3RD SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen.

Dear friends in Christ Jesus!

When David wanted to praise God's love properly and awaken a heartfelt trust in him in the readers of his Psalms, he cries out, "The Lord shall rejoice in his works." Ps 104:31. David means to say: Whatever God has created he loves; he cannot hate it. It is his pleasure to do good to his creatures; he is delighted when everything which he has called into existence is joyful and lives happily and moves and has its being in him.

How could it be otherwise! Would God have created anything if he would not rejoice in it? No one could have compelled him to create it nor even besought

him to do it; a man makes much of what he makes because he needs it and means to use it for his benefit, but God needs nothing of what he made; he is the All-Sufficient and he alone has salvation. Therefore, what he called forth from nothing he must have created only that there might be other beings who were to taste his life, his goodness, and his sweetness and share in his salvation.

That this is so God proves by the way he rules the world in which God's love and kindness is reflected.

How beautiful this world is! But did God create it for himself? did he not make it for his creatures? In love God has given the immense expanse of the atmosphere to the birds in which they can happily fly up and down; in love God has allotted the clear, cool waters of the seas and streams to the fish in which they can merrily play; in love God has given the dry ground to the other animals upon which they can walk at their pleasure; and he feeds them all daily at his huge table from his gentle hand satisfying every living thing.

But above all God reveals his pleasure in his dealings with men. For us God has so wonderfully, so marvelously beautified heaven and earth. For us particularly is the sky crimson at dawn and dusk and the mountain peaks are gilded; for us especially the sun shines by day and in the quiet of night the moon with the twinkling host of countless stars in the firmament. Over us arches the blue sky and before us spreads the smiling inhabited world with its mountains and valleys, with its seas and fountains and streams, with its meadows and fields, and with yearning we look up into the clouds, with rapture into this delightful, pulsing creation. For us the rain and the dew moistens the earth and makes it fruitful, and with every meadow, with every tree, with every rippling spring, with every bush and blade of grass it upon God's command stretches out its hands overflowing with gifts to give us. For us the birds of the sky must be a happy choir constantly singing; the animals must serve us; for us the glittering ore lies in the bosom of the earth. And still more! God has led us together here, has given us an understanding mind, a feeling heart and a speaking mouth, and has tied the tender bond between husband and wife, between parents and children, and friend and friend, so that together we can here rejoice among ourselves in his love and in our love.

However, who is able to tally up all the proofs that God rejoices in man, that, as the prophet says, he does not willingly afflict and grieve us; that it is his delight to do good to us and cause us to rejoice even here! And all this God has done for well nigh 6,000 years, even though mankind has unceasingly opposed him and hated his holy will and continually insulted and grieved, him. God's patience has not for that reason ended. His sun shines as graciously as ever upon the evil and the good and his fructifying rain falls as bountifully as ever upon all their fields just as if man had never forfeited God's love at all. Must we not cry out, "Lord, what is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" Ps 8:5. How great must be your love to us! Yes, you rejoice in all your works. Praise be to thee forever and ever.

My friends, though God has wonderfully revealed his pleasure in us, we find it most difficult to believe this when we consider that we are sinners.If this thought is once driven home, man then thinks that the whole world with all its beauty cannot move him to rejoice nor assure him of God's love, for he is indeed unworthy of one ray of light, to say nothing of the gracious beatific vision of God. However, there is comfort in God's Word to calm even this apprehension, for it shows us that God loves even the sinner, that Jesus is the gracious friend of sinners. Permit me, etc.

The text. Luke 15:1-10.

In the Gospel just read we catch a glimpse of a most beautiful portrait of Christ, yes, really the true picture of Christ as he is amongst sinners whom he pursues and graciously receives. Therefore, the subject of our meditation is:

JESUS, THE FRIEND OF SINNERS

I. How He Mercifully Pursues the Lost and Erring Sinners, and,

II. How He Graciously Receives Those Who Come to Him as Sinners.

Oh Jesus, dear Friend of sinners, who is not angry on account of our sins but looks sympathetically upon sinners and would gladly deliver us all from them and save us, grant that now as your infinite love of sinners is to be preached to us, our hearts will be opened to receive you. For when we yearn to be with you, you are already with us and in us and refresh us with grace, righteousness, peace, and joy. Oh, let none of us hear this gracious word in vain; draw us all into your arms of grace and then let nothing tear us out of your hand again until, we stand at your right hand and live and rule with you from eternity to eternity. Amen.

I.

A friend of sinners is not, my friends, an honorable name in the eyes of the world. In our Gospel we are, therefore, told: Once when "all the publicans and sinners drew near" to Christ "for to hear him." then "the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying. This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them." Vv. 1,2. Other passages of the Gospels relate the same thing. When Christ once permitted the great sinner, Mary Magdalena, to anoint his feet, wet them with her tears, and dry them with the hairs, of her head, a certain Pharisee thought to himself, "This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him; for she is a sinner." Lk 7:39. We also hear that to: insult Christ they called him a friend of publicans and sinners.

But far be it that Christ should have refused the title of a friend of sinners; he did not want to let this name (so insulting in the eyes of the world) be taken from him; according to our text and in other places he defended himself and gave reasons why he was and wanted to remain above all a friend of sinners. He related several parables; he says, "What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and ro after that which is lost, until he find it? Either what woman having ten pieces of silver. if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find it?" Vv. 4,8. Christ means to say: You do the very same; if a shepherd has only 100 sheep, and if he loses one of them, he is for the moment more concerned about the one which is lost than for all the others; he acts as if the one lost sheep were more important than the 99 which were not lost; these he leaves and goes after that one. So also a wife; if she loses one of her ten coins, she acts as if the one she lost was worth more than all the coins which were left; she forgets what she has and diligently searches for the one which was lost. Why then are you surprised, Christ means to say, that I so zealously seek lost sinners and so zealously pursue them? All sinners are my sheep; they are all my possession; I have dearly bought them with my own blood; if a sinner is lost, I have lost a sheep from my flock; my shepherd's heart urges me to go out quickly and seek it upon all mountains, in all the abysses and woods and bogs of the sinful world.

Oh, what a tender heart Christ, therefore, has for lost sinners! He is not minded like man. If man sees another fall deeply into sin, he immediately thinks: This person is not worthy of being received by anyone; he deserves no

love but hate and contempt; all admonitions are lost and all love is wasted as far. as he is concerned; there is no hope that he would ever be converted. Jesus has an entirely different thought. If he sees a person fall deeply into sin, his loving heart is filled with mercy and sympathy; he thinks: I have dearly bought this man's soul with suffering and death; it is also a precious treasure which belongs to me. Moreover, Jesus thinks: This poor sinner has not deserved hatred but sympathy, for there can be no greater misfortune for a person than, to fall into sin, become God's enemy, forfeit salvation. Finally Jesus thinks: If I would not accept this fallen sinner, there would be no hope for him; I will block his path of. sin with my grace; I will entice him with my mercy, and if that does not bear fruit, I will threaten him, I will frighten him with my wrath so that I can gain him. Thus Christ sometimes uses suffering, sometimes joy to move the sinner to a blessed conversion.

If a person is bitterly and grievously insulted by others and if he for that reason also falls into other great and serious sins, the natural man interests himself even less in his fallen foe; yes, he is happy to see him rush from sin to sin to his ruin and thinks that if he fares badly it serves him right; he is reaping the results of his evil deeds. However, of what a different mind Christ is! Yes, he it is who is insulted with every sin, even if we, as it seems, merely sin against our neighbor; yet even if a person despises Christ completely, rejects his Gospel, reviles or abuses his grace, and constantly increases his enmity, Christ does not lose his love to such a poor, erring, and lost person.

We see this in several examples. When Christ, probably at the close of day, approached a little village in Samaria and sent the disciples hither to arrange for lodging, the inhabitants of the village defiantly refused him lodging. Angrily the disciples accompanying Christ immediately exclaimed, "Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them?" But what did Jesus do? He turned to the enraged disciples and said, "Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." Lk 9:54-56. Recall also how hostile Jerusalem was toward Christ! And yet we do not see Christ become angry, but he stands weeping over the sinful city and bemoans the evil with which it wantonly was cursing itself.

Oh, what a loving friend of sinners Christ is! Though a sinner may have insulted him ever so shamefully, ever so unthankfully, ever so grievously, Christ does not give him up; he does not give him up to his ruin; he still goes after him, is the first graciously to offer his most worthless enemy and insulter the hand of reconciliation and to beseech him to become his friend.

Jesus has more than a fatherly heart toward all sinners. Just as a father and mother cannot deny their heart even if a child is ever so godless; as their heart breaks over the lost son who has defiantly run away when he has hurled himself into shame and trouble, into misery of body and soul by his sins and malice; as parents groan day and night for such a wretched person whom the world despises and abominates and in secret bewail his unhappiness with bitter tears, so is Jesus minded toward the sinner who has become an object of horror to men; his heart, burning with love toward sinners, yearns also for their deliverance; he seeks to win them also, he goes after them also; he would gladly heal also them who are like sick sheep covered with loathsome sores; yes, it is his greatest joy to tear such completely lost sinners, who seem to have surrendered themselves to Satan, from his jaws, entice them to return to him, refresh them with his grace, clothe them with his righteousness, and finally in triumph carry them into heaven,

Ah, 'tis vain for me to search for words which describe the greatness of the love of Jesus Christ, the Friend of sinners. Our parental love toward our erring children is only a tiny spark in comparison, whereas Jesus' love is greater than heaven and earth.

Therefore, my dear,hearer, whoever you may be, though also your sins may be ever so great; though you may have sinned much and long; though you may have insulted Christ ever so greatly and inexcusably; though everyone may; regard you as a sinner who is no longer worthy of any love; though everyone may have given up the hope that there still may be help and grace for you; though by your sins you may have fallen into such contempt and shame that you have no friend among men who will accept you, you still have one Friend; even as you sinned he remained faithful to you; and he is - Jesus the Friend of sinners. Perhaps you have an evil conscience which damns you; you experience many misfortunes in this world; you, therefore, think that Christ is angry with you, he is now punishing you for your sins, he is letting you suffer for them now and has forsaken you, forever; but that is not true. Since you are so concerned about your sins and since you in your misery plead guilty, then know this, in this very, fact you have the proof that the Good Shepherd still follows after you, seeks you, and calls you back. The anxiety of your heart, your pain that you are so -forsaken and have wandered so far are nothing else but evidences of the grace of the Friend,of sinners; because Christ has caused the Word of his grace, friendliness, and love to be preached to you, he himself now stands before you and above all among,all lost sinners here and says: Just return, just come to me; Ι will,receive you. For what the enemy says in our Gospel is certain and true, "Jesus receiveth sinners."

II.

This leads me to the second portion of my sermon in which I will now show you how graciously and in what a friendly way he receives those who come to .him as sinners.

Perhaps many could think: if Christ were such a great friend of sinners, it would be impossible for one sinner to be lost. This does not follow at all. Jesus does indeed accept sinners but only sinners. The failing of most people is that they do not want to consider themselves sinners and particularly great lost sinners.. Most people want to go to Christ äs pious, virtuous, upright, holy people who at the most have only a few weaknesses and only seldom had fallen into a somewhat greater sin. A friend of such false holy, pious, virtuous, and upright people Christ is not. He came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance; he is a. Physician not of the strong or healthy but of the weak and the sick. The self-righteous Pharisees, therefore,, remained away from Christ, but the poor publicans,burdened with great sins, and other great sinners gathered around him and found comfort and salvation in him.

How gladly Christ receives the sheep he himself, testifies in our Gospel when first of all he continues speaking of the shepherd with the lost sheep to whom he refers, "And when he hath found it, he layeth on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, saving unto them. Rejoice with me. for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance." Vv.5-7. And then he says of the woman who searched for her lost coin, "And when she hath found it, she calleth her friends and her neighbors together, saving. Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I had lost. Likewise. I say unto you. there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." Vv. 9,10.

See from this with what joy Christ receives all those who come to him, as sinners. He is not ashamed of them as people are ashamed of the deeply fallen but in their very .fall he seeks his honor and glory by being able to deliver, pardon, and save even the greatest sinner. He, God's Son, came into the world for no other reason than to seek all sinners and to save that which was lost; that is his office; that is, so to say, his daily work; as a physician is happy when the sick come to him and seek his help for that is his calling, so also Christ when sinners come to him and seek deliverance from him, for he wants to be the physician of sinners.

But perhaps many will think that Christ will indeed accept sinners after they have bettered themselves; but for that very reason I do not dare to go to Christ until I have been able to free myself from my sins. If that is your lament, you are to know: Christ receives sinners as they are; as long as the person has become a sinner only in his heart; as long as he has perceived that he is also a wretched publican who must be lost and condemned without grace; as long as he has come to the point where he knows of absolutely no other counsel for his soul than going to Christ, he is unable to convert and improve himself, Christ must have mercy on him else he would have to despair, then such a despairing person always is graciously received by Christ. Indeed, if first we wanted to improve ourselves, cleanse ourselves, make ourselves pious and worthy, we would go further and further from Christ;, but when we perceive that our wishing, our good purposes, our good intentions, and all our abilities and strivings are lost,.Christ must help us, oh, Christ does not let the hopes of such be put to shame; such he must help and save as truly as he is Jesus (Savior), as truly as he is a friend of sinners.

Therefore, if there is anyone here who. laments, over himself; from the bottom of his heart; who is angry with himself; who feels himself bound and helpless to improve himself; who, perhaps is ashamed to reveal to any person the whole wretchedness of his sins because he thinks that then no one would comfort him -- let him know: he can go to Jesus; he can freely tell him his ruin; he is a Physician who can heal even the most helpless illnesses; he is a merciful as well as an almighty friend of sinners; the greater our sin is the greater is his grace; the greater our misery the greater his mercy. That so many are not saved does not lie in Christ's willingness to be gracious to all sinners but in man's unwillingness to be a sinner and to believe in Christ's grace.

Sad to say, there are even among those who actually regard themselves as great s itineris not a few who unceasingly go about with doubt as to whether they also are under God's grace, whether they also would be saved if death should unexpectedly overtake them perhaps in an unguarded moment. They think; since they are not completely free of sin, since they must daily appear in shame before God as stumbling sinners, this could not be the true state in,which ,they dare comfort themselves in Christ's grace. Then if they must discover the condemnations of their own heart, they become increasingly anxious and desperate. Such people let the comfort of the Gospel be spoiled by their own heart; and that they can no more joyfully battle flesh, world, and Satan is due alone to the fact that they do. not with confidence every day and hour receive grace upon grace from the fullness of Jesus Christ, Yes, you concerned, anxious, and desperate souls, learn to go the more confidently to your Savior; learn to know him even better than before; he did not come to lay burdens upon you but to remove them; he is not a stern judge but a merciful High Priest who knows how we feel, who knows our weakness, who was tempted in all points as we are yet without sin. He is truly a friend of sinners; he sympathetically hears your laments and daily and hourly forgives you all your sins; cling to him firmly in faith. All depends on faith and on nothing else; faith receives forgiveness, faith receives comfort, faith gains the victory, faith saves.

In Scripture we read how full of comfort, full of peace, full of blessedness pious Christians were; they did not work this by their own power; as we, they had to discover their misery. But they came through with faith, as the publicans and sinners in our Gospel they drew near to Christ, they pressed upon him, they did not leave them until he had looked upon them in grace; thus they conquered and' finally departed in peace and were saved by grace.

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