On Repentance and Restoration – What Does This Mean?

Dear saints, the first portion of the Trinity season shares a common theme. The readings concern the call we have into God’s Kingdom of Grace. Two weeks ago, we heard of the beggar Lazarus. He had nothing to offer on earth. He was reliant on others for everything he had. He also had nothing to offer God and trusted in him for all good things. At his death, he was received into eternal life. Last week we heard of a great feast prepared. Those invited were not worthy of being invited. And when they rejected the invitation, those who would be regarded as even less worthy were graciously invited and brought into the feast.

We retain this theme today with a trio of parables in Luke 15. Tax collectors and sinners gathered and wanted to hear Jesus. He attracted the undesirables, the deplorable. Think of the scum of society today: the swindlers, the pornographers, the…whatever unsavory person you want to put in. While the sinners come to Jesus, the Pharisees and scribes grumble. They complain that Jesus associates, even receiving and eating with such people. And so, Jesus tells our parables.

A shepherd has 100 sheep and one wanders off. The shepherd leaves the 99 and searches out the one lost sheep tirelessly until it is found. Once rescued, he must carry the newly found animal back to the flock. After traveling, seeking, and bearing the burden of finding the sheep, it is reunited into the fold. The shepherd celebrates and rejoices with his neighbors.

A woman has ten coins and loses one. She urgently and diligently searches for it until she finds it. Eventually, she does. And when she does, she calls her neighbors and spreads the good news that her lost coin is found.

Finally, perhaps the best-known parable of the three, a son goes to his father. He requests his inheritance early. And the father gives it to him. The son quickly liquidates his inheritance and leaves town. He lives wastefully. He buys things and friends with the money. But he quickly runs out. And when he does, his things and friends go away. Destitute, he hires himself out for work that is unbecoming of a Jewish person: he feeds pigs.

In the midst of desiring the pods these pigs ate, he realizes that he could go back and beg his father to make him one of the servants. He would be better cared for as his father’s slave than making money from his current pig farming employer. He even rehearses a speech: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants”

As he starts getting close to home, he is spotted by none other than his father. The father runs to the son and before he can get the whole of his speech out, he is embraced, received back whole, and clothed. And like the first two lost objects, rejoicing must follow. The fattened calf is slaughtered, and a feast is thrown.

But all is not well. The older son is introduced and hates that his brother has been received back. He is angry that his brother receives such special treatment when he feels that he has been ignored. His father goes to him and implores him to rejoice and join the feast, for the family is whole again. But we aren’t told whether this older son joins the feast. Jesus leaves it unclear, surely on purpose.

So, what are we to make of this? Certainly, we can and should see ourselves as the sheep, coin, and prodigal son. We are right to see Jesus as the shepherd and the woman; to see our Heavenly Father as the father in the parable. It is Jesus who comes to earth and seeks out that which is lost. And because of sin, we are all by nature lost. And when sinners are found and restored, heaven celebrates.

When reading and preparing for this morning, I ran across something interesting from St. Ambrose. The Preacher in Ecclesiastes says a threefold cord is not quickly broken, and Ambrose sees Luke giving us these parables of Jesus as a threefold remedy to our problem of being lost sinners. He sees the shepherd, woman, and father as Christ Jesus, the Church, and our Heavenly Father. Here’s what he means:

By nature, we are lost sinners. We are brought to the font and washed clean in the waters of baptism. We are brought up in the teaching of our Lord’s holy church, and still, we are easily and often tempted to wander off into sin and wasteful living.

Sheep are not bright animals. They are quick to wander. It is an apt way to speak about us. They can’t rescue themselves when they get lost. And so, our Good Shepherd takes on our flesh and seeks out his lost sheep. He gladly takes on our burdens and carries them all the way to the cross, where he bears the punishment and condemnation we have earned and deserve. In Christ, we are redeemed and shown mercy.

Now having been shown this great mercy, we have a place in the presence of the Father. Through the Holy Spirit, we are born again and have a place in the gathered body of Christ, somewhat like coins gathered into a cherished box or purse. Even still, from time to time, we are found missing. To continue the sheep analogy, we wander off. The ancient church fathers often called the church their Mother. And so, when a Christian is found missing, the church searches after them. We pray for the lost individual. We reach out to them that they would return. And when our prayers are answered and they return, they are restored with great rejoicing.

Sometimes the drifting away is accidental, and sometimes it is quite intentional. Sometimes a Christian looks God ‘right in the eye’ and tells him he isn’t needed anymore. They go off and enjoy the pleasures of the world. All the while, the church hopes, prays, and reaches out that the lost person returns. The church watches, but the Father does as well. He desires that the prodigal returns. And when he does, he is reconciled. The Father receives him back as his adopted son and rejoices greatly.

We see in these parables the divine grace extended toward us sinners. We see weary sheep found by a shepherd; a coin lost and found; a son returning to his father guilty but repentant. Each is welcomed back and restored. And that is what these parables are all about: the repentance and restoration of sinners to a holy God. His graciousness in forgiving us our wretchedness.

We are all found in at least one of these parables. The tax collectors and sinners saw themselves as the recipient of God’s wonderful grace. Know that you are too. And yet, there is another who we’ve yet to mention: the older son. The Pharisees and scribes resented that Jesus spent time and ate with such wretched people. And so, they are presented as the older brother in the parable. They are in the family, but distant from their father. Even resentful of him. They see themselves as worthy and righteous because of who they are. In the parable, Jesus implores them to realize they too need the father’s grace. They are just as lost as the younger son and can’t see it.

It is easy for us to look at the world and lament how bad it has become. It is easy for anyone to look at people, both contemporary and historic, and think that they are awful and don’t deserve anything good, let alone salvation. The chapter and final parable end open-ended. We aren’t told if the older brother, who has alienated himself from father and brother, is restored. But know this: it is the will of Jesus, the Church, and the Father that he is. If God forgives someone like you, me, or St. Paul, he will assuredly receive and forgive someone like the older brother. And that is important to remember. Especially when it is you that is the older brother. Amen.

Rev. Brent Keller
Peace Lutheran Church
Alcester, SD