That's What You Get

It is easy to become Jealous over those we think are getting in easy to God's Grace when we labor to follow God's Law. Jesus parables in Luke 15 help us to see things right.

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Good Morning. Last week, we focused on approaching God. There are many who see picking a religion like picking a flavor of ice cream at Baskin Robbins. The point of the lessons was outward focused, to searchers, to help them understand the difference in how we approach God if there is only one God and one way to God.

This week, our lessons are more of an internal memo, focused on those who already consider themselves God’s people, but imagine that we deserve what we have been given by Grace.

Our Old Testament lesson continued the story of Naaman, the Pagan General who was cleansed from leprosy. He tried to pay Elisha the 4 million he brought to present to the king, but Elisha refused any money. So Naaman leaves, taking soil with him, to represent that he believes in the God of the land of Israel.

Gehazi had served the prophet Elisha for many years. He worked hard, he sacrificed much and took this decision not to take the money poorly. Maybe some was because Elisha’s ministry was poor, but much of it was jealousy and bigotry. Gehazi says in verse 20 My master was too easy on Naaman, THIS SYRIAN, by not accepting what he brought. Deep down, Gehazi resented that a Pagan was blessed so greatly by God. Naaman wasn’t circumcised, he wasn’t keeping the dietary law, and yet he gets this incredible blessing from God that Gehazi doesn’t.

We did talk a bit about this last week, in seeing how the blessings Christ promises for his disciples are true, but most are not fully realized in this world. Well, Gehazi wanted them now, and certainly didn’t want Naaman to have more.

This jealousy drove Gehazi’s to follow Naaman and trick him into taking about a tenth or so of the offering, and what did he end up getting, leprosy.

This story parallels our Gospel lesson from Luke 15. We opened with Jesus seeking after lost sinners. Like Gehazi, the Pharisees are supposed to be the spiritual leaders, but they grumble because mercy and love is shown to sinners who are not even trying to keep the law.

Luke 15 is simply 3 parables to people who see themselves as followers of God, but fall into the very seductive sin of jealousy. The first parable is the Lost Sheep, where the shepherd leaves the 99 in the field to find the lost. The second is the parable of the Lost Coin, which tells of a woman who loses a small portion of her finances, and sweeps and cleans until it is found, and celebrates for more than the actual value of what was lost.

After our lesson comes the story of the Prodigal Son. The Father portrayed as constantly looking toward the horizon for a glimpse of his wayward child. Even that willful sinner, who wished his father dead, is valued and loved by God, but can be the subject of the jealousy of the older brother.

And the Pharisees gave themselves lots of reasons not to want to welcome back into the fold tax collectors. They’re not like todays, they were traitors against God’s people, and fleeced God’s flock for a living.

Modern analogy time, Pharisee mindset. Supposing a young person you know and care about decides to join the Army. That’s fine, probably. Then they say, well the Russian Army will pay me double what the American Army will, so I’m going to join them. Then he comes home years later rich, but greatly depressed over what he had to do in the Ukraine. Grandson Noah’s favorite phrase… "That's What You Get!" when something bad happens to his older brother after he tries to steal his toys.

So Jesus is going around trying to find these type of people, and minister to them, to tell them, God still loves them, but calls them to repent. The pharisees

complain Jesus “welcomes sinners and eats with them” is a rebuke that Jesus would even try to save any of them “From the fate they Deserve.”

To be clear, Jesus preaching is NOT seeker friendly!! He is seeking the lost, but He’s not watering down God’s message. He is not preaching prosperity. Tax Collectors were prosperous already. He calls sin what it is but does it to try to help sinners see that they are loved and welcomed home by God.

But the parables aren’t aimed at people who think they are sinners, it’s aimed at those who think they are healthy. It’s to help the Pharisees who are jealous of the sinners finding redemption easy to see that this is the purpose of their mission, to share God’s love with those who don’t know it.

The two parables today show that we all are people who, without God’s grace, would be bewildered lambs, lost on the wrong hill until our shepherd finds us and brings us home. Lost coins in the couch cushions.

In St. Paul’s first letter to Timothy, Paul confesses that even he used to have this mindset. I thank him who … judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. But I received mercy …

Paul was once a Pharisee. He went around to synagogues, using violence to purge them of sinners who had come to Christian faith. Paul thought he was doing what God wanted him to do. But God, in his grace, did not abandon Paul. He came to him, turned his heart, forgave him, and welcomed him into Christ’s body of redeemed sinners, where he learned to imitate Christ in reaching the “unlovely”

Story time before we close - Samuel Colgate, the founder of the Colgate business empire, was a devout Christian. During a revival service that he’d attended, an altar call was made for people to turn their lives over to Christ. And one of the first people to walk down the aisle was a well-known town prostitute.

She wept openly as she expressed her desire to become a Christian and to become a member of this church. Samuel said the silence was deafening because this was a church which “voted” on whether a person would be accepted into their congregation. And no one was apparently excited to nominate a Prostitute to join their fellowship.

Colgate arose and with what I will call “Holy Sarcasm” said, “I guess we blundered when we prayed that the Lord would save sinners. We forgot to specify what kind of sinners. We’d better ask him to forgive this oversight.

The Holy Spirit has touched this woman and made her repentant, but the Lord apparently doesn’t understand that she’s not the type we want Him to rescue. We'd better spell it out for Him just which sinners we had in mind.”

As soon as Colgate sat down, a motion was made and unanimously approved that the woman be accepted as a member of the church.”

The good news in these parables is that God never gives up on us. He keeps seeking and looking for us, so that we might be restored to Him, and not only become a member of his cherished fold, the church, but reflect his love to sinners, and to seek after the lost sheep.