7 November 2013 - rejoicing among the angels

7 November 2013 - rejoicing among the angels


but the Pharisees and scribes began to complain, saying,
“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

For the Pharisees there is no alternative but to complain.  They are pursuing righteousness with their own strength.  They are trying hard to hate sin.  But because it is by there own effort they have no choice but to compare their effort to others.  Pride is inevitable.  They can't hate the sin and love the sinner. Indeed, if the Pharisee is distinguished from the sinner only by his exercise of will doesn't it make sense, in a twisted way, to hate the sinner?  This is a temptation we all face.  But we are not separated from sinners in this way.  We are all sinners.  We will all stand before God's judgment.  And our only hope is his mercy.

Why then do you judge your brother or sister?
Or you, why do you look down on your brother or sister?
For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God;
for it is written:

As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bend before me,
and every tongue shall give praise to God.
Fortunately for us, Jesus comes to seek and to save the lost (cf. Luk. 19:10).  As he brings the lost home let us rejoice with him.  We all have a tenancy to wander and become lost even those who are not lost presently.  We all rely on the care of our shepherd.  Even those who seemingly never actually become lost are safe in the sheepfold only because Jesus watches them so closely.  None of us is stronger than another in any significant way.  None of us needs the care of the Good Shepherd any less.

We need to realize that the lost are worth the effort it takes to find.  We should be grateful that we have a savior who is so tenacious as to sweep the whole house for one lost coin. He does not abandon us to the darkness.  All of heaven rejoices to see us found in a way that we don't even seem to deserve.  We need to have the same heart for the lost that heaven does.  Anything else ultimately turns out to be self-hatred as well.

On the one hand knowing that we are all sinners, potentially or actually, should make us humble.  On the other, the heart of the shepherd should inspire in us fearless confidence.

The LORD is my light and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The LORD is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?

We can be stouthearted and have courage because it the LORD on whom we wait. Because of who he is and the heart he has for us we hope to "see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living."