Luke 15:1- 10
Lost and Found
He had carried the pocket cross for 20 years. It had only cost 25 cents and was made of tin. But the sharp edges were now worn smooth after 20 years of daily fondling, fidgeting, and rubbing in a prayerful fashion. It was like a security blanket and a constant reminder of God's love and presence. Now it was lost! He diligently searched the house, the car, and the office. He looked everywhere and couldn't find it anywhere. It was as though a part of him had died. There was an emptiness each day as he dressed and throughout the day as he reached into his empty pocket.
It was two months before it turned up on a heavy cleaning day. The sofa was moved and, like an old friend, there it lay upon the carpet. He celebrated and rejoiced, for that which was lost was now found. The rejoicing went on for several days each time his fingers caressed the newly-found cross in his pocket.
His wife had a similar incident when her purse turned up missing with credit cards, check book and cash. It was lost for 4 or 5 hours until an honest person turned it in at the grocery store. They had a frantic time backtracking around town looking for it and truly rejoiced when it was found.
In today's Gospel Jesus talks about a similar rejoicing over a repentant sinner. He illustrates this with the stories of a shepherd and a woman. He declares, “Who among you would not act as this shepherd did, leaving the 99 behind to search for the one lost sheep? And who, if you lost a valuable coin, wouldn’t sweep the house in a diligent search until she finds the one that was lost, and then throw a party to celebrate with her friends?”…. But let’s hold those questions for a minute.
In each of these stories, rejoicing takes place after the lost items are found. Their value to the owner was so great that they were each willing to sacrifice much in order the put the value of the found into perspective. But, as you might have guessed, this lesson is not about the finding of lost things. Instead, it's about the One who is willing to go out and do the finding. The sheep and coins are an analogy of the extent that God will go to find us and reach out to us… no matter what value we give to things or people, God believes that all of us have value – even the least, the lost, and the last among us.
The good news in this passage of scripture is that God actively seeks us out when we have wandered away or are lost, or absent. It is as if God is incomplete when one of us is missing. In God's eyes everyone has value! Each one us! The people that we don’t like… people that we don’t think measure up... the ones that we think are the enemies of God. No matter what, God will never stop reaching out for us, all of us, regardless of what any of us have done or ever might do.
"We" might stop looking for our "stuff" or our "things" when they are lost, but God never does! When we lose something and can't find it, we generally replace it with something new. Maybe that is why we have been called the throw-away society. But in God's case:
God doesn't replace the lost with something new.
God doesn't stop looking or searching for that which is lost.
God doesn't throw us away. God doesn't write us off.
In the 51st Psalm we hear powerful words of repentance from the lips of the psalmist as he prays to the Lord, pleading for forgiveness and restoration. He says:
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your loving-kindness; in your compassion blot out my offenses. Wash me through and through from my wickedness and cleanse me from my sin… Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a right spirit within me. (Psalm 51: 1-2, 10-11)These are words from one who knows a loving and forgiving God.
The writer Paul confirms God's undying devotion in reclaiming us as he writes to his friend and fellow sojourner Timothy: "I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer, and persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy… for Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."
Both stories in today's Gospel tell us that God will never give up on us. And, when we turn our lives over to him, there is rejoicing in Heaven. Paul’s witness shows that even the worst can become the best.
Remember the questions Jesus asked as he was explaining these parables? Who are you would not leave behind your 99 sheep to look for the one lost one? And who of you would not spend the whole day looking for the lost coin and then spend it on a party with your friends to celebrate? The answer is, that most of us wouldn’t do that. We are often the people who are willing to give a little to keep safe what we have. And when we find a lost coin, we put it away for safe keeping in order not to lose it again.
But our God is different from us. God’s love knows no bounds, no matter what we may think. God is the untiring Pursuer who will never give up the hunt, until we turn and accept being scooped up in an embrace of Holy Love. There is nothing we can do to keep his extravagant loving care from any of us: Not our incompetence, our negligence, our rebellion, our misuse of talent and resources, nor even our selfishness and sinfulness.
There is nothing we can do to detour God from loving us. Like the shepherd leaving the 99 behind and the woman diligently searching the house for her lost coin, God will not give up on any of us.
The evidence of this is the most extravagant gift of all time -- the gift of his Son, Jesus, given on a cross for your sins and mine. It is this gift that tells us how valuable we are in the sight of God and how far God will go to search out those who are lost and invite them back into relationship.
This week I ran across this amazing video series, debuted by Starbucks – that’s right the coffee company. Their stated goal –
In contrast to the divisiveness and cynicism currently fueling our national discourse, Starbucks today debuted "Upstanders," its first original content series, which aims to inspire Americans to engage in acts of compassion, citizenship and civility. “Upstanders” features ten stories, each told in written, video and podcast form, about ordinary people doing extraordinary things to create positive change in their communities.**There are ten stories in this first installment, but the one that immediately jumped out at me was “The Mosque Across the Street.” It tells the story of a church in Memphis, TN and how they reacted when the local Islamic Society purchased 30 acres to build a mosque and community center across the street from a United Methodist Church.
Their pastor, Steve Stone, first thought, “I didn’t know there were that many Muslims in Memphis.” Then he prayed, asking God, “What do you want us to do?” The next day he went to a local sign maker and had them print a large vinyl banner. Two days later, it arrived and he put it up on the road where anyone 0driving by could see it. The banner read: Heartsong Church welcomes Memphis Islamic Center to the neighborhood. When asked, Rev. Stone said that he was reminded of the Jesus’ parables, especially the Good Samaritan, where the perceived enemy was the hero of the story. All of a sudden it came to him, “We have to find a way to love these people.”
That love included opening their facilities, including their sanctuary, to the Muslim congregation for the whole month of Ramadan celebrations. They have co-sponsored blood drives and volunteered at with the homeless, and picnicked at each other’s places. When asked what he thinks about it all in hindsight he said this, “I just expected to be nice to some new people who were moving in, and we’d be cordial neighbors,” he said. “Now my life is so very changed by these friendships and relationships. I’ve been to weddings and parties that I didn’t even know existed. I've been part of events with people that I never knew. It’s an amazing friendship that I can’t imagine having missed out on.”
These two parables ask us to think bigger than we ever have about what it means to seek the lost and celebrate being found. This TN congregation recognized that their mission was not to convert their Muslim neighbors, but to witness most fully what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
I hope you’ll think about these questions this week because they are certainly the questions I have for myself, even as I am swamped by the difficulties surrounding my own life these last few months. How many times have we missed the opportunity to reach out to the lost among us? What kind of witness are we being called to live out, either as individuals or as families or even as a chapel service? And are we willing to be as extravagant in our love for others as God has been with us?
Believe me, I have no idea what the answers to these questions are, but I am hoping that with more prayer and conversation together, we can also witness more fully and stake a claim on the life that God has called us to live.
Peace, Deb
** see https://upstanders.starbucks.com/
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