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[1]…. 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 15thChapter 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.”[2] 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.” [3] 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,”[4]
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.
