Sermon at Morning Worship, All Saints’ Farley - 13th Sunday after Trinity – Sunday 14 September 2025
Exodus 32:7-14; 1 Timothy 1:12-17; Luke
15:1-10
May I speak in the name of
the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and may these words be those of you, Lord, and
may they be a blessing to all who listen and hear them.
Today’s theme is that of
repentance, of turning round and returning after having either lost our way or
deliberately having wandered off from the paths of life destined for us by God.
All of today’s readings, therefore draw us into the very heart of God, a heart
broken by our sin, but moved by mercy, and relentless in love. If we allow
these passages to speak deeply to us, we will see that repentance is not just
something we do, it’s something God makes possible through His
mercy.
Beginning with our first
reading, from Exodus 32, God says to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people…have
become depraved.” The people, freshly delivered from slavery,
could not even wait forty days before turning their hearts toward an idol—the
golden calf. And notice the language: God says to Moses, “your people, whom
you brought out of Egypt.” It’s as if God is disowning them, as if they are
Moses’s people and not God’s!
There is a real grief in
God's words. This is not a distant deity watching with cold detachment. This is
a God wounded by the betrayal of those He loves. Sin is not simply breaking
rules; it is breaking God’s heart.
Imagine, if you brought up a child, lavished love upon them and taught
them the correct way to behave, and then they turned their back on you, behaved
in ways totally against what you had hoped for,
how would you feel? Well, that’s exactly what God experiences.
But what happens next is
amazing: Moses intercedes. He pleads on behalf of the people. And God,
in His mercy, relents. The Hebrew word used implies that God allowed
Himself to be moved with compassion. This is not God being indecisive, this is
God being relational. Mercy wins. We
have seen this before, earlier in Genesis 18, when Abraham pleads with God not
to destroy Sodom if there were at least ten righteous people living there or,
allowing Noah to build the Ark in Genesis 6 and spared him and his family from
the Great Flood.
This is the first movement
of repentance: God grieving over our sin, and someone standing in the gap to
restore the relationship. For Israel, it was Moses. For us, today, it is Jesus.
In our second reading, we
have an example of God’s mercy to someone who has sinned. Paul writes: “I was
once a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy.”
Paul does not minimize his sin. He calls it what it is. And yet, again that sin
becomes the backdrop for God’s incredible grace.
“I received mercy…so that in
me, the foremost sinner, Jesus Christ might display His utmost patience.” Paul sees
his life as a living testimony to what God can do with a repentant heart.
There is hope here,
therefore, for every one of us. Sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking
that repentance is only for the really bad sinner, people like Paul before his
conversion. But if we are truly honest with ourselves and each other, each of
us, in different ways, has turned our hearts to false gods, power, comfort,
approval, pride, material wealth. And yet God’s mercy is bigger than our worst
failures.
Paul teaches us that
repentance is not about shame—it is about transformation. When we truly repent,
we don’t just ask for forgiveness; we open ourselves to being changed.
Finally, in our Gospel
reading, we meet a God who doesn’t just wait for sinners to come back—He
goes out to find them. Jesus tells two parables: the shepherd who leaves
the 99 to find the one lost sheep, and the woman who searches her house for the
lost coin.
What do these parables have in common?
Pursuit. Persistence and Joy.
God doesn’t abandon us in
our lostness. He searches. And when He finds us—when we turn back, when we
repent—there is joy. Not judgment. Not a lecture. Not punishment. Joy. We see this again in the wonderful
parable of the Prodigal Son – and there is another lesson there, unlike the
brother who stayed behind, we should join in that joy when others turn back
from their sinful ways and encourage them going forward.
Jesus says, “There will be
more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous
people who do not need repentance.” This flips everything we might assume about
God. He is not looking to condemn us. He is longing to celebrate our return.
Repentance is not a one-time
act. It’s a way of life. Every day we are invited to turn back to God—again and
again. That is why we have a time of
confession in every service; to acknowledge our sins and turn away from them.
But how do we do this? And like any good sermon there are three
points, listing three steps we need to take:
First, by being honest. Like Paul, name your sins. Don’t justify them. Don’t sugarcoat them. Just bring them to the light. No “I have sinned but…”
Second, by trusting in God’s mercy. Remember Moses and Abraham interceding, remember Paul being transformed, remember the shepherd lifting the sheep onto his shoulders. God is not reluctant to forgive. He is eager.
Third, by rejoicing in God’s joy. When we repent,
we don’t grovel—we rejoice. We join the celebration in heaven.
And one more thing: As
disciples of Jesus, we are called not only to repent but to become ministers
of reconciliation. That means we search for others who are lost. We don’t
write people off. We don't say, “They’ll never change.” We remember what God
has done for us, and we extend that same hope to others.
Let us
pray:
Loving
Shepherd, You seek us when we wander and rejoice when we return. Thank You for
never giving up on us, for carrying us back into Your arms with joy. Teach us
to treasure every soul as You do, to celebrate restoration, and to extend mercy
to the lost. May our hearts reflect Your compassion, and may our lives share in
the joy of heaven when one sinner repents.
Amen
MFB/224/12092025
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