Prayer of the Day: Almighty God, You alone are holy, and all our righteousness is as nothing before You. Yet in mercy You sent Your Son, whose perfect life and atoning death cover all our sin. Open our eyes by Your Spirit to see the truth from heaven—that we are sinners, but in Christ we are made righteous. Turn our hearts from pride to repentance and joy in Your Gospel, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.” So He spoke this parable to them, saying: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? “And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. “And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, `Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ “I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance. “Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? “And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ “Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Last year my daughter’s class went on a field trip to a huge corn maze. I went along to help chaperone and was given five kids to watch. We set out with confidence that we could find the exit. We got utterly lost. Fortunately, we met some other groups that had cheat sheets. They had a map of the maze with landmarks. With that, it was pretty easy to get out. It was as if we had a view from above.

Life is pretty confusing for those who don’t have the cheat sheet—who don’t know the view from heaven. Fortunately, we all have it. It is the Gospel. Without the Bible, figuring out the big stuff—like where we came from, where we are going, and what our purpose is—is worse than trying to find your way through a hundred-mile maze while blindfolded.

By faith, we know the answer to those questions. We know where the design came from. It came from God. We know where the chaos and death came from. It came from sin. Through Scripture, we are given a heavenly cheat sheet so that we understand. We are given a view from heaven. God wants you to use this cheat sheet. Without Scripture, we would be lost. We might have our own views about life, but they would be wrong.

One of the things that mankind gets wrong—but Jesus corrects in our text—is the idea that there is such a thing as moral relativism. Humidity—yes, that is relative. The air can hold more or less water depending on the temperature. But morality is not relative. The world thinks, as does our heart by nature, that you can be less than perfect and still be a good person! What makes “good people” good? That they are better than the “bad people.” This is the view of humanism. This is the view of the natural heart. But the truth is there are no good people and bad people. There are only bad people—only sinners.

You can see this false notion of relativism in our text when the Pharisees talk about sinners and tax collectors. To them, sin was relative. At the top were the Pharisees; below them, the general public that wasn’t quite as good; below them, the sinners; and beneath even them, the tax collectors. What determined one’s spot on this totem pole? Their definitions of how bad a sin was. To be on top you could only commit certain sins that weren’t deemed very bad. To be labeled a sinner you had to commit sins they deemed unforgivable. And to be thought of as the lowest of the low, you had to work for the Romans collecting taxes from your countrymen.

The problem with that is that it is entirely wrong. Anything less than perfection is sin. God doesn’t grade us on a curve. If you were an engineer and carefully designed a bridge, and you got 99% of it right but messed up on one part—and the bridge collapsed and people died—what grade do you get? Do you get a “B”? No, you get an “F.” When it comes to morality, there is only pass and fail, and anything less than perfection is fail. “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10 NKJ).

The truth is, as spouses, parents, and neighbors, we haven’t just messed up a few times in a few minor ways. That is what the Pharisees thought and what our natural heart wants to think. We have sinned against our spouses, children, and neighbors daily. And like an engineer designing a bridge, one mistake can lead to terrible consequences. We want to compare ourselves to other sinners and think we are better. The cheat sheet from heaven reveals the true view from heaven: there aren’t good and bad people. There are only bad people—and I am one of them. I am a sinner.

Little wonder people close their eyes to that view, right? That is an ego-killing view. That is a self-righteousness-killing view. It reveals that there is no good in us. We desperately want to believe that we are good, don’t we? And the only way we can convince ourselves of that is by being like the Pharisees and comparing ourselves to others. Committing fewer sins than others, committing less serious sins than others, doesn’t make us good. Does the builder of a bridge do a good job by messing up less than others? No—he failed.

We are not good, as the view from heaven reveals. Romans 3 declares, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” Our tongues practice deceit. There is poison on our lips to hurt others. Our hands and feet know violence. We are not good. But the view from heaven does reveal something that is good.

What is the most amazing thing humans have done in the last hundred years? There could be lots of answers, but the thing that springs to my mind is Neil Armstrong stepping onto the moon. He said, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” I was not alive for that, but from what I’ve heard, that was a goosebump-inducing, shared moment of national and world wonder and joy. But let’s come crashing back to earth by taking a view from heaven. Did the angels watch their TVs in wonder and shout for joy when Neil stepped foot on the moon? They did not. While I am sure they were aware of it, it was barely a blip on their radar. You know what God and the angels find far greater and more joyful? Every time a sinner turns from his sin.

Yes, every time someone turns from sin to Jesus the Savior, there is joy in heaven. That is a leap far greater than Armstrong’s. That is a leap from the arms of Satan and hell to the arms of Jesus and heaven.

This view from heaven about what is great and joyous really opens your eyes, doesn’t it? You signing a million-dollar contract to play in the NFL?—ahhhh (shrug from heaven). You turning from a sin that was keeping you from your Savior?—(Super Bowl-like party in heaven). This is exactly what God wanted from the people the Pharisees had labeled sinners. They probably had done some terrible sins— theft, harlotry. While Jesus condemned those sins in no uncertain terms, He also made His love and salvation clear to them. By Word and by His life and death, Jesus showed them His love and salvation. Jesus was good. His life was good because it was morally perfect. His death, therefore, atoned for us. He died and forgave them, you, and me.

This is the view from heaven that God wants you to see. That is the view from heaven the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see. That is the leap of faith the Holy Spirit through the Gospel works. Relativism is right out. God won’t accept you or me into heaven because we are better than others. He will let you and me into heaven because of Jesus’ life and death, which made us righteous, took away our sin, and made us perfect in God’s eyes. That is the view from heaven—and don’t you forget it. Amen.

—Pastor Aaron Ude

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Rapid City, SD

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