Proper 19, Yr C (Sept 11, 2022) The Rev. Karen C. Barfield

Proper 19, Yr C (2022)                                                           The Rev. Karen C. Barfield

Luke 15:1-10                                                                              St. Andrew’s on-the-Hill

In the name of the one, holy, and living God:
in whom we live, and move, and have our being. Amen.

“Welcome to the party!” Jesus said to the crowd of outcasts who gathered to listen,

            those whose names no one ever bothered to ask….

-the tax collectors, who were traitors to their own people,

            collecting exorbitant fees for the Roman oppressors,

                        making their livelihoods off the backs of the poor.

-the prostitutes who had lost their way,

            or been robbed of their dignity

                         and had no other way to support themselves.

-women who chatted gregariously with one another when in private

            but who were silenced in public.

-lepers who were deemed unclean

            and avoided by all.

-the mentally ill,

            the abused,

                        the lost,

                                    the forlorn.

“Welcome to the party!”

Some of the Pharisees and Scribes were none too pleased,

            watching Jesus acting absurdly.

This is the third time they have been grumbling about Jesus eating with sinners. 

            It’s just not right. 

     They work so hard to follow the rules and do what is required. 

Why is Jesus so insistent on spending his time with these people?

But Jesus is working from a different operating system…

            his actions are based on belonging and love rather than rules and regulations.

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 Jesus tells us that God is like a woman who,

            losing one of her ten silver coins,

       searches high and low for that lost coin.

She lights a lamp,

            sweeps every nook and cranny,

                        moves the furniture in case the coin rolled under the chair leg –

     she overturns every cushion until she finds that one coin. 

And then when the coin is found, she says to her friends and neighbors:

            “Welcome to the party!”

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God is like a shepherd, who,

            having a hundred sheep and losing one of them,

                        leaves the ninety-nine in the wilderness

      and goes after the one that is lost until that sheep is found.

The shepherd is willing to risk all in order to find the one who is lost. 

There is no mountain or valley,

            bramble or ravine that will not be searched until that sheep is found.

Who will not search high and low for something,

            or someone,

       dear to us?

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Whenever we hear these stories, I wonder with whom we identify…

Do we find ourselves in the company of the Pharisees and scribes,

            thinking self-righteously that we are trying our best to do the right thing…

                        to follow the rules and be faithful disciples…

       and then get irritated when someone else who we think has made some less-than-righteous decisions gets the better end of the deal? 

Life isn’t fair, we think,

            and we begin to grumble.

Or, perhaps, we feel like the lost coin or the lost sheep and are fully aware of God’s incredible gift of grace as we either consciously or inadvertently stray from the fold. 

After all, it really is not too difficult to justify one small action after another until we wake up and realize that we are alone and lost somewhere deep in the wilderness.

And then one day, perhaps we hear the voice of the life-giver, the pain-bearer,

             calling our very names,

      lifting us up onto strong and safe shoulders,

                        carrying us home.

It was not until I was living with this text that I noticed a phrase,

            a little phrase which gives this text a whole different dimension:

      “Which    one    of     you…”

“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 they find it?”

“Which one of you?”

            “Which one of us?”

Jesus assumes that the Pharisees and Scribes would do the same exact thing.

If we lose a coin, a sheep,

            a treasure near and dear to our hearts,

                        a vital piece of our daily life or work,

                 will we not search high and low to find it?

Perhaps at some point in our lives,

            we have even had someone search high and low for us,

                        showing us the way home from the wilderness?

But what about the folks who are not near and dear to us?

The Pharisees and scribes grumble, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

Well, of course he does!

Jesus sits at the table with everyone,

            so that the lost may be found,

      even the folks who are lost and don’t know it…

                 like the grumbling Pharisees and scribes.

And Jesus sends us out to do likewise –

            to search high and low,

                        to welcome everyone to the party.

Everyone.

As I was thinking about following Jesus into the crowds in our daily lives,

            I thought about our processions into and out of the church.

Back in the day, the processional cross was left outside the church in the courtyard.

The people gathered outside and followed the cross inside for worship:

            the time when folks praised God,

                        heard stories to remember who they were as God’s children,

       confessed sins and received forgiveness,

                  prayed for their needs and the needs of the world,

            and shared in bread and wine…the Body and Blood.

And then…

            then at the end of the service someone picked the cross back up

      and the congregation followed that cross back out into the world!

Worship was for remembrance, thanksgiving, and renewal

            so that folks could then go out and follow Jesus into the world…

      into their daily lives.

Into our daily lives,

            sharing the Good News of God’s love and mercy and forgiveness…

     inviting everyone to come eat at the banquet.

Because everyone is invited.

The righteous and unrighteous alike are all invited.

            God’s mercy is available to all.

Just as God searches high and low for each of us,

            may we have the courage to do the same.

So, which one of you,

            having a hundred sheep and losing one of them,

      having a precious object of value to you and losing it,

                        knowing someone who has lost their way…

           will not go after the one who is lost until you find them?

Jesus seems to care inordinately about the ones who aren’t here.

Sometimes that just doesn’t seem fair,

            but it is the Gospel!

Jesus came to heal the lost, the hurting, and the forlorn,      

            and he invites us to do the same.

There is great joy in heaven every time somebody who was lost gets found.

Amazing grace,

            how sweet the sound,

      that saved a wretch like me.

There is not only great joy in heaven but also on earth

            because we are all bound to one another.

     Celebration abounds, and joy becomes contagious.

Welcome to the party!