“This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
Do people who are obviously sinners, not even making a pretense of pursuing God, upset us? Do we prefer to criticize and isolate them, waiting until after a future conversion to consider conversing with them? If so, do we realize it is probably our own weakness that motivates us, rather than any sort of concern for God's honor? It is true that discomfort can result from being near sinners. We may see ourselves reflected in them in some way reminding us that we ourselves are still sinners who are not yet perfect. And it may become evident how little it is in our power to do anything to change the direction of their lives (and even of our own). Of course there may be situations where, because of our own weakness, certain fellowship with sinners is ill-advised. For instance, if we have trouble with alcohol, it may be problematic to spend time with those who excessively indulge. But we should never judge sinners on the basis of our own weakness. We should keep our hearts open and desirous of their conversion, as Jesus always was.
“What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them
would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert
and go after the lost one until he finds it?
In the parable of the lost sheep Jesus demonstrated that he wasn't going to let whatever hassle a wandering sheep might cause prevent him from seeking it out. It wasn't enough to have ninety-nine who at least managed to stay in the pasture where they were meant to be. Every sheep mattered to him. Focusing his attention on the one who most needed it and who would be most receptive of it was always going to be his approach, even if it caused the ninety-nine some discomfort to see they did not receive equivalent attention.
And when he does find it,
he sets it on his shoulders with great joy
and, upon his arrival home,
he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them,
‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’
Notice that there wasn't a phase where he berated the sheep or put it through remedial training. His concern was only that the lost was found, that the wandering sheep was home. It was even evident that he was so joyful in finding the sheep that he couldn't keep that joy to himself. We see a parallel in the father welcoming the prodigal home, when he did not even wait for his son's speech of contrition to be finished to run to him, embrace him, and celebrate his return.
I tell you, in just the same way
there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents
than over ninety-nine righteous people
who have no need of repentance.
We may sometimes feel left out by the way Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. But we can take a sort of comfort in the fact that we are not the ninety-nine who have no need of repentance. People such as that are found only in heaven. And so we can trust that Jesus is even now seeking us, trying to draw us more completely into his presence, encouraging us not to stray again from the care of our Good Shepherd. We need to become like Paul, and set aside whatever former grounds we had for confidence in the flesh, counting all as lost because of that good to be found in Christ Jesus.
But whatever gains I had,
these I have come to consider a loss because of Christ.
More than that, I even consider everything as a loss
because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.
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