Jesus Came to Seek and Save
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
It was a great week. It was an exhausting week, but it was a great week. VBS is fun and VBS is silly because, in part, we are dealing with children. But VBS is also very, very serious because we are talking about eternity with them. We are talking about Jesus. And for some of the kids who came here, this is the only time they go to church throughout the year—a church that’s close by, that will feed them and love them for a few hours during the week in the evening. And so they come over from the neighborhood, but they don’t go to church otherwise.
We had anywhere from 29 to 40 children here. And then we had at minimum 20 to 28 youth also helping as well. And then, of course, the adults. And special thanks to Doug H. in the back for grilling on the last day, because everybody was excited for Friday with the inflatable.
And so the theme this week: Tropical Trek — Jesus Comes to Seek and to Save. And it started off the very first day: God finds me when I have troubles. Jesus came to seek and save. And the story that day was baby Moses. The Israelites were told that they had to put their sons to death. And so Moses’ mother, with a broken heart, puts him in a basket on the Nile. And her daughter sees the daughter of Pharaoh take Moses out of the water. And the verse that day, Psalm 50:15: “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you.”
And some of those children—and some of us—deal with trouble, real trouble. Those children deal with trouble. They deal with hardships in life: food insecurity, Mom and Dad divorced and fighting, families split, addiction and negligence and abuse in their household. And they’re wondering, Does somebody care for me? Does somebody love me? I’m in the midst of this trouble. And there is God even for them. God does not abandon them. God knows the sin of this world and has given an answer in Jesus Christ.
And the next day: God finds me when I’m lonely. And that’s a big thing with children and youth nowadays. We’ve seen the rates of loneliness skyrocket—and well before COVID ever hit. Those devices in your pocket, phones, being online, not playing with other kids, being isolated and alone—we have seen that loneliness epidemic hit our children.
And the story that day was Ruth and Naomi. Naomi was a Jew, an Israelite, and she and her husband had gone to Moab, and their two sons had married Moabite women. Then Naomi’s husband dies, and their sons die. And so Naomi says, “I’m going back home.” One daughter‑in‑law goes back to her people, but Ruth says, “Your people will be my people. Your God will be my God.” God does not abandon us. God desires a relationship with us. Isaiah 41:10: “Fear not, for I am with you.”
You are not abandoned to the cares of this world. You are not abandoned to the loneliness of this world. We are literally commanded to gather together as a people to receive the good gifts and to be reminded that there is a whole community we belong to in Jesus Christ—one that cares for us, loves us, and is happy to see us every single week; one that is invested in our lives. And this community gathers around the proclamation of Christ and Him crucified.
And then the week kind of turned, I think, on Wednesday. Jesus and Zacchaeus—wee little Zacchaeus climbing up that sycamore tree so he can get a better view. And Jesus says, “Come down, for I’m having dinner at your house today.” Zacchaeus was a sinner. Zacchaeus was lost—not that he didn’t have a GPS or a map, but that he was prioritizing the wrong things in his life, and it was leading to his death. It was leading to his destruction. And yet Christ came and died for Zacchaeus. Christ came and called Zacchaeus: “You are precious in my eyes, and I love you.” Isaiah 43:4.
It was a reminder to these children, and it’s a reminder to us, that we are precious in the sight of the Lord and that God sought us when we were lost. God finds me when I am lost. He left the ninety‑nine to find the one. He overturned the house to find the one. He rejoiced when the son came back. This is why Christ came—to gather God’s people together. Even though we are sinners, even though we are dying, Christ came to seek and to save those very people—of which we are.
And then Thursday seemed like it was going to be a sad day, because we all know the story of Jesus. And for this good news that Jesus proclaims, what happens? He’s killed. He’s crucified. And He’s buried. And the women went to the tomb to say goodbye, to prepare the body for burial so they could actually have a proper funeral. And they arrive at the tomb and they’re greeted by angels because the tomb is empty. Even when we think there is no hope, God finds me. God finds me. He finds you. And He gives you hope. Even though you are sinners, He gives you the forgiveness of sins.
This is why in Lutheran theology we talk about the sinner‑saint dynamic—that at the same time we are sinners, yet at the same time we are saints. We live in that forgiveness. We live in that love of God. And so Psalm 71:5: “You, O Lord, are my hope and my trust.” Everything else in this world will break, decay, fall apart.
Yesterday I changed brakes on one of my wife’s axles of her car. And I woke up today and my arms are burning because of all the manipulation you have to do. And brakes are heavy—the discs. And I thought, “Man, twenty years ago I would have woken up and been spry.” Today I woke up and thought, “Can I get an extra day of rest before church?”
Even when we have no hope, even when we face our own mortality, there is Christ in the empty tomb proclaiming life everlasting because we are covered by the blood of the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. We have a hope, we have a peace, we have a joy because Christ has overcome our sin and our death, and He has overcome our antagonist, Satan himself.
And then we had a surprise on day five: God finds me no matter my sin. Christ came for the whole world. God so loved the world—not just a few. God desires all people to be saved. And so God finds me no matter my sin. And the story that day was Jesus appearing to Paul. And we all think of Paul—we think of Paul and his missionary journeys, Paul the great apostle. And we sometimes forget Paul the persecutor and killer of Christians, who oversaw the stoning of Stephen and was on his way to arrest Christians to bring them back to Jerusalem so they could be whipped and beaten. And that schmuck of a guy—Jesus goes to and calls and says, “You are my chosen instrument.”
Neither height nor depth, no power this side of creation can separate you from the love of Jesus Christ. And God is relentless in pursuing sinners until the end and hopes that they would repent and believe. Christ died for Paul, and Christ died for us. And these children—even if their parents never take them to church again until another VBS—there is Jesus for them. Every single moment of every single day, there is Jesus for them. Christ came into the world to save sinners. 1 Timothy 1:15.
This was the message preached and taught and reinforced to these children. This is the message that, quite frankly, we gather around as a church every Sunday. There is nothing we say in VBS that you don’t get in a more formal, dignified, stated form with Pastor Ross on a Sunday morning—than if it’s me in the hot dog costume with the pink troll hair and sunglasses. Again, VBS is just more fun. Plus, VBS has snacks.
Jesus came to seek and save those children. Jesus came to seek and save you as well. And this is what we take out into the world. And we pray for those children. We pray for all the children—those who are members and we see every Sunday, and those we might not see for another year or until Christmas or Easter. We pray for them because Christ is for them. We pray for us because Christ is for us.
So go in the peace and joy of the Lord today. You don’t have to go on a tropical trip, but you can know that Christ Jesus came, sought you, and saved you. In His name. Amen.
Want to learn more? Read last week’s sermon here!
