The Heartbeat of Grace: God Pursues Our Belonging

9.14.2025

[Texts]

Exodus 32:7-14 Moses begs the Lord to turn from anger against the Hebrews

Psalm 51:1-10 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love. (Ps. 51:1)

1 Timothy 1:12-17 Christ Jesus came for sinners

Luke 15:1-10 Looking for the lost sheep, silver coin: Jesus eating with sinners

Peace and grace to you, dear church.

It’s good to gather again in Jesus’ name. Good to breathe in the presence of God and one another.

Week after week, we give thanks for the Gospel Jesus brings, not just a message we hear in a moment, but a movement we live into. A movement of being loved, being kind, being you and being me, who God has created and redeemed us to be.

And for that, we say: Thanks be to God. That movement continues, and today, it meets us in Luke 15.

So, what do we know about Luke 15:1–10?

Most of you, who might be like me, have heard this story many times. The shepherd leaves the ninety-nine to find the one lost sheep. The woman turns her house upside down to recover a single coin. And every time we hear this story, we’re reminded of something deeper: God is relentless. God searches. God rejoices.

This is the Gospel Jesus shares: the joy of our belonging.

God pursues us. God treasures us. God celebrates us. It’s not about what we do to earn it. It’s about what God does. God loves us first. God moves toward each of us first. And yet, how can we not be changed by this good news? To love as God loves. To move as God moves.

But here’s the tension:

We say we believe in grace, but we still compare. We still compete. We still uplift who’s more faithful, who deserves mercy, and who belongs. We still abide by privileges that set people apart. We still draw lines.

In Luke 15, we get to see who Jesus welcomes, and that invites us to go deeper.

Let’s go deeper. Luke’s storytelling reveals the discomfort of the Pharisees and scribes. They didn’t like what they saw. They despised Jesus eating with two groups of people.

First, the tax collectors, those who worked for the Roman Empire, collecting money from their own people. Seen as traitors or exploiters. Second, the unnamed “sinners”, those who belonged to the margins, judged without trial, labeled without grace. And yet, these are the people Jesus chooses to sit with.

Unlike the Pharisees and scribes, these two groups had no problem with Jesus at all. They weren’t threatened by His teachings and ministries. They were drawn to His presence. How could that be? Because Jesus didn’t treat them as problems to fix. He treated them as beloved. Jesus restored their belonging as worthy of welcome.

And so we ask:: If Jesus were walking among us today, who would He be sitting with?

Maybe those who hold power in ways we distrust, such as corporate insiders, political figures. Maybe those we’ve labeled as morally compromised, such as addicts, outcasts, the ones we avoid.

That’s the deeper message that invites you and me to dive in.

God’s joy doesn’t come from perfection but from reunion. God’s joy doesn’t come from our worthiness but from our restoration. God’s joy doesn’t come from any closed social group but from the moment someone who was disconnected is embraced again.

So what does this mean for us? It means asking: Who do we sit with? Who do we welcome? Who do we search for?

The lost sheep may have wandered off, unaware of danger. The coin may have slipped into darkness, unable to move. Neither one initiates their return.

And what about the ninety-nine sheep? Do they worry about the lost one? Do they search? Or do they judge the one who left or wandered off?

What about the other coins? Do they care about the one missing? Of course not. Their inability doesn’t allow them. They stay where they are, unbothered.

It’s the shepherd. It’s the woman. They care. They search. They rejoice. They embody the posture of the seeker.

So what would it look like for us to take on that posture?

If we take on the posture of the seeker, how might that change the way we fish for people? How might that shape our gatherings, not only on Sunday but throughout the week? And how might that transform our ministry in faith formation and outreach?

Even if we’re not ready to take the posture of the seekers yet we could start welcoming those who don’t think like us, act like us, or speak like us.

These stories also invite us to wonder: What were the Pharisees and scribes hoping to see? A confession? A change in behavior from the tax collectors and sinners?

Maybe being “lost” isn’t about guilt. Maybe it’s about disconnection.

And maybe "repentance" doesn’t begin with a vow to better ourselves, but with an awakening moment: The moment we realize we’ve been pursued by God all along.

Paul says in 1 Timothy 1:13, “I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief.” He knew he didn’t earn mercy, but still, he received it. He was found while still blind, breathing threats, lost in zeal. His ignorance didn’t excuse the harm, but through his ignorance, God’s mercy was revealed. God moved toward him before he understood.

That’s the heartbeat of grace. The heartbeat of grace is not passive but receptive. It’s the sheep on the shoulders of the shepherd. It’s the coin held in the woman’s hand. It evokes the living rhythm of God’s love. It is steady, unearned, and always moving toward us.

To live by the heartbeat of grace means:

We stop measuring worthiness.

We start moving toward others with compassion.

We celebrate restoration, not just rule-following.

We remember: God’s grace is already beating toward us.

So if you’ve ever felt like you’re wandering through an unmapped maze like a time the GPS failed and you had to stop and ask for help, please know this:

God is already moving toward you. Already searching. Already rejoicing.

You are not forgotten. You are not disqualified. You are not unloved.

You are found. You belong. And that changes everything.

May we live with the assurance that God is already moving toward us, and may we become people who keep celebrating the heartbeat of grace.

Amen.