Sermon for Proper 19 C RCL September 15, 2013
So he told them this parable: "Which 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? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And 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.' Just 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.
"Or 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? When 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.' Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."
Today’s Gospel reading is
familiar to many it includes two of the three parables that are in chapter 15
of Luke. The one that is missing is one
of the more familiar parables – the parable of the prodigal son. These parables tell us something about the
nature of God. They tell us about the
radical love that God has for his creation.
It is helpful to set the stage
for these parables. The Pharisees and
scribes a grumbling that Jesus is eating with sinners and tax collectors. These are not ordinary sinners the way we
think of it – especially when people say that the church is a hospital for
sinners. As Dr. Lose from Luther
Seminary says , ”while we’re used to thinking “we’re all sinners,” that’s not
the way Luke sees it. Rather, when he describes someone as a “sinner” he’s
talking about someone whose pattern of sinning is so habitual, even second
nature, that the whole community knows of it. Similarly, by “righteous” Luke
doesn’t mean those who are either perfect or self-righteous, but rather he
describes those who actually and actively try to live up to the law. All of
which means that Jesus is welcoming the local untouchables and ne’er-do-wells,
the moral disgraces and public outcasts -- welcoming, accepting, and
befriending, to the point of embarrassment. And the decent folk are -- quite
understandably -- concerned.” [1] And he goes on to point out that when we hear
about Jesus eating with these undesirables it is not a quick bite at the local
Starbucks or Subway sandwich shop. It is
prolonged table fellowship. The closest
thing to that first century table fellowship that many of us might understand
is a holiday meal with friends and family – it was a big deal.
It is in this context that
Jesus tells the parables of the lost – the lost sheep, the lost coin and the
lost son. The parables start out with
“which of you…” would leave 99 sheep in the wilderness to fend for themselves
and go after one. Or sweep the house for
a lost coin and then throw a party? The
real answer here is none of us! We would
be practicable and stay with the 99 sheep or at the very least find someone to
stay with the 99 before heading off to search for the lost. We would rejoice in the finding of a coin
after working hard to find it but not many of us would throw a party – we might
celebrate by indulging in some treat but I doubt we would throw a party and
invite all of our friends over to celebrate with us. The party could end up costing more than the
coin that was lost.
Dr. Skinner from Luther
Seminary said “The parable also points our attention to the woman’s actions as
an illustration of God’s activity to find and embrace those who are “lost.”
Other parables may compare God to kings, noblemen, and landowners. Here,
however, God looks like a person just doing what she can. No extraordinary
talents. No special training. No obvious privileges. Nobody larger than life.
God looks like someone who
shows patient commitment.”[2]
These parables tell us a lot
about who God is. And the image here is
not the one that many of us have of a God sitting on a throne in judgment – the
type of God that we might picture in the reading from Jeremiah – a God who is
going to judge the Nation of Judah. No the image of God here is a God who is a
little crazy! This is a God who recklessly
searches for the lost and brings us back, restores us into community and then
throws a party. Can you imagine God
being that reckless? Can you imagine God
as that crazy relative who is always happy no matter what happens? Can you imagine God as the friend who seems
to have nothing yet is always extravagant in sharing what they have? Can you imagine that God will continue to
pursue us whatever we do to become lost?
It is tempting to think about
the lost as someone other than us. After
all we are here in church joyfully worshiping God in fellowship – well at least
I hope we are joy filled. Those of us
coming to church are more like the righteous in the reading than the
sinners. So what is in this story for
us?
Dr. Lose asks “Can the
righteous be lost?” The answer to me is
of course. I have been lost. I have fallen into hurt and despair where I
can no longer see the goodness of creation.
I have been hurt by people and the institutional church and a part of me
no longer experienced joy. We can be so
caught up in trying to be successful as measured by our society that we are
blind to what is going on around us. We
can be so self-absorbed that we cease being partners with God in bringing to
fruition God’s dream of Love. We can be
lost. But even in our lost-ness God pursues us and there is nothing we can do
to keep the Love of God from us. Nothing!
This is the Good News! That God will continue to recklessly pursue
each of us no matter what. There is
nothing we can do that will make God stop the pursuit of fulfilling God’s dream
of Love for all of creation. It is the
radical grace of God’s pursuit that guarantees that each of us is loved by
God. And that even the people that we
don’t think are lovable are – in fact – loved by God. No matter what we hold in the dark recesses
of our hearts God will recklessly pursue that part of us to turn us
around. To turn the dark into
light. Despair into joy.
We too are called to be
reckless! Reckless in our love and acceptance
of the other and the lost. Being a good Episcopalian
I crave order and predictability. But I
also love the spontaneous joy expressed by people during the service. The joy-filled squeal of a child during the
survice is a delight for me and not a distraction. Seeing the Joy in someone’s face when they
realize that they can truly be who they are in this place and that God loves
them is wonderful. We are called to
rejoice with people when they turn around and find that God’s reckless love is
for them too. We are called to show the
Joy that is God – not judgment. On this
corner of 15th and J streets we are called to recklessly throw open
the doors to one and all. We are called
to see the humanity and God-ness of every person who walks through our
doors.
I see the radical love of God
in you the good people of St. Paul’s. I
have seen people embrace others no matter who they are. It is wonderful that we are able to feed
people – both in body and spiritually at St. Paul’s. I invite all of us to take the radical love
of God out of these doors and into our world.
To be partners with God in rejoicing when the lost are found. To show God’s radical love and Grace that
says nothing can separate us from the love of God. We are called to help bring God’s dream of
Love for all of creation into reality in our world.
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