Christ.

The setting is the scandal expressed by the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus receives open sinners and even eats with them. "Receiving" is the opposite of shunning. He should have been shunning them. Eating with them was more than just letting them be around Him. Dining with them expressed real friendship, which was not to be tolerated by the scribes and Pharisees.

The new Pharisees make a religion out of shunning. I visited a pastor who was later told by his clergy friend. "You should not have had him under your roof." For the new Pharisees and the old ones, shunning made one holy because it kept the polluting effect away. In other words, sanctification or the godly life is one of works rather than faith.

The lack of faith is clearly shown in the scribes and Pharisees being offended by Jesus. Everything He did and said offended them because they disbelieved in Him and rejected Him.

The sheep symbolizes faith. Even if we imagine a lamb, which is not the word used, carrying home an animal is not easy. Ever since her operation, Sassy has refused to be carried 99% of the time. It only works when she has made a mess and needs to be brought close to the disaster (very rare event). Recently she tore up some newspaper outdoors. When I asked her about it, she crawled on her side for about 10 feet and went over on her back to act repentant and cute.

But when an animal fights the person carrying it, the effect is dramatic. Rabbit owners are routinely raked by their pets' hide legs. Consider a sheep. The hooves would do plenty of damage with the least amount of resistance, cutting, hitting, struggling. 

But the picture we have is a sheep lost in the wilderness, frightened and alone, soon to be devoured by a predator. The sheep knows its owner's voice and relaxes at the sound of it. Instead of scraping through the briars and brambles, the sheep is being carried home at shoulder height - no labor, no more scratches and trips.

The sheep rests on the owner's shoulders, and the owner is happy rather than angry. The tone of voice is soothing, not terrifying. A lot of the language of the Christian Faith describes this relationship. We rest upon Christ. We are at peace when we are with Him, and He is with us. We feel comfort, peace, and security, not knowing the way home, but knowing that He carries us.

The Gospel creates faith and sustains faith. When people try to make this an intellectual decision or an act of will, the work of the Spirit through the Word is ignored. God is not content to leave us with that initial form of faith, which many of us received when we were baptized. He exercises this faith by letting us be challenged in many ways, by laying the cross on us daily.

The greatest service is to read and study the Word and apply ourselves to it. No one can miss the point that knowledge of the Word is almost absent today. There was a time when most congregations thought that teaching the Scriptures was good by itself. That was the best possible result of teaching. Now the urge is to be popular and relevant, with messages aimed at the emotions and at the strange notion of success.

The head of one missions program said, "New York City residents have time management problems. If we offer time management, which is a felt need, they will come to our church there." As I recall, that flopped too. Simply the absence of speaking the Gospel is a testament to a complete lack of faith in the Savior. We will be carried home by our Day-Timers or by our Savior.

There are many times when we cannot figure things out. Or rather, we are honest about not figuring anything out. All we can do is wait out the chaos in faith. Then we realize what was hidden from us but known by God. The hymns of Paul Gerhardt are especially wise and comforting in this regard. Nothing went his way, and we received more hymns from that man's sorrow and pain than from any other writer. Likewise, Luther's doctrinal hymns come directly from living under the threat of death as he taught the Word.

In contrast, pastors afraid of unemployment write nothing but copy everything, leaving behind nothing of value. I recall one who promoted false doctrine and raked money out of everyone's pocket. He retired with a huge nest-egg, and died, unable to cash out for a long retirement of ease and luxury.

"The Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin, because they do not utterly trust in Me." (Jackson Living Bible) If the primary work of the Spirit is teaching faith and condemning unbelief, then our primary work is trusting the Gospel of Christ and spreading it. In doing so we combat unbelief and encourage faith in Him.

I recall the feeling of wondering why I was out of sync at clergy meetings, whether ecumenical, LCA, WELS, or CLC. When someone else published the same sentiments, I no longer felt alone. So many attacks on the basic Gospel are being mounted daily that millions feel the same way. They are not as connected to the Net as you readers are. When someone teaches the basic Christian faith - unvarnished, unalloyed, with no additions or man-made corrections - it is a great relief to them.