Luke 15:7 & 10  I tell you that in the same way there will be more
rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine
righteous persons who do not need to repent...In the same way, I tell
you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one
sinner who repents.

 Over the years these two parables have perhaps caused me the most
problems when it came down to understanding them.  I say that because
almost every time in the past when I would hear these parables I would
think in the same way that perhaps you did this morning.  I would get
hung up on why a shepherd would leave the 99 to find the one.  I would
get hung up on how the shepherd or the housewife seemed to care more for
that which was lost than for that which one had!  All of this because I
missed the point of comparison.
 The point of comparison between the shepherd and the angels of God or
between the housewife and the angels of God was the rejoicing.  Nothing
else is implied or alluded to in the parables and yet we seem to get hung
up on what we think rather than on what was said.
 So I've often wondered if many people have been lead to think that God
has a greater care for the one that is lost than for the ones had?  I see
that in people sometimes, they are out there living wild, doing whatever
they want and they seem to think that God is going to be happier with
them than with anyone else.  It's like they consider themselves the lost
sheep and wow, how happy God is going to be when they finally determine
to get their act straight.  The problem is that often the act is never
straightened out because after a while they think their act is just fine
and dandy and not that bad.
 Do you know how to alleviate that kind of thinking?  You do it by
understanding one thing about both parables.  In these parables the sheep
and the coins do not represent the believers and then the one straying
believer.  That's where we often go wrong.  In truth, in these parables
the sheep and the coins are the unbelievers and the sheep or coin found
represents the few who do come to faith.  When you understand that then
the whole of the parables changes.  Then there are lessons galore to be
taught and thought about.  Do you see how that base understanding changes
the whole perspective?
 Let's then explore these parables and grasp their lesson.  Our theme
will be: REJOICING IN HEAVEN.  1st.  It is about Repentance.  2nd. It is
about God's care.
 The first thing one must do to grasp this parable is take a good hard
look at the lesson that Jesus brings out on what is said.  His lesson is
about the rejoicing that is going on in heaven.  Rejoicing that is based
on the fact that a sinner has repented.  The lesson is not on taking care
of sheep or making your money safe.  The lesson is not on how sheep can
stray or coins get lost (to understand this simply think of the fact that
a coin is inanimate, it can't do anything no matter what!)  The point of
telling these parables is so that you know the joy of God over each and
every soul that comes to repentance.
 Should that surprise us?  I think not.  After all this section of God's
Word follows hard on Jesus' teaching about being a disciple.  It you
aren't going to follow him, if you aren't going to listen to him, if you
aren't going to be taught by him, then you are not a disciple.  That's
what Jesus taught to the crowds around him.  Now following hard on that
lesson is this lesson about repentance.  The lesson is about repentance
because that's the point that Jesus draws.
 God and the angels rejoice over one sinner who repents!
 Why is this so important?  Because of all that is entailed in
repentance.  Repentance is the first sign of spiritual awakening.
Repentance is almost the first thing we do once we have been made
spiritually alive.  We were dead, lost in sin and trespass and God made
us alive in Christ.  God made us alive in Christ so that we now see the
real truth of the world.  We see the horror of sin.  We see the wonder of
Jesus.  We are made new creatures in Jesus.  We are now a people with
Godly, repentant hearts.
 So what is repentance?  First of all, it is not something that you do on
your own, it is something that God brings about in you.  God calls you to
faith.  God seeks you out, searches for your soul, offers you the wonders
of Jesus.  That's why the shepherd and the housewife searches and looks
for what is lost.  That represents exactly what God does for us.  He
seeks us out.  John 15:16 says, "You did not choose me, but I chose you
and appointed you to go and bear fruit-fruit that will last."  The fruit
that lasts is faith.  Faith accompanied by repentance.  In Luke 3:8 John
the Baptist very clearly encouraged, "Produce fruit in keeping with
repentance."  Faith and repentance go hand in hand.
 What else can we say about repentance?  Repentance is seeing and
understanding the nature of sin.  Sin is not something to be taken
lightly or to be excused by a world that declares such language and
thinking old fashioned and backward.  To the Lord sin is a serious
problem, so serious that when a person repents God and the angels
rejoice.
 Now if you want to do something interesting then do consider what Jesus
said of the 99 sheep in his lesson.  He said, "I tell you that in the
same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who
repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to
repent."  The ninety-nine represent the world, the world that thinks it's
okay, that it's sinless and that there are no problems that man can't
overcome.  The majority of the world doesn't think it needs the shepherd,
doesn't think the shepherd does anything for them.  They just go along in
life believing that they are good and wonderful people and that God must
love them because they are so good.  They go along believing that they
are "righteous" despite the fact that God in his law shows they are
horrid sinners who need a Savior.  Yes, think of the Jewish people of
Jesus day, the religious leaders who were supposed to be the guardians
and keepers of the faith, who were supposed to be helping people watch
for and be ready for the Savior...yet when that Savior came they rejected
him.  Their whole religion was about the Savior and yet they rejected Him
when He finally came.  They remained lost in sin and trespass.  They
remained blind and dead to God.  But they thought they were righteous!
 The sheep found, the coin found Jesus points to as "the sinner who
repents."  God has made us see sin.  God has caused sorrow to well up in
our hearts over our sin.  God has changed our hearts and minds so that we
no longer pursue sin, indulge in it, embrace it and call it our right!
We are new in Christ.  We are lead to hate sin.  We desire to live lives
in keeping with God's Word.  We are disciples who follow!
 This is what causes God and the angels to rejoice.  A sinner who sees.
A sinner, who though still a sinner, has a different attitude and
relationship to God.  We are those who were lost but now are found.
Found not because we did something, but found because of the love and
care of our God and Lord.
 That's perhaps the most fascinating thing about both of these parables.
Please note the care and concern of the Lord.  We are lost.  We may not
know we are lost, may not know the danger we are in for such is the
nature of the sinner.  Yet God out of pure love and mercy, seeks us out
and makes us his own.
 How well this picture fits in with what God's Word says about
repentance.  I usually speak of repentance having four steps.  The first
is "seeing your sins."  The second is "being sorry for your sins" not
because you got caught but because you understand how your sins have
betrayed, dishonored and despised the Lord.  The third step is that we
now "desire to stop the sin."  All of these things I have already
mentioned but please note there is still a fourth part, perhaps the most
important part of repentance to be spoken of.  The fourth part is that
"we know the forgiveness that is ours in Jesus."
 God in love sent his Son Jesus to be our Savior.  God sent his Son to be
the Savior of the entire world.  And so Jesus kept the Law that we
couldn't.  Jesus then became our substitute in hell.  What we deserved to
suffer in hell, Jesus did for us.  The end result is that sin is paid
for.  All sin is paid for.  In this way God sought us out.  In this way
God took away our sins and gave us forgiveness and eternal life.
 More than that, God the Father and Son have also sent the Holy Sprit to
call us to faith.  It is the Holy Spirit that makes us alive and changes
our hearts.  It is the Holy Spirit that puts our focus on Jesus and
forgiveness,  It is the Holy Spirit that leads us to seek out the
treasures of heaven rather than the pleasures of sin.  God fills us with
his love.  God gives us faith that trusts in Jesus.  God calls us to be
disciples who follow.
 This past week in our Wednesday Bible class we ran across a passage that
is so wonderful and uplifting.  In Genesis 26 the Lord God is telling
Isaac, the son of Abraham how he will be with Him and will send the
Savior through him.  God ends that section with these words found in
verse 5 "because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands,
my decrees and my laws."  I pointed out to the class that we had studied
the life of Abraham and from the human perspective those word were not
true.  Abraham was a sinner, who on numerous occasions disobeyed God and
sinned.  So how could these words be true?  Because that's the way God
saw Abraham.  It all goes back to another little passage that says,
"Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness" (Gn
15:6).  Because Abraham believed the promises of God and the wonder of
the Savior to come he was counted as righteous before God.  In other
words, God had given Abraham the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
As God saw Abraham, Abraham was perfect and holy in all things through
faith.  It is the same way it works for us.  As we put our faith and
confidence in God's promises, especially the promises of Jesus and
forgiveness we too are "reconciled to God."  God does not count our sins
against us.
 But be careful.  Measure your life by the words and revelation of the
Word.  Don't think you can do whatever you want and God will just have to
accept it.  You do not want to be the ninety-nine but rather the one
found.  The ninety-nine think they are righteous but are not while the
repentant sinner is declared righteous by the Lord, yes, found and
treasured.
 Lots to think about.  Lots to marvel about.  May these words lead you to
Jesus and his ways.  Amen.