"More Joy In Heaven"   2010

Jeremiah 23:1-6        Luke 15:1-10

 

Jeremiah 23:1-6

23Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord. 2Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord. 3Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. 4I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord. 5The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 6In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: “The Lord is our righteousness.”

 

Luke 15:1-10

15Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3So 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? 5When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. 6And 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.’ 7Just 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? 9When 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.’ 10Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

 

I read recently that the cost of cleaning up a single pelican

            from the oil-spill in the Gulf of Mexico this past summer,

                        is running about $500 - $750 per oil-soaked seafowl.

 

That seems like a lot of money for just one bird ----

            since a pelican covered with oil really isn't worth anything…

            … yet if you love the coast and coastal waters ecosystem,

                        and appreciate the ecological importance of the wetlands,

                                    then saving the life of a pelican     is priceless;

                                                                 ---- it's priceless, if you really care.

 

 

As a chaplain at the veterans' hospital in Richmond, my supervisor

     sent me to offer pastoral care to a homeless drug addict with aids

              brought in by the police for evaluation in the psych unit.

 

We were just becoming aware of aids back then, and I have to admit

            that I was so terrified of being infected with his disease

                        that it was all I could do   to sit and just talk with him;

                                         and I almost refused   when he held out his hand

                                                for me to hold   as he asked me to pray with him.

                                                                              It was not one of my better moments.

 

I had given up on him as a human being, as a worthy child of God,

            & devaluing his life, I held back from caring about his needs.

I perceived him as being hopelessly lost, basically rejected him

            and did not see much value or worthiness in his life.

 

My fear and attitude were addressed by the prophet Jeremiah, vs. 1~2

            Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord.  Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them.

 

In ancient Israel, being holy and pleasing to God

            was understood as being separate and distinct

                   by standing apart from this world's corrupting influences…

 

… which by the time of Jesus came to mean

            shunning, rejecting and avoiding anyone judged to be unworthy,

                        and who did not fully comply

                                    with all of the Jewish laws, rituals and traditions.

 

This  theology of separation

            evaluated a person by their outward appearance and condition,

                        rejecting some as

                                    hopelessly lost sinners, totally unacceptable to God

                                                for whom there was  not any possible redemption.

 

The scribes and Pharisees scrupulously avoided and condemned

            anything and anyone  whom they considered unholy ---

                        as being too sinful, too lost   or a corrupting influence;

                                       all for the sake of   perceived purity and holiness.

 

More than seeking a meaningful relationship with God,

            their religion became all about outward appearances and rules

                        rather than   helping the lost   turn and come back to God.

 

We know that Jesus rejected this theology of separation;

            for he did seek, welcome and even eat with outcasts & sinners

                        which the Pharisees found very upsetting and offensive.

Luke 15:1, 2

            Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him.  And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."

 

The question raised, is this:    are we holy and pleasing to God

            because we have avoided outward contamination and sin,

                        or because by God's grace we are in a relationship with God

                                    which affects and guides how we live  out in the world?

 

What makes us acceptable to God?
            Is it our behavior, something we do, our good works? …

                        … or are we made acceptable to God by His grace alone; à

 

                        and therefore, any good works and faithfulness on our part

                               are only the fruits of God's grace  active in our lives,

                                                and which become   the means   by which

                                                            others are drawn into the grace of God?

 

The religious leaders were supposed to love and guide the people,

            to care for them, to teach them, to feed them spiritually;

                        with mercy to help the weak and seek the lost and strayed;

            but instead, through a theology of separation,  

                        they judged harshly and rejected the lost and the strayed.

 

The religious authorities assumed that some people

            were more loved and more acceptable to God than others,

                        and so they grumbled and complained

                                    when Jesus, "welcomed and ate with sinners."            

 

In the Middle Eastern culture, even today,

            to share a meal with someone infers a shared relationship

                        of mutual respect and acceptance.

 

So the Pharisees could not imagine Jesus welcoming sinners --

            they could not conceive of God caring about sinners -the lost.

                        For why would God love and accept those who rejected Him

                                    and rebelled against the way of life God commanded?

 

Yet according to the prophet Jeremiah,

            God was not about to abandon the lost, not even the rebellious,

                        but promised through the prophets, to send a good shepherd

                                    who would seek the sinner, the lost and the strayed.

vs. 4

            I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord.

 

The question is, what is the true nature of God,

            and what is the Lord our God really like?

 

Jesus answers that question by telling a parable:  Luke 15:4-6

            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? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices.

            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.'

 

You have probably heard that parable analyzed to death,

            so let me instead, retell the story, in a different context.

 

            "Which one of  you, being a teacher or professor, if one of your students was disruptive and doing poorly in class, would not immediately cancel all your appointments and plans, search until you found that student, and spend every evening until late in the night working patiently with that student, until the day of the exam … and that student earned an A+. 

            And when your student earned that A, gather together all your friends and colleagues, saying to them, 'Come to a party and celebrate with me, for my worst student has now earned the highest grade in the class."

 

What teacher or professor would not do that?

                        Well probably, none of us would do that …

                                    … it's ridiculous to even think of doing such a thing.

 

Yet that is precisely the picture of God that Jesus portrays.

            The point is not so much, this is what you ought to be doing,

                        as it is, this is what God is like, and what grace is like,

                                    and this is how God loves and works in the world.

 

This is the nature of God's endless grace and second chances …

            … like the good shepherd or the woman in his parables,

                        who keeps on searching and searching

                                    until the lost has been found and restored,

                        then calls on friends and neighbors to rejoice with them;

      clearly this is not the theology of separation of the Pharisees.

 

**

This is our God,   who really loves us and cares about us that much;

          because   God is not governed by our sins and failures,

                   but by God's gracious love and desire to find the lost.

 

The Pharisees, were supposed to be the shepherds of Israel

            but they were unfaithful and disobedient,

                        unwilling to accept, much less seek out the lost & strayed

            and so  Jesus came

                        to do what they should have been doing all along;

                                    and so they complained and were offended and upset.  

 

The problem with the scribes and Pharisees was that

            they really didn't see themselves as ever having been lost

                                    and so they had very little compassion or mercy

                                                toward those who struggled and strayed into sin.

 

The challenge that Jesus places before the Pharisees is this:

            ok, if you're not lost, and you know that they have strayed,

                        then why aren't you out seeking the lost and wandering?

 

The Pharisees defined repentance primarily as an act of human will-

            you decided to turn away from your old sinful ways

                        toward the Lord, toward the ways and laws of God;

                                                and the Lord honored your repentance

                                                            with acceptance, forgiveness and grace.

 

But in these stories that Jesus tells, that make no sense à

            when talking about a lost sheep or a lost coin;

                        for at most, the sheep or the coin's only participation,

                                    was at best, letting themselves be found.

 

The shepherd and the woman represent God in these stories,

          and they are the ones doing all the work of repentance.

The point that Jesus is making to the Pharisees, is that à

            in restoring the lost, God does all the heavy lifting, not us.

There is nothing that we do for which we should feel proud,

            or superior, or more acceptable to God than anyone one else.

 

In these parables, Jesus paints a picture of God,

            who can't,   by His very nature give up or abandon the lost,

                        and whose greatest joy is when

                                    one of those lost  permits themselves to be found…

            … which is very good news for all of us,

                        for we can be lost in lots of different ways.

 

Have you ever really been lost?

            as a child, ever look up in a crowd, and not see your parents?

                        Do you remember feeling panic and fear,   did you cry?

            as a youngster, did you ever get lost in the woods, or in a store

                        and have no idea of which direction to go?

 

We can be lost in lots of ways ----

            - lost-ness of broken relationships, or loss of vigor & health

                 - the lost, of having no direction,  no joy or delight in life

 

            - the lost of not feeling loved, or needed,

                        or having no sense of being wanted, or special  to anyone

            - the lost of having failed miserably,

                        or feeling beaten, unacceptable, ashamed and worthless.

 

Lost is to feel overwhelmed  when hope's candle seems to flicker, 

 and we realize that we cannot fix it our self or make it right on our own.

 

You can be lost in the wilderness like the strayed missing sheep,

                        or just as the coin that was lost in the house,

                                    we can become lost, even within a church…

 

… we can be on the church membership roll,  or even a church officer,

            yet lack an intimate,  fresh and growing walk with the Lord,

                  we can be around other church people, yet feel  so all alone.

 

You can be active in the church's work, on committees - in programs,

            and yet feel unworthy, undeserving, and hiding our hurts;

                 just plodding along, doing  but feeling no joy of God's love.

We can be lost among others  who don't even know that we're gone.

 

Our hope is the truth that God is always still searching for us;

            however we're wounded, wherever we are, whatever we have done,

                        God still looks for us, & with rejoicing  welcomes us home.            

 

There was a resurfacing company

            that was repairing several driveways in a neighborhood,

                        and brought a truck with a huge open vat of tar on the back.

 

While the workmen were taking a break,

            a 5 year old slipped onto the truck, climbed up the stepladder

                        and was poking at the tar with a stick.

His mother saw him up there, in panic, hollered for him to get down.

            Startled, the little boy fell into the vat of tar.

 

A workman nearby quickly reached in, yanked the kid out;

            and when his mother saw him dripping and all covered  head to toe with tar,                              shaking her head, she exclaimed,

                                    "You know, I think it would be easier to have another,

                                           then all that it's going to take to clean you up again."

 

I suspect that if we were being entirely honest,

     for most of us, that has been true at some time during our lives…

            … but still the Good Shepherd comes looking for us anyway,

                  and sacrificed Himself on the cross in order to clean us up -

           

             --- and that is the nature of God, our God of grace and love,

                                    for God does not ever abandon us,  His creation.

 

And for the rest of our lives,

            God is still continuing to clean us up again, 

                        as  by His Spirit,  helping us to become more Christ-like.

 

Truth is, God is relentless in His love and restoration,

            and gathers us into this faith-community of the redeemed,

                        because our God is convinced   that we're worth it;

            and God rejoices each time the lost are found,

                        and with joy each time another bit of tar is cleaned up.

 

So we gather here to tell that story of God's grace,

            so that we can live that story of God's grace out in the world.

 

Our call is to reach out with God's grace to others,

            and to be a safe place for those lost to be found and restored…

 

            … and if we really want to be more Christ-like,

                        then we won't ever give up on others, either.    

Luke 15:7,10

           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.

            Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.