Sermon text: Luke 15:1–10
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
“Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
So says our Lord Jesus Christ at the end of our Gospel reading this morning. And this is the heart of the Christian faith: that God rejoices — yes, rejoices — over the repentance of a single sinner.
The context is familiar. “Now 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.'”
The Pharisees grumble. They are offended that Jesus would receive sinners, that He would eat with them. And in response, Jesus tells them three parables: the lost sheep, the lost coin, and — next week — the lost son.
This morning we hear the first two: the lost sheep and the lost coin.
“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.'”
“Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”
Consider the shepherd. He has a hundred sheep. One is lost. Does he say, “Well, I still have ninety-nine. That’s good enough”? Does he write off the one as a loss? No. He leaves the ninety-nine and goes after the one — until he finds it. He does not stop searching. He does not give up. He goes after the lost sheep until he finds it.
And when he finds it, he does not beat it. He does not scold it. He does not say, “You stupid sheep, look what you’ve done.” He lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. He carries it home.
This is what Christ does for you. You are the lost sheep. You wandered. You strayed. You got yourself lost. And Christ — the Good Shepherd — came after you. He left heaven. He came into this world. He searched for you. He found you. And He laid you on His shoulders — on the cross — and carried you home, rejoicing.
“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.'”
“Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Consider the woman. She has ten coins. One is lost. Does she say, “I still have nine”? No. She lights a lamp. She sweeps the house. She seeks diligently — until she finds it. The coin is valuable to her. It is worth the effort. It is worth the searching.
You are that coin. You are valuable to God. You are worth searching for. And God has searched for you — diligently, persistently, at great cost. He lit the lamp of His Word. He swept the house of this world with the preaching of the Gospel. And He found you. He found you in your Baptism. He finds you again and again in Absolution, in the Supper.
And when He finds you, there is joy. Not just quiet satisfaction. Joy. “There is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” The angels rejoice. God Himself rejoices. All of heaven throws a party — over one sinner. Over you.
This is the offense of the Gospel to the Pharisees, then and now. They grumble: “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” They think God’s joy should be over the ninety-nine righteous — over those who have it all together, who keep the rules, who never stray. But Jesus says: the joy of heaven is over the one sinner who repents.
Not over the ninety-nine who need no repentance — for there are none. We all need repentance. We are all the lost sheep. We are all the lost coin. And the Good News is that we have a Shepherd who seeks us, a Woman — the Church — who sweeps diligently, a God who rejoices when we are found.
So repent. Come home. Let yourself be found. For there is joy in heaven over you — joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.