\nI’m
\ngoing to start by answering Jesus’ presumptive questions, because I
\nknow the answers. It is really exciting to know the answers to
\nquestions Jesus asks, because they are usually trick questions, but I
\nhave these. \u201cSuppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one
\nof them. Does he not leave the 99 in the open country and go after
\nthe lost sheep until he finds it?\u201d \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nNO.
\n– What are you crazy? \u00a0Have you met sheep? \u00a0They are seriously the
\ndumbest creatures God ever created (ok, fine, they are tied with
\ndeer). \u00a0If you leave 99 sheep behind while you go look for one that
\ngot lost, when you come back, you’ll have 70, if you are lucky. \u00a0I
\nmean, I was a camp counselor, and we went over the \u201clost camper
\nplan\u201d and step one as a counselor is that you STAY WITH THE CAMPERS
\nYOU STILL HAVE. \u00a0(The support staff looks for the lost camper, you
\nwork on not losing another.)<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nNO,
\nyou don’t go after that sheep. \u00a0Not unless you have a really good
\nteam backing you up, and it doesn’t sound like you do.<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nNext \n<\/p>\n \nThese \nThe \n<\/p>\n \nCurious. \n<\/p>\n \nThe \n<\/p>\n \nI \n<\/p>\n \n\u201cOften \n<\/p>\n \nThe \n<\/p>\n \nI \n4<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n \n<\/p>\n \nUnfortunately, \n<\/p>\n \nGetting \n<\/p>\n \nLet \n<\/p>\n \n*Cough* \n<\/p>\n \nI \n<\/p>\n \nThese \n<\/p>\n \nBut 1<\/a>R. 2<\/a>G. 3<\/a>Charles 4<\/a>http:\/\/www.wesleyancovenant.org\/purposebeliefs<\/a> 5<\/a>Helen 6<\/a>Cousar 7<\/a>Nixon, <\/p>\n – <\/p>\n Rev. Sara E. Baron<\/p>\n First United Methodist Church of Schenectady<\/p>\n 603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305<\/p>\n Pronouns: she\/her\/hers<\/p>\n http:\/\/fumcschenectady.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n
\nquestion? \u00a0\u201cOr what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses
\none of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search
\ncarefully until she finds it? \u00a0When she has found it she calls
\ntogether her (female) friends and neighbors …\u201d \u00a0Um. \u00a0No one.
\nBecause a silver coin is a days wage for a laborer and it is
\nbasically enough to buy half a loaf of bread, and no one can afford
\nto throw a party for their neighborhood because they just found a
\ncoin that would cover 1\/20th<\/sup> of that cost. \u00a0I’ll agree
\nthat she’d search for the coin, it is after all 1\/10th<\/sup> of
\nher life savings, but NO she wouldn’t throw a party. \u00a0Are you nuts?<\/p>\n
\ntwo parables feel like Jesus is doing a really bad Childrens’ Time
\nwith all of us, waiting for us to object with the most basic of
\nreasoning, and then laughing at his presumed stupidity. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nproblem is that I’ve been preaching regularly for 10 years now, and I
\nknow not to trust it when Jesus appears to be an idiot. I’ve learned
\nthat he only plays dumb to get our attention. \u00a0So, what is really
\ngoing on here? \u00a0It seems that the key to understanding Luke 15 is in
\npaying attention to the opening paragraph. \u00a0\u201cNow
\nall the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him.
\n And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, ‘This
\nfellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.’“ (Luke 15:1-2,
\nNRSV)<\/p>\n
\nThe New Testament seems to assume that some people are sinners and
\nothers aren’t. \u00a0Modern Christianity seems to assume that all people
\nare sinners (although if we look at actions and not just words, there
\nis an assumption that some people are WORSE sinners than others, but
\nno one cops to that). \u00a0What did it mean to call some people sinners
\nin those days? \u00a0R. Alan Culpepper, who wrote the commentary on Luke
\nfor the New Interpreter’s Bible says \u201cThose designated as ‘sinners’
\nby the Pharisees would have included not only persons who broke moral
\nlaws but also those who did not maintain ritual purity practiced by
\nthe Pharisees.\u201d1<\/sup><\/a>
\n I’m mesmerized by the idea of sin being finite enough that many
\npeople wouldn’t qualify as sinners. \u00a0It might take some of the guilt
\noff of life if, at least once in a while, we \u201cweren’t sinners.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nso -called sinners are set up in contrast to the Pharisees and
\nscribes, people who were religious insiders. \u00a0(To be precise,
\nPharisees weren’t religious insiders at the time of Jesus, but they
\nwere when Luke was writing his gospel, so we’re going to live with it
\nfor today.) \u00a0The religious insiders were concerned about the access
\nthe religious OUTSIDERS were getting. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\nchose to use this text this week because I didn’t understand it at
\nall, and I took a leap of faith that some commentators would be able
\nto help me with it. \u00a0Sometimes life works out exactly as planned, and
\nI discovered AMAZING work in the commentary series Feasting on the
\nWord by Charles Cousar (Professor Emeritus of New Testament at
\nColumbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia.) and Penny Nixon
\n(Senior Minister at Congregational Church of San Mateo, United Church
\nof Christ). \u00a0The rest of this sermon is indebted to their genius, and
\nlargely to their words \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n
\nthis parable unfolds in a way that emphasizes the redemption of the
\n‘lost,’ but it is the ‘already found’ that the parable is meant to
\nbring to repentance.\u201d2<\/sup><\/a>
\n Issues arise because in verse one the tax collectors and sinners are
\ncoming near, and the ones who think they have an exclusive right to
\nbe there are getting antsy. \u00a0Jesus seems to respond that the ones who
\nare \u201clost\u201d are already a part of the flock. \u00a0They are lost out of
\nthe flock, or in the house. \u00a0They already count. \u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\ntwo parables are the same idea, they repeat for the sake of getting a
\npoint across, or maybe because it is fun to have God as both a
\nshepherd (hated by Luke’s time) and a woman \u2013 and make most people
\nanxious at once. \u00a0The Pharisees and scribes are said to be mad
\nbecause Jesus ate with sinners, which according to Luke he’s done all
\nof once by this point. \u00a0They’re annoyed, \u201cespecially because the
\nsinners are ‘hearing’ Jesus. \u00a0‘Hearing’ for Luke is a sign of
\nrepentance and conversion. \u00a0Like the prophet Jonah in the Hebrew
\nScriptures, the Pharisees and scribes do not take kindly to
\nthe possible repentance of those who lie outside their definition of
\nthe redeemable.\u201d3<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n
\nfear they’re not the only ones who feel that way. \u00a0Have you
\nheard about the Wesleyan Covenant Association? \u00a0They’re an emerging
\ngroup within the United Methodist Church who are trying to take
\nLuke’s \u201cPharisees and scribes\u201d as their models for behavior.
\nEmerging as in their initial meeting is in October in Chicago. \u00a0Their
\nstated goals start with \u201cConnect
\nevangelical, orthodox United Methodists with one another in a common
\nministry of the gospel,\u201d and culminate with \u201cTo uphold and
\npromote biblical teaching on marriage and human sexuality.\u201d \u00a0(You
\nmight be shocked to learn that they don’t actually mean \u201cbiblical
\nteaching on marriage and human sexuality\u201d as \u00a0I understand it.
\nThey mean excluding the LGBTQ community from the Body of Christ.) The
\nWesleyan Covenant Association is designated to be an alternative
\nstructure that can become a new denomination, based on the litmus
\ntest of believing that excluding God’s children from the church is
\nthe best way forward. \u00a0That is, they
\ndo not take kindly to the welcome of people who lie outside of their
\ndefinition of worthy of God’s love, and they are willing to break a
\ndenomination over it and define themselves by it.<\/p>\n
\nthe Wesleyan Covenant Association is NOT the only group of people who
\nimmediately come to mind as trying to mold themselves after the
\nscribes and Pharisees rather than after Jesus. \u00a0On this 15th<\/sup>
\nanniversary of the attacks of September 11th<\/sup>,
\n2001, we live in a country where many people are calling for the
\nexclusion of Muslims, the registration of Muslims, and closed doors
\nto the refugees of the world. \u00a0We have a repeat of the ideology that
\nexisted before World War II and kept many Jewish families from
\nreceiving the welcome they needed to stay alive, except this time
\nwith Muslims. \u00a0Instead of learning the lesson that violence begets
\nviolence and the world needs food, peace, and hope from the attacks
\nof September 11th<\/sup>,
\nwe have people calling for greater violence, less humanity, and
\nthereby the creation of more and more desperate people willing to
\njoin extremist groups. \u00a0Our sisters and brothers in faith who know
\nGod through the teachings of Mohammad are particularly vulnerable
\ntoday, as they grieve with the rest of America.<\/p>\n
\nback to the deceptively complicated parables, both the sheep and the
\ncoin are passive. \u00a0As one commentator explains, \u201cA
\nlost sheep that is able to bleat out in distress often will not do
\nso, out of fear. \u00a0Instead it will curl up and lie down in the wild
\nbrush, hiding from predators. \u00a0It is so fearful in its seclusion that
\nit cannot help its own rescue. \u00a0The sheep is immobilized, so the
\nshepherd must bear its full weight to bring it home.\u201d5<\/sup><\/a>
\nFurthermore according to Cousar, \u201cNeither a sheep nor a coin can
\nrepent. \u00a0The issue of the
\ntwo parables, therefore, is not to call sinners to repentance, but to
\ninvite the righteous to join the celebration.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nme say that again. \u00a0\u201cThe issue of the two parables, therefore, is
\nnot to call sinners to repentance, but to invite the righteous to
\njoin the celebration.\u201d \u00a0He goes on to quote Alan Culpper who said,
\n\u201c’Whether one will join the celebration is all-important, because
\nit reveals whether one’s relationships are based on merit or mercy.
\n Those who find God’s mercy offensive cannot celebrate with the
\nangels when a sinner repents. They exclude themselves from God’s
\ngrace.’ The Pharisees and the scribes put themselves outside of the
\ncircle of divine grace by the way in which they grumble at Jesus’
\nfellowship with tax collectors and sinners. \u00a0There is no joy or
\ncelebration, no partying or delight, among Pharisees and scribes.
\nEven though invited to the reception given in behalf of the joyous
\nshepherd\/woman, they cannot bring themselves to come; thereby, like
\nthe elder brother (15:25-32), they are exposed.\u201d6<\/sup><\/a>
\n \u00a0Indeed, when Amy Jill Levine was in Schenectady speaking on the
\nParable of the Prodigal (which immediately follows these parables),
\nshe said that the point of the parable is the question of if \u00a0the
\nolder brother will accept grace or reject it after all. \u00a0It therefore
\n raises the question about ourselves as well.<\/p>\n
\n Wesleyan Covenant Association *Cough* \u00a0(Seriously, this is so easy I
\nfeel guilty about it.)<\/p>\n
\nhave one more gem to share with you from these wise commentators.
\nNixon asks about the sheep and the coin, \u201cIs it a search to save or
\nto welcome? \u00a0It is one thing to ‘save’ and another to ‘welcome.’
\nReligious insiders are more comfortable with saving the lost than
\nwelcoming those whom they perceive to be lost. \u00a0Saving is
\nabout power, whereas welcoming is about intimacy.
\n Saving is primarily focused on the individual, whereas welcoming is
\nfocused on the community.\u201d7<\/sup><\/a>
\n \u00a0*SNAP*<\/p>\n
\ntexts present God as the hound-dog of heaven, searching out anyone
\nwho would for any reason believe they are not welcome or not worthy
\nand proving that person wrong! \u00a0All we are asked to do is
\ncelebrate with God when goodness transforms the lives of those
\nwho desperately need it! \u00a0All we have to do is rejoice with God! \u00a0And
\napparently, sometimes, that’s too hard. \u00a0It is easier to think of
\npeople as needing to be saved (and assimilated into our way of doing
\nthings), and harder to make space to truly welcome all of God’s
\nchildren and allow them to impact our lives in deep ways.<\/p>\n
\nthat’s the call: to be welcoming and open to intimate friendship and
\nrelationship with all God’s children, and to rejoice when the welcome
\nis received. \u00a0May God’s grace guide us to be the ones who are able to
\nrejoice! \u00a0Amen\n<\/p>\n
\n\tAlan Culpepper, \u201cLuke\u201d in Leadner Keck, ed. , The New
\n\tInterpreter’s Bible<\/i> (Nashville:
\n\tAbingdon Press: 1995), 9: 295.<\/p>\n
\n\tPenny Nixon, \u201cHomiletical Perspective on Luke 15:1-10\u201d in
\n\tFeasting on the Word, Year C Volume 4,
\n\tedited by David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor (Westminster
\n\tJohn Knox Press: Louisville, Kentucky, 2010) p. 69.<\/p>\n
\n\tB. Cousar, \u201cExegetical Perspective on Luke 15:1-10\u201d in Feasting
\n\ton the Word, Year C Volume 4,
\n\tedited by David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor (Westminster
\n\tJohn Knox Press: Louisville, Kentucky, 2010) p. 69.<\/p>\n
\n\taccessed on 9\/10\/16. \u00a0The access date is especially important as the
\n\twording has already been known to change without notice \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n
\n\tMontgomery Debevoise \u201cPastoral Perspective on Luke 15:1-10\u201d in
\n\tFeasting on the Word, Year C Volume 4,
\n\tedited by David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor (Westminster
\n\tJohn Knox Press: Louisville, Kentucky, 2010) p. 70<\/p>\n
\n\t(quoting Alan Culpepper in \u201cLuke\u201d in the New Interpreter’s
\n\tBible, 1995).<\/p>\n
\n\t71.<\/p>\n