Sunday, September 14, 2025

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Ezekiel 34:11-24
Psalm 119:169-176
1 Timothy 1:(5-11) 12-17
Luke 15:1-10

The saying is faithful and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first, Jesus Christ might display all his patience for an example of those who were going to believe in him for eternal life.

We have a collection of crosses that are displayed all over our home. Some of them were gifts, some were purchased as souvenirs on vacations, and some were given at key moments of our lives. As I look at our crosses, I remember the people, places, and events that are connected to each one.

In the fourth century, Christianity was becoming more widely accepted in the Roman world. The Emperor Constantine was known as the first Christian emperor. He stopped the persecution done by his predecessor and proclaimed an edict of religious tolerance for the empire. His mother Helena was a devoted Christian who set out on a journey to Jerusalem to find the ancient relics of the Church. Helena was placed in charge of the quest by her son, and the journey was paid for by the state treasury. Helena discovered several sights, often hidden beneath buildings from former emperors who put temples to their gods over sites thought to be original Christian landmarks, including the site of Jesus’ tomb and the cross of Christ. She built churches to mark the places that meant so much to Christians, and today we are able to travel to Jerusalem to see those places and remember the story of our Lord. Modern archeologists generally agree that she was accurate in her placement of those churches.

Sunday is Holy Cross Day. On September 13, 335, Helena’s basilica built over the Holy Sepulchre was consecrated in Jerusalem. The day after the church’s consecration, the relic of the cross was exalted for the first time to the people for veneration. Helena was certain that she had found the actual cross, which was carried into the basilica on September 14th. Legend says that she actually found three crosses, but she brought a sick and dying woman to the site and had her touch the three crosses. Nothing happened with the first two, but when she touched the third, she was healed. Helena proclaimed that only the cross of Christ could save a woman from the brink of death, so that cross was installed in the church.

I love thinking about the people, places, and events connected to each one of my crosses, but I love my crosses even more because they remind me of Jesus Christ who died on the cross to save me from death and the grave. They cause me to think about the grace of God that grants forgiveness to those who trust in His promises. We might think that it was a waste of time for Helena to build a church to honor a piece of wood that might, or might not be, the real cross, or for us to have cross collections. To many in our world, the cross is foolishness and God’s way of salvation is ridiculous, but we celebrate Holy Cross Day because the cross is salvation to those who believe.

The Old Testament lesson for Holy Cross Day is about Moses and the company of Hebrews as they traveled to the Promised Land. The people were tired, hungry, thirsty, and frustrated. They grumbled and began to doubt the promise. They wondered why God would deliver them out of Egypt to die in the desert. God answered with venomous snakes that bit the people. Many died. Why would God do such a thing? As happened over and over again in the Old Testament, whenever the people faced trouble, they cried out to God. They asked Moses to pray for them. When he did, God commanded Moses to make the image of a snake on a pole, displayed for all the community to see. All who were bitten by the snakes needed only to look at the bronze image on the pole and they would be healed.

Why? Wasn’t there an easier way for God to save His people? They hoped God would take the problem away rather than offering them a source of healing. The reason God did it this way is because the people had taken their eyes off the promise, off God. They only cared about their needs and desires, forgetting that God was delivering them from a life of bondage and oppression. The snakes and the snake on the pole helped them see God’s power and authority over everything. They turned to Him for salvation from the snakes, but God provides so much more through Jesus Christ.

Just like our doubt about the snake pole in the wilderness, we look at the cross and wonder if there couldn’t have been a better way. How could a loving God be so cruel to His own Son? Sin is a sign and a symptom that something is wrong, that there is brokenness and imperfection in our lives. We fail, We do what is wrong and don’t do what is right. We are upside down and backwards against God’s good and perfect purpose and intent for our lives. Something needed to be fixed. God could, and did, offer forgiveness to His people even without the cross, but the cross offered something far more important than just the forgiveness of sins. The cross provides healing and wholeness. The cross convicts, opening our eyes to the reality of our brokenness and imperfection, but on that same cross was lifted the Son that has saved the world. We see God’s love in both the conviction of our sin, as God calls attention to the things that make us imperfect before Him, and in the promise of forgiveness and healing. It is an object of both pain and peace, an object that shows us our failure and draws us into God’s heart. That’s what makes it so holy, because it is through the cross that we are restored to the God who has loved us eternally.

Still, the cross seems like foolishness to the world. They might agree that Jesus was a person, a teacher, a healer, but they don’t understand how we can put so much of our lives into faith in a man. Those of us who know Jesus can’t imagine what life would be like without Him. We wonder at those people who live day after day without some relationship with God. We can’t fathom the atheist who claims there is no God, especially when we see a perfect rose, a brightly colored rainbow, or feel a cool breeze on a hot day. We see God’s hand in the coincidences that seem to occur at just the right moment in just the right place to answer our prayers. We see Him in our relationships, in our worship, in our lives as we walk forth in faith. So, we cannot understand how they do not see Him also.

Yet, even as we do not understand how they do not see Him, do we show them? Those who hear us speak the Gospel may not believe when they first hear it. They may not even believe it a week, a month, or years after they heard. Unfortunately, those of us who do know the Lord sometimes lose sight of Him. Just like the Israelites in the desert, we get caught up in our own needs and desires, forgetting the wondrous things God has done. The history of Israel is like a roller coaster: they believe, they forget, they turn from God, over and over again. They did it in the age of the judges and in the age of the kings. We do it today. We have good moments and bad moments. We are human and we get distracted by the temptations of this world.

I spent a few years in retail management. When I worked for Woolworth’s as an assistant manager, I had a great boss at a store in New Jersey. A nearby store had an assistant manager that seemed to be doing a great job. He arrived at work extremely early. The district managers assumed he was there to get more work accomplished. They thought he was proving his worth so he would rise more quickly in the company. Quite frankly, we all worked hard proving ourselves because we all wanted to get ahead. One day, however, his store manager discovered that his early arrivals had nothing to do with his career. He was a baseball card collector. We knew this because he had purchased hundreds of dollars of baseball cards. He also stole thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise by walking it out the back door during those early morning hours. He was fired and charged with theft. I was moved to that store to fill the hole created when he was fired.

Unfortunately, he managed to get some of the employees involved with his scheme. The job of an assistant manager is to lead the employees, to teach them to do their jobs, and to ensure the success of the store. He not only stole merchandise, but he also destroyed the spirit of that store. Those who lead others have a responsibility to make sure that they do their best to protect not only their own jobs, but they must care for the people and the institutions for which they were liable. We had to find out which employees were involved in his scheme and let them go.

In today’s Old Testament lesson from Ezekiel, we see that ancient Israel was dealing with something similar. In the beginning, they had God as their King and He provided prophets and judges to lead them. There were also priests, whose job was to minister to the Lord and administer the sacrifices. Eventually they wanted to be like everyone else; they wanted to be a kingdom with an earthly ruler who would guide their lives. God warned them that earthly kings would demand much from the people; that some would be cruel and lay heavy burdens on their lives. Some would lead them astray. They still wanted a human king.

God granted their request. Over the years, some of the kings were cruel and the people were led from the path of righteousness. Israel lost their independence, the line of kings ended, and they were left desolate. By the time that Jesus was born, puppet kings were controlled by the Romans. Even the priests and temple leaders were more interested in their own welfare and position than that of the people they were called to lead.

The LORD knew what was going to happen to His people so He promised that He would search for them when they were lost. He was their Shepherd King from the beginning, and He would continue to shepherd them even when they forgot about Him. He promised that though the priests would abandon them for their own selfish needs and desires, He would never let them go. He promised that He would bring them home, give them all they need and tend them as a shepherd tends his sheep. He would not allow any to be lost and all those who suffer would be healed. He makes that same promise to us today when we stray.

He did this by sending Jesus who is our Shepherd, our Savior. Jesus came to fulfill the promises, to fire the bad leaders, to make things right and to return the hearts of God’s people to Him again. It was not an easy task, for only through the cross of humiliation could God’s people be reconciled to Him once again. But Jesus did it; He died for you and for me. Today, we still face human leaders that will lead us astray and put heavy burdens on our lives. There are even such leaders within the church, those who care only for their own welfare and position and who care nothing for the sheep they are called to lead. But God will never abandon His sheep whether they were led astray or wandered away on our own.

In the desert, the Israelites only had to draw near and look at the snake to be healed. It was a matter of faith that God forgives and makes all things new. Some died because they did not believe. The snake was a foreshadowing of what Jesus would be to Israel, but many who lived in the days of Jesus were not willing to believe in Him. There are still too many today who refuse and reject the God who makes all things right, even when we do not understand why He does what He does.

In today’s Gospel lesson, the sinners and tax collectors were drawing near to Jesus. We normally expect that the faithful will flock to a preacher and teacher, but in Jesus’ case the righteous (the self-righteous) were offended by Him. They saw Him as a threat. They saw Him as opposite of everything they expected in a Savior. He did not appear more righteous than others because He did things that seemed counter to the Law of Moses. He had mercy on sinners. He ate with tax collectors. He touched the unclean and offered forgiveness to all who sought Him. They came to Him because He had something to offer them, something they could not find anywhere else. The righteous, the self-righteous, did not need mercy or forgiveness. They did not need God’s grace, so they turned away from God by rejecting His Son.

They accused Jesus of being unrighteous. Jesus answered with some parables: one about a shepherd and one about a woman. Both were seeking something of value. These were stories about Jesus Himself. He had come to find the lost sheep and the lost coin. The people who came to hear Him, to receive His grace were the ones He came to find. The religious leaders grumbled about how this “supposed rabbi” welcomed sinners and tax collectors and ate with them. They did not understand that those people were drawn to Him because He came for them. The lost sheep heard the voice of their Master and came running for deliverance. The Pharisees and the scribes did not hear that voice. They did not recognize the voice. They did not know Jesus. The tax collectors and sinners knew Him and they knew they needed what He had to give.

The scribes and Pharisees had not turned to Roman gods, but they were drawn away from God by a much less obvious one: themselves. They only cared about their needs and desires; they forgot that God loved them and called them to ministry that would glorify Him. They relied on their self-righteousness, their obedience to a set of laws, and their own interpretation of them. They looked down on Jesus because He willingly lived counter to their expectations. They had forgotten that God is the God of mercy and grace, that He loves all who seek Him and that He seeks those who are lost. They missed that Jesus was the one whom God had sent to bring His people home. Like some of the Israelites in the desert, they refused to look at the One who could save them.

Ezekiel was commanded to give a warning to the shepherds of Israel. “Tell them that they are not taking care of my sheep.” The rulers of Israel were more concerned about their own well-being than that of those whom they were charged with leading. Their lack of care scattered the sheep of their fold, put them in danger of being devoured by the false teachers. The rulers were fat and well clothed, but the people were hungry and lost. God said, “Behold, I am against the shepherds.”

Every warning comes with a promise, and that’s what we hear in Ezekiel. God will care for His flock, searching for those who are missing, restoring them to the field where they will be fed, and giving them rest. There are always some in every group who are weak and those who are strong. Just as it was true in the days of Ezekiel, it was also true in Jesus’ day. The priests, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees had all the power, and they put heavy burdens on the people. They talked the talk but didn’t walk the walk. They did what suited them and expected perfection from others. They didn’t even see their own sinfulness.

Paul had a most extraordinary story to tell. He was passionate for God without even knowing Him, willingly accosting any who stood for the Way, the Christian faith. One day Christ came to him on the road to Damascus in a powerful and frightening way. Paul was changed forever by the encounter. Few of us can tell a similar story. Most of us know about God and have faith in Christ because of the patient and persistent witness of those who came before us. I wonder how many times Paul heard the Gospel before he met Jesus that day on the road to Damascus. I wonder how many people he rejected and harmed out of his zealousness for the old way. I wonder how many people – like Ananias – thought Paul was beyond hope, choosing to give up on him rather than risk his wrath.

In his first letter to Timothy, Paul recognized his sinfulness, admitting to having been ignorant while he thought himself to be wise. We often see Paul as being strong, arrogant, and self-centered because he talks about himself so much, even in letters of encouragement to others. In this passage he writes, “...for an example of those who were going to believe in him for eternal life.” However, Paul was not holding himself up as an example of Christ-like living to follow, but as a sample of a humble, repentant sinner receiving God’s amazing grace. Paul didn’t become the great evangelist by any power of his own, but by the power of God’s love and mercy. He calls himself the foremost sinner, not because he thinks himself greater than others but because he recognized how he never deserved God’s grace because he had rejected God. He looked to Jesus and was saved, healed, and transformed into an apostle who glorified God.

It is good to emulate the work of Paul, to share the Gospel as we are able and to serve our brothers and sisters in Christ in whatever manner and gift we have been given, but that is not the example he wants us to follow. In this passage we are called to see ourselves as sinners in need of a Savior, to recognize God’s grace in the world around us, and to share it with others so that they too might come to faith. We are to look to the cross and point to it so that others will find salvation, healing, and transformation there, too. It takes time. Sometimes it takes a lifetime. However, no one is outside of hope. We shouldn’t give up on any, no matter how much we are rejected. God did not give up on Paul. He never gave up on us. He hasn’t given up on those who are still lost and suffering in the darkness.

There is a time and a place for warning, for speaking the Law, for calling people to repentance. We must remember, however, that we are not more righteous than others just because we are not guilty of their sins. We are still guilty of getting caught up in our own needs and desires, forgetting the wondrous things God has done. We need God’s grace as much as they did. We get lost, too, by turning our back on God or by being led in the wrong direction. We need to repent, to look to the cross to receive God’s forgiveness through Jesus Christ. We need to be changed by His Word.

In the texts for this week, we are encouraged to see ourselves as God might see us: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Jesus didn’t tell the Pharisees that the tax collectors and sinners were good, only that they were in need and that they were willing to listen. It was their willingness that Jesus commended: they had been lost and now they were found. He was rejoicing with them that they saw the reality of their sinfulness and had looked to the only one who could grant them true forgiveness.

The psalmist wrote, “I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I don’t forget your commandments.” God’s Word is both Law and Promise. The Law calls us to repent, to turn to God, to look at Jesus on the cross. The Gospel assures us that He has provided for our forgiveness by dying on that cross. We were like lost sheep, but Jesus found us, saved us, and restored us to a relationship with our God. The Great Shepherd will continue searching for those who are missing, restoring them to the field where they will be fed, and giving them rest. When He finds them, He will carry them on his shoulders, rejoicing just as He did for us.

So, let us live in the mercy of God, praising Him for His promises and for His faithfulness. We will fail, one way or another, over and over again. We find comfort in His Word, knowing that God is always faithful even when we are not, and that He will come looking for us. We might be among the strong who take advantage of the weak or we might be among the weak who are led astray. But God will make things right. He doesn't think any of us will be lost forever because He will find us, and He will always bless those who look to Him. As we recognize ourselves in these stories, we cry out to God and ask for His mercy knowing He is faithful to His promises. And we, like Paul, receive His mercy so that we might become witnesses of God’s grace.