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The manuscript I used follows below:
The Twenty-Fourth Sunday of Ordinary Time; September 12, 2010
Park Avenue Presbyterian Church; Des Moines, Iowa
Texts: Jeremiah 4: 11-12, 22-28
Psalm 14
1 Timothy 1: 12-17
Luke 15: 1-10 *
“ “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” And I tell you, there was grumbling.”
--} No matter what else I might say today, I think Luke points us in the right direction of understanding chapter 15 when he begins:
“Now 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”.”
Now I figure the problem is, that I’m a Christian. I choose to follow Jesus, I refer to him as “Lord, Savior, Friend,” and I’m just accustomed to thinking and believing that the Lord Jesus Christ can simply eat with whomever he wants to. What! It’s not my business! Jesus can eat with whomever he wants to. I just don’t see what all the fuss is about! Huh!!!
Isn’t that how we see it? Well…!
If only we could say, “Jesus—you eat with whomever you want to,” and be done with it. But Jesus ISN’T playing by those rules. You see, the trick is—and I think the Pharisees and scribes were on to him—that Jesus is eating with whomever he wants to; but, it means that he either isn’t eating with “us,” or, he is wanting “us” to eat with him—AND, “them.” And there, maybe, is the rub.
I believe the implication for us is that the people Jesus likes to eat with, should be the same people we like to eat with. Except, we don’t like to eat with those people! We know who they are. And I think there’s no two ways about it—if we’re grumbling about “those people,” we’re really grumbling about Jesus. If we don’t want to eat with “those people,” we’re really refusing Jesus. And if we’re “refusing Jesus…,” well, unfortunately there are too many so-called “Christians” out there who would tell us we’re going straight to hell for that.
Thankfully, that isn’t what Jesus says—at all! Instead, Jesus tells parable after parable—so that maybe we can “find ourselves” in them.
“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.’
“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.’
Maybe you see yourself, or somehow find God in the face of a lowly shepherd, in charge of the smelly, head-strong sheep; or the woman, likely a widow, whose “life savings” or “net worth” seem to add up to only 10 days worth of work. Maybe you think of yourself as that smelly sheep, somehow lost or injured, and how good it feels to have the shepherd come and find you. Or perhaps, you imagine what it must be like to be fussed over like the coin; with someone dropping everything else, to sweep the whole house and not do anything else until you are found, and restored safe and sound. Maybe you even think of yourself as a friend or neighbor invited into the joyous celebration—a party, like you’re the honored guest.
But Jesus is really more pointed than that, isn’t he? “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?” And most of the time we end up talking about “how” the person in charge of the sheep could do this “crazy thing” of leaving the 99 sheep behind to go out and look for the one that is lost. I mean if you’re looking to cover all your bases, it’s “smarter” just to let the one go and try not to loose any more of the 99 remaining, isn’t it? But this isn’t about the odds. This isn’t really about the lost one being found, and yet it is. Pay very careful attention to Jesus telling the story. Notice what happens when the one sheep is “found.”
“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’.”
It’s true that the one sheep is found; but it also seems that the one sheep isn’t returned to the other 99. Jesus tells us, “When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, and when he comes HOME…” And as strange as it sounds, the other 99 seem to be abandoned! The lost sheep, upon being found, is taken home and a celebration ensues. And the other 99? …Who knows what happens to them! After all, Jesus’ point is that the 99 are not in need.
The point, it seems, appears to be different from our assumptions.
“Which of you?”, asks Jesus, does this?
And if we’re honest, the only answer is, “not I.” We’re not like the one who leaves the 99 in search of the lost one. That’s Jesus’ point.
“Not I,” we must say, because the joy to which Jesus calls us is only something the Kingdom of God can inspire in us/with us/for us. It is not something we can do for ourselves.
In the same way, “What woman?”, asks Jesus, is like the one who sweeps the house for the coin?
And again, if we’re honest, “none that we know.”
Because this joy to which Jesus calls us is only found in/of the Kingdom of God. It is not in our nature, our human nature. It is only found as we are transformed… refashioned to be Kingdom people.
Jesus’ point, I believe, is that when we are transformed, then we are kingdom people—who need to show no fear, who can be undaunted in the face of many things, who can be moved to welcome and eat with the same people Jesus does.
I think that’s what Luke wants to demonstrate for believers about sinners and repentance. It’s not about being “lost” and then “found”—no matter how good that kind of story sounds or feels. It’s about what happens to us along the way. It’s the transformation. It’s not the lost sheep or the lost coin that gets transformed; it’s the person who leaves the 99 sheep, finds the 1, then heads for home to celebrate. It’s the woman who sweeps the house until the lost coin is recovered; then calls the neighbors to celebrate. And without the Kingdom of God, neither one is looked upon as trustworthy! In that respect, both of these characters share something with the “sinners” Jesus is welcoming and eating with.
As we hear these stories, while there’s something endearing about the one who finds the lost sheep and the woman who recovers her coin, the truth is that neither of them gets interpreted correctly in our time. The relationship between sinners and Jesus is one of transformation. And all too often, our “objection” is like the Pharisees—demanding the change be evident long before any welcome should be extended. But Jesus seems to demonstrate that it’s the Kingdom of God—itself—that has the ability to change the world—AND transform sinners. So that we see Jesus unhindered and showing no fear, even in welcoming and eating with sinners, or whomever else he wants to. And so can we.
My friend Chris Levan talks about the nursery school rules about sinfulness and forgiveness we continue to perpetuate into adulthood. That too often we try to implement a belief that we as human beings are so bad, so sin-prone, that we need Jesus to make us right—as if “forgiveness” were held out as some kind of “hoop” we have to jump through in order to be welcomed. But really, he says, we need to simply recognize that God in Jesus is calling us to live the kingdom life—no matter who we are, or what we’ve done. It isn’t our inherent “badness” that needs to be remedied by Jesus; instead, we need to hear the Kingdom’s welcome, and join the meal.
Too often, we think such grace of repentance and forgiveness promised to everyone is going to result in someone “undeserving” gaining the benefits of heaven. We wouldn’t want that! But Jesus’ view is that the Kingdom of God changes lives and transforms the world. The Kingdom of God calls all people to be changed, to live lifestyles of discovery, joy and celebration. And it isn’t a call simply to “go back,” or a return to the way it was; it’s a call that leads us out of life in this world, and into the life of the Kingdom of God. And the kingdom accomplishes this with the welcome or Christ and a meal.
The Kingdom of God compels us with a welcome and a meal. Even as we might think there are some things and people who “don’t belong.” So we know, whether it’s controversial religious issues, complicated political advertising, or contagious views of people who are generally poor and sinful—we know what it’s like to look down our long noses at people who seem “less deserving” than we would think of ourselves; we know what it’s like to judge others “less pure” or least justified.
But just so we’re clear. Just so we see that Jesus is clear. The Kingdom of God isn’t hung up on our distractions. The lost being found results in joy—always and everywhere. Perhaps our question ought to be, why is that joy not ours, too?
--+ Brothers and Sisters, God sent God’s son, the Christ. We often greet him in joy; but he is calling us to welcome “them” with the same joy. How long will we let our grumbling greet Christ’s joy? Jesus eats with whomever he pleases, and invites us to the party. What’s not to like. Who’s not to love. Why can’t we share? AMEN.
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