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Lost and Found Luke 15:1-10 September 16, 2007 The Rev. Jan Holland
The time to begin has come… but there are still people pushing through the doors. It looks like the streets of the town are empty and everyone is trying to come into the synagogue to hear and see the new Rabbi… all are coming in, not just a few, mind you, they’re “ALL drawing near to listen to Jesus.” The religious folk are uncomfortable and a little annoyed at the invasion of so many outsiders. Jesus feels the tension; he sees what’s happening in the crowd… the faithful have gathered in their regular manner and now find themselves being bumped around by an influx of outsiders; wealthy Tax Collectors elbowing their way closer to hear and see better, shoppers and shop keepers, and even a few small groups of women (modestly dressed), but who obviously don’t know their proper place.
Jesus hears the Scribes grumbling to one another saying “this man welcomes sinners” and, “I hear he even ate at the home of Zacchaeus.” So Jesus tells them three significant parables: of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin and the Lost Son (Prodigal Son). He begins: “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?”
Today’s Gospel focuses on the first two parables. Jesus finishes each one with an invitation to those gathered around him: “Rejoice with me, for I have found that which was lost! “…I tell you, there is joy, in the presence of the angels of God, over one sinner who repents.”
It seems to me that those in the parables who are lost face a great danger. Wolves will eat lost sheep and even a lost coin is dead… and a useless resource. There is also a strong sense that the whole is diminished by the loss of just one small part. But these two parables also send the strong message that God seeks the lost diligently. There is no “giving up’ until the lost is found. The shepherd and the householder are willing to risk everything in order to find that which is beloved. In each case that which was lost is loved without knowing it and sought without asking for it – and ultimately found. And then the invitation comes to the community; Rejoice and be glad!
Once again Jesus turns upside down the expectations of the religious community. Can’t you just hear the grumbling: What did he say??? Why should we rejoice at the presence of these outsiders? Why are these sinners attracted to what Jesus has to say about God? They’re not one of us! Don’t all those who draw close to Jesus have to do something to make God love them? Jesus seems to be saying that God already loves these sinners. How can we celebrate and have a good time? This is about God, not us!
Today, we too are called to respond to God’s grace; to celebrate the finding of the lost, and to rejoice in the spreading of the Reign of God. And so we do rejoice every Sunday as we gather together in Jesus’ Name to share the bread of heaven and the cup of salvation. There is rejoicing for a lost coin, a lost sheep and especially for a lost child of God. But there is also this disturbing word ‘lost.’ What do we do with this word? Who is lost? Could I be lost? Could we???
A biographer writing about Daniel Boone once asked him: Have you ever been lost? Mr. Boone answered, ‘Well no, not lost… but I once spent three days bewildered.”
I suppose we’ve all experienced a few days of bewilderment – times when we find ourselves searching for something more in life – times when we fear we might be all alone. Getting lost isn’t really that hard. Think about that little sheep. There’s probably no single moment in which the sheep decides to bolt and run away, it simply nibbles its way away; a nibble here and a nibble there, and gradually it moves away from the flock… bit by tiny bit. There is no sinister plot on the part of the sheep to become lost, it simply looks up one day and sees that it’s alone. It seems to me that’s what can happen to us. We fail to remember to be attentive to God in our daily lives. We go along our own way – not looking up from our work – and suddenly find with great shock and surprise how far we have gone astray.
The Hope in today’s Gospel assures us that God is always searching for us and will not stop until we are found. There is a small word with a lot of meaning in these parables… the word is; “UNTIL.” Jesus describes the shepherd going after the lost sheep, “UNTIL he finds it.” One gets the sense the shepherd is not going to give up on the search… even if it is reckless to leave the 99 to find the one. The same word appears in the story of the lost coin. The woman searches for the coin “UNTIL she finds it.”
Judging from the woman’s search for the coin, God is relentless. Her search is intense and thorough; she lights a lamp and sweeps the floor and searches diligently. Jesus’ parables today are about lost things that are found; and about that Holy One who searches intensely, even recklessly, until they are found. They also call for a response from us. One can get the sense that we are being shown a glimpse of the mystery of God’s ‘outrageously generous’ love and mercy toward us.
The religious authorities surrounding Jesus resent that he has an open door policy to sinners. In fact, the doorways that lead to God aren’t just open, but Jesus’ parables present a God willing to go outside the doors, to run, to search for and to draw back those who have gone astray. And then when the lost respond to the invitation and return, when they are finally “found,” there is an invitation to all of us to reconsider our attitudes and choices, and join in a feast of great rejoicing among our friends and neighbors.
In these parables we hear the implication for us. We might wander away from God in big and small ways. But when we listen with our hearts we can’t help but be amazed at how much God loves us. God never gives up on us, ‘until’ we are found. God will never close the door on us.
As a community, how do we respond to God’s abundant mercy? What about the doorways of our church? I am reminded of the prayer for St. Stephen’s Parish prayed every weekday at 7:00 a.m. by those who gather in the Chapel for Morning Prayer.
“O God, we pray
That you will make the doorways of our church
Wide enough to receive all who need love and fellowship and your care;
Narrow enough to shut out envy, pride, and uncharitable ness.
Make its threshold smooth enough to be no stumbling block
To the children, to the weak, or to those with straying feet,
But rugged and strong enough
To turn away the tempter’s power
Make the doorways to our church O God
A gateway to your kingdom
May all that we do be to your honor and glory
To the building up of this parish
And to the extension of your Kingdom
All this we ask in the name
Of your Son our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.”
And as individuals, how do we respond to God’s mercy? What about the doorways of our hearts? Which one of us needs to reconsider a person or situation we have labeled ‘hopeless’ by adding the possibility of grace to the mixture? Is there any one person or group I need to go out of my comfort zone to reach out to? Are there friends or neighbors I need to invite to St. Stephen’s – and even offer to pick them up on Sunday mornings or on Wednesday nights?
We know, with God anything is possible! Perhaps God wants to use our hands to reach out to those whom others consider the least of God’s Kingdom—to use our feet to search diligently for those who have been lost from our community—to use our voices to comfort and heal those in our midst who may be feeling left out of God’s Kingdom.
You think? Possible? Of course! Amen.