God's Until, As Far As Mission - Sermon on Luke 15:1-10

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Luke 15:1-10

1 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. ² And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them." ³ So he told them this parable: ⁴ "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? ⁵ When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. ⁶ 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.' ⁷ 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. ⁸ "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? ⁹ 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.' ¹⁰ Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." 

SERMON

We have heard part of this story before.  Many weeks ago, on the fourth Sunday of Lent, our gospel text began with the first three verses and then skipped to the parable of the prodigal son.  Today we circle back with an opportunity to read and reflect on the first two parables in this section.  

For Luke’s gospel, these three parables about the lost being found lie at the heart of not only Jesus ministry, but his journey to Jerusalem as well.  Several chapters ago Jesus set his eyes towards Jerusalem, where the son of man will suffer, be killed, and on the third day rise again.  We are well into the journey, and he has had multiple encounters with not only the sick and broke, the tax collectors and sinners, but the pharisees, scribes, and religious leaders as well.  He has had both good and not so good encounters.  

There have been moments with Pharisees have warned him that Herod is hunting for him, that he should go and hide.   And there have been moments like two weeks ago where Jesus is invited to a dinner banquet on the Sabbath and the offers a stern lesson about humility and inclusion.  

Jesus has had a wide range of encounters with the religious leaders, and it’s important to remember that any time the Bible mentions “the Pharisees” it isn’t necessarily talking about the same handful of people again and again.  Jesus meets and challenges a variety of religious leaders, and their impression and reaction to Jesus is just as varied and diverse.  Some are openly appalled and offended by Jesus.  And some are warming up to his way of life and teachings.   

And so today, at the heart of his journey to Jerusalem, Jesus once again encounters a group of religious leaders.  Jesus hears their grumbles and responds with three parables about the lost being found.  About God’s unexpected relentless pursuit of the lost.  About each and every one of God’s children being sought after.  It’s about the joy of community when it is made whole.

In chapter 15, Luke sets the scene for us by letting just know that “all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him.  And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

“This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”   I really like this line of scripture, because as much as the Pharisees intend it to be a line of accusation and condemnation, I read and hear it as a proclamation.  Right?  “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”  The fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them!”  

I always like to hear it as though the Pharisees are proclaiming a wonderful truth to the community.  Let it be proudly and widely known in all the land that THIS Messiah is one who favors the sinners and graciously breaks bread with him.  All should know that all are welcome at his table.   Then, of course, everyone raises and clinks their glasses, all cheers and toast to the faithful work and witness of Jesus.

I love this line, because the Pharisees accuse and condemn Jesus’ behavior, “THIS Fellow...welcomes and eats with sinners.” and I imagine a snarky Jesus looking around and saying, “Yah, So?”

For Jesus, it is a proclamation of truth.  This is what Jesus does regularly.   On so many occasions he calls to the sinners, fellowships with the broken and ill, dines with the tax collectors and despised members of society.  That’s what Jesus has always done.  And it has caused him a following.  A following of sinners, tax collections.

The Pharisees simply won’t stand for this sort of behavior.  Tax collectors were considered traitors and enemies as the poached on the members of society and representatives of Roman authority.  The sinners weren’t so much an issue for being a sinner but because their sin was typically in opposition to Jewish law, tradition, or cultural cleanliness.  Their sin made them unclean, and therefore a Rabbi, even Jesus, shouldn’t dare break bread with them.

So, Jesus confronts the grumbles by teaching in three parables.  One about a shepherd in search of a lost sheep.  One about a woman fervently searching for a coin.  And one about the prodigal son.  All are in some way about the lost being found and the joy of the community when they are welcomed home and made whole  

In the first parable, Jesus invites the Pharisees, and all gathered to imagine themselves as a shepherd who has a flock of sheep and unfortunately one is lost.  Jesus then celebrates the shepherd’s commitment to go after the lost sheep until it was found.  This seems like a simple, eloquent image of God as a shepherd committed to finding the lost at all costs.  

And I think it’s important to recognize that shepherds and their flock did not always graze on nice flat green pastures.  These are hilly lands with some rocky and dangerous terrain, with predators both human and animal lying in wait.  Not only was leaving the 99 a risk but chasing after the one lost was a bold and risky endeavor.  So much so that the Pharisee might be left wondering would it be worth it.  Why would the shepherd not risk more than he might gain?

In the second parable, Jesus invites the Pharisees, and all gathered to imagine a woman having lost one of her 10 silver coins.  And in today’s world it seems such little effort to flip on the light and sweep the house in search of the coin.  But I think it’s important to recognize that this woman would have to spend her own resources to oil and light a lamp, and then diligently and carefully scour the home for what is lost.  

Again, the pharisees, who sit in positions of power may wonder, why would anyone go to such lengths in search of a single coin.  Why would this woman search tirelessly, expending more resources and time then she might gain through finding the coin?

Both parables start with something being lost.  But the emphasis is not on the lost item or animal.  The emphasis is not repentance or the turning around of the thing that is lost.  After all, a coin is not alive, and I suspect the message is not that a sheep can confess and repent.  

More importantly, these parables are about the one searching and their commitment to the search.  A Shepherd who risks his own life in passionate pursuit of the lost member of the flock.  A woman who brings light to darkness in order to diligently and carefully sweep the house.   And both the shepherd and the woman search until the lost is found.  It’s not simply that they search with haste and passion, hoping the lost will be found, but they do not rest or relent UNTIL it is found.   The word until is only one of the translations permitted by the original Greek.  It can also be understood by the phrase “as far as.”  So, they search UNTIL it is found, or we could say, “that they search as far as necessary to find the lost.”   

As Jesus says, “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? 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?” 

Friends, this is our God. This is God’s mission to search Until the lost are found, willing to go as far as necessary to save God’s people and make us whole again.  Our God is faithful and relentless.  Our God is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.  Our God pursues the lost, as far as necessary, even unto death, until all are made whole in the kingdom of God. 

And here’s the truth my friends, just because we may be baptized, just because we attend worship regularly or participate in church activities...just because we do our daily devotions and pray regularly doesn’t mean we’re exempt from becoming lost.  Of course, in the waters of baptism, God finds us.  Claims us.  Dusts us off, names us, and welcomes us into community.  

But the truth is, it doesn’t mean we’re exempt from every wandering, straying, or lingering into temptation. 

I have no doubt that we have friends right now, in these pews who feel lost.  We can go through the motions of our faith and still feel lost.  You can belong to the body of Christ, but still feel alone.  Just because we’re Christians doesn’t mean we aren’t sinners in desperate need of God’s unending redemption. 

And this is what I love about our faith.  We believe that we are simultaneously sinner and saint.  God has made us alive and free in the death and resurrection of Christ, but we are still susceptible to sin.  We can be both found by God and feel lost all at the same time.

And the good news is that God is infinitely better at pursuing and finding then we are at running, hiding, and wandering off.  God is relentless in loving pursuit.  Sometimes that means that God seeks us out in the most bizarre or unsuspecting ways, scoops us up, and brings us back to community without us ever realizing we were lost in the first place.  It’s that feeling when you walk into the most secure, safest, warmest place you know...and when you cross the threshold of the entrance you know you’re home.  You’re found.

My siblings, each and every week we gather in this place.  The Spirit calls us and gathers us for worship.  God finds us in the muck of the world and brings us together as a community to rejoice the power of God’s relentless love. 

This is one of the reasons why we start with confession and forgiveness.  God has found us and brought us to community and together we confess the ways in which we might have become lost in the first place.  And God says I forgive you.  And wherever you go, I’ll be with you. 

And what I find incredibly powerful about these parables is not just God’s relentlessness, but the one’s searching are a shepherd and a woman.  If the Pharisees weren’t grumbling before, then the notion that God would act as a shepherd or even a woman...can you imagine?   

These are not the religious and cultural norms of God’s portrayal.  And I find this so powerful because it suggests to me that God works through anyone at any time, in any way to find the lost.    Even you and me.   

God’s work of seeking and finding the lost is community work.  In this place we experience again and again the power of God’s love and we’re filled with bread and wine, grace and forgiveness, love and hope to face the world ahead and remember that God will never relent or rest Until all are found. 

My dear siblings, All - all, sinners, tax collectors, pharisees, and scribes.  All, you and me, the least, last and lost - all are in need of God’s Until, as far as mission.  More importantly, all are worthy of God’s until, as far as mission.  Thanks be to God that through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, no matter how lost we may become, God can, and will, always welcome us and invite us to dine.

Amen

© Pastor Daniel Locke, Preached on Sept. 15, 2019 @ St. Mark's Lutheran JAX, FL