God has no sense

Some years ago, I watched a show called America’s Funniest Home Videos in which people submit home recordings of amusing things that have happened to them that they managed to catch on video. Now we do all this on social media and share it on our phones! In one episode there was this little boy carrying a small container full of ice cubes. He kept bending over to pick up another ice cube and, in the process, one or more ice cubes would fall out of the container onto the floor. He never gave up. He continued to diligently search for more ice cubes, picking up all that he found despite the risk to those in the container. It was hilarious to watch! It made no sense – in the same way that throwing a party to celebrate the recovery of one coin – spending more in joy than you have collected through great effort, makes no sense. In the same way that risking ninety-nine in the wilderness to search for one, makes no sense. God is like that and God expects us to be like that too.

Jesus speaks a word of grace this week. In the reading from Luke’s gospel, Pharisees and scribes, tax collectors and sinners all crowd around Jesus, leaning in to hear him – the lost and the found thronged together in an unsettled gathering. Jesus is stirring things up again – welcoming people who are usually avoided – eating with the despised. The righteous grumble at the scandalous sight of this teacher embracing the disreputable and unclean. Jesus surveys the scene – hears the complaints – knows the need of the crowds and the judgment of the religious leaders and tells a set of parables.

You sit in your customary places this morning – in your perhaps too comfortable pews – and hear again the parables of Jesus that assure us we will be found if ever we lose our way – that remind us we were the lost who have, amidst great rejoicing, been brought back into the fold. We don’t even really listen to the story anymore because we know it all too well: Jesus is the Good Shepherd who seeks diligently for the lost lamb – Jesus is the Careful Homemaker who sweeps every corner to reclaim what has gone astray. Repentance and rejoicing – yah, yah – I get it! But… but, what if Jesus wants us to see ourselves as the ninety-nine left in the wilderness? What if Jesus wants us to see ourselves not as the lost or the found but as the shepherd and the sweeper?

These are the first two in a set of three stories about being lost and being found. Each has the potential to surprise and disrupt our usual notions. We could focus on the repentance theme but that is challenging to do without the third parable which we will hear another day. Today we talk about a lost sheep and a lost coin. Clearly the coin doesn’t repent and come home on its own and I don’t know that much about sheep – but, do they repent? I am guessing, “No”. Was the sheep even in the wrong? The word for lost can mean “on the way to destruction” but it seems to me we might be giving the poor sheep a bit too much credit here!

In the parables Luke describes four states of being lost. The first form of lostness is subtle and insidious: the lostness of those who think they are righteous – upholding the values of society and faith. Jesus tells the parables of the lost sheep, coin, and son in response to those who criticize him for welcoming sinners and eating with them. The complainers believe they are righteous – good citizens, faithful churchgoers, the morality police – but they lack grace and forgiveness. Their hearts are closed to sinners and therefore their hearts are closed to God.

The other forms of lostness are foolishly wandering off – the sheep, being lost in the shuffle – the coin, and choosing to go astray – the son. And in all cases, there is God’s joy at the homecoming. No matter how one is lost, none is beyond God’s redemption. At any moment we can turn around and awaken to God’s grace. We are accepted – forgiven. We are already found – included.

Human beings need to be included – need to be in community. We need to be known, valued, and have a sense of purpose. Without these spiritual needs being met, we tend to drift toward complacency, ambivalence, apathy, or a sense of hopelessness. This pervasive sense of hopelessness is rampant in our world filled with violence and destruction. Where do we find hope and strength outside of faith? In a society where it is not likely possible for each generation to be more “successful” than the previous one, where do we find purpose and value outside of faith?

We too often fail to recognize the innate value – the Christ – in every person. The parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin tell us of God’s active and abiding love for us – a love that will seek us out no matter how lost we are. Too often we fail to see those we have excluded as worthy of seeking after. People are literally living on the edge of life, falling over into death every day. We can no longer afford to remain silent about mental illness, addiction, or suicide. None of these things are a punishment for sin, lack of willpower, or signs of God’s disapproval.

We are called to seek after the lost because we are not whole without those who are not present. Our wholeness as the body of Christ depends on us including everyone in the love of God. People are lost – dying – because they have no hope, because they do not know their value, because they do not know they are beloved. If we don’t share God’s unconditional, actively searching love with the most vulnerable among us, then we are not faithful to our calling as followers of Jesus – the body of Christ.

“Which one of you, would not leave the ninety-nine sheep and go after the one that is lost?” Well, truth be told, I might be more likely cut my losses and stand guard over the ninety-nine. It makes sense. It is that whole bird in the hand idiom. It is the ethics of triage, save as many as you can, the best as you can, knowing some will inevitably be lost, a painful unavoidable truth. Why make the ninety-nine vulnerable for the sake of one? Which one of us, quite honestly, if we had a hundred sheep and lost one, would put the other ninety-nine at risk to search for the stray?

Like I said, I don’t know much about sheep, but I can take the idea and apply it to a school field trip. Which one of you, having a group of children in a busy downtown location and losing one, does not leave the group unattended and vulnerable, and go after the one who is lost until you find him or her? Would you do that? Not a chance! That is what Jesus is asking though and we say, “Nobody – nobody is quite that stupid, or reckless, or foolhardy to leave ninety-nine perfectly intact sheep to go after the one stray. No. You cut your losses and move on. That’s what a shepherd with any sense would do – but that doesn’t work so well on a field trip. You can’t very well come back to the school one child short! And it doesn’t work for God either.

Survival is at stake – not just the sheep’s survival – but the survival of the whole flock. The ninety-nine can’t be complete until the hundredth is found. One hundred is a perfect number and perhaps in a parable that reflects later Jewish mysticism, Jesus knew that when you save one soul, you save the world. The whole can’t be redeemed without all the parts reunited. None are saved until all are saved.

In the case of the lost coin it just slips through the cracks – misplaced and forgotten by others. The lost coin reflects the overlooked and forgotten in our society. They have done no wrong, but they have no prestige and power and thus are perceived by many to be unimportant and without value.

Here the watchword is “wake up” – see what others miss – look to the places where people are forgotten, and you will find a great treasure. Everyone matters to God, and this lays a moral burden on those who seek to be righteous. God cares about all things lost. God rejoices in the discovery and redemption of lost coins, lost sheep, and lost people.

This will sound like very good news to us – especially if we identify with the sheep or the coin in these stories. But what if Jesus is portraying the righteous ones – portraying us – as the ninety-nine? What if we are the sheep tucked safely into the fold in this story. The ones secure from the dangerous and evil world of tax collectors and sinners. The ones at peace in the presence of the kindly shepherd. The ones who are left to fend for themselves in the wilderness – disturbed and dismayed as the shepherd dashes out into the night in search of one silly, straying sheep. “There are ninety-nine of us here, why such a fuss about one lost lamb? Make us comfortable. Keep us safe. Leave everything the way we like it and forget about the one who is lost – the sinner.”

The lost one gets preferential treatment. God does not write off those most of us would deem at best unworthy, and at worst irredeemable. These familiar parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin reveal the extent to which God will go to not leave us to our own devices and destruction. God takes a tremendous risk, sending the Son to seek and save the lost. Though we wander far from God’s wisdom and will, Jesus relentlessly seeks us out. After all, he came to save sinners – came to save us.

When it comes to God’s children – God’s lost, confused, hurting children – God has no sense. It is all about excess and extravagance – a reversal of expectation – about a prodigal God who risks everything to find one who is lost – one of us – and having found that beloved child – gives everything again to celebrate. God is desperate to find us – to redeem us – desperate to draw us back into God’s abiding, abundant love.

No matter how you see yourself in these ancient parables – the one or the ninety-nine – the coin that rolled away or those tucked safely in a pocket – the woman or the shepherd – pharisee or sinner – embedded within is a call to love – a call to action. Let’s commit ourselves to sharing Christ’s message of unconditional love, radical welcome, and steadfast hope in whatever ways we can. Amen