For Our Sake...He Received Sinners

And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, ‘This man receives sinners and eats with them.’ So he [Jesus] told them this parable. (Luke 15:2-3 ESV) During Lent we focus on our Savior’s suffering and death for our sake. As Jesus travels closer to His final goal and the climax of His life and ministry, His associations with certain people are called into question. Today at International Lutheran Church, we explore one of the most amazing parables told by Jesus as we consider the depths that God would go to bring us home.

Luke is the only Gospel writer who shares these three parables of “lost” items – the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost Son (Luke 15). His introduction of the events sets the stage for their interpretation. Jesus is experiencing what we normally call “guilt by association.” While we may see the Pharisees as somewhat rude or arrogant, their reaction is quite normal and likely we may have experienced this as well from one angle or the other. The great Asian philosopher, Mencius, is famous for describing in a worldly way the problem of evil while walking through a silk dyeing enterprise with his students. What was once white silk suddenly becomes deep blue or vibrant red simply by being placed into a jar of blue or red dye. His disciples clearly caught his intention to point out from our human understanding that the good in this world is often the result of being surrounded by the good, just as the evil is the result of being surrounded by evil. Some people, especially those claiming to be “religious,” focus on building one’s life around the premise of “sanctification by osmosis.” Those you work with, study with, live next to will in the end have the greatest impact on your own development and growth. This is the same reason that our cultural identity can easily become toxic not only to self but even to our own neighbor as we try to purge and eliminate the “evil” element from among us.

But this is the very point of Jesus’ three parables that grow increasingly focused, even as they narrow in on you and me (from 1 out of 100; to 1 out of 10; to 1 out of 2). Jesus’ search and passion for the one is not a disdain, or hatred of the ninety-nine, nine or even the other one. His whole point is that only all can be saved, kept or found if every-one is cared for by grace. But the tug of social, emotional, and religious purity is strong with us. It can at times in fact become our very core. It is why we can literally go to war with our brother and sister, or treat a stranger with a ho-hum attitude. This false piety and pervasive mindset is so strong that only One could break it and free us from it. Only by losing the One can any of us be saved. Only by tossing into the dustbin the most precious of all possessions can we be owned again by Him. Only in squandering His very life with the most ungodly and vile of all, can we ever be welcomed home. Some read the Parable of the Lost Son and see themselves as the wayward and lost younger son who foolishly wasted what was real and good in His life, and yet finally comes to his senses and repents. Or perhaps others will see themselves as the older brother whose life was wasted on servitude and bitterness while the Father calls him to turn aside and come into the celebration. But have we ever considered that Jesus would actually lavish His Father’s inheritance on you and me? We are right to consider this that He would actually sit at our table and deign to call us His friends, even to be accused of lusting for the foul food of swine for our sake. Jesus’ response to the well-meaning and thoughtful Pharisees is not an underhanded dig but rather an invitation for them to turn aside, come in, and join Him at His Father’s table. Jesus showed them how far God would and did go to rescue all of us. As St. Paul has said, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

You see, each of the three parables ends with a celebration, because God’s act to save, deliver, and rescue is efficacious. His love and grace changes us and brings us back to Him. We don’t need to delay or hold off until we are really serious about our faith in Him, because here we see just how serious He is with us. Paul speaks a little before these verses in 2 Corinthians of how God’s love “compels us” (5:14). Each day at school, at work, in the home, or on the street we have opportunity to let His love be evident to all. In how we act, what we say, and even how we reveal our true intentions, we can point to His cross and say with confidence that this was for my sake and yours! We are reconciled to one another in Him. Through baptism into Him – in the deepest dye, we become the very vibrant display of His kind and generous acts for our sake. In His Supper we feast with Him as we are strengthened and renewed in our faith in Him. Yes, for our sake He received sinners that You and I would be brought home!

Pastor Carl