Deo Gloria
Sermon for September 14, 2025
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: Luke 15:1-10
Theme: God Cares About Lost People!
- He makes every effort to find them.
- He rejoices when they are found.
They searched along the river banks and gullies and streams that feed the Gaudalupe River. They searched under bridges and through massive piles of brush and debris. They searched with helicopters and drones and boats and airplanes. They even deployed a pair of planes from NASA. Firefighters and rescue workers and K9 units from 12 other states, including right here in Minnesota, joined the search and rescue efforts, as did over 2,000 volunteers who just showed up to help in anyway they could. It was a massive effort, an all out effort, to find and rescue as many as possible in the aftermath of the horrific flooding in the Hill Country of Texas back in July. As a result of their efforts 440 people were rescued—some from rooftops, some clinging to floating debris, some clinging to tree branches 25 feet in the air. Unfortunately 135 people perished in the flooding and 3 still remain missing. Granted, the hope of finding them alive is slim to none, but for some families the search continues as they try to find the loved one they have lost.
This morning in the Gospel of Luke Jesus tells us about another search and rescue mission, a search and rescue mission being carried out by God. Like the one in Texas back in July, this too is an ongoing effort, a search that is being conducted 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And the goal, of course, is to find the lost. You see, God cares about lost people, cares about them so much that he is willing to make every effort to find them. And when they are found, he rejoices. That’s the point Jesus is making in the pair of parables we have in front of us.
In the first one a man owns a hundred sheep. Nothing unusual about that. Owning that many sheep, he probably would have been considered moderately wealthy. One of his sheep wanders off and turns up missing. Nothing unusual about that either. Sheep have a reputation for wandering off and getting lost. So the search begins. The man leaves the rest of the flock and then goes looking for the one that’s lost. He looks and looks and looks and looks until he finally finds it. Delighted to have regained his lost sheep, he proceeds to put the critter on his shoulders and carries it all the way home. Upon arrival, he calls together his friends and neighbors and he throws a party to celebrate the return of his lost sheep. At this point you and I might think the man in the story was getting a little carried away. I mean, come on: throw a party because you found one lost sheep? But then again we need to remember that this man was a shepherd. A shepherd cares about his sheep, every last one, especially those that are lost. He wants his stray sheep back again with the rest of his flock. And he is overjoyed when they are found.
That’s the way God feels too. God cares about his sheep, every last one, especially those who are lost. If necessary, he will go on an all out search to find them. And he is overjoyed when they are found.
That’s the point of the second parable as well. A woman has ten silver coins, and she loses one. Now to someone who is rich and has all kinds of money, one coin may be no big deal. They probably wouldn’t even bother to look for it. This woman, however, was by no means wealthy. She was poor. She didn’t have a whole lot of money to start with. And the coin she had lost was worth a day’s wages. Even at $15.00 an hour that comes to $120. So she starts to search. She lights a lamp so she can see better. She moves the furniture. She checks between the cushions on the couch. A few cheerios, some popcorn, a crayon or two, but no coin. She sweeps the floor. She keeps on looking and looking until she finally finds it. And when she does, she is overjoyed. In her excitement she calls up her friends and neighbors and says, “Mildred, guess what? I found it! I found my lost coin! Isn’t this great? You’ll never believe where I found it, but I did. Come on over. I’ll tell you all about it. Ah, this…this is wonderful!”
That’s the way God feels too. People, you see, are very precious to him. It bothers him when one of them is lost, and he will go to great lengths, conduct an all out search if necessary, to find them. And when they are found, he is filled with joy.
Did you know the Lord our God was like that? That he cared so much about people, especially those who are lost? I’ll be honest and admit I didn’t. I mean, I knew he cared, but I guess I didn’t really realize how much he cared–at least not until a few years ago, when I heard another pastor preach on these verses. He really opened my eyes to what Jesus is trying to say here.
Jesus was trying to open some eyes too, the eyes of the Pharisees and teachers of the law. Sad to say, they didn’t care. They didn’t care one bit about lost people, people like the tax collectors and sinners who had gathered around Jesus to listen to him. In fact, they even criticized Jesus for taking the time to talk to such people and to eat with them. They certainly would not have done so. These people were sinners, prostitutes, swindlers, traitors to the Jewish nation. They were guilty of breaking God’s commandments. They certainly didn’t keep them the way they did.
They–the Pharisees and teachers of the law–never broke God’s commandments. Well, maybe once they had, but that was such a long time ago, they could hardly even remember that. No, they always obeyed God’s laws and all of their own laws too. They prayed. They fasted. They gave their tithe without fail. They followed even the smallest details of the law. If anyone was righteous in God’s sight, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were. Or so they thought.
What they had forgotten, though, is that God doesn’t just look at a person’s actions. I mean, he does look at them, don’t get me wrong; but that’s not all he looks at. He also looks at people’s thoughts. He examines what’s in their hearts.
In that respect the Pharisees and teachers of the law weren’t so squeaky clean. In accordance with the 1st Commandment, they were required to love the Lord their God with all their heart and with all their soul and with all their mind. And outwardly they had done that. You wouldn’t find them offering a sacrifice in some pagan temple. Inwardly, however, it was a different story. Many of them had developed a love affair with money, which is something Jesus called attention to. “You cannot serve both God and money,” he warned.(16:13) According to the law, they were also supposed to love their neighbor as themselves. And again, outwardly many of them did, often contributing alms to the poor. But in their minds and under their breaths it was a different story. Listen again to their callous remarks: “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” They had no time for such people. And in their opinion Jesus shouldn’t either. In fact, as far as they were concerned, such people could go to hell.
What a contrast we find in Jesus’ parables. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law might want tax collectors and sinners to go to hell, but God doesn’t. God cares about such people. He has a heart for those who are lost, those who are lost in sin. He will take extreme measures if necessary, even go on an all out search to find lost sinners and rescue them and bring them back. And when he finds them and leads them to repentance and brings them back into his fold once again, he rejoices. He celebrates and throws a party. The angels rejoice too. Together with God they celebrate the fact that one of God’s lost children has been found. That’s how God feels about lost people.
That’s how God feels about you and me. We too were lost, hopelessly lost in sin. In fact, some of us pretty closely resembled that one lost sheep. We too had wandered off, chosen to go our own way and do our own thing. We didn’t need God in our lives; or so we thought. Over the course of time, however, we discovered that we were wrong. We made a mess of our lives in the process. And in spite of all our efforts, our lives had reached a dead end. We were lost.
Others of us were simply born that way: lost in sin. Actually, we all were. That was our condition at birth. We weren’t infected with the COVID virus or the AIDS virus when we were born. But we were infected with the deadly disease of sin. We were destined to live our entire lives under the control of sin. And we were doomed to suffer the awful punishment for sin, eternal death in hell. We were truly lost and condemned creatures.
In his grace and mercy, however, God did not just write us off. He took extreme measures to win us back, even sacrificing his own Son in order to provide forgiveness for our sins. He then conducted an all out search. He searched through every valley and over every hill. He lit a lamp and swept the floor. He left no stone unturned until he found us. Through his Word he called us back from our sinful ways. He led us to repentance. He extended to us the free gift of forgiveness through Jesus Christ his Son. He washed away our sins through the waters of Holy Baptism. He put faith in our hearts to believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior. He brought us back and reunited us with the rest of his flock. And that’s when the celebrating began. God himself celebrated our return. The angels in heaven celebrated with him. Together they rejoiced that another lost soul had been found.
Is that the way you feel too, as one of God’s children? Do you too have a heart for lost people? The ones who live across the street, for example, or those who live just a couple doors down? The “tax collectors” and “sinners” who live right here in Belle Plaine, right here in Scott County? Those who live here in America or oversees in a country like Russia or Africa or Indonesia? In your eyes is it worth the effort and the expense to try to reach such people; to try to get to know them; to try to talk to them about Jesus Christ, their Savior; to canvas a neighborhood to identify unchurched people; to hand out invitations to our worship services; to send a missionary and his family to some far off country? Is it really worth it? You bet it is. Every ounce of effort is worth it. Every last penny is worth it, because every lost soul is precious to God. As Peter states in his second epistle, “God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance”(3:9).
By the grace of God, you and I have. Though once we were lost, God conducted a search and found us and brought us back into his family. How thankful we can be! At the same time, however, we also need to recognize that the search is not over. There are plenty of lost souls out there who still need to be found. In light of that, I urge you to lend a hand in God’s search and rescue mission. I encourage you to get involved in our church’s outreach efforts, to give your whole-hearted support to God’s vital mission of saving lost souls. Remember that at one point God made an all out search for you. Now in his name and with his help, it’s your turn to do the looking. Amen.