Preparing for Worship - September 14, 2025

The theme of the readings this week could be called “the Lord reaching out to rescue His lost sheep.” The Psalm is Psalm 119:169-176. In this longest psalm of the Bible, the psalmist has spoken again and again of the importance of God’s Word and how much he “delights” in it and “does not forget it” and seeks to follow it, in all it says to him. In these final verses, the psalmist uses six different words for God’s message - three times “Your Word,” two times “Your commandments,” and once each “Your statutes,” “Your precepts,” “Your law,” and “Your rules.” He “sings of” and “praises” all that the Lord has said, but he also prays for “understanding,” “help,” “deliverance,” and “salvation,” for as he studies, he also has to admit and confess, “I have gone astray like a lost sheep” too often myself. He prays that at those times, the Lord would always seek His servant and rescue him.

The Old Testament lesson is from Ezekiel 34:11-24. The Lord knows that His shepherds have not always faithfully cared for their sheep and that the sheep themselves have become “lost” and “scattered” in times of “clouds and thick darkness.” He Himself will have to “seek out His sheep and rescue them,” as the psalmist in Psalm 119 cried out for Him to do, and He will feed them in “good pasture” and “bind up" their wounds and “strengthen” them, as some sheep sometimes hurt other sheep, too. Finally, the Lord promises to set up a new David as the one Shepherd of the sheep, and He will be Prince among them. Other Scriptures make it clear that this new David would be our Lord Jesus Christ, God’s own Son, and a true human man, as well, born from the family line of King David. See other Old Testament prophecies such as 2 Samuel 7:8-16, Ezekiel 37:25-26, Isaiah 9:5-6, Isaiah 11:1ff, and Jeremiah 30:9. And see, for example, in Revelation 19 the ultimate fulfillment in Jesus as the victorious “Lamb” of God, sacrificed for us and yet raised to glory, with His bride, the church, all believers, and who is also “The Word of God” (see John 1:1ff.) and “King of kings and Lord of lords.”

In the Gospel lesson, Luke 15:1-10, we see Jesus in His public ministry, reaching out to rescue lost sheep, tax collectors, and sinners, and being criticized for doing so. (See also Luke 7:34,37, Mark 2:13-17, and Matthew 9:11-13.) Note that “eating with people” was a sign of care and fellowship (see also Peter in Acts 11:3 and then in Galatians 2:11-12) and the Biblical fact that we are all sinners, who fall short of what God wishes (Romans 3:23, along with Romans 3:9-20). Jesus then tells the parable of a shepherd who has lost one sheep and goes after and finds it and carries it back to the flock, rejoicing. In the spiritual realm, angels in heaven rejoice over one sinner who has been brought to repentance and faith - and remember, we are all sinners needing to be rescued. And Scripture says we cannot rescue ourselves by our own efforts and good works. The next parable emphasizes that truth, with the example of a woman who has lost one coin and searches until she finds it. Coins are inanimate objects and are helpless in trying to find and rescue themselves. The woman “lights a lamp” to help her in her search. Jesus and His Word are that Lamp, “the Light of the world” and the “Light of life” (John 8:12) for us all.

That is made clear by Paul in the Epistle lesson, 1 Timothy 1:(5-11) 12-17. Paul writes, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” Paul had been strongly anti-Christian and a persecutor of Christians until Jesus came to him and brought him to faith. The “mercy” and “grace” and the “faith and love” that are “in Christ Jesus” were given to Paul as a gift and are “an example” to all of us who have been brought “to believe in Jesus for eternal life.” The “honor and glory” are entirely God’s for rescuing us lost sheep. This was the truly good news, the Gospel, of salvation by God’s grace through “sincere faith” in the saving work of Jesus - a message entrusted to Paul. Earlier in this passage, Paul had used the Law of God in its good and proper way to show that all people on their own are “ungodly and sinners.” Note that v. 9-10 follow the pattern of the 10 Commandments, which condemn us all, in one way or another. Our only hope is in the “trustworthy Word of God, deserving of full acceptance,” and giving us faith and “strength in Christ Jesus our Lord” and only Savior, through His suffering and death on the cross in payment for our sins and His forgiveness for all our sins.