Looking for the Lost

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his own blood and made us a kingdom and priests to God his Father—to him be the glory and the power forever (Revelation 1:5–7). Amen.

A few weeks back, a Kentucky nurse rescued the life of a baby raccoon by performing CPR on it. Misty Combs, a 21-year nursing veteran was at work at her health center, which is located next to the Kentucky Mist Moonshine distillery. Combs and her coworkers noticed a panicked raccoon darting through the parking lot. Then, they heard a commotion from a nearby dumpster. Combs realized the mother raccoon was frantic to find her babies which were lost in the dumpster next to the distillery.

The two baby raccoons had gotten stuck in the dumpster. Combs grabbed a shovel and scooped out the first raccoon, who ran to be with its mom. The second raccoon, however, was face down in the bottom of the dumpster, which was filled with water and peaches soaked in moonshine.

The raccoon was drunk as a skunk ... or maybe it was a tipsy trash panda.

She grabbed the raccoon by the tail and pulled him to safety. But she realized that he had drowned in the moonshine. So, she began performing CPR on the little guy. After a while, the raccoon was revived and later returned to its mother.

How far would you go to save a baby raccoon? Would you perform CPR on it? How far would you travel to find a lost sheep? How long would you look to find a lost coin? Would you be able to welcome back a wife who had become a prostitute, like God was calling the prophet Hosea to do with his harlot wife? Would you be able to welcome back into your church a young man who had repented of an incestuous relationship with his stepmother, like St. Paul was encouraging the Corinthian congregation to do?

Or, with the events of this week, how far would you go in forgiving someone who celebrated the assassination of another citizen?

How far would you go in looking for the lost? And then rejoicing when they are found?

Today we see how far Jesus goes in looking for us when we become lost. We also discover how much rejoicing God and his angels do in heaven when we are found.

Most of us, at one time or another, have felt wasted like the raccoon, or gotten into trouble like a dumb sheep, or disordered our lives and the lives of others because of our sexual choices, or said and done extremely cruel things on social media or in person. As a result, we have felt unloved, unwanted, unappreciated. Alone, apart, abandoned. We're pretty sure that if we became lost, nobody would notice.

If that's the way you've felt or feel, I've got some good news for you. God notices and God most definitely cares. So that you will never be alone, so that you will never be completely unappreciated, so that you might be forgiven and saved – Jesus comes and searches for you. Some people might not like us all that much, but Jesus loves us that much!

God searches for every lost sheep, every lost coin, every lost soul. He never resigns himself to accepting the loss and moving on. He never thinks 9 out of 10 or 99 out of 100 is good enough. He doesn't believe in "acceptable losses." There is no price too high for Jesus to pay to save us from our brokenness. There is no suffering too painful that Jesus won't endure to restore us through his forgiveness. There is no length of time too great that Jesus won't wait for us to be found.

There were some in Jesus' day who recognized this and came "flocking" to him. The tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to Jesus and he was delighted. These were the outcasts, the downcast, the dregs of society. Yet, Jesus would accept them just as they were, without one plea. He would look at such people and see that they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36). He had come to help them. Not by approving of their sin, but by taking it away. Not by ignoring that they were trapped by their addictive behavior, but by setting them free from their bondage to sin. Not by confirming their alternate lifestyle, but by giving them a new life to live. A life of hope. A life of faith. A life of being different than they once were. All by being their Good Shepherd.

But many of the religious leaders in Jesus' day did not understand this kind of grace. Sadly, many Christians in our day do not truly understand the grace of their Good Shepherd. They look down their noses at the unwed mother, think poorly of the divorced dad, are afraid of the convict, disown the addicted son, or abandon the child trapped by sexual sins. These Christians behave like the hypocrites so many in society believe we are.

These hypocritical Christians want a God who acts more like they act! They want a God who is always watching and waiting, with judgment on his lips and lightning bolts in hands. A God who is willing to promote those who appear righteous and who is ready to punish the imperfect.

Does that describe how you feel at times? A little self-righteous? And a lot hypocritical?

But that's not the kind of God Jesus describes, is it? This is a God who is like a man scrambling around in the arid Judean wilderness, desperately searching for one lost sheep. This is a God who is like a pitiful woman on her hands and knees, scraping the dirt floor of her home, grubbing around for a coin worth a day's wage. Isn't that beneath God? Isn't God acting rather desperately, irrationally, shamefully?

That's why the scribes and Pharisees criticized Jesus when they saw him acting like that – "welcoming sinners and eating with them" (Luke 15:2). They must have been thinking, "He may claim to be God or a prophet from God, but if he really was, he wouldn't be associating with tax collectors and prostitutes!" That's like the President joining the grass cutting crew in front of the White House, with cargo shorts and black socks with his sneakers! Or like the Pope sweeping St. Peter's Square after Easter services. It's just not done. Oh, maybe for a "photo op," but not really. That's beneath them. Associating with lost souls is beneath God and his holiness, too, isn't it?

Well, apparently not! For God came into our world literally on his hands and knees, as a baby, crawling to find you. He came to love the children of Israel who kept committing idolatry and adultery with foreign gods. They were prostituting themselves, just like Hosea's wife. Yet, God welcomed them back as a husband welcomes back his unfaithful wife (Hosea 3:1-5). He came for those "overwhelmed by excessive sorrow," like the repentant Corinthian church member who had been in an incestuous relationship with his stepmother (2 Corinthians 5:7). He came for the chief of sinners and shed his blood for me" (CW: 385).

We need Jesus to come looking for us. For we are dying – dying of hostility as much we are of cancer. We are dying of despair as much as by disease. We are dying of the stubborn, self-righteous pride that threatens us as much as any murderer's bullets or terrorist's bombs.

Think about who we really are. We are worse – far worse – than a coin that becomes lost through no fault of its own. We are ones who have left our Savior willingly, following the sinful desires of our hearts and delighting in our sin. We are worse, far worse than a dumb sheep who has wandered off, seductively lured away by the promise of a greener pasture. We are ones who have deliberately turned our back on the Good Shepherd; trespassing where we know we should not go; transgressing to do what we know we should not do; gossiping to speak what we know we should not speak; craving to desire what we know we should not desire. We are the worst of sinners – the chief of sinners.

God sees us worshiping false gods of money and success. He sees us bowing down to golden calves fashioned out of premarital sex and alcoholic binges. He sees us glorifying the idols of Sunday sporting events and kids' athletics. He sees all this and he has every right to say, "Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them" (Exodus 32:10).

We could not blame God for being angry with us. Angry at us ungrateful, sin-worshiping people. Angry sitting on his heavenly throne with judgment on his lips and lightning bolts in hands. And yet where is our God? He is here, calling us back to himself. He is here, in his Word and Sacraments, surrounded by sinners. Sinners in the community, sinners in the pews, and the sinner in this pulpit. He is not here in judgment, but with mercy on his lips. He is not here with lightning bolts, but blood on his hands. Not here with anger, but with grace.

God invites you to come near to him each worship service, so he may draw near to you. He washes you in his baptismal water of new life. He feeds and strengthens you with his body and blood on the Lord's altar. He restores you with his forgiveness, binds up your wounds, and heals you with his words of absolution. Like God did for King David, he does for you. He hides his face from your sins and blots out your iniquity (Psalm 51:9). He finds you, holds you, and blesses you with his nail-scarred hands.

There is nothing that your Shepherd would rather be doing, and no place he'd rather be, than here for you. Not because you're good, but because he is good. Not because you're lovable, but because he is love.

It is a mercy – undeserved love – that we beg for, crave, and sing about. In our confession we pray, "Merciful Father in heaven ...". In our communion liturgy we sing, "Lamb of God, have mercy on us." In our psalm we chant, "Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned." For without God's mercy, we are nothing. Without his mercy, we will be destroyed. "Lord, have mercy" is the prayer of the lost, repentant sinner; a prayer of the found who is grateful to God for looking for him or her.

There are some things we would like to hear, but we probably never will. From our car mechanic we'd like to hear him say, "The quote I gave you is way too high; I was able to do the job for $200 less than I thought." From a policeman we'd like to hear, "You know, I'll bet my radar gun is probably off. I don't think you were speeding after all." From the store clerk we'd like to hear, "Don't worry about the ‘next lane, please' sign. I'll take my break right after I finish ringing up your purchase."

Nope, no matter how much we wish for it, we probably won't ever hear anybody say those things.

In contrast to the things people will never say to us, God continues to surprise us with the wonderful things he tells us. When you feel unloved, God tells you he cares. When you feel alone, he reminds you he is by your side. When you are feeling too weak to go on, he gives you strength. When you are blind, he makes you see. When you are reminded of your sinfulness, he assures you he has made you into his saint. He tells us we are found and forgiven, found and free to serve, found and empowered to tell others of Jesus who says what we need to hear.

We may find it difficult to perform CPR on a drunk raccoon. Or hiking great distances for a lost pet. Or deep cleaning the house to find a missing coin. Or forgiving a cheating spouse. Or being friends with someone in an icky incestuous relationship. Or demonstrating love to those trapped by the evil of the devil. But our God does all of that for us. He finds and forgives us. He throws a party with his heavenly angels when we are found. ... And now he wants you to go out looking for the lost. Inviting them into your church. Sitting down to have a meal with them. Throwing a party in their honor. You are following the example of your Savior and Shepherd. You are looking for the lost. Amen.

May the LORD our God be with us, just as he was with our fathers. May he never leave us or abandon us. May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways (1 Kings 8:57-58). Amen.