Proper
19 C
Luke 15.5 – And when he has found it he lays it on his shoulders,
rejoicing.
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Charleston, SC. - September 15, 2019
“Daughter,
it’s the company you’re keeping - that’s the problem!” That was my father… and when I was growing up,
my daddy regularly tried to talk to me
about the importance of the company we keep. He would say things like, if you
want to do well in school, then, associate with the smart kids. To my own
kids I try to say – be with people who build you up not tear you down. And, generally speaking, if you want to keep
your faith strong, your marriage strong, your mind agile, stay around those who
are trying to do the same… Good advice all around and it makes a lot of
sense.
And yet, look at the company Jesus kept. Yes, he stayed close to the twelve but then
think about the criticism he got from the Pharisees and scribes in today’s
reading from Luke. He tells us, “All the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to
Jesus and the Pharisees and scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This fellow
welcomes sinners and eats with them.’ “
The setting probably would have been
in an open public area, say, like Hampton Park,
not in the synagogue. This also tells
us that along with the tax collectors and sinners, the Pharisees and scribes
were also coming out to hear Jesus. So, the
picture here is two normally separate worlds in collision and Jesus is standing
in the middle. I am seeing him seated with
the twelve and the crowd standing around. And, over on one side , apart, are the Pharisees
and scribes..
I want to remind you that these were not bad
guys – the Pharisees and scribes were people who were really serious about
their faith and practicing it.. trying to live it.. Let’s call them the Church
people of Jesus’ day…. and they were horrified
that Jesus was eating and hanging out with
known sinners. The tax
collectors, in particular, were really hated because they were fellow Jews who
had been hired by the Romans to collect taxes, and the deal was this- they had
to collect whatever was owed to the Romans – but then, if they could squeeze
anything else out of the family, they could use any means necessary to do so and
so they enriched themselves, basically, by extortion and stealing from their
neighbors while the Romans looked the other way. So they were hated, and yet there they were
along with the other folks who were
considered sinners by the faith community in that place – for us, think about
drug dealers, gang members, or haters of religion. And, then, perhaps there are also the people
who had gotten disconnected from the faith community- or just lost and off
the track in some way..And
there is Jesus, talking with them,
eating with them, laughing with them.. apparently
perfectly willing to engage.
And
the Church people were horrified… Let me ask you – would you be horrified if
you had it on good authority that Fr.
Phil was regularly having lunch with a group of drug dealers or crooked lawyers? (That’s not true, lest I start a rumor) What
would you think about that?
So, Jesus, no doubt, either observed the
grumbling or had it reported to him …You can imagine, too, that this was not the
first time. He probably had encountered
this more than once and, so, he responds by telling a story… and he kept on telling
variations of the same story – all the same theme –Here’s the theme: It
brings God great joy to regain relationship with someone who had been lost –
for whatever reason.
It’s been said, too, that the 15th
Chapter of Luke –from which our reading is drawn today – is the heart of the gospel of Luke—and it
has the three “Lost” parables- the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost sons
also known as the Parable of the Prodigal Son. If you are ever restless at
night, can’t sleep, and want to pick up
something in the Bible to read.. turn to this 15th chapter of Luke.
I want to focus our attention now on
one detail from the gospel reading today…. it’s this line – “When he has
found it, [that is, the shepherd has found the lost sheep] he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices.”
(Luke 15.5)
This morning when you came in, I hoped
you received a small picture of a shepherd carrying a sheep on shoulders. Hold this image in mind. …In researching today’s sermon, I learned that a sheep that is lost eventually lies down and
becomes helpless. It will not move on its own even if prodded.” It just gives up. So, the shepherd has to literally pick the
sheep up and lug it back to the fold.
I wonder if you have ever had times
when you were lost in some way and became immobilized – whether by fear, grief , confusion,
being overwhelmed, being exhausted beyond imagination, or just giving up… I
have had those times- I suspect most of us have too…
Sometimes we are able, inwardly and
through the mercy of God and the power of the Holy Spirit, to find the
strength to get up and continue on, but sometimes God has to come find us by
sending someone to us.
This past week, with anniversary of
9-11, the images seemed to be everywhere – and especially those of first
responders struggling to carry people out of the wreckage of those collapsed buildings…Now that is a picture of being carried. I also think about Harriet Tubman and her
underground railroad – literally carrying people to freedom..and then, there is
St. Christopher. You know the story - there was a man whose job it was to help people
ford a river. One night, a child came to
him and asked to be taken across. He
picked the child up on his shoulders and starting making his way across the
river. Instead of the very light child he had started
out with, he found that the child was getting
heavier and heavier - almost crushing
him under his weight. Finally, reaching
the other side, Christ revealed himself
and the man understood that he had been carrying Christ – who was himself bearing the weight of the world. And,
then perhaps one of the most famous stories in the bible about carrying another is that of the Good
Samaritan… and each of us has our own stories about times when we have been
carried and when God has carried someone else through us.
These
are so important for us because they remind us that we are called, as part of
the body of Christ, to seek out and welcome
those who have gotten lost in some way.. and that we are called to bear one
another’s burdens. Did you know this is
what you signed up or were signed up for at Baptism?
Jesus came to carry out the Father’s
mission of reconciliation. One really
clear place we see the Father’s mission is in the Prophet Ezekiel, God – who at
the time is mightily fed up with the kings and priests of Israel, says – “See here, I myself will search for my
sheep and will seek them out.” Our God comes to find us
when we get lost and cannot move and sends us out to find the lost and sometimes
to carry one another.
Now please understand, this is not
easy…it will be misunderstood by those on the outside – sometimes even by those
in the family of faith. Mistakes will
get made along the way. Know this, if you ask the Lord to send you to the lost, and to send the lost our
way… you need to be prepared. But, also
remember, remember, we do not do this in our own strength but through the power
of the Holy Spirit….and Jesus, himself, is our yoke fellow – he says “My yoke is easy
and my burden is light,”
No, sometimes, it’s not easy… For
instance, What would you do – as a local church did – if you started a midweek
family service followed with a free pizza supper and, at first, you were happy to see
that the service had caught on and young families were attending. But, then, gradually you realized that the service and the supper were increasingly being
attended by street people – unbathed, some addicts, some mentally ill and very
unstable.. and the families with young children felt unsafe, objected and finally stayed away… If you were
that priest, what would you do?
It’s
all well and good to say that we will seek the lost but what happens when they
show up for church and it’s not so pretty?
God
willing, it’s what happened when I showed up for church many years ago, lost as
I could be. I found loving care and a way to reconnect with the love and
faithfulness of God…
But
beyond that, when we leave here on Sunday morning, we are the Church in the
world. Don’t let that threshold back
there be an amnesia line – where once we cross on our way out, we forget what we are about. When we are here, we are Church
gathered. When we leave, we are the Church
scattered. If you are willing , God will begin to open
your eyes to see the people who need to be connected with God. They may not be able to connect with a Church
family yet or maybe not ever… but they
can connect with you who are the Church in the world. We don’t necessarily have to seek the lost in
an environment which is far away or dangerous – but, more often, we encounter
those who are lost at work, in our own
neighborhood, and, perhaps, most difficult of all, in our own families.
The call to follow Jesus, to be the
Church – to be his hands, to see with his eyes, to know his heart, to carry out his mission.. is ours. Sometimes, it feels like the most natural
thing in the world and sometimes it’s a real challenge.. but when we go out to
find the lost sheep, or turn everything upside down to find the lost coin, (the
one precious to God), when we meet the
lost son or daughter or the road and welcome them home, then we are keeping
company with Jesus. and, I cannot imagine any company better than that.
Lord
God, lover of souls, open our eyes and hearts to those around us who need to be
reconciled to you. Then, we pray, give
us the grace to speak and the wisdom to know when. For we ask it in the name of and for the sake
of Jesus. Amen.
