Let’s Not Blow Things Out of Proportion
Text: Luke 15:1-10 The Parables of the Repentant
Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” Our good shepherd calls us by name and raises us from the rubble of our sinful world and our sinful selves. He says that all the angels of heaven rejoice when one of His own repents. That is no exaggeration. Jesus has to explain how He has come to save even those who think they need no saving. The Pharisees and scribes condemn Jesus for eating with sinners and tax collectors while at the same time believing they are above repentance. The Pharisees have blown their self-righteousness totally out of proportion. Their high opinion of themselves makes them unable to recognize their relationship with God.
How would you describe your relationship with God? Are you worthy or unworthy? Are you loved or unloved? Are you in favor or out of favor with God? Are you somewhere in the middle ground? How we see ourselves in relation to God affects our ability to see how others are in their relationship with Him. A better question to ask is: How does God see you? That is what Jesus is getting at in the two short parables of Luke fifteen. He reveals to us the relationship between the sinner and Himself. These two illustrations are called the parables of the lost. We might also call them the parables of blowing things out of proportion.
If you can’t find it in yourself to forgive others, you are in good company. For us, it can seem as ridiculous and difficult as leaving a whole flock of sheep unprotected and exposed to find a single lost one. So we pray for the grace to forgive. That grace belongs to all the trespassers that have trespassed against us. We are to forgive as we are forgiven. And we are worse than a debtor, we are beggars before God. In Christ, your debt has been paid, and that grace will never fail.