We Lutherans love our paradoxes, don’t we? The 15th anniversary of September 11. God’s Work, Our Hands. National Day of Service. Grandparents’ Day. Sorrow and joy all rolled into one day.
Memories of what was lost on September 11 made our hearts sorrow. Service as water was handed out, quilts were tied and we were found with hearts full of joy.
Sorrow at being lost. Joy at being found! Mourning turned into dancing…Jesus has a way of doing that for us! Party time!!
And yet…we don’t party. Rather we grumble, don’t we? It’s hard not to sometimes especially when things don’t go our way.
The Pharisees were grumbling – not because they were in a bad mood. They were not happy with what they were seeing. They did not like the kind of dinner parties Jesus gave, they didn’t like who was on the guest list. As Pharisees, they just couldn’t understand – how could Jesus eat with people like those.
The sinners and tax collectors were coming near.
The sinners were the outcasts, the ones no one wanted to be seen with. These were the people who did dirty things: pig farming for example; these were the people who were immoral such as liars and adulterers; these were the people who didn’t keep the law or live up to the standards of the religious authorities – does that sound like me? Like you? Let’s not leave out the gentiles and the worst of the bunch: Samaritans.
And the tax collectors get special mention. Well they were nothing more than traitors to their own kind. They were the ones who helped the Empire collect taxes and of course, skimmed a bit off the top for themselves. They did the work of the oppressors.
And Jesus was sharing table fellowship with all of them and the Pharisees couldn’t understand that. These sinners and tax collectors were the people that NO ONE wanted anything to do with and there sat Jesus in the middle of them and eating with them.
So Jesus told them – the ones that were grumbling, the ones that did not understand – three parables –ridiculous stories with foolhardy answers that prove a point, offer an insight into just what the kingdom of God really looks like. The stories offer insight to God’s heart.
The first is about a shepherd who has a lost a sheep. One sheep out of 100 and he has left 99 of them unguarded, unpenned, just to go look for the lost one. And Jesus asks the rhetorical question, “which one of you would go look for it just leaving the other 99 to their own devices in the wilderness”. And we all want to answer, “we would, we would!”
But wait a minute – would we? Would we really leave the 99 to wolves just to find the lost one? The truth is that I wouldn’t leave the 99 unattended to look for the one that couldn’t keep up with the flock, who didn’t have the good sense to keep up. That is not fiscally prudent. The truth is I would be happy that I just lost one – just one percent. That’s a loss that can be absorbed. To look for the lost one and leave 99 – well that is just foolishness!
And that woman – spends the entire day looking for the coin – and finds it! OK, so I might look for lost money, especially if it equaled a day’s income. And I would be mighty glad when I found it. But throw a party? A party that costs twice the amount of the lost income now found? It is best saved or spent on something that is needed. To throw an extravagant party – well, that is just foolishness!
And let’s not leave out the parable of the Lost Son. An ungrateful son who asks for his inheritance BEFORE dear old dad dies, squanders it, and when the ingrate shows up one day offering to be treated like a slave, Dad throws down a HUGE shindig, complete with party clothes, the finest food and friends. There’s no punishment for the son, rather Dad rewards him. That is the epitome of foolishness!!
Foolishness! That’s what God is all about! And God is intense about it. You might say God displays a desperation that is unbecoming of a deity. That’s really foolishness! And it makes no sense.
But here’s the truth of these: there are no lengths that God will not go to find the least, the last, the lost, the lonely and the left behind. God is desperate to find you. To find me. And when God is looking for us, God makes no sense either. God’s heart rules God’s mind. Because when just one of us is missing, the kingdom is not whole.
The sheep belongs to the flock; the coin belongs to the purse; the lost son belongs to his family. God is seeking to make the family whole again. God is committed to finding all of us!
It’s the shepherd that leaves, finds, lays on his shoulders, rejoices, comes home, calls his friends together, PARTYS! The sheep, the lost one, does nothing.
It’s the woman who lights a lamp, sweeps the house, searches carefully, finds, calls her friends and PARTYS! The coin, the lost one, does nothing.
It’s the father who keeps vigil, who watches for his son, who calls the family together and PARTYS! The son, the lost one, does nothing.
God is the subject of active verbs.
God searches, God finds, God redeems, God calls his people together and PARTYS with great joy!!
And the more lost we are, the more joy at our being found, the bigger the party! Because not only is the community restored, but most importantly, relationship is restored.
About that repentant sinner? Let’s look at the Greek on this one. The word is metanoia, which means a change of mind and purpose. As God finds us he transforms us – and we begin to see like Jesus. And love like Jesus. And party with all the wrong people, like Jesus.
Because as we are transformed, God then uses us to find others. The lost, the lonely, the least, the left-behind are everywhere no matter where we are – work, home, school, with our faith community, in our servanthood and service to others. Sometimes we have to look hard to find them, to recognize them. They are not just the refugee, the homeless person. They can be right beside you in Starbucks or working the cubicle next to you. And they are waiting for an invitation.
They are waiting for an invitation to party with Jesus, to party with us. It’s God’s work to redeem the least, the last, the lost and the lonely. It’s our hands that throw the party every Sunday.
It’s time we start inviting people to enter into the joy of being found every single week that we experience in the light of the God who will stop at nothing to find us. Everyone – you, me, the refugee, the homeless person, the barista at Starbucks, the co-worker – is cordially invited…TO PARTY!! And when God says all, he means ALL!!