September 16, 2001
Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen
to Jesus. 2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and
saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3 So he told them this parable: 4 “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? 5 When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and
rejoices. 6 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.’ 7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven
over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no
repentance.
8 “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? 9 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.’ 10 Just so, I tell
you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who
repents.”[1]
The parables of Jesus are fascinating texts to use in preaching. Often we believe that there is one particular message in them, but they truly are multifaceted. The dynamic nature of a story enables us to look at it from different angles and when we do, it speaks powerfully to us and reveals new truth. Such is the nature of a parable. Jesus taught with parables. He used ordinary stories and anecdotes from the life of Middle Eastern peasants to reveal extraordinary truths about the nature of God, salvation, hope, and how we are to live.
There are two parables in today’s lesson. Both are parables of something that was lost
and then found. When I started my work
on this sermon last Sunday evening, my direction was (more or less)
traditional. The illustrations from
life are so easy. How often around the
house, I have lost something, (usually my keys) and then rejoice when they are
found. Or putting on a jacket that I
haven’t worn for a few months, reaching in the pocket and discovering a ten
dollar bill that was left there. These
are those happy moments of finding something that is lost that all of us
know.
The traditional interpretation of this text is usually in
terms of the individual salvation. One sheep or one coin is lost. It seems so insignificant at the time but it
is sought out, because it is not insignificant. God does care about the littlest and seemingly least
important individual. The traditional
message is that God does reach out to those who are lost, no matter who they
are and where they have strayed. God
does reach out to us, because God cares about us.. and no one is insignificant
or unimportant in God’s eyes.
The events of this week caused me to look even harder at
these parables. The first temptation
that I felt was to abandon the parables completely, and write a different sermon…
But before doing that I looked hard, really hard at the stories of the lost
sheep and the lost coin to see if they spoke with authority to this day and the
changes that have be visited upon us this week. So this sermon will not have the strict form that I try and use,
but rather will be suggestive and hopefully move you to read these teaching of
Jesus again with renewed authority and interest.
I
First, the parable of the lost sheep was re-enacted a
thousand times this week. It was right
there before our eyes in actions of the men and women who worked furiously and
fearlessly to rescue those who were lost amidst the attack. I was moved by the bravery of these women
and men who ventured away from the safety of their homes and the security of
distance to go into the burning and collapsing building to save individuals
lost and trapped inside. This, to me,
is a modern example of the parable of the good shepherd. The shepherd leaves the safety of the fold
to seek the one that is lost.
There is an awesome divinity in the human spirit. Suddenly we are able to see in the actions
of these rescuers part of what it means to be created in the image of God. Abraham Lincoln, in his first inaugural
address spoke of “the better angels of our nature.” We witnessed this sacred nature in the work of these women and
men. Their courage reminds and assures
us of our God who also seeks out the lost.
Who risks all for the sake of saving a other; a God who ultimately pays
the final price of sacrifice upon the cross, just as many this week laid their
lives upon the altar of freedom.
“It is like finding a needle in a haystack” we say. As we gazed at the rubble in New York and
Washington, most of us were overwhelmed at the size of it and at the task of
slowly combing through it, looking for survivors and for the lost. I am not known for my patience, and I marvel
at those who can be so patient so as to go through each and every piece and
scrap that fell to the ground. Such
patience illustrates anew for us the parable of the one who loses a coin in a
house. Patiently she goes through
everything to look for it. It is not an
easy task, it takes time… but that time is rewarded with finding the coin and
there is a sense of joy at that moment.
Once again we reminded of our God who is patient with us,
who with precision and thoroughness combs through the wreckage of our lives to
seek out those who are lost, those who are alienated and those who hurt. It is the story of a God who rejoices upon
finding one… and restoring that person.
This week the parable of the lost was played out again and again, before
our eyes in the sacred work of those who journeyed into the wasteland to seek
and save.
II
There is a second lesson that these parables offer to us
today. It is not a direct lesson, and
yet it is nonetheless compelling and powerful.
Both of these parables are stories about something that was lost and
then found. They are stories of
restoration and hope. They are stories
that Jesus told to assure us that God is concerned about restoring that which
lost. This week, we have experienced a
great deal of loss. We have lost lives,
thousands of them, and we know that they will never be restored to us… but we
also know that God will restore them to eternal life, and that promise is
sure. They are not lost to us forever.
We have lost buildings and institutions. The Hebrew people realized that their great
institutions would not last forever.
They knew that the Temple, the center of their faith would soon
collapse. They took umbrage with Jesus
when he reminded them of this reality.
Yet, he also spoke of rebuilding those institutions in a way that was
more powerful… Not merely a structure made with steel and concrete.. but one
that was undergirded by relationships of love and whose foundation is a loving
God known to us in Jesus Christ. We
lost buildings and institutions.. and yet in the midst of that loss I could see
God at work restoring relationships, forging new ones. People reaching out to others, to strangers…
sharing no commonality, except our humanity..
I saw the hand of God building something more powerful and more majestic
than our skyscrapers.. building awesome relationships of love.. instantly..
love that was able to lay aside difference… love that affirmed humanity….
Indeed, once again we saw “the better angels of our nature.”
We lost our sense of security. My guess is that we will feel that loss for a long time. The last 3 mornings, when I wake up.. I
offer a prayer of thanksgiving for one more day. Noise and sirens have a way of jolting us and reminding us of
that lost security. The parables of the
lost and found remind us that God is our ultimate security. We stood and sang: “A mighty fortress is our
God, a bulwark never failing.” I have
sung those words a thousand times, but Tuesday evening they were different…
fortresses and bulwarks have failed.. and seem so vulnerable… But my sense of security was restored in
hearing those words that remind us of our ultimate fortress, our ultimate
protector… God.
There are many things that have been lost this week…. More
than I can enumerate in these pathetic words… The parables of Jesus assure us
that the lost will be restored.
III
The prophet Isaiah offers these words to us.
Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint,
and strengthens the powerless.
30 Even youths will faint and be weary,
and the young will fall exhausted;
31 but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint.[2]
Hear the Good
News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ…. That which is lost will be found… that
which is destroyed… will be restored.
All thanks be to God who gives us the victory