Pentecost XVI

By The Rev. Martha Frances+
Year C, Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost; Proper 19
16 September 2007 

Text: Luke 15: 1-10; Other Readings: Jeremiah 4: 11-12, 22-28; Psalm 14; 1 Timothy 1: 12-17

            What a strange comment we make to God in our opening collect this morning:  God. . . without you we are not able to please you!  At first this sounds nonsensical, but then, it reminds us that we are totally dependent on God if we are to be faithful disciples.  Then we ask God to have the Holy Spirit direct & rule our hearts in all things.  First, we've recognized that even our devotion begins with God's reaching out to us, & second, we turn to God's Spirit to aid us in continuing the faith journey daily.  Today's psalm assures us that God is looking down to see if we are wise to seek after God.  Today's scriptures are circular:  God's searching for us & our wisdom in seeking God.

      In Jesus' parables, the shepherd rejoices when he finds the lost sheep & the woman rejoices to find the lost coin.  Not only that, but they invite their friends & neighbors to rejoice with them because they have overwhelming joy to share at finding those who were lost.  These scriptures are a welcome break from weeks of emphasis on the cost of discipleship.

      What a far cry is all this rejoicing also from the grumbling of the Pharisees & the scribes over who Jesus chooses as his dinner guests! What a different atmosphere we experience when we focus on God's joy rather than the grumbling & murmuring of the religious establishment who seem intent upon limiting those who are worthy to come to the banquet table. 

      In today's epistle, the apostle Paul reminds Timothy of his background as a blasphemer, a persecutor, a man of violence who certainly wouldn't have been the first choice of most of us to represent Christ to the gentile world, would he?  I'll guarantee that Paul would have had a hard time passing all the requirements to become a priest in THIS diocese. 

      But Paul's gratitude pours out as he tells the younger disciple Timothy how Christ's grace overflowed on him as he was chosen to lead others to faithfulness.  Paul is joyous at Jesus' acceptance of him, unworthy as he is without God's grace.  Paul tells all of us when he tells Timothy that it was Christ Jesus' purpose to come into the world to save sinners.  I'll bet Jesus gets tired of being patient with us because of our obstinacy when we don't allow the Holy Spirit to truly direct & rule our hearts. 

      Saul's vehement & stubborn opposition to the message of Jesus Christ before his conversion was, indeed, the background Christ needed to turn his life around radically so that Paul used that same energy & enthusiasm to preach the gospel, the good news of Christ.  Christ changed Saul's name to Paul as an outward & visible sign that Paul's whole direction in life had turned 180 degrees when Christ found him on that road to Damascus & called him be a disciple & missionary to the rest of the known world.  In the last 80 years or so, the organization of Alcoholics Anonymous has been based on the same idea:  if you want to get sober, the person who can best show you how is another alcoholic who has used spiritual principles to get sober him- or herself. 

      As I said earlier, in our gospel Jesus tells 2 parallel parables—one about a man, a shepherd—the other about a woman—both of whom lost something precious, searched diligently for it, found it at last, & then invited everyone to rejoice with them.  God the shepherd takes the initiative to go out in search of the one lost sheep, leaving the 99 in some danger out in the wilderness because the lost sheep is so precious to him.  When the lost sheep is found, the shepherd takes it up in his arms, places the sheep over his shoulders, & rejoices.  Luke adds the detail that the shepherd intimately cares for the sheep by carrying it over his shoulders.  He is far too excited to celebrate by himself; he calls all the neighbors to come party hearty with him.  This shepherd God is truly joyous that the sheep gets another chance at life.

      Jesus balances the shepherd image of God with one which is truly astonishing: God the woman of the house who has lost a coin.  Now anyone would search after a large treasure, but this woman had only 10 coins & has lost one of them—a tithe, as it turns out.  This homemaker God also takes the initiative, getting her broom & flashlight to search high & low in the house until she finds the coin.  Now I can really relate to her loss.  Our senior warden Danita & I combed the church grounds Thursday night for one lens of my eyeglasses which had popped out.  I've also lost my duck umbrella & one of my favorite earrings this week.  None of these objects are in themselves irreplaceable, but I've certainly felt the pain of my losses this week.  When the householder finds her coin, she erupts with excitement & calls all her girlfriends in to dance with her in celebration of her discovery. 

      How many of us have ever felt so precious that someone would go to all that trouble just to find us?  I'll never forget the tears running down my face the first time I heard the song "You are loved."  The last line goes, "God danced the day you were born."  Well, I don't know about you, but I didn't feel like anyone ever danced on my birthday, so God's dancing the day I was born was an amazing picture in my head.  Today, I'm more ready to accept God's joy at finding even me.  In this parable, Jesus is telling us that God cherishes us so much that we can't stray so far that God doesn't search to bring us back into the fold. 

      When I was at Lord of the Streets, we watched regularly as people arrived beat up by life, terribly discouraged.  Horrible things had happened to them, some of which they'd done to themselves.  They'd had lots of Pharisees criticize them, certainly not wanting to share table with them.  Yet these are just the people whom Jesus sits down to eat with.  In fact, Jesus is the host throwing the festive meal for folk who've lost faith in themselves & in most of the world. 

      We, too, are called not only to welcome all who come to the table, but to actually go out searching for them.  That's why we're calling our new welcoming efforts "radical hospitality."  Church exists for those who haven't yet found it—or those who haven't felt welcome in church previously.  Those who most need church may never darken the doors unless we go out searching for them just as diligently as God the shepherd & God the homemaker searched for what was lost.  Belonging precedes belief for many, & our hospitality begins with finding those who don't presently feel part of a community.  One preacher suggested that church must be "loose at the edges & solid at the core." The membranes of a radical welcome must always be porous, open to those whom we find.  Have you been out looking?  God is with us to draw others just as God has found each of us.

      As Episcopalians, we welcome all to praise God with us in worship, to hear the scripture stories & affirm their faith.  It has often been said that we show our beliefs best in our worship.  We read 4 scripture lessons each Sunday in order that we may know the stories of our faith community & so we can relate our own story to the story—the story of God's ongoing relation with people who often disappoint but upon whom God never gives up.  Our individual stories & our community story affirm our belonging to God's community. 

      Have you noticed that we print next week's Bible readings in this week's pew bulletin & a whole month's scriptures in the newsletter?  Have you ever wondered why?  Those are teasers!  You can much more completely interact with the lessons read in worship if you've encountered them during the week.  We hope you read each of these scriptures during the week prior to the Sunday we read them in church, & you'll find that most of the groups meeting during the week here at the church will include a Community Bible Study previewing Sunday's scriptures.  Our public worship will be enhanced by our private & small group interaction with God's story on a regular basis. 

      We also choose music which we hope expands & enhances the scripture selections & the sermon.  It's curious to me how many hymns & other songs we have about God as shepherd.  I only know of one written about God the homemaker looking for the lost coin--& it's not in any hymnal! 

      Neither the shepherd nor the homemaker can contain themselves when the lost has been found, so they call in their community for a festive celebration.  We have a festival meal each Sunday (& Wednesday) here at Hope.  We prepare the table, bless the bread & wine, break the bread, & give it out to all present.  Everyone is welcome at the table for the body & blood of Christ, deepened in its meaning by the ancient act of hospitality—inviting the stranger to share a meal with us.  Holidays & holy-days are times for banquets when we often open our hearts & tables to guests.  As we break bread together, we look forward to that heavenly banquet to whom God invites everyone.

      A non-biblical story I cherish aptly sums up the breadth of the welcome which God offers us & which I believe we're called to offer others.  After the resurrection, both male & female disciples are in the upper room preparing a celebratory banquet.  As the meal & entertainment are being readied, Peter notices that Jesus is over in the corner staring longingly out an open window.  He chides Jesus a bit:  "Come-on, now, Jesus; why so solemn?  Tonight we're celebrating & you're the honored guest.  What's troubling you?"  Jesus replies, "We can truly celebrate only when Judas arrives."