by The Rev. Dr. Max Lynn
SCRIPTURE READINGS 1 Timothy 1:12-17, Luke 15:1-10
Transcribed from the sermon preached on SEPTEMBER 14, 2025
1 Timothy 1:12-17
Christ Jesus came for sinners
12 I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he considered me faithful and appointed me to his service,
13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,
14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
15 The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance; that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the foremost.
16 But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, as an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life.
17 To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luke 15:1-10
15 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him.
2 And the Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
3 So he told them this parable:
4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it?
5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost.’
7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
The Parable of the Lost Coin
8 “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?
9 And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.'
10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
When I was a kid, my father used to take the neighborhood kids up to the local golf course to hunt for golf balls. The course had several canyons golfers had to drive over, so if they shanked a drive, the ball would fall into the canyon. One day I was so focused on searching for balls that I didn’t notice that everyone else climbed up out of the canyon. When I finally looked up, I discovered I was alone. I yelled out but nothing. I yelled and yelled. I went this way and that. Still nothing. I started to cry. Eventually I found the group, but I was still upset. My dad patted me on the head and told me everything was ok now. Even though I was embarrassed for crying in front of my friends, I still cried. My dad grabbed me and threw me up on his shoulders like a lost sheep. That did the trick.
The Pharisees and Sadducees are grumbling because sinners and tax collectors were coming out to listen to Jesus. This guy fellowships and eats with sinners!
As we get started, I will point out that the most common denominator for when Jesus is going to come down hard on someone is arrogance or self-righteousness. Or a lack of humility. If you think you are too good for certain others, Jesus is going to knock you down a notch.
Why, one may wonder, are the tax collectors and sinners not coming to listen to the scribes and Pharisees? My guess is they have judgement without love, or they are more worried about the possibility that they would be polluted than about offering cleansing love and grace.
Like the brother who stays home in the parable of the prodigal son, the sheep who are not lost have nothing to worry about. They are with the group, with the family, in a safe place. So even though the Shepherd leaves them to go after the one single lost sheep, they shouldn’t be jealous. When they are all on equal footing and safe at home, it is not unfair, unjust or unequal to give time and attention to the one who is lost, the one who is left out.
Now there are people in our nation, people who call themselves Christian who are acting like the scribes and Pharisees, or Paul before he was converted, as if they are the chosen ones and others are unworthy, too polluted and sinful to include or love. They call themselves Christian but lack the humility and peace making and forgiving nature that would make them worthy of the title. But the solution, the Christian solution is not to murder them. It is not the solution for democracy either, but I speak about Christianity today.
We have probably all heard multiple commentaries on the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the right-wing Christian nationalist, the latest political assassination and this time not of a judge but a social media star.
Two commentators seemed especially well done to me. One was from the Presbyterian minister and journalist Chris Hedges, entitled “The Martyrdom of Charlie Kirk” in which he expects a rise in self-righteous violence: “Martyrs are the lifeblood of violent movements. Any flinching over the use of violence, any talk of compassion or understanding, any effort to mediate or discuss, is a betrayal of the martyr and the cause the martyr died defending.” https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/09/12/the-martyrdom-of-charlie-kirk/
Now I won’t share more of Hedges, but I wanted to note he is someone worth following. He is as close to an Old Testament biblical prophet as anyone I can think of, a bit bitter and critical of everyone and everything, but very, very sharp.
Now the other commentor I thought was especially appropriate for Christians was Cornel West. Now some would call West too wimpy, too soft, but he has the internal spiritual strength of someone who is intent on following the gracious non-violent Jesus, whether others do or not. And that is what I think is key about our passage this morning. Jesus is not really talking about or to the lost sheep, though we might presume they are listening too. He is talking about the strength of our soul, our attitude toward others who we might consider lost. The love of Jesus is not threatened or changed by the sinfulness, lack of love or violence of others. Kirk would be similar I believe to the apostle Paul before he was converted, a self-righteous watch dog, a heretic list keeper and advocate of violence.
So, West mentioned he conversed with Kirk. He said, “We had strong disagreements, but he is a human being made in the image and likeness of a loving and almighty God. And therefore, he is endowed with a sanctity and dignity that needs to be acknowledged and that is true for each and every one of us. Even if others, even if brother Charlie himself responded to certain persons in ways I’m critical of, that doesn’t mean I can’t attempt to take the moral and spiritual high road. This is about how someone chooses to be in the world. The love, the care, the concern across the board, across gender, race, class and nationality and religion. So anytime I hear somebody is murdered. Murder is murder. Murder is murder. It could be brother Charlie, it could be in Sudan, or Gaza, in Columbia, South Carolina, it could be in Ethiopia. Human beings are precious. So, my first response is to pray for sister Erika, his precious wife, and two priceless kids… That is very personal and existential. That has little to do with politics, little to do with ideology. It is at the level of human connection. Then we have a discussion of his legacy and things he said and so forth.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FJ5cgu04x0
The question for us is not what qualifies this other one to warrant my love, but who are we going to be. Then we seek to sing to the Lord a new song. West doesn’t get distracted by the bad others have done, or on the good they fail to do, and to let them lead him to act like them, an eye for an eye, but but seeks to create a community who welcomes the lost and celebrates the lost who have been found. Sing to the Lord a new song.
I recently watched a documentary on Netflix about Hurricane Katrina. Katrina was twenty years ago. If you remember, people were left days and days without help arriving. Each level of government was blaming each other and those who wouldn’t or couldn’t manage to evacuate. Due to the way the media reported on violence around looting, when the National Guard did finally come in it was with a show of force to stop the looting. When people tried to get out of the city they were stopped at the bridge and told at gun point they could not leave. The Governor got on the news and said, “These troops know how to shoot and kill and are more than willing to do so if necessary.” No doubt there were a few folks with guns and bad actors, but meanwhile, after three, four, five or six days, over 100,000 people were hungry and thirsty and dying. I went to New Orleans just three weeks after the water level dropped to help clear out houses. I can tell you that if you have no food or water, and everything is destroyed, looting is survival. I would have looted without guilt.
Then in came the Hero, retired US Army Lieutenant General Russel Honore. The mayor called him that John Wayne dude. He said about the governor’s comment, “When I heard that my heart dropped out of my chest, so I called the governor and said, ‘you don’t want to tell your troops to shoot your own people. We don’t do that in America.” He changed the attitude from keeping people down to finding the lost and getting them out.
One of the first things we saw him do was tell his soldiers, “Put your damn weapons down.” The general had a heart to go after the lost sheep. The general was asking the media to help get out logistical information on busing people out of the city after Hurricane Rita, a few months later, and a journalist asked why such things didn’t happen earlier with Katrina. The questioner was trying to get the general to place political blame for what had happened or not happened in the past. The general replied, “you are stuck on stupid. I’m not going to answer that. We are focused on the future… and moving these people out… And we need your help to get the word out.” The Pharisees are stuck on stupid. Social media algorithms are stuck on stupid.
Let’s not get stuck on stupid. How do we find the lost, how do we get the word out that Jesus loves you, whether you are a Palestinian or Jew, trans or Republican, Salvadoran or Egyptian or a working man or a capable woman, that you are precious child of God, that we are called together to celebrate being welcomed into the Body of Christ, that we are called to stand strong amidst the chaos and show what true Jesus followers are all about, to break bread and give living water, to sing a new song.
Now maybe you came in this morning, and you are feeling lost. And I pray you feel at home here and experience the unconditional love of God through Christ Jesus. And I can tell you that you are not alone in that feeling. For most of us have felt lost and have been found by the grace of love of Christ. So, we join with John Newton who was a slave trader, lost to sin and found by Christ, turned to become an abolitionist. Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I’m found.