Luke 15:1-10 (Ezekiel 34:11-24)
Eating with Sinners
It never ceases to amaze me what excuses and arguments people use to say Christianity isn’t true. By this point in my life, I’ve already heard them all and every new one I hear is just a spin on something else. But today, I want to take up one of the most common critiques hurled at believers today. For it goes a little like this, “All you Christians are a bunch of hypocrites! The very things you proclaim, you don’t even do. What about this (inset obscure Old Testament passage that talks about animal sacrifices, dietary laws, interracial marriage, etc.), you don’t do that anymore so why should I listen to anything you say?” Yes… we’re all just a bunch of hypocrites. But, these people don’t realize the thrust of their argument… that Christianity is supposedly false because we don’t fully live up to its demands. Which is true… but it would only negate the validity of such rules if we were the ones making them. Yes… the church is full of hypocrites. We don’t always do what we say is right. We don’t always keep our thoughts and actions in line with our faith. What makes us Christians is that we realize we’re not perfect; we realize that we’re sinners and that we don’t always live up to God’s holy law. For those who levy this argument against believers are those who are scandalized by what the Church really is… it’s a gathering of sinners. Imperfect, no-good, hypocritical sinners.
For so, let us turn to our Gospel lesson and realize this same argument being used by the Pharisees. When people are so scandalized by those whom our Lord receives, they fail to understand our Lord’s grace. They fail to understand even themselves… for so let us contemplate this critique of our Lord, as we learn:
JESUS RECEIVES SINNERS AND EATS WITH THEM!
I.
There’s always been this false notion that the Church is meant to include only those who are the most holy, the most spiritual, and those who have their lives all together. It’s not just a false view from the outside but it’s just as much from within. There are those that think, “heaven forbid, we shouldn’t let anyone who’s done anything bad in their life join us… that would ruin our image! We must be known as those good little Christians, so the world understands what we teach.” For we all know what happens if we don’t live what we preach… You hypocrites! But this is the tension which we must hold in the church. It’s true that as Christians we’re called to live out our faith. We’re called to be the best we can be… to live up to Christ’s example. Lead holy lives even here on earth as a witness to the greatness of God. If one of us isn’t doing that, we should rightly be called out and brought to repentance and renewed faith. At the same time, we know we’re also sinners. We know we daily fail to do what we preach and don’t always follow the example we’ve been given. If one of us does fall into sin or temptation, we should find forgiveness and mercy in the arms of the Church, in the hands of God.
Sounds simple, right? Of course, life is rarely black and white… so, let us turn back to our Gospel text. For all their failings throughout the Gospel, let us be kind for once to the Pharisees. They were the leaders of the Church, the ones entrusted with the spiritual care and guidance of the flock of Israel. Many of them were trying to do just that… to the best of their ability. For they were trying to defend the church from error and sin that so infested the world. Yet, as was often their fault, they overdid it to the detriment of the true Church. For so, we read, “Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear [Jesus]. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” Luke 15:1-2. To the Pharisees, this was the most scandalous situation. These lost sheep didn’t deserve to come back. They were rightly cast out. To be fair, I don’t know if I can truly compare their level of disdain to modern day. It would almost be like seeing your old childhood bully come walking through the door. Or imagine if a church leader who impregnated a teen came and sat down next to you after having been gone for ten years. For there are many who are scandalized by those restored to the flock of God, thinking the church tainted by such a person’s presence.
II.
This is why we must truly understand the church… and ourselves. None of us truly deserve to be here. We haven’t earned our spot or lived up to the Holy Law of God which we proclaim. In that sense, we’re all hypocrites… BUT… The church is a gathering for sinners seeking forgiveness from the hands of God. It’s a gathering of those who know they don’t deserve a spot, but draw near to Jesus anyway. We’re the lost ones, the ones who wandered away from the fold. But that also makes us the ones whom our Lord has searched high and low, near and far to toss over his shoulder and bring us back to the fold of God. For our Lord receives even you and eats with you at his table. Yes, our Lord receives sinners… he receives imperfect, no-good, hypocrites. Just as we read, “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,” Luke 15:7. There is much joy over our Lord returning you to his fold. There is joy that the Church grows, that even a sinner should be reunited to the flock of God. For our Lord desires not the death of the sinner but that he should repent and LIVE!
Our Lord cares this much for his flock; every single sheep is precious in his eyes. There’s no math being played, there’s no risk calculation, no balancing of the scales. God doesn’t want to lose even one…. Even you. Such was the promise given by Ezekiel, as he writes, “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out,” Ezekiel 34:11. I will search them out. I will bring them back. I will be their shepherd…. For so God sent his Son to be born of a virgin. Jesus would be raised as the Son of David, the shepherd king. For Jesus would come to shepherd the flock of God. He would go high and low, near and far to bring back all the wandering sheep. He would go even to the cross. For there, Jesus lays down his life for the sake of his flock that he may not lose even one. There, Jesus would receive every sinner that they may eat with him in paradise.
The very complaint of the Pharisees is the most precious Gospel for us… Jesus receives you… a sinner… that you may be cleansed by his blood shed for you on the cross and that you’d be given a seat at the wedding feast that has no end! In Jesus’ name! Amen!