First Reading:
12I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, 13even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners — of whom I am the foremost. 16But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life. 17To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
Second Reading:
15Now all the tax collectors and
sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2And the
Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, This fellow
welcomes sinners and eats with them.
3So he told them this
parable: 4Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and
losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness
and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? 5When
he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and
rejoices. 6And when he comes home, he calls together his
friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have
found my sheep that was lost.’ 7Just so, I tell you, there
will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over
ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
8Or what woman having ten silver coins, if
she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and
search carefully until she finds it? 9When she has found
it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying,
‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had
lost.’ 10Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the
presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
Reflecting on this passage from Luke's gospel made me realize that when it comes to people, there are a lot of different kinds of lost-ness out there… My wife gives me a hard time every once in a while because I have this ability get totally lost in what I'm doing… whether it's reading or watching a game or doing some sort of a project, I just become oblivious to other things that are going on… it's one kind of lost. Every time I go into a new city and don't know all the one-way streets and I know where I am and I know where I want to be but I can't seem to get there, well that's another kind of lost… when I lived in California my house was within walking distance of hundreds of miles of hiking trails that went up into the hills… there were days when I wanted a break so I would go out with only a general idea of where I was headed because I wanted to get lost… and there were a couple of times that I was lucky that my lost-ness didn't turn out more serious, there was a time when a couple of friends and I went exploring on the ski slopes and we didn't realize quite how far out of bounds we were and by the time we figured it out we decided that it would probably be easier to just keep going than it would be to hike back through the snow…we ended up on the road a little over 2 miles down from the ski-area… and we hitch-hiked back up to the ski lifts.
There have even been a couple of times in my life that I've known exactly where I was, but I was still lost… It may sound like an odd occurrence, but in reality it happens anytime someone's looking for you. My parents are going to cringe that I tell this story but way back before I had my driver's license… my parents took a friend and me to the grocery store and to make a long story short, when we were done shopping they got into the car and my friend got into the car, and they drove away… they didn't realize that I was still back in the store, or that I was running after them in the parking lot. They thought I was in the car, and my friend thought they were upset with me so he didn't say anything, it's pretty funny to imagine him sitting there silently in disbelief while my parents drove all the way home… when they realized I wasn't there they were mortified… they turned around and went right back to the store to find me… Of course it wasn't that far from home and I knew where I was… so I started walking the most direct route home, which wasn't along the road… so when they got to the store, I wasn't there… they raced home again and I wasn't there either so they started to look everywhere for me because the way they saw it, I was lost.
In this part of Luke's gospel, Jesus is talking to a mixed audience… probably some knew that they were lost. The text starts out by telling us that the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to Jesus… and there were others who knew that they weren't lost at all. The scribes and Pharisees were grumbling because the tax collectors and sinners came. And so Jesus shared with this diverse audience a couple of parables that are designed to speak to both groups of people… he shared one story about a lost sheep and one story about a lost coin.
Both of the stories end with the joy in heaven that comes when even
one person turns toward God. Now the scribes and Pharisees were the
religious elite… if we'd never heard of them before, we might
expect that they would see Jesus as a hero because he's the one who's
out there telling sinners to repent and telling tax collectors to deal
fairly. But they didn't see him as a hero. In fact quite the
opposite… they saw him as a threat because he fundamentally
disagreed with them. You see, according to the Pharisees, the people
who drew near to Jesus, the tax collectors and sinners, they were
lost… there was no hope for them and they weren't worth any
amount of time and effort… at least until they changed their
ways. But Jesus had a different understanding. There's no doubt that
he was calling them to a new way of life and he was very interested in
having them turn toward God… but by the parables he told and by
the way he interacted with them, it was clear that he valued them as
people even before they were transformed. He valued them as people
even while they were still engaged in the behaviors that made them
known as tax collectors and sinners.
The Pharisees wanted to
write them off, but Jesus wasn't willing to do that.
In the parables he told, Jesus pointed out that no one, not one, can be written off. The shepherd left 99 sheep and went to find the one because the sheep has value to the shepherd… the woman spent an entire day looking for the coin because the coin was set aside for a purpose…
Now, at this point everyone asks but what about the other 99 sheep… isn't it irresponsible to leave them, what happens if the shepherd goes away to look for the one and there are only 97 when he returns to the flock? And what about the coin, is it really reasonable to spend a day looking for a coin only to turn around and spend it on a party with your friends when you find it… I can imagine similar arguments raised by the scribes and Pharisees… They were the religious establishment… and for them the parables were a call back to their tradition which had deep roots of compassion… In the scriptures that the Pharisees held so dear that they memorized, they were commanded to welcome strangers and foreigners… hospitality was one of the hallmarks of who they were as a people… taking care of the people who weren't able to take care of themselves was part of their identity… but they had lost sight of that compassion… they may have thought that they were on the right track but as long as they were writing people off, they were lost too. When Jesus first spoke the parables, they were a challenge to the religious people to reclaim the compassion of their shared tradition… and now, two thousand years later, they still are.
If there are 97 sheep when the shepherd returns, it's time to continue
the search party because it's not just one sheep that's important,
it's every sheep that's important. If the coin is spent for a party,
well perhaps it should be… at least then it's being used to do
something good… to bring about joy and build community instead
of sitting in the dark gathering dust somewhere… You see when
God finds someone, or even something, it's changed… it's
transformed. Our first reading today was Paul's testimony of the
transformation that happened in his life when God found him… He
didn't know that he was lost until he'd been found. But when he was,
it changed everything. He writes, I was the foremost of
sinners… I was a blasphemer, a persecutor and a man of
violence… but still I received mercy.
He went on to write
half of the New Testament.
No one, not one can be written off. For the Pharisees and for the church, that statement is a challenge… but there were also others who heard it and for them it was an amazing word of grace.
For those who are lost, whether it's the tax collectors and sinners, people who identify with them, or any of us who are at a loss with family or finances, with faith or health, or anything going on in our lives… when we're confused and feel alone, we can all hear something of the same message in these parables... You, just as you are have value, you have worth and there is great potential in you. Because of that, God seeks you out and God is always ready to be in relationship with you exactly where you are… even if that's in the midst of your lost-ness. You don't have to be right to come to God… Just come.
Today's parables show us that God is a seeking God… Jesus didn't give up on the sinners and tax collectors, he didn't give up on the scribes and Pharisees, and he hasn't given up on the people and churches in our day and age either. Even now, God is seeking us. It's an expression of God's unconditional love and it's an expression of God's unending grace… and I'm convinced that when we realize we are loved like that, it's not possible to remain the same. Like the coin that was used to bring joy and build community, we each have something to offer.
Where the Pharisees said, change then we'll see if we can love you. Jesus said I love you, now let's see what we can do together. And the beauty of it is that we aren't sheep… we aren't coins… we don't have to wait to be found… and we don't even need a map. Wherever we are and whatever way we're lost, we can turn to seek the God who is already seeking us. It can be done by reading scripture, by spending time in prayer… It can be done by turning away from behaviors that get in the way of health and wholeness… It can be done by connecting and serving in community… but however it's done, there is rejoicing in heaven. It's the beginning of transformation and somewhere in the middle of receiving God's amazing grace and for this day, it's my prayer for all of us. Thanks be to God. Amen.
The foregoing sermon was given by Rev. Dan Holland at the United Parish of Bowie on September 12, 2010.
© 2010 Daniel Holland
